One page handwritten invoice from Ebenezer Hancock to Joseph Robbins for household goods, previously folded into quarters. Currently in mitered veneer frame with brass hanging ring at top center, glazed.
Reads: "Bought of Eben\r Hancock" by Joseph Robbins, Boston, October 25, 1774, includes household goods (2 "brass Kittle[s]", "1 Warming Pan", "1 doz. Plates", "3 3 pint Basons" "12 quart [Basons]" and "4 doz. Knives & Forks"), hardware ("½ doz. H Hinges", "½ doz. HL [Hinges]", 8 "Thumb Latches", "Brads", nails and "½ Faggott English Steel") and tools ("1 Handsaw"), totaling £9.13.18[?].
Ebenezer Hancock (1741-1819) was the younger brother of John Hancock (1737-1793), president of the Second Continental Congress, governor of Massachusetts, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Aided by a sizeable inheritance from his uncle Thomas Hancock (1703-1764), Ebenezer opened his first retail hardware shop in 1764 in partnership with Edward Blanchard, but the business failed by 1768. With John's help, however, Ebenezer established another shop and was able to secure the position of Deputy Paymaster General for the Eastern Department of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He inherited a third of John's estate in 1793, including the Beacon Hill mansion known as Hancock House. The Hancock Family Papers, Mss:766 1712-1854 H234, at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, includes Series III. Ebenezer Hancock papers, 1739-1831 (bulk 1757-1815); Box 17, Folder 19, contains accounts of interest and accounts of sales of goods to Ebenezer Hancock including hardware and shoes, dated 1768-1783.
