The Hancock House is a historic structure in the Hancock's Bridge

Hancock's Bridge, New Jersey

Hancock's Bridge is an unincorporated area located within Lower Alloways Creek Township in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 08038....

 section of Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey

Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey

Lower Alloways Creek Township is a Township in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 1,851....

. It was the site of the 1778 Hancock's Bridge massacre. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

History

Built in 1734 for Judge William  and Sarah Hancock, the house features a blue glazed brick pattern, which gives the year of construction, 1734, and the initials of the couple for whom is was built, 'W S' for William and Sarah. William died in 1762, and passed the house to his son William, also a judge.

Massacre

Loyalist

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

 troops from John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...

's Queen's Rangers

Queen's Rangers

The Queen's Rangers was a military unit who fought on the Loyalist side during the American War of Independence. After the war they moved to Nova Scotia and disbanded, but were reformed again in Upper Canada before disbanding again, in 1802, a decade prior to the War of 1812.-French and Indian...

, frustrated by rebel resistance

Battle of Quinton's Bridge

The Battle of Quinton's Bridge was a minor battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on March 18, 1778, during the British occupation of Philadelphia...

, crossed Alloway Creek

Alloway Creek

Alloway Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Salem County, southwestern New Jersey in the U.S.The headwaters of the creek are to the southeast of Daretown, in Upper Pittsgrove Township. It flows roughly parallel and to the south of Commissioners Pike, meeting Cool Run before turning west...

 in the early morning of March 21, 1778. They entered the house and surprised members of the local militia stationed there; between 20 and 30 people were killed. Simcoe's orders were to "spare no one"; unknown to the attackers, Hancock had returned home, and was among the slain.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Salem County, New Jersey
• List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey

External links

• Friends of the Hancock House - official site
• The Story of the Hancock House