I am stuck on finding the parents of an ancestor (John L. Hancock) who was born between 1770 and 1780. I can't seem to get beyond this point. If anyone reads the information below and wants to comment, I would appreciate hearing from you. My grandfather was Charles Thomas Hancock (b. 9/16/1873 in Bell County, TX), who was the son of William Powell Hancock (b. 6/19/1833 in Copiah County, MS). W.P. Hancock was a Texas legislator and one of the founders of Salado, TX. He is buried in Wingate, TX (near Abilene) close to my grandfather and a lot of other Hancocks. William P. Hancock was the son of William Hancock (b. 1800/1 in South Carolina), who was the son of John L. Hancock (b. abt. 1770 to 1780). I'm having a terrible time getting beyond John L. I know that he had at least 10 sons and 1 daughter as revealed in the 1830 Census in Copiah County, MS. The 1840 Census says he was still there and had only 6 sons and 1 daughter still at home. According to the age given on the census records, John L. would have been born between 1770 and 1780. His son William was still living in Copiah County at that time but moved his family to Texas in 1846 and settled in Cass County before moving to Bell County 5 years lat! er. Because of the family naming patterns, I speculate that my line probably goes back to William Hancock (son of Thomas in England) who came to America about 1619. He had at least 3 sons who came to America after he was killed by Indians at Jamestown. The names Thomas, William, John, and Robert get repeated constantly in William's early family and are repeated constantly in my own latter-day family. As an example, my 3g grandfather is John; my 2g grandfather is William; my 1g grandfather is William, my grandfather is Thomas, my father is William, and my son is William. Because I am stuck on John L. Hancock in the 1770s, I can't finish the connection to the sons of William from England. So I've decided to do the DNA testing on my father, William Dee Hancock. He is 93 years old. By comparing DNA with some of the people who can make definite connections to their early ancestors, I hope to get the right line and perhaps make my way to John L. in the 1770s. Your input will be valued. Sue Hancock Jones Lubbock, TX