----- Original Message ----- From: Shirley <swarren2@prodigy.net> To: <HANCOCK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2001 10:26 AM Subject: [HANCOCK-L] Richard Mason Hancock > The following information is from a book by William J. Simmons which can be > found at: > http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/simmons/simmons.html > Page 405 > > XLIX. > RICHARD MASON HANCOCK, ESQ. > Foreman of the Pattern Shops of the Eagle Works Manufacturing > Company, Chicago, Illinois. Mathematician--Carpenter--Draughtsman--Foreman > of the Liberty Iron Works Pattern Shop. > > > TO speak of one who has made a success in this department is indeed > a pleasure, for in this work he has had the honor of showing Negro talent > and also overcoming those obstacles that defeat success in many men. It used > to be that only white men could do the "bossing," but the bottom rail is on > the top, and Mr. Hancock is now doing such work as guides over seven hundred > white employees and gives satisfaction to his generous employers. We have > said elsewhere that brains will tell, and here is an indisputable evidence. > Do you think he would be employed if he could not do the work? No, indeed, > not a bit of it. He is competent, and that indeed is the reason. Why should > the firm trust him with the disposition of their thousands unless he could > make them thousands? The truth is they do not know his superior, and hence > employ him. It is a praiseworthy thing that his employers could see the man, > the artist, the draughtsman, and be influenced neither by the color of his > skin nor the drops of blood that may be > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > Page 406 > in his veins attributable to black parents. I am indebted to a sketch, which > appeared in the columns of the Detroit Plaindealer, May 14, 1886, for many > of the facts which appear here. > > Mr. Hancock was born of free parents at Newberne, North Carolina, > November 22, 1832. His father, William H. Hancock, is a hale old gentleman, > still alive, residing at Chicago, Illinois. At an early age Richard was sent > to a private school in his native town, the public schools of which, and > indeed the laws of the "Old North State," being then opposed to the > education of Negro children. Here he mastered the rudiments of a common > school course, and when thirteen years old began as a carpenter's apprentice > under his father. He worked nine years at the bench; by that time having > gained a thorough knowledge of the trade, and attained his majority, he left > North Carolina and went to New Haven, Connecticut. He soon found employment > at his trade with Messrs[.] Atwater & Treat and Doolittle & Company, two > white firms that were not slow in recognizing him as an efficient workman. > "Joinering" was the particular branch of the trade at which he had been > engaged up to this time. > > He finally drifted to Lockport, New York, where he followed ship > carpentry two years, building canal boats, after which he was taken into the > employ of the Holly Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained four years. > While with them he learned pattern-making, a branch of the trade that > requires first of all a complete mastery of carpentry, besides an > acquaintance with higher mathematics, a knowledge of draughting and the > constant Page 407 > exercise of the very best judgment. For four years he worked and studied to > make himself proficient, and at the end of that period had mastered all the > theory and much of the practical details of that branch of the trade. > > In 1862 he came to Chicago, and shortly after was given employment > as a pattern-maker in the shops of the Eagle Works Manufacturing Company, > whose president, Mr. P. W. Gates, was a true and tried friend of the Negro, > when all the law and nearly all the public sentiment of the land was in > favor of keeping him in slavery. At that time this company had the largest > machine and boiler shops and foundry that was in operation in the West. > > After working as a journeyman two years, he was promoted to the > foremanship of the pattern department, and had in his charge fourteen men, > all of whom were white. To serve under a Negro foreman, no matter if he did > know more about the business than they did, was too much for their Northern > blood, so they "struck." For three days Mr. Hancock was "monarch of all he > surveyed." But the prospect was not a pleasing one, for the shop was crowded > with orders and there was more work to get out than he could perform > unaided. So fearing that its delayed execution might injure him with his > employers, he went before the president and tendered his resignation. After > hearing him through, Mr. Gates quietly said: "Oh! go back to work. It will > all come right in an hundred years." He obeyed. Other pattern-makers to fill > the places of the strikers were soon engaged, and ten years subsequent > service with the same firm showed that less than a century could make all > things right. > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > Page 408 > > While with the Eagle Works Company, he was instrumental in teaching > two colored young men trades--Mr. Beverly Meeks as a machinist, and Mr. John > Johnson as a pattern-maker. The former is now in the employ of the C. & N. > W. Railroad Company at their shops in Detroit, while the latter is plying > his trade at Denver, Colorado. He also used his influence with good effect > to secure work at their trades for other colored men in the foundry and > blacksmith shops of the works. > > In 1873 the firm for which he worked went out of business, and a new > firm, composed of two of his former superintendents, Messrs. Fraser and > Chalmers, started the Liberty Iron Works in this city. They showed their > confidence in his ability by immediately placing him at the head of their > pattern shops. Their business soon reached large proportions, requiring now > the constant services of over seven hundred skilled employees, fifteen of > whom are kept busy making patterns. The firm makes a specialty of > manufacturing intricate mining machinery, and in the course of a year gets > out an almost infinite variety of indescribable work, for most of which new > patterns have to be made. All of the work must conform strictly to the > drawings in every particular. This will show the importance of the position > held by Mr. Hancock in the second largest establishment of the kind in this > country. He has been with his present employers fifteen years, commands a > good salary, and is held in high esteem by them and his fellow-workmen. In > the same shop with him is his son George, who is also regarded as an > efficient pattern-maker. > > In private life Mr. Hancock is a public-spirited and progressive > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > Page 409 > citizen; a member of several societies, in some of which he holds a high > rank, notably the Masonic fraternity; a vestryman of St. Thomas' Episcopal > church, and an interesting talker at the literary sessions of the Prudence > Crandall circle. He has a cosy home on Fulton street, where, assisted by his > wife, an amiable and intelligent lady, his many friends are made welcome. > > > > > > > ==== HANCOCK Mailing List ==== > Check out our HANCOCK Project World Wide at: > http://members.aol.com/heatherjvw/Hancock/ > >