County Named, 1829. For John Hancock, 1737-93. Patriot, statesman and soldier. President of Continental Congress, 1775-77, and bold first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mayor-general of Mass. militia in Revolutionary War, member of the Mass. Constitutional Convention, 1780, governor 1780-85, 1787-93. He presided over Mass. convention to ratify U.S. constitution, 1788.