The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was published by the United Art Co. of Boston, Massachusetts. The card was printed in the USA.
On the divided back of the card the publishers have printed:
'Old Hancock-Clark House, built in 1698.
It was here that Paul Revere stopped
on reaching Lexington to rouse
Samuel Adams and John Hancock
who had been attending the Provincial
Congress at Concord.'
Hancock–Clarke House
The Hancock–Clarke House is a historic house in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is a National Historic Landmark. Built in 1738, the house is notable as the only surviving house associated with statesman John Hancock, who lived here for several years as a child.
The house played a prominent role in the Battle of Lexington and Concord as both Hancock and Samuel Adams, leaders of the colonials, were staying in the house before the battle.
The House is operated as a museum by the Lexington Historical Society.
Early History of the House
The Reverend John Hancock, grandfather of the American revolutionary leader of the same name, purchased the site in 1699. In 1738 he built this two-story timber-frame house. Rev. Hancock's son, Thomas, a wealthy Boston merchant, financed the construction.
The main portion of the house consists of a 2½-story structure with central chimney, a short center hall, two rooms on each of the two floors, and an attic.
The smaller rear part, 1½ stories high with a gambrel roof, contains a kitchen and tiny study downstairs and two chambers upstairs. As confirmed by tree-ring dating, both portions of the house were built from trees felled in the same year, refuting a commonly held belief that the rear was built in 1698.
Succeeding Hancock as minister in 1752, the Reverend Jonas Clarke, who reared 12 children in the parsonage, was an eloquent supporter of the colonial cause.
The house is the only surviving residence associated with John Hancock, famous American patriot, President of the Continental Congress, first signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
It became his boyhood home in 1744 when, upon the death of his father at Quincy, the seven-year-old boy came to live at this house with his grandfather.
On the evening of the 18th. April 1775, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, having attended the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in Concord and wary of returning to Boston, were guests of Rev. Clarke.
Fearing that they might be captured by the British, Dr. Joseph Warren of Boston dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere to Lexington with news of the advancing British troops. Arriving separately, they stopped to warn Hancock and Adams around midnight, then set off for Concord. Hancock and Adams made their way to Burlington to avoid capture.
Later History of the House
The house remained in the Clarke family until 1844, maintained by the Rev. Clarke's daughters. It thereafter changed hands several times before being acquired by the Lexington Historical Society.
The building was threatened with demolition in 1896, at which time the society purchased it and moved it across the street.
In 1974, after purchasing the original site, the society moved it back to its original location. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This house contains furnishings and portraits owned by the Hancock and Clarke families, and an exhibit area that includes relics of the 19th. April 1775. This was the date of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The fighting ignited the American War of Independence.
