Hancock’s tomb is in Montgomery Cemetery. As you can see in my photo below, it is a large and very well-maintained tomb clearly identifying Hancock’s importance during the Civil War. Next to the tomb is the Hancock the Superb Memorial, a plaque lauding Hancock’s service to the United States.
The plaque was installed by the Sons of Union Veterans in 1975.
Hancock was born on Feb. 14, 1824 in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania near Norrisville where the cemetery is located. Norristown is a suburb northwest of Philadelphia and it is the county seat of Montgomery County. When Hancock was a few years old, his father moved the family to Norristown to practice law. When you travel through the streets of Norristown, you are on the same streets that Hancock traversed as a child. In 1840 he went to West Point and he graduated in 1844. In 1847 he was wounded during the war with Mexico at Churubusco.
After the Mexican-American War, Hancock met Almira (“Allie”) Russell while he was stationed in St. Louis, Missouri, marrying her in 1850. In the mid-1850s he transferred to Florida where he provided logistical support during the Third Seminole War. After the war, he was sent to Bleeding Kansas during the slavery conflict there and then to Utah at the end of the war there with the Mormon church. Finally, he was moved to California. While Hancock served in many conflictive areas, after the war against Mexico, he did not gain experience leading troops in battle.
When the Civil War erupted in April, 1861, Hancock was moved east to help with logistics, but by September of that year he was promoted to brigadier general and given commanded of a brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He rose to prominence during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. When his commander, Major General George McClellan telegraphed after the Battle of Williamsburg “Hancock was superb today,” soldiers began calling him “Hancock the Superb.”
In September, 1862, Hancock took command of the First Division of the Second Corps. On November 29, 1862 he was promoted to Major General of Volunteers. He was wounded in the assault on Marye’s Heights during the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. After Chancellorsville, Hancock was promoted to commander of the II Corps. Just weeks later, he served with distinction at Gettysburg and was wounded yet again on July 3, 1863 while repulsing “Pickett’s Charge.” Hancock returned to Norristown to recuperate.
In 1864 Hancock returned to the field to resume command of the II Corps and he led it during the brutal fighting of the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. In November, 1864, still suffering from his wounds, he finally left the II Corps to perform services in the rear. After the war, Hancock was one of the few Democratic generals given control over a region of the South. Replacing Phil Sheridan in control of a district made up of Louisiana and Texas, Hancock was less strict in protecting Black civil rights than Sheridan earning applause from white Southerners. After his Reconstruction service, he was based on Governor’s Island in New York Harbor. A national hero, he developed a following among New York Democrats as he had among white Southerners. In 1880 he was the Democratic nominee for president. In the popular vote, he had 39,000 fewer votes than Republican James Garfield out of nearly nine million votes cast. Hancock attended Garfield’s inauguration.
Hancock died in 1886 at Governors Island.
The New York Times described the New York services planned for Hancock. Here are the first two paragraphs of the article:
Four days after his death, Hancock’s body arrived in Norristown, where he was ceremoniously laid in his tomb. Not long before his own death, Hancock had led the New York funeral procession for Ulysses S. Grant.
As you can see below, the II Corps Trefoil is at the peak of the tomb.
When I got to Norristown, I went to the corner of Tyler St. and Taubel Alley. I found free parking on Tyler St., a residential street. I walked through Taubel Alley, which looks like someone’s driveway, but is a public right of way. It ends in grass with an opening to the cemetery. In photos taken a decade ago, the tomb was surrounded by a chain link fence. That obstruction has been removed.
Once I was past the fence, I looked along the fence all the way to my left and saw a mausoleum off by itself, partially hidden by a hill. You can see what I saw in the photo below. The tomb is in between the two trees.
The map below accurately depicts where the tomb is located. There are no roads inside of Montgomery Cemetery, which is why I suggest parking on Tyler St. and walking in through the ally.
Note: 1885 feature drawing of the Hancock Tomb was obtained from the Gettysburg Daily.
He died so young. He had major complications from diabetes. The wound he received at Gettysburg tormented him for many years until one day a piece of wood and a nail finally exited his body.
Amazing! Having grown up in Norristown, and having attended the original John Hancock Elementary School located on Arch St. between Spruce and Basin Streets, I never heard of this mausoleum and no field trip was ever taken there by the elementary or otherwise Norristown Area School District students. While doing research for the Juneteenth Commemorative Holiday, I came upon this site. I actually could have easily walked there from where I grew up!
Interesting town to walk around.