Location: In front of the Taylor Memorial Library, 155 Main Street, Hancock
Coordinates: 42°32’36.0″N 73°19’22.6″W
Date dedicated: Unknown
Design/Sculptor/Manufacturer: Unknown
The rural town of Hancock, situated along the border of New York, is home to a modest but fitting marble tablet commemorating the town’s war dead. This tablet, now prominently displayed on the lawn in front of the Taylor Memorial Library, originally adorned the wall of an earlier library building. While the exact date of its initial placement remains uncertain, its existence was confirmed by the Town Clerk of Hancock in a 1910 publication, who noted, “The expense, only $33, is not great, it is true, but it is pleasant to know that the town having the name of the President of the Continental Congress is not forgetful.”[1]
When the Taylor Memorial Library was constructed in 1926, the tablet was relocated from the original library building, which was likely demolished, to its current location on the new library’s lawn. This move ensured that the tribute to Hancock’s fallen soldiers remained a visible and enduring part of the town’s history.
The primary inscription reads, “The citizens of Hancock have caused to be inscribed on this tablet the names of their sons who fell in defense of the Union is the war of the rebellion 1861 to 1865 and in whose memory they have erected this as a monument.” It lists the names of 10 men. Most of these served with the 34th Massachusetts Infantry. The unit saw heavy action in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign and then in the Siege of Petersburg. Three of these soldiers died in action or of wounds in the fighting at or near Winchester, Virginia in September 1864: Conrad Houmps, Marshall Knapp, and Dexter Taylor.
The Town of Hancock has very recently dedicated a Veterans Memorial Park with a large, granite honor roll listing all those who served in the nation’s wars. The site is adorned with a replica of a Civil War cannon.
[1] Alfred S. Roe, Monuments, Tablets and Other Memorials: Erected in Massachusetts to Commemorate the Service of Her Sons in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 (Boston: Wright and Potter Printers, 1910), 58.