Hancock County, created by act of Dec. 17, 1793, was named for John Hancock of Mass., president of the Continental Congress and the first man to sign the Declaration of Independence. It was the home of four governors of Ga.: William Rabun, Charles James McDonald, William Jonathan Northen, and Nathaniel Edwin Harris. Among Hancock County’s first officers were Thomas Lamar, sheriff; William Pentecost, clerk of the Inferior Court; Henry Graybill, clerk of the Superior Court; Daniel Conner, coroner; John Ragan, surveyor; David Adams, tax collector; and Samuel Goode and Richard Bonner, tax receivers.