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1000
Circa 1000 BC
Long before European settlement on the Northwestern shore of the Bay, this area was inhabited by Algonquin-speaking Indians.
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1608
Captain John Smith mapped Bodkin Creek probably on the first of his two trips to the Northern Bay in 1608.
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1733
In 1733 William Hancock, Sr. (2nd generation) took possession of “Dividing Points” and “Homewood’s Range” by assuming the existing 99-year lease from Wm. Worthington with 96 years remaining on it. William, Sr. moved his family to live on the property, probably on “Homewood’s Range”.
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1737
William Hancock, Jr. (3rd generation) began renting 200 acres of “Homewood’s Range” and living on it.
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1754
In 1754, William Hancock, Sr. (2nd generation) died.
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1754
While living on the Hancock’s earlier property, “Crouch’s Mill Pond” on the Severn River, Stephen Hancock, Sr. (3rd generation) inherited 100 ac. of “Dividing Points” & 100 ac. of “Hammond’s Range” following the death of his step-Mother, Jane. (Date of death unknown - no evidence he ever lived on this property.)
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1754
In 1754, Charles Homewood assigned to Thomas Jennings the rights to “Dividing Points”.
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1758
In 1758, Thomas Jennings changed the name of “Dividing Points” into “Heirusalem” (the Greek spelling of “Jerusalem”).
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1758
In 1758, Charles Homewood patented “Peggy and Mollie’s Delight” (48 ac.) and assigned the rights to Thomas Jennings.
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1763
In 1763, Thomas Jennings won a law suit against Charles Homewood over ownership of the land. Since Homewood no longer owned it, the lease between him and William Hancock became null and void.
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1766
Stephen Hancock, Sr. (3rd generation) bought 100 acres of “Heirusalem” and 48 acres of “Peggy and Mollie’s Delight” from Thomas Jennings in 1766.
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1785
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) built the stone house that is now known as Hancock’s Resolution on the parcel named “Heirusalem” (Fair Jerusalem”, formerly called “Dividing Points”) in 1785.
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1789
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) mortgaged almost everything he owned to Captain Charles Ridgely of Baltimore for 255 £. in 1789.
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1790
In 1790, Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) purchased 127.5 acres of Homewood’s Range for 255 £.
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1792
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) resurveyed “Homewood’s Range” in 1792.
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1793
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) patented “Homewood’s Range” and 67 acres of vacant land and named it “Hancock’s Resolution”. (Note: the Stone House was already built on “Heirusalem”.
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1800
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) sold 85 acres of “Hancock’s Resolution” to Francis Hancock (5th generation) in 1800.
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1806
Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) resurveyed and combined his holdings (1806 to 1807) which, at this time, were 409.5 acres. He named the totality of the farm Long Meadows .
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1809
Both Stephen Hancock, Jr. (4th generation) and his third wife, Ann Cromwell, died several months apart in 1809, Stephen going first. Their graves are the oldest legible stones in the Grave Yard.
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1814
Francis Hancock (5th Generation) was Captain of his own Company in the 22nd Regiment, Maryland Militia. The Company was active for 17 days in 1814 “near Bodkin”.
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1826
Anne Arundel County created a plat for Hancock's Resolution.
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1828
In 1828, Francis Hancock (5th generation) sold 100 acres of “Long Meadows” to his son John (6th generation) including the stone house.
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1831
In 1831, Francis Hancock (5th generation) died. Rather than divide up “Long Meadows” among his heirs, Francis provided them with financial support that enabled them to acquire land near his own. (Francis’s younger son, John Wesley Hancock, owned 300 acres near Rock Point (now Ft. Smallwood)). John occupied the Stone House and owned 295.5 acres of “Long Meadows”.
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1853
In 1853, John Hancock (6th generation) died. – At his death his eldest son, Henry Alfred (7th generation), took over the rest of the farm (not the part that John bought in 1828). The one and one half story kitchen was added to the stone house in the 1850s.
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1863
In 1863, Henry Alfred Hancock (7th generation) conveyed to Benjamin Osborn (married to Caroline Hancock, daughter of Francis) 196.5 acres of Long Meadows (that part which now includes the community of Bayside Beach).
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1865
1865 is the approximate date the store was started in the small stone “Milk House” building.
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1882
Henry Alfred Hancock (7th generation) purchased the stone house and 100 acres from his family (see “1828” above) in 1882.
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1890
1890 is the approximate date the larger frame store was originally constructed.
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1903
Henry Alfred Hancock (7th generation) died in 1903. -
1925
Mathilda Wilkinson Hancock, wife of Henry Alfred Hancock (7th generation), died in 1925.
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1932
Hancock’s Store closed in 1932 due to the discontinuation of the daily steamboat service from Fairview to Baltimore.
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1935
About 1935, farm produce no longer was shipped by boat to the Baltimore market at Long Dock. John Henry Hancock (Harry - 8th generation) continued to grow produce and shipped by truck with the Cooks and Calverts.
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1950
In 1950, the 100 acres remaining of the farm were transferred by the heirs of Henry Alfred (7th generation) to the brother and sister John Henry (Harry - 8th generation) and Mary Adeline (Mamie - 8th generation) Hancock.
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1954
Mary Adeline Hancock (Mamie - 8th generation) died in 1954.
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1958
In 1958 Rhoda Virginia Hancock Cook (Ginny - 8th generation) died. Ginny asked her family to preserve the family house and history.
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1962
In 1962 John Henry Hancock (Harry - 8th generation) died. The contents of the house were left to sister Rhoda Virginia’s children: Pansy, Tillie, and Philip Cook. The house and 12 acres were left to “Annapolis Historic Society” to be preserved for historic value
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1964
In 1964, Historic Annapolis, Inc. as “Annapolis Historic Society” accepted the property and agreed to preserve it.
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1964
In 1964, Edwin Calvert, grandson of Rhoda Virginia Hancock Cook, was named to the Board of Directors to represent the family.
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1965
Each year between 1965 through 1967 there were successful open houses.
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1968
In 1968 it was decided by the Historic Annapolis Board that open houses created too much liability and should not be continued.
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1969
Starting in 1969, lack of outside interest and volunteers left the property vacant and poorly cared for over many years.
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1975
Hancock’s Resolution was listed in the Department of Interior’s National Parks Service’s “National Register of Historic Places” in 1975.
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1980
In 1980 "Hancock’s Resolution”: An Historic Structure Report of the Hancock Family Farm was written by Russell Wright A.I.P., A.C.I.P. for the Historic Annapolis Foundation funded by a federal Community Block Grant through Anne Arundel County
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1989
In 1989, at the direction of County Executive James Lighthizer, Anne Arundel County Department of Parks and Recreation leased the Hancock property from Historic Annapolis, Inc. for 25 years.
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1990
The 1840s – 1850s Cook farmhouse, once belonging to Henry Alfred Cook and Rhoda Virginia Hancock Cook, was moved a mile and a half down Bayside Beach Road to the Hancock farm site in 1990 to be a caretaker’s house.
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1997
The Friends of Hancock’s Resolution (FOHR) was incorporated with the intent to preserve, protect and promote the unique historical heritage of the property in the future in 1997.
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1998
In 1998, the first $50,000 Grant from Anne Arundel County under Executive John Gary was used for: 1) “conditions assessment” of buildings, 2) a “Level 1” archeological survey of the 14 acres, and 3) a year long “Historic Landscape Analysis” by a professional “ethno botanist”. These formed the core plans for restoration.
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1999
In 1999, three grants came in for restoration of the farmhouse and the house site: $150,000 from A.A. County, $150,000 from a State Bond Bill, and $40,000 from Maryland Historical Trust. FOHR contributed another $10,000.
Anne Arundel County, under Executive John Gary, acquired an additional 12.5 acres of adjoining property to expand the available area of the park to 26.5 acres. These additions put the property back on the shore of Bodkin Creek.
The farm was opened to the public in April of 1999 for the first time in 30+ years.
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2001
In 2001, Level 1 archaeology was done over the 12.5 acres acquired in 1999. This resulted in a comprehensive archaeological and historical report entitled, “A Plantation in Suburbia” done by Anne Arundel County’s “Lost Towns Project”.
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2002
Major restoration work on Hancock’s Resolution was completed in 2002.
The Hancock’s Resolution Foundation began operation to be the home of an endowment fund for Hancock Resolution.
In October a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Anne Arundel County and FOHR under which FOHR assisted the County in planning, maintaining, and operating the Park. This MOU was for one year but with automatic yearly renewals unless terminated by either party. This resulted in the following mission statement for FOHR: “To preserve, protect and promote the unique historic aspects of Hancock’s Resolution for historical and educational purposes.”
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2003
Starting in 2003, a $40,000, two years-in-development, Master Interpretation Plan, led by the competitively selected “Cherry Valley Group” of New York, was produced for the County and FOHR. It covered an “Interpretive Vision”, “Interpretive Topics and Themes”, “Overall Program Strategy”, “Evaluation of Resources” available, “Implementation Issues” and “Recommended Timeframe” for the Park.
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2005
In the Fall of 2005 there was a major change in ownership when title to Hancock’s Resolution was acquired by Anne Arundel County from the Historic Annapolis Foundation, Inc.
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2005
Operation of the Hancock’s Resolution Park has continued as part of Anne Arundel County Parks and Recs until the present time.
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