The Commendatore

I wonder if either Gwynn or Winfield Hancock ( grandson and nephew, respectively) ever walked by General Hancock's statue and thought of him as the Commendatore.  If so, I'm sure neither of them invited the statue to dinner ( Don Juan had seduced the Commendatore's daughter, killed the Commendatore in a duel, and was dragged to hell by the Big C when he refused to repent of his sins) 

Captain Gwynn Hancock was his own worst enemy.  He was an alcoholic, who was convicted of drunkenness in the Fall of 1908.  Poor Gywnn was more a victim of circumstance than a threat to the United States Army and the Coastal Artillery unit.  In August, one of his colleagues, Captain Peter Hains shot and killed his wife's lover.  In his divorce petition, he cited letters by his wife that portrayed Fort Hamilton as a den of iniquity--'"Cigarettes, and Whisky and Wild Wild Women". 

General Frederick D. Grant decided that the party was over, and most of the officers mentioned in the letter were court martialed and transferred to other posts.  To make matters worse, he denounced Captain Hancock to the press at large, saying he'd been a drunkard since his graduation from West Point.  Was this another round in the Grant/Hancock feud?  Possibly, but I don't think it was an equal one--the General in charge of the Eastern Department against a Captain in the Coastal Artillery.

Another officer at Fort Hamilton had run up a big bill in the Officers' Club, and taken his unit's funds to pay personal debts.  He was drummed out of the Army.  So, there was a front page murder trial, with stories about drunken army officers, and their wild orgies.  And General Grant had been the Grand Marshal in the 1908 Brooklyn Temperance parade.  These stories must have embarrassed him.  Perhaps, given all the rumors about his Father, he was very sensitive about Army men who drank too much.  Did he ever wonder what would have happened to the country if Lincoln hadn't ignored gossip about US Grant's drinking? 

Alcoholism ran in the Hancock family.  Gwynn's cousin, Winfield Scott Hancock II, was denounced by his own Father ( Col. John Hancock) as a drunkard.  In the Summer of 1905, Winfield had seduced the Hancock's maid, Emma Smallwood, and the young woman died from a botched abortion. When Winfield was indicted by a coroner's jury in the Fall of 1905, his family would not pay for his bail.  They did not want him out on the streets, getting into more trouble.  He remained in jail for 5 months, until a grand jury freed him in April 1906.

General Hancock's twin brother, Hilary B. Hancock, was known to be a drinker.  Since Hilary lived to be 80, how much did he drink?  

During their divorce, James Cunningham Bishop accused his wife, Abigail Hancock Bishop ( the General's niece)  of being a drug addict and a drunkard.  He tried to have her sent to an asylum in 1908, but settled for sending her and a paid companion on a cruise of the Nile River.  ( a novel treatment for substance abuse)

Did Gwynn or his cousins ever walk by General Hancock's statue and wonder if it would spring to life and drag them to hell?  Gwynn may have been quite ashamed of himself:  he was the General's favorite grandchild, and followed in his Grandfather's footsteps by attending West Point.  Gwynn Hancock died in December 1912.  His mother had died in 1911, and his wife, Marcie M. Hancock had committed suicide in January 1912.  Gwynn Hancock's death certificate gave pneumonia as the cause of death, but he lost the will to live.

Since his Grandfather loved him, he would have forgiven him.  

 

Elizabeth Gwynn Hancock

Poor Elizabeth.  She was born in 1855, the daughter of Nicholas Gwynn, a wealthy cotton broker, and Elizabeth Greathouse.  In 1872, she met Russell Hancock, the son of Winfield Scott Hancock.  He courted her, but Mr. Gwynn would not think of letting his daughter marry the son of a Yankee general ( or a young man with no personal fortune).  He planned to take his daughter to Europe for two years, so Elizabeth and Russell eloped.  Once married, her father had to accept the marriage, and Mr. and Mrs. Hancock moved to Oakhurst Plantation, outside Clarksdale, Mississippi.  They had three children:  Ada, Gwynn and Almyra, and divided their time between Missisppi and New York, visiting their parents.  Nicholas Gwynn, a cotton broker, moved to New York City, became head of the Cotton Exchange on Wall Street, and lived in an opulent mansion on W.58th Street.  General Hancock became commander of the Eastern Department in 1872, and moved to Governor's Island in 1878.

Russell Hancock died on December 30, 1884, leaving Elizabeth as a young widow with three small children.  Her father in law, General Hancock, offered to adopt his grandson, Gwynn, but either Elizabeth refused his offer, or did not have the time to accept, since the General died in February 1886.  Unlike many women, Elizabeth had a wealthy father who was able to support his daughter and grandchildren.  Upon his death in 1890, she inherited her share of his estate.

In the years after Russell Hancock's death, Elizabeth Hancock met a young lieutenant stationed at Governor's Island, William C. Rafferty.  Lt. Rafferty was both intelligent ( was ranked 4th in his graduating class at West Point) and handsome.  At some point, he became Gwynn Hancock's tutor, and the newspapers announced his engagement to Elizabeth Hancock in April 1891..  There was no formal breaking of the engagement, and Gwynn Hancock was living with Lt. Rafferty when his Mother's marriage was announced in June 1891.  One newspaper asked Lt. Rafferty how he felt, and he graciously replied that the engagement ended some time ago, and he knew about her plans to marry Ellerton Dorr.

Despite all the good wishes, the marriage was a total disaster.  Less than a year after they wed, Ellerton Dorr had to leave Clarksdale, to avoid being charged with sexual assault. In June 1892,  he had wandered into their neighbor's house and attempted to seduce their young African American cook, Mattie Cole.  She must have been very brave to bring a criminal complaint against a wealthy white man.  There were no extradition laws at that time, and the case was dropped when Mr. Dorr left the jurisdiction.

There must have been times when Elizabeth regretted breaking her engagement with Lt. Rafferty.  He looked like the ideal 'officer and gentleman' and must have been a good tutor, because Gwynn Hancock passed his West Point entrance exams.  Lt. Rafferty was a member of the Coastal Artillery, and was later credited with inventing a form of cross fire used in the First World War.  When Gwynn Hancock graduated from West Point he chose to join the coastal artillery.  He must have seen Lt. Rafferty as a role model.

Elizabeth and Ellerton Dorr had only one child, Elizabeth Ellerton Dorr.  They were estranged, and contemporary newspapers openly alluded to that.  He stayed in Boston, and Elizabeth moved between her plantation in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Washington DC, and New York City.

She died on May 6, 1911. and her bereaved spouse wed a 20 year old telephone operator on May 13, 1911.  Ellerton may have been a rat, but he wasn't a hypocrite.  His daughter must have been upset-attending her Mother's funeral, and returning to Boston only to find a brand new Mrs. Dorr long before grass could grow on her Mother's grave.

Elizabeth G. Dorr had died while visiting her daughter Myra in Memphis, and is buried in Memphis Tennesee.  Tellingly, her body was not brought North to rest with either her first husband in St. Louis, or her second husband's family in Auburn, Massachusetts.

For more information about Brigadier General William C Rafferty, see  http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/2830/

Statement of Purpose

I am a freelance writer, and want to write articles that get published.  I am also a Civil War buff, and a freelance genealogist.  Last year, I began tracing the family of Winfield Scott Hancock, and discovered some very sad stories.  Major General Winfield Scott Hancock ( 1824-1886) was known as a devoted family man, so it's rather ironic that his grandson and nephew became involved in scandal. 

Gwynn Hancock (1876-1912) attended West Point, and joined the Coastal Artillery upon graduation.  Unfortunately, he also became an alcoholic, and was court martialed in the Fall of 1908 for 'conduct unbecoming'.  While stationed at Fort Hamilton, NY, Captain Hancock was bitten by a rabid dog, and sent to the Pasteur Institute in Manhattan.  During his hospitalization, he developed delirium tremens, and got returned to his base.  The basis of the charge seemed to be 'if you drank enough to get the DT's, you must have been drinking on duty."  Even though witnesses, including his commanding officer, Lt. Colonel H.H. Ludlow, said they had never seen him obviously intoxicated, the court convicted him, and sentenced Hancock to be dropped 35 lines in rank.

Yes, there was more to this case than met the eye.  In August 1908, Captain Peter C. Hains, another officer in Fort Hamilton's Coastal Artillery unit, murdered his wife's alleged lover at the Flushing Yacht Club.  After the crime, newspapers managed to get ahold of Captain Hains' divorce petition, which had been filed before the murder.  Attached to the petition were letters supposedly written by Mrs. Hains, describing the wild parties at Fort Hamilton.  In one letter, she relates going to Mrs. H's house for an evening of drinking and smoking.  

My working theory was that Captain and Mrs. Hancock were part of the 'fast' social set, and the Army brass decided that the party had to end.  Any officer involved with this scandal was transferred: some were court martialed.  Even the band, that had played at many of these gatherings, was transferred to Fort Hancock, in Sandy Hook , New Jersey.

Things just got worse for Captain Hancock.  In 1911, his Mother, Elizabeth Gwynn Hancock, died.  In January 1912, his wife, Marcia McLennan Hancock, committed suicide by swallowing poison.  She was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC.  Gwynn Hancock died of lobar pneumonia in December 1912.  He was buried at West Point.