True Texas pioneers: The Hancock family
True Texas pioneers: The Hancock family
Written by Larry Willoughby Thursday, 07 February 2008
The term pioneer is often used to describe those first families who came to Texas and settled the wilderness and carved out a new society. But another kind of pioneer family could be found blazing new social, economic, and political trails in Northwest Travis County back in the 1860s and 1870s. They were the Hancocks, led by Rubin and Elizabeth, and their pioneer adventure is rivaled by few Texans.
The Hancock family overcame uncertainties and obstacles following the end of slavery in 1865 and were among the first freed slaves to own their land in Travis County. With the assistance of former owner Judge John Hancock, the pioneer couple established their farm just west of the present day intersection of Parmer Lane and MoPac. With hard labor and practical optimism, the Hancocks made a success of their farming venture and passed on to their descendants economic security and hope for the future – the definition of the American dream.
Little is known about the Hancocks before freedom in 1865. Records show that Rubin was born in Alabama and that Elizabeth was born in Tennessee during the 1840s. How they met and when they married is lost to history. 
They raised five children and were instrumental in the formation of a church in the area. Evidence indicates that Rubin and his three brothers probably worked as sharecroppers for Judge Hancock until 1881. That was the year Rubin Hancock became a landowner, and numerous records appear to substantiate his success. Rubin paid his Travis County taxes every year, was registered on the voter rolls as early as 1867, and bought other tracts of land to expand his family holdings. The Hancocks began with a ten-acre house site. By the time of his death, Rubin Hancock owned two other tracts of 36 acres each. Descendants of the Hancock family owned land and remained in the area until the 1940s, when most sold their holdings and moved into the Austin city limits.
Rubin Hancock’s three brothers also became landowners in the area. Orange, Peyton and Salem Hancock joined their brother in this farming settlement of northern Travis County. Most African-American farmers at the time in the Austin area were located in eastern Travis County near Webberville Road or Hornsby Bend. The success of the Hancocks brought other African-Americans to the area that became known as the Waters Park community. Traces of the community can be found today just west of MoPac and south of Parmer Lane stretching along Adelphi near the Balcones Baseball Complex. The church at the center of this community, St. Stephens Missionary Baptist Church, is today located on Amherst just a couple of miles west of the original Hancock farm.
Depression-era oral histories provided insight into the daily lives and character of these Texas pioneers, Rubin and Elizabeth. Their granddaughter, Mable Walker Newton, gave another account of the family in a later interview and described the small but comfortable home of her grandparents. She remembered their fenced garden and the chickens that tried to break in for vegetable treats. Newton recalled the family gatherings in front of the family fireplace and their devotion to their Christian faith. She reminisced of good times despite the legal discrimination and social barriers facing African-Americans in Texas a century ago.
Information on Rubin and Elizabeth Hancock was compiled in the book, After Slavery: The Rubin Hancock Homestead, 1880-1916 by Marie E. Blake and Teri Myers after field discoveries of the farm were made by the Texas Department of Transportation in 1987.
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