Joseph Hancock

Title: Decision to Come to Red Wing
Type: Book
Date: 1905
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: In this article, Hancock describes how he and his wife decided to move to Red Wing in 1848.
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Activities:

1. Why had Hancock quit his studies at the seminary years earlier?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: He says that he stopped his studies because of poor health but had since recovered, married, and was teaching school.
2. Why would it have been "too late in the season" for Hancock and his wife to go to Minnesota?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: If he was invited to come to Minnesota in the "latter part of the year," we could assume that winter was near. Since he says himself that travel was more difficult in those days, we can assume that they had to wait until spring (when the river thawed and roads would be passable) to start their journey.
3. What does Hancock mean when he says that "such a place as Minnesota was not then known"?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Minnesota became a territory in 1849, just before Hancock and his wife Maria moved to Red Wing.
4. From these paragraphs, what experiences had Hancock had that would have prepared him for his work in Red Wing?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: His studies at the seminary and his work teaching school in Saratoga Springs both probably prepared him for missionarywork in Red Wing.