Historical record of Mac Wesley Hancock, a longtime West Texas peace officer who served as sheriff of Cochran County from 1945 until his death while in office in 1948.
Service dates and personal information.
Sheriff Hancock died while on duty during his second term as Cochran County sheriff.
Mac Wesley Hancock was born on January 8, 1888, in Erath County, Texas.
Among his various occupations, Hancock worked as a cowboy on the Slaughter Ranch and as a ranch hand in Lubbock County well before there was a city of Lubbock. He was instrumental in the organization of Dawson County, Texas, and was involved in law enforcement there.
Hancock married Mallie Eliza Best on October 31, 1909. Ten children were born to their marriage.
In 1940, Hancock, his wife, and their four youngest children moved to Cochran County, where he purchased several sections of land near Bledsoe.
Hancock was encouraged to run for Cochran County sheriff in 1942, but lost the election by six votes to W. E. “Prof” Angley.
He entered the race again in the 1944 election and this time was successful. Sheriff Hancock entered the Cochran County Sheriff's Office on January 1, 1945.
Rather than placing a drunkenness offense on a young man's record, Sheriff Hancock would sometimes take the individual to a trailer house behind his property and allow him to “sleep it off.”
Sheriff Hancock was considered one of the most outstanding peace officers in the state of Texas and was widely known in West Texas law enforcement circles. By that time, he had served as a peace officer for more than 30 years.
Hancock was serving his second term as Cochran County sheriff when he was offered a position with the Texas Rangers. He declined the offer, saying, “I owe it to the people who elected me to finish out my term.”
Sheriff Hancock would not get the opportunity to complete that term.
On May 3, 1948, Sheriff Hancock was returning to Cochran County after transporting two prisoners to the penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Approximately six miles west of Levelland, his automobile struck the rear of a road maintainer. Sheriff Mac Wesley Hancock was killed instantly.
Six uniformed Texas state highway patrolmen served as pallbearers at his funeral.
Following Hancock's death, his son, Aaron Hazel “Hazel” Hancock, was appointed by the Cochran County Commissioners to complete his father's unexpired term.
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