Editing Hancock County, Indiana (section)

==History==
Indiana was admitted as a state to the United States on December 11, 1816, although much of its territory was still disputed or held by native peoples at that time. These indigenous claims were quickly reduced and removed by various treaties. The [[Treaty of St. Mary's (1818)#New Purchase Tract|1818 Treaty with the Delaware Indians]] brought most of central Indiana into state control, and [[Madison County, Indiana|Madison County]] was organized on a portion of that area. The lower portion of Madison County was quickly settled, and by the late 1820s the inhabitants were petitioning for a separate county government. Accordingly, a portion of the county was partitioned on March 1, 1828, to form Hancock County. Greenfield was named as the county seat on April 11. The county name recognized [[John Hancock]], president of the [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress]], who had signed his name prominently to the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776.<ref>{{cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog| pages=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog/page/n566 561]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|author=Gannett, Henry|year=1905|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n147 148]}}</ref> The county has retained its original borders since its 1828 creation.