Originally, the 1884 cabin was the home of Margaret McCleve Hancock, who was born in 1838 in Belfast, Ireland. Her family was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1841 and came by ship to New York. They then traveled by train to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and pulled a handcart to Salt Lake City, Utah in the second handcart company. Margaret married Mosiah Lyman Hancock in 1859. They spent most of their time together in Utah, until Mosiah was called to serve in Arizona in 1879. Margaret and her children came with her brother-in-law Joseph Smith Hancock to Taylor, where she became a midwife, ultimately delivering over 1,500 children. Mosiah spent very little time in Taylor, but Margaret and her family made their home here. Margaret died in 1908 and is buried in the Taylor Cemetery.

The cabin was originally built on the east side of Silver Creek near Tumbleweed. After exchanging hands through several different owners, the latest owner, Ron Solomon, donated the cabin to the Taylor/Shumway Heritage Foundation.

Walking inside the cabin, visitors can appreciate the harsh living conditions that the original pioneers had to withstand to carve out a life in 19th Century Arizona.