Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/473

 AVOLCOTT

WOLF

WOLCOTT, Oliver, signer, was born in Wind- sor, Conn., Nov. :26. 1726 ; son of Roger (q.v.) and Sarah (Drake) Wolcott. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1747, and was commissioned captain of volunteers, assisting in the protection of the northern frontier. He later studied medicine, and was the first sheriff of Litchfield county. Conn., serving, 1751-71. He was married, Jan. 21, 1755, to Lorraine, daughter of Capt. Daniel and Lois (Cornwall) Collins. He represented Litchfield in the general assembly, 1761-70 ; was an assistant, 1771-86 : judge of court of probate, 1773-95 ; and chief judge of the court of com- mon pleas for the county, 1774-86. He was made colonel in 1774 ; was a member of the Con- tinental congress, 1775-78, signing the Declara- tion of Indejjendence, and was promoted briga- dier-general in August, 1776. At the beginning of the Revolution, the large leaden statue of George III. in New York was destroj^ed, and carried to Wolcott "s house, where it was melted into bullets. Wolcott was promoted major-gen- eral in the militia in 1779, and was again a mem- ber of the Continental congress, 1780-83. He served as lieutenant-governor, 1786-96, and on the death of Governor Huntington in 1796, suc- ceeded to the chief magistracy. He was elected governor in 1797, and died in office. He received from Y'ale the honorary degree of A.M. in 1765, and of LL.D. in 1792. He died in Litchfield, Conn., in December, 1797.

WOLCOTT, Oliver, governor of Connecticut, was born in Litchfield, Conn., Jan. 11, 1760 ; son of Gen. Oliver (q.v.) and Lorraine (Collins) Wol- cott. He was graduated at Yale, A.B., 1778, A.M., 1781. He served with his father during part of his campaigns ; was a member of the committee of the pay-table, 1782-88 ; and was appointed in 1784 a commissioner to adjust and settle the claim of Connecticut against the United States. He was married, June 1, 1785, to Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John and Ruth (Belden) Stuyhton. He was comptroller of pub- lic accounts, 1788-89 ; auditor, 17S9-91 ; comp- troller of the U.S. treasury, 1791-95, secretary of the treasury, succeeding Alexander Hamilton, 1795-1800 ; was appointed judge of the 2d circuit court in 1801 ; later engaged in business, and was governor of Connecticut, 1817-27. Wolcott re- ceived the honorary degree of LL.D. from Brown and Princeton in 1799, and from Yale in 1819. He died in New York city, June 1. 1833.

WOLCOTT Roger, governor of Connecticut, was born in Windsor, Conn., Jan. 4, 1679 ; son of Simon and Martha (Pitkin) Wolcott. and grand- son of Henry and Elizabeth (Saunders) Wolcott, At that time Windsor was a frontier town, and after engaging in trade, Wolcott was in 1709, chosen to represent South Windsor in the Con-

necticut general assembly. He was raised to the bench of justices in 1710 ; accompanied the ex- pedition against Canada in 1711, as commissary of Connecticut stores, and in 1714 was elected a member of the council. He became judge of the county court in 1724, of the superior court in 1732, and deputy governor and chief-justice of the supreme court in 1741. In the expedition against Louisburg in 1745, he was commissioned major-general by Governor Shirley of Massa- chusetts, and was second in command to Pepper- rell. He was governor of Connecticut, 1750-54. He was married to Sarah Drake, a descendant of Job and Marj' (AVolcott) Drake. Governor Wol- cott died in Windsor, Conn., May 17, 1767.

WOLCOTT, Roger, governor of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, Mass., July 13, 1847 ; son of Joshua Huntington and Cornelia (Fi-othiugham) Wolcott ; grandson of Frederick and Elizabeth Huntington) Wolcott and of Samuel Frothing- ham, and great- grandson of Joshua Huntington (q.v.) and of Oliver Wolcott (1700-1833), q.v. He was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1870, LL.B., 1874, and was a tutor there, 1871-72. He was married, Sept. 2, 1874, to Edith, daughter of W^illiam Ilickliug Prescott (q.v.). He was a member of the Bos- ton common council, 1876-79, and a Re- publican representative in the state legislature, 1882-84. He refused to support the Blaine and Logan ticket in 1884 ; started a reform move- ment in the Republican party of Massachusetts, and in 1891 was chosen first president of tlie Young Men's Republican club, afterward known as the Republican club, the outgrowth of his labor for reform. He was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, 1892-95, becoming governor on the death of Governor Greenhalge in 1896. and was elected governor in 1896, 1897, and 1898, after which time he declined further re-election. He also declined a position on the Philippine com- mission in 1899, and an appointment as U.S. am- bassador to Italy. He was a trustee of Harvard university, 1885-1900, and received the honorary degree of LL,D, from Williams in 1897. He died in Boston. Mass.. Dec. 21, 1900.

WOLF, George, governor of Pennsylvania, was born in Allan township. Pa., Aug. 12, 1777. His father, a native of Germany, settled in Allen township, ten miles west of Easton (the place

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