Background
Oliver Wolcott was born on November 20, 1726, in Windsor, Connecticut, United States. He was a son of Roger Wolcott, a weaver, statesman and politician, and Sarah Drake Wolcott.
Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
In 1747, Oliver graduated from Yale College.
politician statesman militia officer
Oliver Wolcott was born on November 20, 1726, in Windsor, Connecticut, United States. He was a son of Roger Wolcott, a weaver, statesman and politician, and Sarah Drake Wolcott.
In 1747, Oliver graduated from Yale College as the top scholar in his class. In his later years, Wolcott also studied medicine with his brother Alexander.
Upon Oliver's graduation from Yale College, Governor Clinton of New York commissioned him, on January 21, 1747, to raise a militia company to fight in the French and Indian War. Captain Wolcott served on the northern frontier, defending the Canadian border against the French until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
At the end of the French and Indian War, Oliver left for Goshen in northwestern Connecticut, where he practiced and studied medicine with his brother Alexander. Some time later, Wolcott moved to Litchfield, where his father owned property, and became the first sheriff of the newly created Litchfield County, the post he held from 1751 to 1771. Henceforth, he devoted himself to a legal and public career.
Four times chosen as deputy for Litchfield, namely in 1764, 1767, 1768 and 1770, Oliver was also elected an assistant in the early 1770's and reelected annually until 1786. In 1772-1781, Wolcott was judge of the court of probate for Litchfield and, between 1774 and 1778, a judge of the county courts for Litchfield. Besides, in 1771, he became a major in the Connecticut militia and was promoted to the rank of a colonel in 1774.
During the American Revolutionary War years, Wolcott played a varied part. In April 1775, the Assembly sent him to Boston to interview General Gage and appointed him a commissary to supply stores and provisions for the troops. In July of the same year, the Continental Congress named Oliver one of the commissioners of Indian affairs for the northern department. Also, that year, he met representatives of the Six Nations in Albany and helped settle the Wyoming Valley and the New York-Vermont boundary questions. According to some sources, Wolcott supported the war in order to ensure the continuance of the Connecticut brand of civil and religious liberty.
Wolcott was first elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in October 1775. He participated in the early agitation over the Declaration of Independence, but left Philadelphia because of illness at the end of June, and his substitute, William Williams, signed in his stead. After he returned, on October 1, 1776, he was permitted to sign also.
It's important to note, that, in August 1776, Oliver commanded, as brigadier-general, the fourteen militia regiments, sent to New York, to reinforce General Putnam on the Hudson River. In December of that year, he was put in command of the 6th Militia Brigade in northwestern Connecticut. On his own responsibility, in September 1777, he led a force of three or four hundred volunteers from his brigade to join Gates's army against Burgoyne.
It was on May 1779, that Oliver was promoted to the rank of major general in command of all Connecticut Militia. In the summer of the same year, he had the task of defending the Connecticut seacoast against Tryon's raids.
In May 1780, Wolcott was added to the Council of Safety, the state executive committee for the prosecution of the war. After the treaty of peace was signed, Wolcott resigned from Congress to devote himself to domestic affairs, and though he served as a commissioner for the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 to make peace with the Six Nations, he resigned from that post too.
Beyond his post-war diplomatic role, Wolcott aspired to higher office. He was elected lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1786, the post he held for the next ten years. On January 5, 1796, Oliver was elected governor of Connecticut, the post he held till his death on December 1, 1797.
As a representative in the Continental Congress, Oliver was a strong advocate for independence. As a "Republican of the Old School," whose ideas of government were derived from the purest sources, he abhorred the appearance of fanatic democracy among people, whose morals and virtues he believed to be rapidly declining.
On January 21, 1755, Oliver married Lorraine (Laura) (Collins) Wolcott. Their marriage produced five children - Oliver, who died young, Oliver Wolcott Jr., Laura, Mariann and Frederick. Oliver Wolcott Jr. served as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents George Washington and John Adams and as Governor of Connecticut.