WOLCOTT GENEALOGY WOLCOTT GENEALOGY THE FAMILY OF HENRY WOLCOTT ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT BY CHANDLER WOLCOTT PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF DESCENDANTS OF HENRY WOLCOTT ROCHESTER, NEW YORK THE GENESEE PRESS 191~ Copyright, 1912, Bv CHANDLER WOLCOTT CONTENTS PAGE lNTRODUCTION Xlll PREFACE xvu THE FAMILY IN ENGLAND 1 fHE FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES ~1 FmsT GENERATION • 34 SECOND GENERATION 40 THIRD GENERATION 46 FOURTH GENERATION 66 FIFl'H GENERATION • 89 SIXTH GENERATION • 119 SEVENTH GENERATION 167 EIGHTH GENERATION ~41 NINTH GENERATION 31~ TENTH GENERATION 348 APPENDIX •• 357 LNDEX 1.-GIVEN NAMES OF MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY BORN WoLCO'ITS • 403 lNDEX IL-NAMES OF OTHER PERSONS 4~3 lNDEX III.-NAMES IN APPENDIX • 449 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE ANCIENT CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, TOLLAND, ENGLAND, WITH THE WoLCOTT MoNUMENTs 1st Frontispiece GALDON MANOR • 9!d Frontispiece THE WoLCOTT CoAT oF ARMS XXI MONUMENT OF HENRY AND ELIZABETH WOLCOTT 38 MONUMENT OF SIMON AND MARTHA WOLCOTT • · 44 THE OLD WoLCOTT HOMESTEAD, SoUTH WINDSOR 54 MoNUMENT OF RoGEit AND SARAH WOLCOTT 69! MONUMENT OF SAMUEL WOLCOTT, WITH FAMILY ARMS 66 PORTRAIT OF OLIVER WOLCOTT, SIGNER 78 llEPRODUCTION OF LETTER OF PRESIDENT w ASHINGT0N TO OLIVER WOLCOTT. 8~ f>ORTRAIT OF LAURA COLLINS WOLCOTT 86 t>oRTRAIT OF MARIANN WOLCOTT GooDRICH 88 l>oRTRAIT OF OLIVER WoLcoTT, GovERNOR 110 l'HE WoLCOTT HOMESTEAD, LITCHFIELD 112 ?oRTRAIT OF EDWARD OuvER WoLcoTT, SENATOR 220 ,'oRTRAIT OF RoGER WciLcoTT, GovERNOR 238 )EEO-CHEST OF HENRY WOLCOTT, 1630 355 l'HE 1910 REUNION, HARTFORD • 356 INTRODUCTION The following pages represent the only attempt that has been made to compile a genealogy of the Wolcott Family in either the United States or England. ~fore than thirty years ago the Wolcott Memorial, compiled by the Rev. Samuel Wolcott at the instigation of a few members of the family, was printed, but this as its title indicates did not pur­ port to be a genealogy, only a :Memorial of Henry Wolcott and of Some of his descendants. In the compilation of that work an extended and fairly complete account of the earlier generations in this Country was developed and published, and it is proper that we should make acknowledgment of our indebtedness to it for the liberal drafts made upon it for information in the way particularly of descriptions of persons and places connected with the more immediate descendants of Henry. For the large amount of material also, collected hut not published-an amount exceeding that which appeared in the :Memorial-to which we have had access, we are likewise under obligation to the proprietors and compiler of the Memorial. It should be remembered however that the statistics gathered from the sources named were all at least thirty years old and that the bringing up to <late of the lines of descent set forth and the developing of new ones have been accomplished only through the co-opera­ tion of all those descendants who have responded to calls for information, and that therefore it is to them that the publica­ tion of the present work is due. The Society of Descendants of Henry Wolcott has performed a great service by bringing together those in XlV WOLCOTT GENEALOGY whose minds the idea of a genealogy had been present and those to whom it later appealed. The Society had its begin­ ning in a meeting held in August, 1905, at the home of Mr. Sereno E. Wolcott, East Orwell, Ohio, at which forty-three persons were present. From this the membership has grown to include residents of nearly every State in the Union and at the annual Reunions held in 1906 at Orwell, Ohio; in 1907 at Warren, Ohio; in 1908 at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; in 1909 at Niagara Falls, N. Y.; in 1010 at Hartford, Conn.; and in 1911. at Niagara Falls, N. Y., addresses of much historical interest and value have been delivered by members. The photograph of the group at the Hartford Reunion given upon another page will be of interest. One of the principal objects of the Society has been the preparation and publica­ tion of a genealogy of the family and it is therefore most fitting that the present work be printed under its auspices. In the production of the book and particularly in the printing of statistics as to later generations the greatest possible care has been taken to present all the information that could be obtained and it is believed that there have been no departures or omissions. More than ten years ago the writer began the work of collecting statistics, of consulting old records, of interviewing and corresponding with the different branches, and while only recently has it seemed that the material collected would be printed, there is, he feels, all the greater reason for congratulation that the interest and assistance of others of the family have combined to make the present the opportune time for publication. And throughout the pages that follow may the reader remember that in the words of Bishop Lawrence of :Massa­ chusetts, "The name of the Wolcott family has not been INTRODUCTION xv created by one or two great men, but throughout their whole history of over two centuries and a half in this country, each generation has sustained the good name and the high character of the past." CHANDLER WOLCOTT. Rochester, New York, I February, 1912. PREFACE It is proper that a statemer{t be made as to the principal sources from which the materials for our genealogy were derived. There had fortunately been preserved, among some blank pages at the end of a folio ledger, bearing the <late of 1691, an extended record, under the following title: "A Chronologie of the famely of the vVolcotts in New Eng­ land." The original account written by MR. JosIAH vVoLCOTT had been continued, and embraced several generations. The principal additional entries had heen made by Gov. ROGER ,-voLCOTT and GEN. ERASTUS WoLCOTT. Other family registers and memorials were examined, together with all church, town, and probate records, which could be supposed to throw any light 011 the subject. For this purpose visits were made to nearly every town and district in Connecticut and Massachusetts which had ever been the residence of any member of the Family; and an extensive correspondence was prosecuted with the various branches scattered through the country. From these sources the genealogical portion of the work was compiled. The earlier generations, covering the obscurer periods, have been prepared with the utmost care and completeness. For the biographical and historical portion, some items were gathered from state, county, and town records; but the main dependence was on the private papers of the Family, including the voluminous and invaluable papers of the late Gov. OLIVER vVoLCOTT, JR., now deposited with the Con­ necticut Historical Society. The writer of the present volume has examined all the documents accessible. From these we pass to the ancient deeds of the Wolcott Family,-its genuine antiquities-most of them handsomely engrossed on parchment, with the original signatures and THE WOLCOTT AR.l\'1S SHIELD: Argent a Cheveron between three Chess Rooks ermined. CREST: A Btill's Head erased argent, armed or, ducally gorged, lined, and ringed, of the last. MoTTO: Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. BEARING THE NAME OF "WOLCOTT." THESE arms, which are of great antiquity, are identical with the Walcott Arms, and indicate the historical identity of the families. We have copies of the shield etched on the silver tankard and cup of Gov. Roger Wolcott (28), grandson of the first settler, and whose father was born in England, and engraved on the tombstone of Capt. Samuel Wolcott ( 42), who was contemporary with ltoger; these were not, apparently, copied from each other or from books of heraldry, and they point to a traditional copy which has disappeared. The chess-rooks were introduced early in the fifteenth century, through a knight, of whom it is recorded in the old Family Pedigree:- Playing at ye chesse with Henry ye fifte, king of Englande, he gave hym ye checke matte with ye rouke, whereupone ye kinge changed his coate of armes which was ye crosse with flower de lures, and gave him ye rouke for a remembrance. "It seems these Chess Rooks were at first called Rooks for being in defence of all ye rest: and therefore they stan<le in ye uttermost corners of ye Chesseboard as Frontier Castles. Kinge William ye Conquerour lost greate Lordships at this playe. And it might well become a Kinge, for therein are comprised all ye Stratagems of Warr or plotts of Civill State." ("Heralds' Visitation.") The motto is a line of the Latin poet, Horace, and a literal rendering is, Accust01ned to s•wear in the words of no master. xxii WOLCOTT GENEALOGY The allusion is to the schoolboy practice of repeating a form of words after the teacher; and the idea, of course, is to 1·est one's faith on no man's assertion, to think and decide for one's self; in a word, to take nothing on trust. We give an excellent picture of the arms, drawn by Somer­ by and engraved by Richardson. xviii WOLCOTT GENEALOGY seals attached. One of them is notable as bearing the Great Seal of JAMES I., of the Stuart line, England. These docu­ ments, deposited in a small trunk which bore, in brass nails, the initials I-I. "\V., were the most valued of "the honored heirlooms" transmitted from the elder line of the Family through the daughters of the third HENRY \V OLCOTT. They were held by some related family in Windsor, until by some fortune they came into the possession of the younger Gover­ nor Wolcott, through whom they descended to lVIr.