Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Papers
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Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Papers A Guide to the Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Papers at the Connecticut Historical Society Collection Overview Repository : Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut Creator : Wolcott, Oliver, Jr, 1760-1833. Title : Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Papers Dates : 1614 - 1880 Extent : 29.5 linear feet (59 boxes) Abstract : Collection consists of correspondence (personal and business), federal and state government papers, legal documents, financial papers, speeches and essays, awards and appointments, notes on Wolcott family history, estate papers, and related print material. Location: Manuscript stacks Language: English Biographical Sketch Oliver Wolcott, Jr. was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on January 11, 1760. He was the eldest son of Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797) and Laura (Collins) Wolcott (1732-1794). After being tutored by his mother he entered the town grammar school to prepare for Yale College, and immediately after graduation in 1778, he studied law under Tapping Reeve. He served in the military during the American Revolution as a volunteer in two minor campaigns in 1777 and 1779. He accepted an appointment in the quartermaster's department and supervised the safekeeping and conveyance of army stores and ordnance at Litchfield. He was admitted to the bar in 1781, and he moved to Hartford where he worked in the office of the committee of the pay-table. In January 1782 he was appointed to the Committee of the Pay-Table, and in May 1784 he was appointed a commissioner to adjust and settle the accounts and claims of Connecticut against the United States. In May 1788 he was selected to fill the office of Comptroller of Public Accounts. Oliver Wolcott Jr. papers, 1760-1833 In September 1789 Wolcott was appointed auditor of the new federal Treasury, assuming his post in early November. He was appointed by President Washington, on Alexander Hamilton's recommendation, to Comptroller in June 1791. When Hamilton resigned as Secretary of the Treasury, Wolcott was appointed (February 2, 1795) by Washington to succeed him. He served as Treasury Secretary until November 1800, and after a short period as Judge for the Second Circuit Court (1801-1802), he retired from public life. Wolcott moved with his family to New York in 1803, where he entered into a business partnership with James Watson, Moses Rogers, Archibald Gracie, and William Woolsey. This group of businessmen formed a commission and agency known as Oliver Wolcott & Company. In 1804 his company made its first venture in the China trade, and after the partnership was amicably dissolved at Wolcott's suggestion in April 1805, he concentrated his main energies in that field. In 1810-1811 Wolcott was elected to the main board of directors of the Bank of the United States, and after the charter lapsed (March 4, 1811) he played a prominent role in the launching of the Bank of America, serving as its president from 1812-1814. Wolcott returned to Litchfield in 1815, where he set himself up as a gentleman farmer and promoted manufacturing enterprises in the state. He was chosen as candidate for governor by the Toleration Party in 1816, but was defeated by the incumbent, John Cotton Smith. He was elected by a narrow margin in the following year, and served as governor until 1826. A combination of financial setbacks and election defeat caused him to return to New York where he lived with his daughter, Laura Wolcott Gibbs and her husband George. Oliver Wolcott married Elizabeth Stoughton on June 1, 1785. They had five sons, three of whom died in infancy, and two daughters. Wolcott died in New York City on June 1, 1833. Scope and Content Collection consists of correspondence (personal and business), federal and state government papers, legal documents, financial papers, business papers (including his papers relating to the China trade, 1805-1814), speeches and essays, awards and appointments, notes on Wolcott family history, estate papers, and related print material. Notable correspondents include John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Fisher Ames, Joel Barlow, Theodore Dwight, Chauncey Goodrich, Alexander Hamilton, Rufus King, Timothy Pickering, Josiah Quincy, Benjamin Tallmadge, Noah Webster, George Washington, and Oliver Wolcott. Included in the collection are the notes of George Gibbs IV for his two volumes Memoirs of the © Connecticut Historical Society 2 Oliver Wolcott Jr. papers, 1760-1833 Administrations of Washington and John Adams, Edited from the Papers of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, 1846. Arrangement Materials in this collection are organized into seven series based on Oliver Wolcott, Jr's filing system. Series I: Wolcott's bound volumes, was arranged by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and placed in 54 bound volumes. The other six series are based on previous archival arrangement. This arrangement follows Wolcott's filing system with some rearrangement over the years and additions of material from other collections. Series I: Wolcott's bound volumes consists primarily of letters and supporting documents to and from Oliver Wolcott, Jr. The correspondence was arranged in 54 bound volumes by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (This series begins with volume 4, as the location of volumes 1 - 3 is not known.) Some of the material has been rearranged by George Gibbs IV. Material has been arranged by correspondent, subject, and/or chronologically. Supporting documents include reports, essays, memoranda, speeches, depositions, interrogations, proposals, proclamations, acts, notes on Wolcott family history, and related print material. The material covers his entire professional career. Notable correspondents include John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Fisher Ames, Joel Barlow, Theodore Dwight, Chauncey Goodridge, Alexander Hamilton, Rufus King, Henry Knox, Timothy Pickering, Josiah Quincy, Benjamin Tallmadge, George Washington, Noah Webster, Eli Whitney, and Oliver Wolcott. Series II: Correspondence consists primarily of letters to Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and Oliver Wolcott & Company. Items are a mix of personal and business correspondence. Letters addressed to Oliver Wolcott & Co. are interfiled with personal letters and all are filed under Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Some drafts of replies are interfiled with the letters. The majority of these papers appear to have been collected by George Gibbs IV for a biography of Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Later accessions have been randomly interfiled with the original collection. Series includes letters to and from other Wolcott family members including Eliza Wolcott and Frederick Wolcott. Series III: United States Government appointments consists of material collected by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. while he was employed by the United States Treasury Department and served as a federal Circuit Court judge. Series includes records of accounts, statements, balances, receipts, circular letters and commissions, land valuation, receipts for debentures by members of the Second Congress and Auxiliary Staff, weekly returns of cash and state of balances, record books of the Bank of the United States, Circuit Court papers, and related correspondence. Arrangement is based on previously constructed order. © Connecticut Historical Society 3 Oliver Wolcott Jr. papers, 1760-1833 Series IV: Business papers consists of accounts, receipts, promissory notes, insurance policies, bills of lading, account sales, invoices, statements, packing notes, returns, imports and exports, articles of agreement, cargo abstracts, documents concerning the estate of James Watson, and related correspondence. Series includes business papers from Oliver Wolcott & Co. and the ships Allegany, Triton, Virginia, American Consul, and Trident, and documents and related correspondence concerning the Bank of America, the Bank of the United States, the Phoenix Branch Bank, and the Litchfield Woolen Manufactory. Series V: Personal papers consists of Oliver Wolcott, Jr.'s personal papers including his official appointments and honorary degrees, legal papers, mortgages, real estate transactions, receipts, promissory notes, bills, invoices, accounts, deduction of titles, deeds, summons, drafts of speeches, letters and jottings, and related correspondence. Series VI: Connecticut Offices consists of papers generated during Oliver Wolcott, Jr.'s years working in a variety of Connecticut state offices. Executive papers include speeches, correspondence (drafts and copies), general orders, proclamations, jottings, legal depositions, indentures, documents from the Supreme Court of Errors and related print material. Other state papers include material collected while Wolcott was Assistant Deputy Quartermaster for Litchfield and Comptroller of Public Accounts. Series VII: Wolcott family papers consists of papers of the Wolcott family including those of Henry Wolcott, George Gibbs, John Stoughton, Oliver Wolcott, and Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Series includes business and legal papers, diplomas, indentures, licenses of agreements, estate inventories, family deeds, and related correspondence. Restrictions Access Restrictions There are no restrictions on access to the collection. Some material is fragile so the researcher is initially directed to microfilm copies Use Restrictions Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations. Subject Headings © Connecticut Historical Society 4 Oliver Wolcott Jr. papers, 1760-1833 Personal Names Goodrich, Chauncey Parsons, Samuel Holden Putnam, Israel Sherman, Roger Trumbull, Jonathan Ward, Andrew Washington, George Subjects Concord, Battle of, 1775.