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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—ConnecticutOliver WOLCOTT
(1726-1797)
WOLCOTT, Oliver, a
Delegate from Connecticut; born in Windsor, Conn., November 20,
1726; was graduated from Yale College in 1747; commissioned a
captain by the Governor of New York in 1747; raised a company of
Volunteers and served on the northwestern frontier until the peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle; returned to Connecticut and settled in
Litchfield; studied medicine, but did not practice; elected sheriff
of the newly organized county of Litchfield, Conn., in 1751; member
of the State council 1774-1786 and at the same time judge of the
county court of common pleas; judge of probate for the Litchfield
district many years; major general of militia; appointed by the
Continental Congress in 1775 as one of the commissioners of Indian
affairs for the northern department, intrusted with the task of
inducing the Iroquois Indians to remain neutral; Member of the
Continental Congress 1776-1778 and 1780-1783; a signer of the
Declaration of Independence; commander of the fourteen Connecticut
regiments sent for the defense of New York in 1776, and divided his
time between Army service and service in Congress; commanded a
brigade of militia which took part in the defeat of General
Burgoyne in 1777; Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut 1786-1796;
elected Governor in 1796 and served until his death in Litchfield,
Conn., December 1, 1797; interment in the East Cemetery.
Bibliography
Bland, James E. “The Oliver Wolcotts of Connecticut: The
National Experience, 1775-1800.” Ph.D. diss., Harvard
University, 1970.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
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