Male

January 11, 1760

June 1, 1833

Litchfield, CT

Hartford, CT
Middletown, CT

Elizabeth Stoughton Wolcott (June 1, 1785)

Oliver Wolcott, Jr. was the son of Oliver and Lorana (Collins) Wolcott. His father was Governor of Connecticut and one of the signers of both the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence.

Oliver Wolcott, Jr. graduated from Yale in 1778 and entered the Litchfield Law School, studying under Tapping Reeve. In 1781, he was admitted to the Bar and received a Master's degree from Yale.

In the summer of 1779, Wolcott joined the quartermaster's department of the Continental Army, likely assisted by his father who was in charge of army stores and ordinance in Litchfield. His new was his first experience with what would later become his career: organizing the financial affairs of his department as well as the provision and transportation of goods for the Army.

After ...completing his service, however, Wolcott began a prominent political rather than military career. His political appointments included the Committee of the General Assembly in 1782, followed by the Commissioner for the state of Connecticut; rising rapidly to the position of the Connecticut Comptroller in 1788 and (a year later) to Auditor in the National Treasury Department. In this position he was instrumental in structuring the new Treasury Department through the establishment of numerous clerical forms and methods.

In 1791, he became the Comptroller of the United States Treasury. As such, he was a key figure the in the creation of Secretary Alexander Hamilton's First Bank of the United States. He would continue to seek Hamilton's advice in his future career. In 1795, Oliver was appointed the second Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America by President George Washington. As Secretary, his primary duty became raising funds to support the growing Federal Government. During his time as Treasurer, he saw the introduction of the first gold coins into circulation (1975, 1796), the employment of the first women in the United States Mint (1795), designed and implemented the Customs Service Flag (1799), and the first federal tax on land, dwellings, and slaves (1798). He held the position into the administration of President John Adams, retiring in 1800 amid public controversy and criticism from the Jeffersonian supporters in Congress. Wolcott invited a congressional investigation into the Treasury in response in 1801 and although it cleared his name, Wolcott did not return to the department.

Impressed with the man's service, President John Adams appointed Wolcott a federal circuit judge in the expanded judiciary department created by the Judiciary Act of 1801. The controversial act was repealed in 1802, however, before it could take effect and Wolcott never held the position.

Following his retirement from government service, Wolcott moved to New York City. In April of 1803, Oliver was elected president of Merchant's Bank and held the position for a year. He went on to help found the Bank of America and was elected its first president in 1812, a position he held for two years. While in New York City, Wolcott ran several successful businesses including the Litchfield China Trading Company (when he partnered with his brother Frederick Wolcott and associates Benjamin Tallmadge and Julius Deming) and Oliver Wolcott & Company. The men of the Litchfield China Trading Company commissioned the Trident with funds from several successful trips of chartered vessels. These ships sailed to the Orient to purchase exotic goods to be sold in New York . Wolcott returned to Litchfield after the sale of the Trident and dissolution of the company in 1810, discouraged from sea trade by the prospect of war with England. Oliver Wolcott, Jr. turned to the real estate business while Frederick went into the wool manufacture business under the name Wolcott Manufacturing Company (or Litchfield Manufacturing Company) with assistance from his brother.

In 1817, Oliver ran for the seat of Governor of Connecticut under the Democratic/Toleration ticket and won. He was re-elected to the position for ten consecutive years, finally ending his administration in 1827. While Governor, Wolcott presided over the creation of the State's first written constitution in 1818 which replaced the previously established Colonial Charter (the only changes being the removal of "Crown" and "Parliament" from the original charter). The new Constitution both expanded and curtailed the power of the Governor by giving him veto power but also giving the legislative body the power to override the veto. He also was no longer allowed to preside over the General Assembly, but did give him extensive power to appoint civil and military officials. This Constitution no longer stands and today the Governors serve under the 1965 Constitution.

In 1785, he married Elizabeth Stoughton the daughter of Captain John Stoughton, who attended Yale in 1755. The couple had been married twenty years when she died of consumption on September 24, 1805 at the age of thirty-eight. They had five sons, three of whom had died in infancy, and two daughters. Of the survivors, one son (Oliver Stoughton Wolcott) attended the Litchfield Law School and two daughters (Elizabeth Wolcott Gracie and Laura Wolcott) attended the Litchfield Female Academy.
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"The [judiciary must] be independent of the power or influence of the Legislative and Executive Departments in the expressions of judicial opinions." -- to William Tilghman, June 25, 1802

"The Southern Patriots-American Perserves will secure them independence." September 2 1816

1778

Graduated from Yale College in 1778 and received an honorary LLD from Yale in 1819. He also received an honorary LLD from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1799.

Political Office; Manufacturer; Business

1781

Commissioner 1784
Comptroller of Public Accounts 1788-1789
Auditor for the U.S. Treasury Department 1789-1791
Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury Department 1791-1795
Secretary of the Treasury 1795-1800
Judge for the NY, CT, and VT circuits (NY,CT,VT) 1801-1802

Held a clerkship in the Committee of Pay-Table in 1781. Served as a Member of the Committee of Pay-Table in 1782.

Governor (CT) 1817-1828

President of the Connecticut Constitutional Convention in 1818.

[We are currently working to update and confirm citations of attendance.]

Buel Jr., Richard. The A to Z of the Early American Republic. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006. Accessed via Google Books.

Carley, Rachel. Litchfield: The Making of a New England Town. Connecticut: GHP, 2011.

Connecticut State Archives. "Records of the Office of Governor, 1820 - 1858." http://www.cslib.org/archives/Finding_Aids/Antebellum.pdf. Accessed 5/10/2014.

Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of College History, Vol. 4. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1907.

Department of the Treasury. "Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (1795 - 1800)." http://www.treasury.gov/about/history/pages/owolcottjr.aspx. Last updated 11/11/2010. Accessed 5/10/2014.

Department of the ...Treasury. "1600 - 1799." http://www.treasury.gov/about/history/Pages/1600-1799.aspx. Last updated 11/13/2010. Accessed 5/10/2010.

"Litchfield, September 2 1816 Tribute of Respect," Connecticut Herald, vol XIII, iss. 49, 3, September 17, 1816.
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