Table of Contents
Roger Wolcott Papers
A Guide to the collection at the Connecticut Historical Society
Collection Overview |
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| Repository: | Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut |
| Creator : | Wolcott, Roger |
| Title : | Roger Wolcott Papers |
| Dates : | 1631-1889 |
| Extent : | 1.5 Linear feet (3 boxes) |
| Abstract : | Correspondence, diaries, promissory notes, papers concerning the Spanish ship case and papers about trouble in the Second Church in Windsor. |
| Location: | Ms Wolcr1767 |
| Language: | English |
Biographical Sketch
Roger Wolcott was born in Windsor, Connecticut on January 4, 1679, the youngest son of Simon and Martha (Pitkin) Wolcott. He was apprenticed to a clothier in 1694 and left five years later to set up a successful business of his own. On December 3, 1702, he married Sarah Drake (1684?-1748) the daughter of Sgt. Job and Mary (Wolcott) Drake.
Wolcott's public career began in 1707 when he was chosen a selectman of the town of Windsor. Two years later, in May 1709, he was admitted to practice at the bar. He served as a Representative of South Windsor in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1709, was raised to the bench of justices in 1710, was elected member of Council in 1714, Judge of the County Court in 1724, and Judge of the Superior Court in 1732. In 1741 he was named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Deputy Governor. He was elected Governor in 1750, a position he held for four years.
Wolcott was appointed Commissary of the Connecticut Forces in the 1711 expedition against Canada in Queen Anne's War (the War of Spanish Succession, 1702-1713). In 1745, at the age of 66, Wolcott was commissioned Major General by Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts and was second in command to Sir William Pepperell in the expedition against Louisbourg during King George's War (the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744-1748).
Wolcott kept a journal during the Louisbourg expedition which was printed in the Connecticut Historical Society's Collections, Volumes XVI and XVII. He was the author of one of the earliest volumes of poetry printed in Connecticut, Poetical Meditations being the Improvement of some Vacant Hours . He also published a small quarto, A Letter to the Reverend Mr. Noah Hobart. In 1895, the Connecticut Historical Society published, as part of the third volume of its Collections, A Memoir for the History of Connecticut, By Roger Wolcott, 1759, from the original manuscript in possession of the Watkinson Library in Hartford.
Roger and Sarah Wolcott had fifteen children, including Oliver, a governor of Connecticut and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Roger Wolcott died May 17, 1767, and is buried in Windsor Cemetery.
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Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence to and from Roger Wolcott, financial papers, legal papers, diaries and literary papers with transcriptions. The correspondence also includes some early 17th century Wolcott family letters.
Arrangement
Materials are organized into three series: Correspondence, Diaries, and Literary Papers.
Series I: Correspondence consists of Wolcott family letters, including Henry Wolcott, Josiah Wolcott, Oliver Wolcott, Sr., Sarah Chauncy, and Matthew Allyn, and letters to and from Roger Wolcott. The letters concern relations with Native Americans, military, legal, political, and religious matters, and material concerning the Spanish ship case.
Series II: Diaries contains an original diary and two transcriptions.
Series III: Literary Papers comprises a manuscript and transcription of narrative of the troubles in the Second Church in Windsor between 1735-1741
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions on access to the collection. When material is fragile, researcher may be directed to microfilm copies.
Use Restrictions
Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations.
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Subject Headings
Personal Names
Subjects
Geographic Names
Genre Forms
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Item, Collection Title, Collection number (Box #, Folder #). Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.
Processing Details
EAD finding aid updated to EAD 2002 in December 2010.
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Contents:
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Return to the Table of Contents I. Correspondence |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Letters to, from, and concerning Wolcott family members, including Henry Wolcott and Josiah Wolcott 1631-1693 (22 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Letters primarily to Henry Wolcott 1695-1702 (23 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Letters to, from, and concerning Wolcott family members, including Matthew Allyn, Sarah Chauncey, and Roger Wolcott. Account list for the Connecticut Colony, 1730. 1703-1742 (18 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Letters to Roger Wolcott, petitions, accounts, Roger Wolcott's commission from William Shirley 1743-1744 (11 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Letters to, from, and concerning Roger Wolcott 1745 (25 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Letters primarily to Roger Wolcott 1746 (17 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Letters primarily to Roger Wolcott 1747 (12 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Letters primarily to Roger Wolcott 1748-1749 (9 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott; bills of exchange 1750 (11 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott; petitions, 1751 (10 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott; resolutions of the Consociation Meeting of Churches within the County of Litchfield 1752 (13 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott 1753-1754 (19 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Letters primarily to and from Roger Wolcott; letter from Oliver Wolcott; enlistment of Price Abbot 1754 (9 items) | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Letters, manifests, will and testament of Henry Wolcott with testimony of Roger Wolcott; printed page from The Citizen (April 27, 1889); list of letters to Henry Wolcott 1753-1889 (10 items) | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Orders, lists of governors, legal statements, accounts of ships' merchandise, depositions, and letters in Spanish and English 1749-1752 (20 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Letters and legal documents concerning the Spanish ship case, one in Spanish 1752 (8 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Letters, promissory notes, and documents concerning the Spanish ship case January - June, 1753 (19 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Declaration in 18 pages of Joseph Miguel de San Juan regarding the Spanish ship case 1753 (1 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott, two in Spanish June - August,1753 (17 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott concerning the Spanish ship case September - December,1753 (12 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Letters and documents concerning the Spanish ship case January, 1754 (7 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Letters and documents concerning the Spanish ship case October, 1754 (5 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Letters and documents concerning the Spanish ship case November, 1754 (18 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Letters and documents concerning the Spanish ship case December, 1754 (22 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Letters and documents concerning the Spanish ship case, two in Spanish January, 1755 (18 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Letters concerning the Spanish ship case, one in French October - December, 1755 (4 items) | |||||||||
| 2 | 13 | Letters to and from Roger Wolcott and concerning the Spanish ship case; printed extract; proclamation (copy) 1756-1766 (11 items) | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Typewritten carbon copies of letters from Roger Wolcott; typed carbon copy of Power of Attorney, Joseph Drake to Ezakiah Bliss; list of important dates in Roger Wolcott's life 1728-1748 (12 items) | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents II. Diaries |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Major General Roger Wolcott's Diary of the Siege of Louisbourg, 1745, Together with his Autobiography and Religious Reflections, transcribed by Doris E. Cook[between 1969-1974] 1747-1755 (1 (30 pp) items) | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Roger Wolcott's Diary of the Siege of Louisbourg in 1745, together with his Autobiography and Religious Reflections. Transcribed by Henry Stevens, Jr., 1845 1745 (1 (58 pp) items) | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Roger Wolcott's Journal 1745-1755 (1 items) | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents III. Literary Papers |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Roger Wolcott's A Narrative of the Troubles in the Second Church in Windsor from the Year 1735 to the Year 1741...Transcribed by Doris Cook [between 1969 and 1974] 1741 (1 (55 pp) items) | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Roger Wolcott's A Narrative of the Troubles in the Second Church in Windsor from the Year 1735 to the Year 1741 1741 (1 items) | |||||||||