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| Frederick Wolcott |
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The Early Years
Frederick and Betsey His Family Business Law and Politics The Early Years Frederick Wolcott was born on November 2, 1767. He was the youngest of five children born to Oliver Wolcott and Lorraine (Laura) Collins Wolcott. His oldest brother, Oliver, died young. Oliver Jr. was born in early 1760, followed by Laura in late 1761, and Mariann in early 1765. In 1786, Frederick graduated from Yale. The following year he got his law degree from Tapping Reeve's Litchfield Law School. Illness, however, prevented him from practicing law right out of school. Instead, he started working for the local courts.
[top] Frederick and Betsey On October 12, 1800, Frederick married Elizabeth "Betsey" Huntington. She was the daughter of Colonel Joshua Huntington of Norwich, CT. According to Joseph C. Jackson, the author of The British and American Wolcotts, described Betsey as "beautiful" and "highly accomplished." Sadly, Betsey died on April 2, 1812, after eleven years of marriage. The Litchfield Historical Society, in the Alice Wolcott collection, has a substantial number of letters (roughly sixty) written between Frederick and Betsey. Below are some excerpts from their letters (click on the date of the letter to see the letter in whole): June 26, 1800 (Frederick to Betsey): My mind dwells with great pleasure on our acquaintance & friendship. I love, without reserve, to write to you & to disclose my feelings; to tell you I am your friend, & that I will always remain so. With pleasure and with as much true gratitude as every heart felt, I reflect on the confidence you repose in me, & on the kind civilities with which you treat me. February 15, 1801 (Betsey to Frederick): I am anxious to hear from you how you can possibly make out in my absence, I am of such importance when I am with you, I hope you will write me particularly, how the girls manage, and all the trifling things you can think of, for you may be assured I feel a little interested [Back to Frederick and Betsey] April 25, 1803 (Frederick to Betsey): I shall be very busy this Week, & can only add, ay present, that I wish you to be a happy as possible with your friends, & I am sure you will make them happy. - If I feel a little lonely in your absence I will say nothing about it. - Kiss the little girls every day for me & remember me with respect to our kind Parents; & be assured of the affection of your forever May 1, 1803 (Betsey to Frederick): I received your letter on Friday, and was very happy to hear you was well. I had feared you would suffer from the cold you had; you doubtless have thought me quite inatentive in not writing you, but I will inform you of the circumstances [Back to Frederick and Betsey] June 1, 1806 (Betsey to Frederick): the Girls have both been to meeting all day, and have been good Children, they send love to you and say they long to see you, and Mary Ann requests me to write that she has not struck Huntington since she has been here, Elizabeth is very good except when I leave her, she has still her cough, June 8, 1806 (Frederick to Betsey): Kiss the dear Children for me & tell Huntington I shall expect when I go to Norwich to see him quite a man & competent to assist me considerably in my farming.- As for Hannah I shall play with her no more (poor child) as I hear from all quarters that I am quite partial to her. [Back to Frederick and Betsey] October 16, 1811 (Betsey to Frederick): Agreeable to your request, I have began to write you and I can say with a trembling hand as you are well a ware, my nervous system is very weak. But I think I can assure you, that I have yesterday and to day felt a little better, I cough, but not as much and the unpleasant sensation at my breast lessens November 11, 1811 (Frederick to Betsey): It gave me great pleasure to be informed by your letter of the 4.th inst. and also by our Cousin Jabez, that you are regaining your health. If you meet with no accident so as to occasion a relapse I think you will soon enjoy health.
[Back to Frederick and Betsey] [top] His Family Betsey Huntington and Frederick had six children. Mary Ann Goodrich was born on August 8, 1801. Her sister, Hannah Huntington, arrived on January 4, 1803. A year and a half later, Joshua Huntington was born on August 9, 1804. Elizabeth followed on March 6, 1806. Frederick Henry arrived just over two years later on August 19, 1808. Laura Maria was the last to be born. Her birthday was August 14, 1811. All ix of the children, including the boys, attended the Litchfield Female Academy. On the same day, May 22, 1827, Mary Ann married Asa Whitehead of Newark and her sister, Elizabeth, was wedded to John P. Jackson of Newark. Four years later, on March 3, 1831, Laura Maria married Robert G. Rankin of New York City. Both Jackson and Rankin were Litchfield Law School graduates. After Betsey's death, Frederick remarried on June 21, 1815. His second wife was Mrs. Sally Worthington Cooke. She was the daughter of Reverend Samuel Goodrich of Berlin. Together, Frederick and Sally had four children. Charles Moseley was the oldest, having been born on November 20, 1816. Chauncey Goodrich, their second son, died young. Henry Griswold followed on November 4, 1820. Mary Frances, born on July 9, 1823, was their final child. Charles Moseley was the only one of the children to attend the Litchfield Female Academy. Frederick and his family lived on South Street in Litchfield in the home originally built by his father, Oliver Sr. Frederick received the home after his father's death in 1797. [top] Business The Embargo Act of 1807, which remained in effect until 1809, raised concerns about foreign trade which pervaded the endeavor. To allay his brother’s fear, Oliver Wolcott wrote Frederick in January of 1808, …it is natural for you to feel concern respecting our China Trade. I can assure you, that the danger is less than appears at your distance. No Merchants have failed, who were not insolvent before the Embargo. Large sums are due our concern, but in general they are due from the best men in the City…There is no immediate danger of War & the Ship & Cargo out, are not embraced by any of the decrees of either of the Parties to the War. The Ship & Cargo are insured against all risques even War, in the best offices here & in Philadelphia…Tell Mr. Demming what I write & Keep yourself cool, for I assure you that we are not in any new danger, unless the British perfidiously swept our Commerce from the Ocean, which is not in the least probable. In April of 1809, Oliver Wolcott announced to his brother, “…we have concluded to send out the Trident with a moderate Investment & to close the existing concern with the depending voyage.” After it’s return in 1810, newspaper advertisements announced “On Tuesday the 12 th June, at one o’clock, Will be sold at Public Auction, at the Tontine Coffee House, the ship TRIDENT, a first rate merchant ship, about 4 years old…” thus concluding the five year enterprise. According to Samuel Orcutt, author of History of Torrington, Connecticut
(1878), a mill in Torrington (a neighboring town of Litchfield) was sold "to Frederick Wolcott
of Litchfield, and Guy Wolcott of Torrington; deed dated May 3, 1813.
The Wolcotts purchased another plot, below the first, at the same
time; and upon this they erected, that year, the woolen mill. They
purchased several other pieces of land giving the owners until the
next September to remove the timber. On the day of the raising of
the wooden mill, the Rev. Alexander Gillet being present as well as
a large number of people of the town, proposed that the name of the
place be changed. In response to which a call was made. 'What shall
we call it? Name it.' He answered, 'Wolcottville;' and to this all
agreed, and WOLCOTTVILLE it is." (90 - 91) Wolcottville became
the principal village in the town of Torrington. Law and Politics Instead of pursuing his own law practice, Frederick was Clerk of the Common Please. He followed that job by moving up in 1798 to become the Clerk of the Superior Court in Litchfield County. Afterwards he was appointed a Judge of Probate, a position he held until he retired from public life. He served as a presidential elector in 1808. In 1810, he elected to the State Senate and remained there through 1823. Throughout his life he held several other positions: he represented Litchfield in the Connecticut General Assembly, was president of the Litchfield County Foreign Mission and Education Societies, was president of the Board of Trustees of the Litchfield Female Academy, was a fellow of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was a fellow of Yale College. Frederick died on May 28, 1837. He is buried in the East Cemetery in Litchfield (less than a mile down the road from the Historical Society). [top]  |
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| ©
Copyright 2001-2004 by the Litchfield Historical Society . |
All rights reserved. For permission: director@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org. | |
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