Letter from Jim Canacci

I received this very interesting email from Jim Canacci.  Hope everyone will enjoy it, too.

 

His referral to the journal written by Margaret Van Horn Dwight's and the connection she had with Josiah Wolcott (1755-1838), Nancy Higgins (1766-1824), Erastus Wolcott (1795-1867), and Susan Wolcott Danforth (1787) while traveling to Ohio in 1810.

Finding My Family

       It is always a question of where to begin when a person gets ready to put together their family history.  I am no different.  Where do I begin?  My Grandmother, Luella Evelyn Wolcott Collar had among her things, a beginning.  When I found the Wolcott family tree I was thrilled, for here was a very complete outline of my family, on the Wolcott side, back to the 1500's and up through my mother and father into 1935. This family tree was typed on stationary from The Boot Shop in Billings, Montana, with a note handwritten that says "Owned by Uncle Linus Shelton Wolcott".  This Linus Wolcott was my grandmother's brother. 

In the 1980's, I proceeded to add as much family history as I knew and have been adding to it ever since. 

Among my Grandmother's papers was a letter from a group called the Descendants of Henry Wolcott dated March 17, 1938 written to Evelyn Wolcott Collar.  The purpose for the letter was to inform her she was eligible to belong to the D.A.R.  There was an empty envelope addressed to Mrs. Mildred Chapman from L. S. Wolcott.

        We have all learned the immensity of the Internet and the information that can be found on this vast Information Highway. I started searching for the Wolcott name and it was not long before I had made contact with distant relatives that directed me to the Society of the Descendants of Henry Wolcott.  I filled out my membership form on 12/9/1999 and joined with a lifetime membership.

         A favorite pastime of genealogists is to visit ancestral homes; walking the same ground as one's fore bearers adds a sense of reality to the persons known only through records.

The Wolcott Family through the Years

Introduction

Many books and documents have been written through the years about this magnificent family.  References used in this blog were gotten from all sorts of types of media.  I am not attempting to write a full and complete history of this family, but I will try to show some of its history.

If you would like to join the Wolcott Family Society, please contact John B. Wolcott at  johnwolcott@mail.com

The Name and Family of Wolcott or Walcott

Wolcott, Henry (root of family tree)  1578-1655

The name of Wolcott or Walcott is derived from weald, the Saxon term for a woody district, combined with cot, which is a shortened form for cottage. It's meaning is therefore, literally, "cottage in the woodland".  It was first taken as a surname because of the residence of its original bearers at a place so called.

Numerous spellings of the name are to be found on ancient English and early American records,

Sir John Wolcott, of Wales, in the eleventh century, is probably the most remote of the ancestors of the family of whom there is record still in existence.  It's known that Sir John Wolcott, was mayor of London in 1403.

One early branch of the family in England was that represented in Devonshire before the year 1440 by Walter Wolcot or Walcot (Wolcott or Walcott) who by his first wife, had a son named John, who was the father of a daughter Joahanna.  By his second wife Alicia, daughter of Hugh Skerret, he had another son named John, who was the father of John, Richard and Thomas.  Of the three last mentioned brothers, John had sons John and Peter, of whom the first was the father of Thomas, the father of Peter, the father of John; Richard was the father of a son named John, who married Maude, the widow of William Westcote, and was the father of Richard, who had a son named Peter, who was the father of John, the father of another John; and Thomas married Joan, daughter of William Colbrooke, and had a son named Walter, who married Elizabeth, daughter of William Lampry, and was the father by her of Thomas.   Thomas had by his wife, Margery, daughter of John Davy, sons John and  Thomas.
Although it is not entirely clear, in every case, from which of the numerous lines of the family in Great Britian the first emigrants of the name in America traced their descent, it is recorded that the Wolcotts and Walcotts were among the very early British settlers in colonial America.

According to some family historians, Sir John Wolcott or Walcott, of Shropshire, who was living in the latter part of the thirteenth century, was the father of a son named Jeran or Jevan, who married Anna, daughter of John Mynde, and was the father by her of Roger, who married Edith, daughter of Sir William Donnes, and Roger and Edith  had Sir Philip, who was the father by his wife Julian, daughter of John Herle, of John, who married Alice, daughter of David Lloyd, and was the father of Sir John, who was the father of Thomas, the father of John, the father of another John, who married Matilda, daughter of Sir Richard Cornwall, and was the father of Roger.  Roger and his wife Margaret, daughter of David Lloyd, had a son William, who made his home in Somersetshire, England, and was the father there of another William, who with his wife Elizabeth had Thomas, who was the father of another Thomas, who died about 1572.  Thomas and his Alice had John Wolcott, who was the father of Henry, Roger and John, of whom Henry came to America.  Henry was born 1578; baptised Dec 6, 1578, in parish church at Lydiard St. Lawrence in England;  He died May 30, 1655, in Windsor, CT. 

Henry Wolcott married Elizabeth Saunders on Jan 19, 1606, at Lydiard St. Lawrence in the parish church at Lydiard St. Lawrence.  They are mentioned in the Family Chronologie, 1691:  "this happie pair were married about ye year 1606.  He came to New England about the year 1628 and in the year 1630 brought over his family, to avoid the persecution of those times against dissenters."  The Wolcott's left for America and sailed on March 20, 1630 from Plymouth, England, aboard the Mary and John skippered by Captain Squeb.  Before leaving England, the expedition of one hundred forty individuals from western England organized as an independent church.  This came to be known as the First Church of Windsor, the oldest church in Connecticut.  The Mary and John was the first of a fleet of seventeen ships to sail for the New England Coast.  The other sixteen vessels did not leave port until two weeks after the first ship.  Henry Wolcott and his party were to make their way alone, leaving behind the comforts of English settlements to face the challenges of the American wilderness. 

The above mentioned immigrant, Henry, son of John Wolcott, of Tolland, Somersetshire, England, was one of the first of the family to come to America during the reign of Charles I. He was the ancestor of the family in America.  He was one of the nineteen men mentioned in the Connecticut charter.   He brought his wife and 3 sons leaving behind 2 daughters with an older son.  He settled at Nantasket, Mass., in 1630 with his wife, Elizabeth Saunders, whom he had married in 1606, and there enrolled on the first list of 24 "freemen" of Boston.  About 1635, he moved his family to Windsor, Conn., and helped to establish the Connecticut Colony.  Henry Wolcott and the Reverend Mr. Warham were the founders of the First Church of Windsor.  Henry was also an original member of the General Court of both Massachusetts and the Connecticut Colonies.  He was a member of the 1st General Assembly of CT, 1637-1643.  He was one of the nineteen men mentioned in the Connecticut Charter.  The names of his children were John, Henry, George, Christopher, Anne, Mary, and Simon.  There may have been others, but there is no definite trace of them.

Henry Wolcott (the emigrant), baptized on December 6, 1578, who conveyed the manor house to his son Henry.  The final "T" was not added until Henry removed to America.

Note:  This information was obtained from the Wolcott Family in America (1578-1985).  If you wish to purchase this book from the Wolcott Family Society, please contact:  Karen Moore at   kssmoore@att.net 


If you would like to join the Wolcott Family Society, please contact John B. Wolcott at  johnwolcott@mail.com

Luella Evelyn Wolcott Collar

       On August 8, 2005 I was trying to get Evelyn's birth certificate from Illinois.  I discovered that her father, Albert Gallatin Wolcott was born in Wyandotte, Kansas (territory).  On the Internet I discovered my grandfather, Fred Taggart Collar, her husband was born in Leetonia, Columbiana County, Ohio.  I don't know for sure, but feel like this is where they met each other.  A lot of Wolcott family lived in the Farmington, Ohio  Area (per the archives lady in Warren, OH).  I wrote to Columbiana County Probate Court and ordered a birth certificate for Fred Taggart Collar and if possible their marriage license.  Shortly after Fred and Evelyn were married they moved to the Chicago IL, Cook County area. 

       Evelyn (Wolcott) Collar, youngest daughter of Albert Gallatin Wolcott, was a well-known poetess.  The Committee for the New Year's Poetry Party at the Imperial Court of Japan, Imperial Palace. Tokyo informed Evelyn that her poem was laid before Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, in 1959.

For information purposes, the Poetry Party annually held at the Imperial Court at the New Year is a ceremony at which are officially presented the poems composed on a theme previously given in a traditional Japanese poetry form of 'Waka' (a special poetry form consisting of 31 syllables in Japanese, or of five word-groups with 5, 7, 5, 7, 7, syllables respectively). Not only the poems of H.M. The Emperor and other members of the Imperial family but also those selected from among the poems sent in for the contest will be recited before their Majesties at the Party.   The letter was dated January 12, 1959.

--------------------------------------------------

(The following, along with a picture of Evelyn, came from a poetry book she had submitted poetry to:)

Evelyn (Wolcott) Collar of Howell Point, Diamond Lake, Cassopolis, MI.  (She was living with her daughter, Mary Katharine Collar; at the time she wrote this poetry).

Evelyn (Wolcott) Collar was born in Kansas City, Kansas (Old Wyandotte, Kansas) on March 14, 1880, of pioneer parents. Her mother, Mary Holmes Simpkinson, left a wealthy home in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the man of her choice and a son three years old, to settle in Wyandotte, when there was nothing there but forest and Indians.

Twenty-seven years later, their second living daughter, Evelyn was born to them.  Four years later, her husband, Albert passed away, and Mary Wolcott and her small daughter returned to Cincinnati, to care for an aging grandfather.  (Some of these dates don't agree with my dates, I show Evelyn was born 26 years after Mary and Albert were married and I show Evelyn was two years old, almost three, when her father passed away).

There, Evelyn wrote her first poem, at about eight years of age.  But such "nonsense" was not encouraged and the urge, being given no nourishment, lay dormant for many years.  She received her education in the public schools of Walnut Hills, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1900, she married Fred Collar.  She was soon so completely wrapped up in her family that she became practically a recluse.  But the birds flew early from the nest, and in 1938, Fred Collar's health broke.

In those heartbreaking days, poetry became again a necessity.  She started with a sonnet - "Summer Dawn," not the first of her poems to be published, but finally published, much as it stood in the first draft.  Ten words might easily cover her life history.  "She was born, she lived, she suffered and was gay."

The poem published in this book was "Destiny".  Here it is in its entirety:

Destiny

by Evelyn Wolcott Collar

We have no choice, but go our wandering way,

And seek a star to guide our destiny.

As down the years we suffer and enjoy,

Refined by sorrow, wearing thorn or bay,

Life strews along our path a strange array

Of mingled stars and dust in alchemy;

The clay takes on the tracing bold and free,

Raising a cross or crown to mark our stay.                                                   

Like clay stones found along a river shore,

Where waves and wind have washed and chiseled them

In lines and whorls from Beauty’s deathless core

Until they wear a fragile diadem,

The storms within the stream of Life can fashion

Star-spangled skies of deep, serene compassion.

--------------------------------------------------

The previous poem and story came from a poetry book she had submitted poetry to "Conquerors of Tomorrow" published in 1947 by Avalon Press, in Rogers, Arkansas.  Lilith Lorraine was the editor, published by Avalon World-Arts Academy (Annual dues $1.00. This was a hardbound book).  She had a whole page in the  book.

--------------------------------------------------

Many poetry awards were given to Evelyn, including Alpha awards in Glendale, California, and the California Federation of Chaparral Poets awards.  Evelyn won third prize in the Alpha Poets contest in the Alpha Chapter Chaparral Poets contest for her poem "Cycle".

-----------------------------------------------

      Evelyn was a quiet, soft-spoken beautiful small lady who was very devoted to her Church of Religious Science.  She shared her faith with others as a practitioner in her church.  She did extensive traveling all over the U.S. almost until the day she died.

Statement by Mary Holmes Simpkinson

               In1907, Mary Simpkinson made this statement in Kansas City, Kansas:

            "I came fifty years ago.  There were no bridges over the rivers in those days.  My husband brought six frame houses with him upon a steamboat from St. Louis."

            "They were the first frame houses to be built in old Wyandotte.  At that time there were quite a number of log houses.  Mr. Wolcott's "ready to use" dwellings were quite an innovation.  The lumber had all been cut and matched and needed only the carpenter's hammer to put them up.  The new houses caused quite a stir.  All of the new arrivals who intended to locate, and had been dependent upon the Garno House for food and shelter, were anxious to occupy one of the new houses.  The Indians came for miles around to look upon the wonderful new wigwam of the white brother, which needed only a few strokes of the hammer to make it a tepee far beyond their wildest dreams of splendor.  As a consequence of the feverish anxiety of the white settlers to live in one of the "modern structures", Mr. Wolcott disposed of five of his dwellings at a big price.  The sixth one he finished in what was then the finest style, for his own home.  His success in disposing of his ready to nail together houses, may have somewhat influenced his future career, as he afterward became a lumber merchant."

"At the time of Mr. Wolcott's arrival in old Wyandotte, Mrs. Lucy B. Armstrong was working as a missionary among the Wyandotte Indians. Her husband, John McIntyre Armstrong, was a member of the Wyandotte tribe. Some of his descendants are still living on the West Side.  He had come to Kansas from Ohio with the Wyandottes and was himself a missionary among his people.  He built a little frame church near what is now the corner of Fifth Street and Washington Avenue."

"John M. Armstrong died before my husband and I came to Wyandotte", said Mrs. Wolcott, "but his wife, Lucy B. Armstrong, was carrying on his work. Every Sunday the  Indians would congregate in that little church and listened so attentively to that dear woman's interpretation of the Bible and its application to their daily life, as do the most cultured congregations in the finest of our churches today.  No one knows what strange thoughts were warring in their semi-savage breasts, but this I know, that by no  word of mouth or action did they betray their feelings."

(The First Congregational Church)

Shortly after Mrs. Wolcott arrived, the church members of all denominations gathered in that little mission house and held union services.

(Listed below are some of the changes she had seen over the years)

"When I crossed the Kaw River on a ferry boat in 1857, I did not at that time dream that fifty years later I should be crossing it again on such a grand structure as this" said a little gray haired woman, on one of the fine trolley cars that run between Kansas City's  West Side, and Kansas City's East Side.

She was Mrs. Mary H.S. Wolcott, a widow, now 72 years old, who is spending the golden years of her long life with her children in Chicago, Cincinnati and Kansas City.  She is now at the home of her son, John A. Wolcott, 1018 Sandusky Avenue, West Side.  Mrs.  Wolcott came to old Wyandotte in 1857.  She and her husband, Albert Gallatin Wolcott, were raised in Ohio.  He was born there.  They moved to Kansas, shortly after they were married, in search of a new country in which they could build a home.

Mrs. Wolcott walked across the first bridge built over the Kaw River on the day it was opened.  That bridge was known as the old Wyandott. The old Southern Bridge was built in 1859.  It was used by many of the freighters who were going over the Sante Fe Trail.  Forty-eight years later, Mrs. Wolcott walked across the inter city viaduct on the day it was opened to the public.

(A forbidding looking place).

"It seems like a dream to me," said Mrs. Wolcott, in speaking of the changes that have taken place in Kansas City since she first saw it. "I remember the first time I first saw these bluffs.  My husband and I were coming up the Missouri River on one of the steamers, which ran from St.Louis to Kansas City.  I thought it the most forbidding place I had ever seen.  We landed at the foot of Minnesota Avenue in old Wyandotte.  There was no regular landing place.  The deck hands threw out a plank and we walked down it and up to the old Garno House, the only hotel in the city. We were there for some time before we built a house of our own."

"We did not go out calling in those days as women do now," said Mrs. Wolcott.  "It was too far from house to house to make many calls.  I remember one day when a very distinguished personage was stopping at the old American House at the foot of Main Street, on the levee. Three other Wyandotte women and myself decided to visit her.  Our only means of travel was by horseback.  We crossed the Kaw River on the ferry, at the foot of what is now Barnett Avenue, and followed the wagon road, which ran through the woods over the ground now occupied by the Armour Packing Company.  After a pleasant visit, we started for home.  On reaching the ferry we found that the ferryman had locked up his boat and he refused to take us over.  After much pleading and some tears, he consented to carry us over in his little skiff, but made us leave our ponies on the other side.  We found our husbands waiting for us at the landing, very much worried over the lateness of our return.  The next morning our husbands went over and brought the ponies back."

(This article was copied from a newspaper clipping)

"Uncle John Simpkinson" as he has been familiarly and affectionately known for a generation or more among Methodists in these parts, has removed to Chicago.  So passes out of Cincinnati circles one of the best-known characters.  Mr. Simpkinson was for years a pros-perous businessman, conducting one of the largest financial reserves, which he bore with Christian manliness.  During the days of affluence his home first on West Sixth Street and later on Walnut Hills, was the scene of openhearted hospitality.  Many Methodists celebrities at home and abroad were welcome guests at his board, and his parlors were often thronged by the old-fashioned evening companies now supplanted by high teas and what not.

In these social festivities the late Mrs. Simpkinson entered with a zest second only to that of her husband.  Mr. Simpkinson was an official member of the old Ninth Street Church, the predecessor of the present Trinity Church, which latter church he helped to build. Removing to Walnut Hills some thirty years ago, he entered heartily into the enterprise, which resulted in the erection of the largest and finest of our suburban churches.  He has always been distinguished by a gracious and cordial manner and an immaculate toilet.  During the visit of President McKinley to Walnut Hills some time since, "Uncle John" did the honors of the occasion and ushered him to his seat. Having been raised an Episcopalian, he was somewhat annoyed by the demonstrativeness of a revival held in the old "Ninth Street" by the late Wm. I. Fee, the pastor of the Church.  Brother Fee was accustomed to tell with his inimitable humor how on one occasion "Uncle John" came under the spell of the meeting and through his inexperience in "shouting" made certain inarticulate sounds of a very surprising character, and no one enjoyed the story more  than Uncle John himself.

The recent Quarterly Conference at Walnut Hills was in receipt of the following characteristic communication, elegantly penned although the writer is in his eighty-seventh year: "I herewith tender to you my resignation as trustee, as I expect to leave Cincinnati in a few days to take up my residence in Chicago.  Please accept same with kindest Christian regards to you all, with the hope that the cause of the Master will continue to prosper under your official control.  I remain yours in Christ, John Simpkinson."  Dr. Young, the pastor, presented a minute of respect, part of which is as follows: "In accepting his resignation, we would express our appreciation of his long and faithful services.  Into this church building and organization he incorporated money, time, zeal, and devotion from its very beginning, thirty years ago, without stint.  We pray for  God's blessing upon him in his old age.  His life is a part of the life of our Church."  Mr. J. Gordon R. Wright moved the adoption of the resolution.

Mary Holmes Simpkinson left a wealthy home in Cincinnatti, Ohio, with the man of her choice and a son three years old, to settle in Wyandotte, Kansas (now called Kansas City, Kansas) when there was nothing there but forest and Indians.

Twenty-seven years later, their second living daughter, Evelyn was born to them.  Four years later, her husband, Albert passed away, and Mary Wolcott and her small daughter returned to Cincinnati, to care for an aging grandfather.  (Some of these dates don't agree with my dates)  (I show Evelyn was born 26 years after Mary and Albert were married and I show Evelyn was two years old, almost three, when her father passed away).

I received the following letter from a relative in Pennsylvania:  Albert was named after the Famous Albert Gallatin 1761 - 1849  - American (Swiss born) Financier and Statesman.

The children of Albert and Mary Wolcott are:

1.  Charles E. S. Wolcott

2.  Ana Elizabeth (twin) Wolcott

3.  John Albert (twin) Wolcott

4.  Elizabeth Somers Wolcott

5.  Francis Alonzo Wolcott

6.  Henry Holmes Wolcott

7.  Linus Sheldon Wolcott

8. Frank Ebersole Wolcott

9.  Luella Evelyn Wolcott (my grandmother)

Albert Gallatin Wolcott (1823-1882)

       Albert Gallatin Wolcott (My Great Grandfather) was born on August 30, 1823 in OH and died December 28, 1882 in Wyandotte, Kansas Territory.  He married Mary Holmes Simpkinson May 30, 1854 in Cincinnatii, Ohio.  She was the daughter of John Simpkinson.  She was born March 3, 1833 in Belper, England per census for 1880 and died March 12, 1917 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Mary Holmes Simpkinson was brought from England at the age of 12 (1845) by her maternal Uncle John Simpkinson and adopted, taking the name of Simpkinson.

            Albert and Mary were the parents of my Grandmother, Luella Evelyn Wolcott.  They were married on May 30, 1854 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He enlisted at Leavenworth, Kansas on the first call for Volunteers for the Union Army in 1861.  He served during the entire Civil War, being mustered out at Fort Smith Arkansas in 1865.  He was Quartermaster Sergeant.

            Their other children were:  Charles E.S. Wolcott, Anna Elizabeth, John Albert, (twins, Anna died shortly after birth), Elizabeth Sommers, Francis Alonso, Henry Holmes, Linus Sheldon, and Frank Ebersole.

Other Wolcotts living in Trumbull County

       O.K. Wolcott, son of Erastus and Almira, was born May 30, 1823, in this town (Farmington).  His educational advantages were fair, for those early days.  He was united in marriage to Miss Catharine M. Stowe, of Braceville, November 13, 1845.  This lady was born May 21, 1821.  Result of union, six children, viz: 
         1. Norman E. Wolcott, deceased

2. Cornelia A. Wolcott

3. Austin E. Wolcott

4. Miranda C. Wolcott

5. Julius O. Wolcott, deceased

6. Orvis O. Wolcott

Mr. Wolcott has held several town offices.  In 1865 he was chosen county commissioner; he was re-elected in 1868.  United with the Presbyterian church April 10, 1859; he was several times chosen superintendent of the Sunday school.  His wife is also a member.

Theodore Wolcott was a member of Captain Benton's company, and made permanent settlement here (Farmington, OH) in 1814, he settled at the west corners.  His wife was Rhoda Goodrich.            They had nine children:

1. Lewis Wolcott

2. Josiah Wolcott

3. John Wolcott

4. William Wolcott

5. Nancy Wolcott

6. Newton Wolcott

7. Chester Wolcott

8. Emily Wolcott

9. Susan Wolcott

Eight are dead.  All resided in Farmington and died here, excepting Emily (Belden), who died in Kansas; William, who died in Parkman and Chester, who survives.  Theodore Wolcott died in 1837, aged about seventy-three.  His wife died in 1847 at the age of eighty-eight.  Mr. Wolcott was a deacon of the Congregational church from its organization to the time of his death.  He was a man of liberality and worth.

O. L. Wolcott, son of Lewis, was born in Farmington in 1823; was married in 1850 to Martha F. Kibbee, and has five children living, one deceased:

1. Ella H. Wolcott (Chamberlain),

2. Louise S. Wolcott (deceased)

3. Emma A. Wolcott

4. Carrie F. Wolcott

5. Grace L.Wolcott

6. Frank B. Wolcott

He was county auditor for four years, 1859 - 1863; was a member of the State Board of Equalization from this district, serving the year 1871-1872; was then appointed by Governor Noyes as commissioner of railroads and telegraphs and served two years.  He is now engaged in farming and stock dealing.

William Wolcott, son of Newton, was born in Farmington in 1837.  In 1866 he married Hattie E. Gillette, who died in 1881, leaving three children -

1. Carrie E. Wolcott

2. Newton A. Wolcott

3. Carroll Wolcott

In February 1882, he married Mrs. Sarah Harrison.  Mr. Wolcott served four years in company D, Second Ohio cavalry.  He has been township trustee two terms.

Frederic James Wolcott, son of Lyman B., was born in Farmington in 1859.  He is now in partnership with Dr. O.A. Palmer, and C.S. Thompson, and is secretary and treasurer of the Standard Chair Company.

During the winter months of 1807-08, the Wolcott's purchased their provisions in Mesopotamia, of Esquire Tracy.  Sometimes they bought venison of the Indians, and on one occasion a fine buck was purchased for a silver dollar.

            At this time the only roads in the township were paths marked by blazed trees.  The State road from Warren to Painesville, running across the south-western part of the township, had been marked out but was not bridged or worked.  A little later it was cleared of its obstructions so that ox-teams could travel it.  There was a route of travel from Warren via Bristo and Meso-potamia, running diagonally through the northeast of Henshaw, and a bridge across Grand River about one mile and a fourth northeast of the center of the township.  The winter of 1807-08 was spent in clearing, and in the spring crops were put in which yielded fairly.  During the year the settlement received quite an addition to its members by the arrival of William Wilson, Josiah Wolcott (second son of Theodore), Gad Bar-tholomew, Ezra Curtis, John Hethman, J.P. Danford, Dennis Lewis, Jacob Bartholomew and one or two others.  Some of these were married and brought their families, others were single.

Newton Wolcott built the old Wilson House in Farmington.  They lived south of the village of West Farmington. 

The Settlement

         Mainly Connecticut people first settled this township.  Its growth was a slow one and not until long after its organization was it thickly populated.

Lewis Wolcott, best known as Captain Wolcott, and David Curtis, were the first arrivals.  They came in the spring of 1806, from Vienna Township.  Lewis Wolcott, son of Theodore, was a descendant of Henry Wolcott, who came to this country about the year 1630.  In the spring of 1805 he made the journey from Connecticut to Ohio on foot, carrying all his earthly possessions in a knapsack.  He stopped one year in Vienna, working for Joel Humiston.  David Curtis, a son of lawyer Curtis, was the companion of his journeying.  Upon their arrival here they built a pole cabin for a summer residence, near the spot where Mr. Kibbee's house now stands at West Farmington.

In the summer of 1806, Zenas Curtis, David or Lawyer Curtis, and Elihu Moses brought their families and located.  Zenas Curtis built a cabin on the Fuller farm on the State road, now owned by C.A. Mackay.  David Curtis built on the old Ransley Curtis farm, where Dr. Meyers now lives, and Elihu

Moses is on the opposite side of the road from S.H. Loveland's

      The next arrivals are mentioned in the biographical sketch of the Wolcott family given below:

Josiah Wolcott, married Miss Lydia (First) Russell, of Wethersfield, May 13, 1779.  The children of this union are mentioned on page 11.  First Lydia Russell Wolcott died on April 17, 1805 at the age of forty-three years.  Her son, Edmund P. was five years old.  Josiah again married; his second wife was Mrs. Nancy Higgins, widow of Dr. Higgins of Wethersfield, Connecticut; the time of his marriage was February 16, 1806.  The names of their children are also listed on page 5 in this story.  Nancy Higgins Wolcott died on October 13, 1824.  Josiah Wolcott married a third time, the object of his affections being Mrs. Brown, of Warren, Ohio.  They had one daughter, Nancy.

        Mr. Wolcott died January 18, 1838, in his eighty-third year.  His native place was Wethersfield, which he left about the year 1800, (my other records show he left Wethersfield for Bristol in the year 1792) and settled in the town of Bristol, Connecticut.  His occupation was that of a farmer.  He lived in Bristol until 1806, when he was persuaded, by the glowing representations of a New Connecticut land speculator, one Solomon Bond, to make a purchase of one thousand acres of land in the then unbroken wilderness.  He visited his new territory in the fall or winter of 1806 and 1807, in company with his son Horace.  Mr. Wolcott's brother Theodore, and his son Lewis, and Gad Hart, came out at the same time.  They "rolled" up a log house, perhaps fifteen feet square, without the help of a team; in this place they wintered.  The ground, on which this bachelor residence stood on northwest corner of center, was a few feet west of the Wolcott store.  This building was raised, enclosed, floors laid, and inside finished without having a sawed piece of timber in it.  Here the company passed the winter.  At that time the place was nothing more nor less than a wilderness; not an article of food, either for man or beast, was to be had in the township.  They brought the straw to fill their bunks from Mesopotamia, and as the forest was so dense that they could not get their straw through, they were obliged to travel down the old path from Mesopotamia to Warren, as far as Grand River, and then come up on the ice to their lodgings.

      Mr. Josiah Wolcott returned to his family early in the spring, after a most fatiguing journey, made more so by losing his horse in Pennsylvania; he made the rest of the journey on foot, at the time when the roads were in their worst state.  He disposed of his farm and arranged his affairs, and left the land of "steady habits," as it then was appropriately called, arriving with his family and three of his second wife's children, viz:

1. Nancy Higgins

2. Silas Higgins

3. Polly Higgins

     In the meantime his son Horace had put up a log house for the accommodation of the family; the size, perhaps might be 20 X 22.  In this a family of from twelve to fourteen had to find a home, but it was highly prized by all.  Now the business was to clear off the timber, and that was undertaken wit a will; the boys were working at it every day, except the Sabbath and on that day services were held at some private house, either at the center or at some ones house at the west, usually at David Curtis's.  Situated as they were, it would seem they had no time for sickness, or no accommodation when they were ill.  Yet one of their numbers, a sister Mary, was during the spring and summer months gradually sinking under the scourge of our race, viz: consumption.  Their son, Dr. Silas, attended her, but nothing seemed to produce a good effect, and she died September 2, 1808.  A few trees were felled, and a grave dug.  This spot was where the present cemetery now is.  Her funeral was the first, and her grave the first in the township. 

Miss Wolcott's death was the result of a serious accident, which happened while the family was on their way from Connecticut to Ohio.  As the roads were bad the women walked much of the way.  As Mary --or-- Polly-- was attempting to cross a stream on a log, steadying herself with a pole, she fell into the water.  It being late in the season she took a severe cold, from the effects of which she never recovered.  The following epitaph was placed upon the headstone, which marks her grave:

    "Parents and friends, a long adieu:

     I leave this wilderness to you;

     My body lies neath this stone --

     The arrests of death you cannot shun."

Mr. Wolcott felt that meetings on the Sabbath must be kept up, and succeeded in carrying out the convictions of propriety in this particular idea.  As it was seldom the case that they had preaching, when meetings were not requested at other houses they held meetings in their own place - often had preaching in Parkman, and Judge Parkman and lady frequently attended here.  The way of getting to church was on horseback for those who had horses, or with ox-teams.

Mr. Wolcott, considering the help he had, had cleared quite a farm before the breaking out of the War of 1812.  But from that time he saw the great disadvantage all were laboring under, in not having mills of any kind; and in this state of things two men called upon him, professing to be number one mill-wrights, and persuaded  him to undertake the building of a saw and gristmill.

They cut and hewed and hauled on to the ground a large quantity of timber, and partially constructed running gear, etc. but in consequence of indebtedness, which was likely to send him to the "lock-up", the main part of his workmen left, and the undertaking was abandoned.  The project of mill building rested for several years.  Another mill-wright appeared, who proposed to put up one on the spot where A. D. Kibbee & Co.'s mill now stands; but their mill soon went down, and proved a failure.  The scheme went to rest again, and after a space of one or two years a third trial was made, and they succeeded in getting a good sawmill.

About this time complaints were made by parties who had erected mills above Seats; vexatious suits were commenced and continued in court for some ten years.  Several judgments were obtained and paid.  Mr. Wolcott being confident that his dam did not back water to the injury of the upper mills, the Legislature enacted a law giving the party wishing to erect or sustain a dam across any stream the privilege to summon a special jury, who should view the premises and decide how high the party might raise a dam without injury to others.  This act was complied with, and that put an end to the litigation.  Twelve of the best men in Trumbull county gave their verdict to the effect that he had been put to all the costs and vexation of ten or more suits unjustly.

E. P. Wolcott, son of Josiah Wolcott, was born November 17, 1800, in Bristol, Connecticut.  His advantages for an education were limited; he however obtained a good practical and business knowledge.  He was reared a farmer, worked at it till he was thirty, then went to selling goods at Farmington.  He married Clarissa Bosworth, of Farmington.  November 19, 1829; result of this union, nine children;

1.  Julia E. Wolcott

2. William W. Wolcott

3. Amelia Wolcott

4. Cecillia Wolcott

5. Charles F Wolcott

6. Addison L. Wolcott

7. Mary E. Wolcott

Mr. Wolcott lived some ten years at Chagrin Falls and while there, was justice of the peace.  He also held several offices of trust and honor in this township.  He was a member of the Congregational church; in politics, a Republican.  It may be said of this gentleman that he was one of the strong supporters of the Congregational church; and the cause of education had in him a warm supporter.  He died March 21, 1881.

Capt. Erastus Wolcott, fourth son and seventh child of Josiah and Lydia, was born in Bristol, Hartford County, Connecticut, on May 2, 1795.  His advantages for an education were nothing, in fact, only having had three months schooling in his life.  He was early disciplined in all the details of farm life, which he has followed as an avocation through life.  When but eight years old he came here with his father's family. He married Miss Almira Hannahs, of Nelson, Portage County, on June 19, 1820.  She was born March 9, 1798, in Bethlehem, Connecticut.  She was the first teacher in this town.  Result of marriage, six children, their names:

1. Orlando K. Wolcott

2. Luther H. Wolcott

3. Catharine C. Wolcott

4. Julius E. Wolcott

5. Orvis A. Wolcott

6. Helen C. Wolcott

Mr. Wolcott has held various offices in this town.  Elected captain of State militia about 1825.  United with Presbyterian church 1825; he was chosen deacon in 1841, succeeding his father; he was ruling elder at the time of his death.  His wife died Jan 11, 1865.  Deacon Wolcott was again married to Celesta Worrell, of Farmington, Jan 5, 1866.  She was the widow of John Worrell.  Captain Wolcott died December 26, 1867.

Horace Wolcott died June 28, 1872, aged eighty-seven years and seven months.  We subjoin the names, births and deaths of his family: Edward C., born October 21, 1809, died April 6, 1864; infant daughter, (Sabrina #1) born June 6, 1810, died June 8, 1810.   Louisa, born July 16, 1812, died May 13, 1813; Russell, born May 23, 1814, died October 20, 1865; infant daughter, (Sabrina #2) born September 14, 1816, died September 15, 1816; Julia, born September 23, 1817, died February 21, 1830; Addison, born April 18, 1820, died March 20, 1869; Albert G., born August 30, 1823, living; Sophia, born September 15, 1826, died January 16, 1849; Caroline, born March 18, 1829, living.  Mrs. Sabrina Wolcott died July 28, 1865, aged seventy-five.  The heads of the above family were united in marriage December 15, 1808.  Albert G. was living in Wyandotte, Kansas, engaged in the lumber business and "real estate." 

Caroline Bughoff is living at the center, with her only child, Edwin F.

The house built by Horace Wolcott was a little more pretentious than most pioneer dwellings.  He hauled boards from Parkman, and made a very comfortable cabin, with floors above and below and a door of boards.  But when the family arrived and surveyed it, the women, thinking of the pleasant home they had left in the East, burst into tears.

Early Settlers in Trumbull County, Ohio

The following is from The History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties by HZ Williams & Bros - 1882 V2: 317: The Williams reference describes the many pioneer Wolcott settlers in Trumbull County.  There are no bible or family history records of this family in the County genealogy collection, nor in the Farmington records.  If you could send what you have on the Wolcott lines, we will add it to our files for other researchers.

Horace Wolcott (1784 -1872)

My Great Great Grandfather, Horace Wolcott, married Sabrina Tracy on December 15, 1808.  They had ten children:

1.  Edward Chester Wolcott

2.  Sabrina Wolcott

3.  Louisa Wolcott

4.  Russell Wolcott

5.  Sabrina Wolcott

6.  Julia Wolcott

7.  Addison Wolcott

8.  Albert Gallatin Wolcott

9.  Sophia Wolcott

10. Caroline Wolcott

--------------------------------------------------

From Richard Hanson

During my research I received several articles from Trumbull County, one being from Richard Hanson, the corresponding secretary of the Ohio Genealogical Society in Warren, Ohio.  This document said the 1872 Will of Horace Wolcott of Farmington, Trumbull County, Ohio, names his son Albert G. Wolcott (Albert G is also named as the son of Horace in the History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties by HZ Williams & Bros - 1882 V2: 317).  There is an Albert G. Wolcott in Lenox township, Ashtabula County in the 1870 and 1900 census.  Ashtabula County is adjacent north to Trumbull County.  Some des-cendant charts of the families described are included.

-------------------------------------------------

More from the Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, Ohio Book.  Page 319.
The house built by Horace Wolcott was a little more pretentious than most pioneer dwellings.  He hauled boards from Parkman, and made a very comfortable cabin, with floors above and below and a door of boards.  But when the family arrived and surveyed it, the women, thinking of the pleasant home they had left in the East, burst into tears.

My Family Beginnings

          Josiah Wolcott, born September 17, 1755 (son of Josiah, born March 27, 1720 in Rocky Hill, Connecticut; son of Samuel, born April 11, 1679 in Wethersfield, Connecticut; son of Samuel, born April 16, 1656 in Windsor, Connecticut; son of Henry, born January 21, 1610 in Tolland, England; son of Henry, born 1578 in Tolland, Somersetshire, England).  Josiah was my Great-Great-Great Grand-father.  He was born in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.

        During the Revolutionary war, which lasted from 1775-1783, Josiah served with his brother Theodore with the Connecticut troops.  He was living in Wethersfield, Connecticut at the time of the war.  He was a soldier, Private and Orderly Sergeant (or clerk) while under the command of Captain Oliver Pomeroy and Benjamin Wright, Col. Erastus Wolcott and Matthew Talcott.  He served altogether 7 months.

           In 1792, he moved to Bristol, Connecticut.  He later moved to Farmington, Ohio where he received a military pension on April 21, 1837.  His mother and father were living in a house the senior Josiah had built in 1754 on Wolcott Hill in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  That house was still being used in 1976.

           On May 13, 1779, Josiah married First Lydia Russell, daughter of Rev. Daniel Russell.  During their marriage, they had eight children:

1. Catharine Wolcott

2. Daniel Russell Wolcott

3.  Horace Wolcott

4.  Susanna Wolcott

5.  Mary Wolcott

6. Josiah Willis Wolcott

7. Erastus Wolcott

8. Edmund Pinkney Wolcott

After losing Lydia, Josiah then married Nancy Higgins, daughter of Capt. Israel Williams, on February 16, 1806.  Nancy was the Widow of Joseph Higgins of Rock Hill, Connecticut.  She died on October 13, 1824.  Josiah and Nancy had three children:

1.  Lydia Russell Wolcott

2.  Caroline Wolcott

3.  Charlotte Wolcott

It wasn't until May 7, 1829 that Josiah married Elizabeth (Muirhead) Brown.  They had one child:

             1.  Nancy Williams Wolcott

Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797)

          He signed the Declaration of Independence.  Oliver Wolcott was an American patriot and soldier of the American Revolution, born in Windsor, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College (now Yale University).  He graduated in 1747.  He was the youngest son of Roger Wolcott, colonial governor of Connecticut from 1751 to 1754. 

In his late 20's he married Laura Collins, with whom he would have five children.

The following notices of the life of Gov. Oliver Wolcott, Sr.  (1726-1797), are copied from family documents.  The original sketch, published in Sanderson's Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (III, 63-67), is among these papers, having been drawn up by his son, the late Gov. Oliver Wolcott, Jr.

On leaving College, he received a commission as Captain in the Army, from Gov. George Clinton, of New York, and immediately raised a company of volunteers and served on the northwestern frontier in the French & Indian War.  He was promoted to major general.  He marched to the defense of the Northern Frontiers, where he served until the Regiment to which he was attached was disbanded, in consequence of the piece of Alix-la-Chapelle.  After participating (1747-1748) in King George's War, Oliver returned to Connecticut and studied medicine, under the direction of his Brother, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, then a distinguished practitioner.  Before he was established in practice, the County of Litchfield was organized, and he was appointed the first sheriff of the county, in 1751.  He settled in Litchfield, and was a representative of the Town in the General Assembly.  In the year 1774, he was chosen an Assistant or Councilor, to which station he was annually elected till the year 1786.  While a member of the Council, he was also Chief Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the County, and for many years Judge of the court of Probate for Litchfield.  Wolcott was chosen as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775-1778 and 1780-1784, but was absent much of the time on military duty as major general in charge of Connecticut's militia.  On all the questions preliminary to the world-shattering War he was a firm advocate of the American cause.

At the Town Meeting held in Litchfield, Aug 17, 1774, to consider the Resolutions of the Legislature, on the subject of the Boston Port Bill, he presided, and drew up the eloquent preamble and resolutions then adopted, which we give in their place.  In July 1775, he was appointed by the Continental Congress as one of the Commissioners of Indian affairs for the Northern Department, -- a trust of great importance, its object being to induce the Indian nations to remain neutral during the war.  While he was engaged in this business, the controversies respecting the boundaries between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and between New York and Vermont, menaced the tranquility of the Colonies, and exposed them to the seductions of British partisans.  His influence was exerted with great effect to compromise these disputes, and to unite the New England settlers in support of the American cause.

In 1776 he took ill and left Congress to return home.  John Hancock, as the elected President of Congress, was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. It was not until the following month on August 2nd that the remaining 55 other delegates began to sign the document.  George Washington ordered the newly adopted Declaration of Independence to be read to the troops on July 9th.  Recovering from his illness, Wolcott returned to Congress in October of 1776 at which time he signed the Declaration.  Also in 1776, Gov. Wolcott's home in Litchfield was the scene of a famous episode.  Exactly one week after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, an equestrian statue of King George, III, which stood on Bowling Green in lower New York was taken down and carried by night to the general's home.  Wolcott placed the remaining pieces of the statue into a wagon and shipped the pieces to his home in Litchfield.  Here a celebration was held.  The lead statue was melted down and cast into bullets, making 42,088 cartridges, which were used by Continental soldiers.  Some fragments of the statue escaped the bullet mold and, having gone through various adventures, remain today - some in private hands and others in museums.  It is possible that other pieces will turn up and that even the head, last seen in London in 1777, still exists. 

During the American Revolution, he served with the Connecticut militia in several important campaigns. Wolcott led 14 Connecticut regiments to the defense of New York in 1776.  After the battle of Long Island, he resumed his seat in Congress and was with that body when, in December 1776, Congress fled to Baltimore to avoid British troops which occupied Philadelphia.    Having raised several thousand troops during the summer of 1777, General Wolcott reinforced General Putnam's forces on the Hudson River and in the fall of that year he joined General Horatio Gates, commanding a brigade of militia that took part in the defeat of General Burgoyne at Saratoga in Oct. of 1777. Returning to Congress, then assembled in York, Penn, he resumed his seat and remained until July 1778.  He served 10 years, 1786-1796, as lieutenant governor of Connecticut and governor from 1796 until his death in 1797 at the age of 72.  His son Oliver Wolcott, Jr. became secretary of the United States Treasury in 1795-1800 and the first Governor of Connecticut (1817 - 1827) under the Constitution.

While Oliver Wolcott was Lt. Governor of Connecticut (1796), the town of Farmingbury was changed to "Wolcott", Conn.  His vote broke the tie creating the Town of Wolcott and therefore in gratitude the townspeople named the town Wolcott.

On the 17th of January, 1777 he was appointed by the General Assembly of Connecticut Brigadier - General, and was constantly employed, the ensuing summer, in superintending detachments of militia, and corresponding on military subjects.  After detaching several thousand men to the assistance of General Putnam on the North River, he headed a corps of between three and four hundred volunteers, who joined the Northern Army under General Gates, and took command of a Brigade of Militia, and aided in reducing the British Army under General Burgoyne.  From February to July 1778, he attended Congress at Yorktown.

In 1786, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut, and annually thereafter, until he was chosen Governor.  In November 1787, he was chosen a member of the State Convention, which adopted the Constitution of the United States.  In November 1789, he was further appointed by the State, in connection with Samuel H. Parsons and James Davenport, to hold a treaty with the Wyandotte's and other Indians, for extinguishing their title to the Western Reserve of Connecticut.

In the summer of 1779, he was in the field at the head of a Division of Militia, for the defense of the seacoast.  During the severe winter of 1779-80, famine added its terrors to excessive cold.  The deep snows in the mountain region of the State, and the explosion of the paper system, rendered it almost impossible to procure the necessaries of life.  Connecticut had been in the foremost ranks of the supporters of the war; she had contributed freely from her narrow resources, and the blood of her sons had moistened every battlefield.  And now, when cold and hunger threatened their utmost rigors, and a dark cloud hung over the fate of the country, the courage of her citizens failed not.  The records of her Towns -- the votes of recruits to the army and of bread to the suffering -- showed that she had counted the cost of the struggle, and was ready to meet it.  It may well be supposed that the resources of so zealous an advocate for the war as General Wolcott were not withheld.

Every dollar that could be spared from the maintenance of the family was expended in raising and supplying men; every blanket not in actual use was sent to the Army, and the sheets were torn into bandages or cut into lint by the hands of his wife and daughters.  From 1781 to 1783, he occasionally attended Congress.  In 1784 and 1785, he was one of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department, and in concert with Richard Butler and Arthur Lee prescribed the term of peace to the Six Nations of Indians.  His military services, his known probity and judgment, his ardent attachment to the Republican cause, and his social standing, all contributed to give him an extended influence, which was faithfully exerted for the public good. 

Of the many letters written to Oliver Wolcott and received by him from prominent men of his day we present a facsimile of one from General Washington.  (This is located in the Wolcott Family History Book, between page 154 and 155.

From the beginning to the end of the Revolutionary War, he was constantly engaged, either in the Council or in the field.

In the fall of 1796, he was chosen a Presidential Elector, in which capacity he voted for John Adams and Thomas Pickney.  The same year, he was chosen Governor, which office he held until his death, in the seventy-second year of his age.

Such is a brief catalogue of the more important political offices and services of Oliver Wolcott, the elder.  During a long and laborious life devoted to public service, he enjoyed the unremitted confidence of his fellow-citizens,

From the Wolcott Family History Book (1578-1985)