Roger Wolcott
Roger Wolcott was a prominent figure in early American history, born in Windsor, Connecticut, to a family with deep roots, tracing back to the early settlers of the region. Despite receiving no formal education until the age of eleven, Wolcott became a successful entrepreneur in the clothing industry by his early twenties and married his cousin, Sarah Drake, with whom he had a large family of fifteen children. His commitment to public service began in 1709 when he was elected to the General Assembly, and he held various significant political roles throughout his life, including serving as governor of Connecticut twice.
In addition to his political career, Wolcott made contributions to literature and historical scholarship. He published "Poetical Meditations" in 1725, notable for its reflections on the intersection of Puritan thought and colonial life, as well as its commentary on land rights issues. He also kept a journal during his military service, which later provided insights into the militia's role in warfare. His writings, including a short autobiography and a history of Connecticut, capture the evolving cultural landscape of the time, particularly the influence of the Enlightenment on Puritan traditions. Wolcott's legacy reflects the complexities of governance, religious authority, and individual rights in colonial America.
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Roger Wolcott
Judge
- Born: January 4, 1679
- Birthplace: Windsor, Connecticut
- Died: May 17, 1767
Biography
Roger Wolcott’s grandfather was among the first settlers of Connecticut, having arrived in North America in 1630. Wolcott was born in Windsor, along the Connecticut River. He received no formal education as a young man and did not learn to read and write until he was eleven years old. At fifteen he was apprenticed to a clothier; upon reaching his maturity, he started his own successful clothing business. By twenty-two he had married his second cousin Sarah Drake, with whom he would eventually have fifteen children. During this time he constantly borrowed books to read as much as he could in literature, history, and the sciences.
Wolcott’s family had a tradition of public service, and in 1709 Wolcott was admitted to the bar; later in the year, he was elected as the Windsor delegate to the General Assembly, which he would remain for seven terms. He served as a justice of the peace in 1710, an assistant to the General Assembly from 1714 to 1741 (with one three-year respite), a judge of the county court in 1721, and eventually even as deputy governor in 1741 and the governor of Connecticut from 1750 to 1753 and in 1755. Additionally, he served as a captain and eventually a colonel in the militia in the 1720’s and 1730’s; in 1745, Wolcott was commissioned (at the advanced age of sixty-seven) as a major- general during King George’s War.
In 1725, Wolcott produced Poetical Meditations, Being the Improvement of Some Vacant Hours, the first book of poetry published in Connecticut. The poems are particularly interesting in that they not only show the assimilation of Puritan thought into the more mainstream views of the colonies and provide a history of the Pequod War, but also present Wolcott’s views of his right to his hereditary lands in a dispute.
Wolcott would also keep a journal kept about his service as the second-in-command during the siege of Louisburg during King George’s War; this journal was not published until 1860. It provides a commentary on the superiority of civilian militia to mercenary forces. He wrote a short autobiography, finishing it in June of 1755, providing a valuable history of the slow erosion of the Puritan mindset in the face of the Enlightenment. This volume, too, was published well after his death. He would go on to write a short history of Connecticut in 1759, which he intended for the president of Yale College to employ in completing his own history of the colony. Throughout his career in public life, Wolcott frequently also weighed in on the great authority of the church in Connecticut government, usually favoring ecclesiastical dominion.