James Barton Longacre, Detail from Oliver Wolcott, engraving – Smithsonian American Art Museum
Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797)
Oliver Wolcott was a Revolutionary War hero who played a vital role in early Connecticut politics. He graduated from Yale in 1747, and became the first Sheriff in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1751. Wolcott then went on to serve as a member of the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence before commanding 14 regiments of troops during the Revolutionary War and rising to the rank of brigadier general. Starting in 1786, he served ten years as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. In 1796, with the death of Governor Samuel Huntington, Wolcott assumed the role of governor, an office he held until his death in 1797 at the age of 71.
