Litchfield enquirer., 1846-08-13

Zephaniah Swift. One of them, DIR. Web
ster, speaks. as follows of Wolcott's cole
giate reputation. ~ was an intimat
friend, claSs-mate, and for some month
roommate with Gov. Wolcott. NV &C
quaintance with him was of nearly ski,
years duration. found him always franl
and faithful in his friendship, and generous
to the extent of his means. He was in col
lege good scholar, though not Brilliant
He possessed the irmness and strong reas
oning powers of the Wolcott family, bu
with some eccenricities in reasoning"
General Wolcott, divers father, became
during this year member of the Council
and was afterwards annually reelected un-
til l776. His former military services, his
known probity and judgement, his ardentat-
tachment to the republican cause, and pei
haps not least, the influence of his family
name, always an advantage in the Puritan
states, had contributed to give him an ex-
tended influence, and he now exerted it eff
tectually in bringing about a compromise
OF the boundary controversies between New
York and Vermont, and Pennsylvania and
Connecticut, and in uniting the border SET
tiers in support Of The war. In July, l775,
he was appointed by the Continental Con-
gress, in conjunction with Phillip Schuyler
and others, one of the Commissioners of In
dian Affairs for the northern department, a
trust Of great Importance and in October
of the same year was elected delegate to
the Congress ofl776, in which capacity he
signed the DECLARATION OF INDEPEnD-
ENcE.
From this time to the end of the war, he
was constantly engaged, either in the coun-
Gil or in the field. During the intervals of
duty, he employed his time in
raising and discipining forces, and itf cor
reSpondcnce on military subjects. A large
proportion of the troops in service during the
northern campaign consisted Of his drafts,
and he commanded between one and two
thousand men in person at the reduction
OF Burgoyne's army.
These were some of the services of Gener-
al Wolcott during the war of Independence.
There were very many whose names occu-
py more conspicuous place in the history
of that contest. but there was no one who in
his own province redeemed more faithfully
than he, the pledge of the SIGNERs. Of the
principal features in his character were
his indomitable resolution and uns potted in
tcgrity. II might be said of him as Jenkins
said of Coke, that " he was one whom power
could not break, nor favor bend"
During his continued absence from home,
Mrs. Wolcotl managed his farm and edu-
Gated his youngest children; thus enabling
him to devote himself to the public service
unfettered by private anxieties. Indeed her
devotion TO the cause was not exceeded by
that of her husband, and the family under
went privation and fatigue during some OF
the years of the revolution, which, not un-
common then, would startle the matrons ol
our more peaceful days.
Such were the family influences under
which Oliver Wolcou grew up, and such toe
nerved the minds and deepened the lines o
character of many who in after days stoot
high in his national councils.
In April W. his stables were broken il
upon, by call to a less peaceful scene thar
the groves of Yale He had gone to Ltch
field on visit to his mother, his father be-
ing absent attending Congress, when the
news arrived that large body the British
under Tryon, had landed and marched tC
Danbury to destroy the continental storeS.-
Awakened at midnight by the summons IL
repair 10 the rendezvous of the militia, h,
armed himself; and his mother furnished
his knapsAck with provisions and blank
ct, fastened his departure and dismissed
him with the charge to conduct like gooC
soldier"
The party to which he was attached reach
ed TIE enemy at Wilton, where a skirmisI
took pls ce, in which as well as in the subse
quent attacks during the retreat of the Brit
ish, Wolcott participated.
The next year he took his degree at Yal
College, and Immediately commenced tn
study Of law at Lilchfield under Tappin
Reeve. In 1879, after the destruction q
Fairfield and Norwalk, he attended his ia
Their as a volunteer aid, to the coast. A
the close of this service he was offered
commission in the continental service
which he declined in consequence of havin
alreadyantered upon his professional stud
les. He however shortly after accepted
commission in the Quarter Masters depart
ment, which being stationary at Lilchfel
would the less interfere with them.
During the severe winter ofl779-SO, fam
| inc added its terrorS IN excessive cold Th