Wolcott, Oliver, 1726-1797

Oliver Wolcott Sr. (November 20, 1726 – December 1, 1797) was an American Founding Father and politician. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Connecticut, and the nineteenth Governor of Connecticut.

Born in Windsor, Connecticut, he attended Yale College, graduating in 1747 as the top scholar in his class. After serving as a Captain during the French and Indian War, he moved to newly settled Goshen in northwestern Connecticut to practice and study medicine with his brother Alexander. He then moved to Litchfield and became a merchant; he was appointed sheriff of the newly created Litchfield County, Connecticut. Wolcott had two careers during the war years as one of Connecticut's principal delegates to the Continental Congress and also a militia officer. He participated in the American Revolutionary War as brigadier general and then as major general in the Connecticut militia. As a representative in the Continental Congress, he was a strong advocate for independence. The Continental Congress appointed him Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and he was elected to the Congress in 1775. He became seriously ill in 1776 and did not sign the Declaration of Independence until some time later. In 1778 he was again elected to the congress, where he served until 1784.

Wolcott was elected Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut as a Federalist in 1786 and served in that position for ten years. He assumed the Governorship when Samuel Huntington died in January of 1796, and was popularly elected to the post at the following election, dying in office at the age of 71. Wolcott is interred at East Cemetery, in Litchfield, Connecticut.