Guide to the Oliver Wolcott letter, 1795
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401) 847-0292
Fax: (401) 841-5680
email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org
Published in 2013
Collection Overview
| Title: | Oliver Wolcott letter |
| Date range: | 1795 |
| Creator: | Wolcott, Oliver, 1760-1833 |
| Extent: | 0.01 linear feet (1 folder) |
| Abstract: | This collection consists of one letter from Oliver Wolcott (1760-1833), Secretary of the Treasury, to William Ellery (1727-1820), collector of the port of Newport, concerning the funding for a fort. |
| Language of materials: | English |
| Repository: | Redwood Library and Athenaeum |
| Collection number: | RLC.Ms.548 |
Scope & content
This collection consists of one letter dated December 7, 1795 from Oliver Wolcott, as Secretary of the Treasury, to William Ellery (1727-1820), the collector of the port of Newport, Rhode Island, from 1790-1820. This letter concerns the funding for a fort in Newport.Access Points
Subject Names Subject Organizations Subject Topics Subject Topics Document TypesArrangement
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Biographical note
Oliver Wolcott (1760-1833) was born on January 11, 1760, to Oliver (1726-1797) and Laura (Collins) Wolcott (1732-1794) in Litchfield, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale in 1778 and then entered the Litchfield Law School, studying under Tapping Reeve (1744-1823). Wolcott served in the military during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in two minor campaigns in 1777 and 1779 and later accepted an appointment in the quartermaster’s department, supervising the safekeeping and transportation of army stores and weaponry in Litchfield. In 1781, Wolcott was admitted to the bar and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. He was appointed to the Committee of the Pay-Table, which supervised Connecticut’s war expenditures, in January 1782. In 1784, he was selected to be a commissioner for the state and in May 1788, he was appointed the Comptroller of Public Accounts. In the following year, Wolcott was named auditor for the new national Treasury Department and was appointed Comptroller of the United States Treasury in 1791 by President George Washington (1732-1799). When Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) resigned as Secretary of the Treasury, Wolcott was appointed to succeed him on February 2, 1795, and remained in this position until his retirement in November 1800.Wolcott moved with his family to New York in 1803, where he and a group of businessmen formed the agency, Oliver Wolcott & Company and became involved in foreign trade, manufacturing merino wool, and retail sales. In April of that year, Wolcott was named president of the Merchant’s Bank in New York, a position he held for a year. He was later elected to the main board of directors of the Bank of the United States in 1810-1811 and when their charter lapsed in March 1811, he played an important role in the establishment of the Bank of America, serving as its president from 1812 to 1814. Following his successful business and banking career, Wolcott returned to Litchfield in 1815 to live as a gentleman farmer. He was elected Governor of Connecticut in 1817 and served in that position until 1827.
Oliver Wolcott had married Elizabeth Stoughton on June 1, 1785, with whom he had seven children. Wolcott died in New York on June 1, 1833, and is buried in the East Cemetery in Litchfield.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: | Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Use of the materials: | This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Preferred citation: | Oliver Wolcott letter, RLC.Ms.548, Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Contact information: | Redwood Library and Athenaeum 50 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Tel: (401) 847-0292 Fax: (401) 841-5680 email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org |
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION | |
| Acquisition: | Gift of Ralph Carpenter, 2001. |
| Processing information: | This collection was initially processed by Aimee Saunders in 2010. |
| ABOUT THE FINDING AID | |
| Author: | Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Delmage. |
| Encoding: | Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Delmage 2013 October 24 |
| Descriptive rules: | Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
| Sponsor: | Funding for processing and cataloging this collection was provided by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. |
Additional Information
| Related material: |
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Inventory
| Manuscripts Box 1 | Letter to William Ellery |
1795 Dec 7 |