Maternal

Lineage: Janette7, Seymour6, Samuel5, Samuel4, Samuel3, William2, William1

WOLCOTT, c.1645-1902

Related Families: Mercer | Fosdick | Blair | Wright | Kellogg | Youngs American Revolution & War of 1812 ancestors

         (1) William Walcott, born about 1645, died about 1700. DNA testing of documented descendants, performed by the Wolcott Family Society in 2007, show conclusively that William was not a descendant of William Walcott of Salem as had been thought previously; William's ancestry is currently unknown. William's wife was probably a daughter of Thomas and Edith Mercer of Sheepscott. The residents of Sheepscott, including William Wilcott and the Mercers, were forced to leave Maine due to hostile Indians in October of 1676. They were in Boston, Massachuetts, in 1682, with others that were planning to resettle Sheepscott. took the oath of allegiance at Boston in 1678. William Willcot appears on the 1681 tax roll at Boston. In 1682 William Willcutt attended a meeting in Boston for the formation of an association to settle Sheepscott, ME. In 1688 John Tucker of Newbury petitioned to settle 150 acres of land on west side of Draper's River at Dartmouth, Cornwall Co., with a two acre home lot adjoining the lands of Wilcotts. William Willcott signed his mark as the only witness to a deposition made by Thomas Gent at Boston in 1689 in which Thomas deposed that on a march along the Kennebeck River they met Gov. Andros and Gent told him that his men were in no condition to go after the Indians due to some men were sick, some lame, some tired. Andros said he would get the Indians if Gent identified them, or send other Indians to get them. William Willcutt was living at Sheepscott, Maine, in 1689. William Wilcott testified against Lt. Jordan at Boston 27 Jan 1690, giving his age as 45, and late an inhabitant of New Dartmouth (Sheepscott). His widow claimed 100 acres at Sheepscott, given to her husband by Thomas Mercer. An undated document reads:

"Widow Wilcott claims a Tract of Land on ye West Side Sheepcott River below ye falls beginning at ye great Springs agst ye falls & along the River Side to a small Spring on ye Nor. sd of Saml Corrbison house qts, about one hundred acres which Land was in ye possession of Thomas Mercer & given to Wm. Wilcott Deced and by him in his lifetime Improved and Enjoyed Several years till ye warrs. witness Thos Jent Robt Scott."

William and Miss Mercer were parents of:
 
 
 
 
 

(2) William Wilcott, born about 1680, a mariner, sold land at Sheepscott, Maine, in 1737.  The deed was acknowleged at Boston by Mr. William Wilcott on the same date and recorded 1743.  It said:

"Know ye that I William Wilcott of Billings Gate, County of Barnstable, mariner, for 5L paid by Samuel Baker of Eastham in said County, mariner, convey to him one full moiety or half part of a tract on West side of Sheepsgutt below the Falls beginning at the great Spring against the Falls and along the river side to a little Spring to the Northward of Samuel Corbisons house, about 100 acres lying in Co. of York, which land was heretofore in possession of Thomas Mercer, with One half Part of the Divisions and subdivisions heretofore made or that shall hereafter be made and set forth. William Willcut"

        Thomas Westbrooke of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was commissioned to organize a military force to range from Kennebeck to Penobscott, Maine, to control the Indians there. They fought battles at Piscatagua, Penobscott, Pemmequid, and other locations. Two muster rolls for these troops exist. One dated 1722 contains the names of William Wilcote, Sgt., and William Wilcote, sentinel. Another roll for 1724-25 lists the name of Thomas Willcott.
        William was father of:
 
 
 
 
 

        (3) Samuel Wolcott, the first ancestor in this line of whom there is no doubt, born 1708 in Cheshire, Massachusetts, was a mariner. Because of his early residence in Boston, the spelling of his name and his mariner occupation, it seems likely that he was part of this family. Samuel Wolcott of Boston married Mercy Fosdick of Charleston in 1725 at Charlestown. In a court case dated 1732, Robert Ball of Charlestown, mariner v. Samuel Wilcot, now or late resident of Charlestown, mariner; Ball claimed that he had loaned Samuel 3L 11s in 1729. On the reverse of this document is found "Arrest 1 Oct. 1732 xxx Samuel Wolcott" and a notation that a bond was given by the defendant, Samuel Wolcutt, sailmaker, of Charlestown, who pled that he had made payment. A deposition in this case reads:

"Thomas Robenson Marriner of Lawful age Testifieth & Saith that on or about the Year 1729 he the deponent did belong and was Shiped on boord the Sloop Medford whereof Robert Ball was Master in which time this deponent saw Saml Wilcot under the custody of Mr. Joshua Scottow deputy Sherif and that he the said Ball Paid money to release the said Wilcot from going to Gaol the said Wilcot then promising to come to work on board the said Sloop to proceed on a voyage in the said Sloop with him the said Ball and further this deponent saith that the said Saml Willcot came two or three pieces of Days and in that space of time went from the said vessel several times as if he did not incline to work and then wholly absented himself and came no more and by what this deponent could learn while the said Wilcot was on board that the said Robert Ball had lent him the said Wilcot more money at sundry other timmes beside what he paid the Sheriff for his discharge."

A "widow Mary Willcott" was living in Charlestown in 1775, possibly Mercy Fosdick Wolcott.  Samuel and Mercy were parents of:
 
 
 
 

        (4) Samuel Wolcott, baptized in 1727 at Charleston, Suffolk Co. Massachuestts, died in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont in 1786. He married Lucy Wright in 1750 in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  Samuel was in Vermont by 1771 and there he served in the state militia during the Revolutionary War.  One source says, "Samuel Wolcott, a native of Goshen, Ct. (sic. VT) immigrated to Cheshire MA about 1778 and located in the southern part of the town. He was with Ethan Allen at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. He died of smallpox."
        Samuel's property was disposed of by his children. A quit claim deed reads: "We Jese Wallcutt Alven Wolcott & Philemon Wallcutt of Shoreham Vermont, heirs of Samuel Wollcut of said Shoreham, decst., son of Mercy Wallcut formerly of Charlestown, widow, decst."  On 14 January 1804 rights were conveyed to his land at Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Children:

1. Samuel, mentioned below
2. Jesse, born 1755 in Goshen, Connecticut, died December 1835 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont; married Olive.  Jesse was a merchant and a tavernkeeper in Shoreham, the building of which is on Cream Hill Road--a brick structure which is still standing there today. He was given 50 acres of land by one of the proprietors in 1783 and settled on the farm where his son Calvin later resided, where he died.

 Parents of:
1. Calvin; married Lydia Reynolds.  Parents of:
1. Lydia; married 9 June 1842 in Shoreham, her second cousin, Nelson Wolcott, born about 1809, died 1864.
3. Moses, born 1757 in Goshen, Connecticut; died in Cheshire, Massachusetts.
4. William, born 1759.
5. Oliver, born 1761.
6. Lucy, born 1762, died 1799, buried in Center Burying Yard, Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont.
7. Alvin, born 1765, died 27 July 1834 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont.
8. Philemon, born 1768; died 1 September 1832 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont; married Anna Treat.
9. Susannah, born 1770 in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, died 29 October 1790 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont. She married 1789, Zaccheus Barnum.  Zacheus Barnum from Lanesboro, Mass bought fifty acres of land from Thomas Rowley in 1786, lying on the west side of the road leading north from Deacon Lewis Hunts, now owned by A.W. Perry, where he built a log house.

 
 
 
 
 
 

(5) Samuel Wolcott, born 1751 in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, died 1825 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont.  He is said to have been with his father at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1777.  He married Isabel Blair, born 27 December 1754 in Worcester, Massachusetts.           Samuel was one of about a dozen men who pioneered the settlement of Shoreham, Vermont.  They lived in a cabin together and shared the chores of daily living while clearing and conditioning the land there they had jointly purchased.  They were driven out by Indians but returned after the Revolution.  One of the other members of that party was Elijah Kellogg, the father of Samuel and Isabel's daughter-in-law.           Samuel and Isabel, plus many of their descendants, are buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont.

Children of Samuel Wolcott and Isabel Blair (all born in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont):

1. Riley; married first Lucinda Holt; married second Asenath Beech.
2. Sally; married John Sunderland.
3. Seymour, mentioned below
4. Moses, born 1787, died 14 December 1843 in Crown Point, New York, buried in Brick Church Cemetery; married 21 April 1812 in Shoreham, Mary "Polly" Smith.
5. Olive, born 7 August 1790, died 5 December 1834 in Shoreham; married first Asa Sunderland; married second 12 May 1808, David Hunter.
6. Samuel, born 1794, died 26 February 1828 in Shoreham; married 1 January 1827 Nancy MaCauley.  One local history book says the following about Samuel:  "Samuel Wolcott commenced practice in Shoreham his native town in 1821. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1817 and studied his proffesion at the Litchfield Law School in Conn. He was a fine classical scholar, a man of superior genius, possesed of many excellant social qualities, had a pleasing manner of address and great facility in use of language. He was in the class in college with Silas Wright the distinquished and influential Senator of the United States, from New York and Govenor of that state. At the time of his death in 1847, though not in office, he was universally regarded as enjoying the highest posistion, in respect to the confidence of his party and his own future prospects. In scholarship, Wolcott had excelled him and in quickness of perception, vigor of intellect and power in debate, was not his inferior. But the want of steady aim and of self-command, was fatal to the hoped cherished for him, but for an unfortunate habit into which he was early drawn, he might have risen to any position of eminence in political or private life, or in the practice of his profession. His career was short and it's termination a meloncally one, in his death which occured Feb. 20 1828 in the 34th of his age. He was also Principal of the school in 1817."

 
 
 

(6) Seymour Wolcott, born 12 September 1784 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont, died 10 April 1850 at Little Falls, Herkimer Co., New York.  During the War of 1812, Seymour was connected with the Second Regiment, Light Artillery. He acted as a gunner at the mouth of Otter Creek on 14 May 1814 in the repulse of the British Flotilla at that point.  In March of that same year he directed one of the two field pieces in the "Affair of the Stone Mill" and remained alone to give the enemy the last gun. He served also at Beaver Dams, Little York, and capture of Fort George.         He married in Shoreham, Huldah Kellogg, born about 1790, died in 1831, buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Shoreham.  After her death, Seymour relocated with his children to Herkimer County, New York, where he died. Children (all born in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont): Nelson, born about 1809, died 1864; married 9 June 1842 in Shoreham, his second cousin, Lydia Wolcott, daughter of Calvin Wolcott and Lydia Reynolds. Levi, born about 1810, died 12 July 1890, buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Shoreham, Addision Co., Vermont; married in 30 April 1838 Almeda Sanford. Seymour E., born 1812 in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont, died 1857, wagonmaker; married first Margaret, surname unknown, born about 1 January 1821, died 16 September 1843, buried in Finck's Basin Cemetery, Town of Danube, Herkimer Co., New York. They accompanied his father to the Mohawk Valley of New York and are found on census returns for Danube, Herkimer County in 1840. He married second in 1845 Delia Van Allen, daughter of Jacob Van Allen and Catherine Zimmerman, and they are found in the 1850 census of Danube. Eli Emily A., possibly a daughter of Seymour, born about 1816, died 27 September 1818, age two years. Emily T.; married Herkimer Green, son of Felix Greene and Lany Herkimer. Alemida, born about 1824; married Henry Smith. They were in Danube, Herkimer Co., New York, in 1850. Janette, born 1826, died 1902 in Herkimer Co., New York.  She was in Danube, New York during the 1850 census; married Benjamin Youngs. Jesse, born 1760, died 1835; married Olive. They were in Shoreham, Vermont, as late as 1830.

 

Headstone for Emily A., likely daughter of Seymour and Huldah, in Finck's Basin Cemetery,
Town of Danube, Herkimer Co., New York.

Headstone for Margaret, first wife of Seymour E. Wolcott, in Finck's Basin Cemetery,
Town of Danube, Herkimer Co., New York.

 

© Mark A. Wentling, 1999-2007

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        SOURCE:  Most of the information presented here concerning William Wolcott and his descendants was taken, with permission, from the research of John Benjamin Wolcott, Registrar of the Society of Descendants of Henry Wolcott, plus information from my personal correspondence with him.  John has done exhaustive research on all five Wolcott families that arrived in America during the 17th century. His work, including more on the descendants of William Wolcott of Salem can be found on his home page.  Both John and I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can provide further verification of the connection between William Wolcott of Salem and Samuel Wolcott of Charlestown.