1754-1932
Guide to the Collection
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| Creator: | Wolcott family |
| Title: | Wolcott family papers II |
| Dates: | 1754-1932 |
| Physical Description: | 4 document
boxes and 2 oversize containers |
| Call Number: | Ms. N-152 |
| Repository: | Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215
library@masshist.org |
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Abstract:
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This collection consists of the papers of the
interrelated Wolcott, Prescott, Huntington, and Hickling families, primarily
genealogical materials, as well as family and business papers of Joshua H.
Wolcott, a partner in the Boston merchant firm of A. & A. Lawrence.
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Wolcott family
Frederick Wolcott (1767-1837) of Litchfield,
Conn. graduated first in his class from Yale in 1786. He was Clerk of the Court
of Common Pleas and of the Superior Court, Judge of Probate for Litchfield
County for 41 years, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives and
the Senate, and on the Corporation of Yale College. He was also the founder of
what is believed to be one of the first temperance organizaions in the country.
He was the grandson of Roger Wolcott (1679-1767),
Governor and public official of Connecticut and second in command to Sir
William Pepperell at the 1745 Expedition to Cape Breton resulting in the
capture of Louisbourg; the son of Oliver Wolcott
(1726-1797), signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the
Continental Congress and Governor of Connecticut; and brother of
Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (1760-1833) who followed
Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury in George Washington's cabinet
and Governor of Connecticut.
Frederick married Elizabeth (Betsey) Huntington
(1774-1812) in 1800. His second wife was Sally
Worthington Goodrich Cooke (1785-1842) whom he married in 1815.
Joshua Huntington Wolcott (1804-1891), son of
Frederick and Betsey, brother of Frederick Henry Wolcott
(b.1808) and half-brother of Charles Mosley Wolcott
(b.1816) was a Boston merchant and partner in the textile commission
house of A. & A. Lawrence until its dissolution in 1865 and director of
many mills, including the York Manufacturing Company of Saco, Maine. He was
also very involved in charitable and benevolent institutions. He married
Cornelia Frothingham (1824-1850) in 1844 and
following her death, he married his wife's sister Harriet
"Hatty" Frothingham in 1851.
Huntington Frothingham Wolcott (1846-1865), son
of J.H. and Cornelia, was a member of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry during the
final year of the Civil War and died of fever after returning home to Boston in
1865.
Roger Wolcott (1847-1900), also the son of J.H.
and Cornelia and brother of Huntington F., graduated from Harvard in 1870 and
from Harvard Law School in 1874. He was a justice of the peace from 1875-1900,
a member of the Massachusetts legislature from 1881-1884, Lt. Governor of
Massachusetts from 1892-1896. He advanced to the Governor's chair in 1896 as a
result of the death of Frederick T. Greenhalge and served in that position
until 1900. He was also largely involved in business activities, including the
Boston and Albany Railroad and the New England Trust Company, and in
philanthropic organizations as a member of the Boston Provident Association and
as a trustee of the Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Mass. General Hospital. He
was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and an overseer of Harvard
College. He married Edith Prescott (b.1853) in
1874.
Roger Wolcott (1877-1965) of Milton, Mass. was
the son of Roger and Edith. He graduated from Harvard in 1899 and received his
law degree in 1902. He was Counsel for the Boston Elevated Railroad, a
representative to the Mass. General Court, and a member of the Governor's staff
from 1905-1907. His military career includes service as a private in the 1st
Mass. Heavy Artillery, U.S. Volunteers during the Spanish-American War, in
charge of the Selective Draft in Massachusetts during World War I, and in many
positions with the Mass. National Guard. He was a member of the council and
corresponding secretary of the Mass. Historical Society, a trustee of the
Boston Athenaeum, a member of several veterans organizations, and an Overseer
of Harvard College.
Prescott and Hickling families
Colonel William Prescott (1726-1795), like Roger
Wolcott (1679-1767) was a member of Sir William Pepperell's staff during the
Louisbourg Expedition in 1745 and colonel of a group of minute men, reporting
to Cambridge after news of the Battle of Lexington. He was one of the
co-commanders at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 16, 1775, took part in the
Battle of Long Island in 1776, and served as a volunteer under Gates in 1777 in
the campaign that resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. His son,
Judge William Prescott (1762-1844) and his wife
Catherine Greene Hickling (1767-1852), were the
great-grandparents of Edith Prescott (later Wolcott, see above). Catherine
Hickling was the daughter of Thomas Hickling
(1745-1834), a Boston merchant and Consul on the island of St. Michael
in the Azores, and was known for her philanthropic exercises.
The Wolcott family papers contain correspondence and other papers,
genealogical notes, family trees, biographical sketches, clippings,
photographs, and printed materials of the inter-related Wolcott, Prescott,
Frothingham, Huntington, and Hickling families.
The majority of the collection is comprised of Wolcott family materials,
including extensive family correspondence, in particular that of Joshua
Huntington Wolcott (J.H.) with his brothers, Frederick Henry and Charles Mosley
and with his son Roger (later Governor of Massachusetts). Business papers of
J.H. include letters from his partners in the Boston merchant firm of A. &
A. Lawrence, Amos and Abbott Lawrence and copies of J.H's partnership
agreements with the Lawrences and with Jonas E. Stone. Other correspondents of
J.H. include Samuel Chapman Armstrong, William M. Reid, and Henry Cabot
Lodge.
Additional family correspondence includes Cornelia Frothingham Wolcott's
(wife of J.H.) letterbook of her letters to her family, in particular to sister
Harriet (Ratty) Frothingham, later the second wife of J.H. following her
sister's death; Huntington Frothingham Wolcott's letters to his parents during
his service with the 2nd Massachusetts Calvary during the Civil War; letters
from Governor Roger to Roger Wolcott, Jr., while the latter was away at summer
camps; and letters and a letterbook from Governor Roger to his parents while
travelling abroad with his new wife, Edith Prescott Wolcott.
Other Wolcott papers of note include correspondence between J.H. and his
father and step-mother, Frederick and Sally W. Wolcott; a book of poetry copied
by Harriet F. Wolcott; Gov. Roger Wolcott's plan of his father's land at Blue
Hill; a letter from J.H. to his fiancee Elizabeth Flint in Nashville, Tenn.
(the engagement was later broken); a letter from Oliver Wolcott, Jr. to Captain
Ebenezer Barnard; and papers related to funds at Harvard University in the
names of Huntington F. and J.H. Wolcott.
The collection contains very few papers related to Roger Wolcott's official
business as Governor of Massachusetts, 1896-1899, however there are two letters
from John D. Long regarding Wolcott's rejection of a Federal position with the
Commission on the Philippines and correspondence with many important historical
figures on personal matters, club memberships, and invitations. The
correspondents include Frederick Greenhalge, Phillips Brooks, T.W. Higginson,
and Henry W. Beecher.
Other families are primarily represented by genealogical materials, but
there are also a typescript of the diary of Catherine G. Hickling (later
Prescott); a phrenological study of Mr. [?] Huntington; sermons, including
several by Rev. Phillips Payson of Chelsea, Mass.; Civil War letters from
Thomas G. and Robert H. Stevenson to their sister Hannah (Stevenson?]; a
typescript of Thomas Hickling's visit to England and France; and a number of
cut-slip autographs.
In addition, there are genealogical notes for the Greene, Amory, Lombard,
and Coffin families.
The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) holds the following collections
related to the Wolcott family papers II:
Wolcott family Civil War carte de visite album, ca. 1860-1866. Photo. Coll.
70. Finding aid available at:
http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap030.
Deposited by the Wolcott family, through Samuel Wolcott, June, 1989.
The collection is organized into the following series:
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| I. Wolcott family |
| | A. Family history materials |
| | B. Family papers |
| II. Prescott family |
| | A. Family history materials |
| | B. Family papers |
| III. Frothingham family |
| IV. Huntington family |
| V. Hickling family |
| VI. Amory family |
| VII. Chester family |
| VIII. Coffin family |
| IX. Greene family |
| X. Lombard family |
| XI. Other genealogical materials |
| XII. Miscellaneous |
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| Box | Folder / Volume | Contents |
| | I. Wolcott family |
| | | A. Family history materials
Arranged topically and by type of material.Genealogical materials on the Wolcott family, including family trees and
biographical sketches, many done or commissioned to be done by Governor Roger
Wolcott, obituaries and other newspaper clippings. Also, coats of arms; a copy
of the sermon of Rev. Joseph Perry after the death of Roger (1679-1767); a list
of the articles of property to be divided among the children of Frederick
Wolcott; Joshua Huntington (J.H.) Wolcott materials, including his commission
as Justice of the Peace (1854), an official letter to his son Roger regarding a
change in his previous will (1873), and Roger's plan of his father's estate at
Blue Hill (ca.1875).
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| Box 1 | Folder 1-4 | | | Genealogical materials |
| Box 4 | Vol. 1 | | | Ancestral chart (incomplete) |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | | | Coat of arms |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | | | Clippings |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | | | Frederick Wolcott |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | | | Joshua Huntington Wolcott |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | | | Roger Wolcott, Governor of Massachusetts |
| | | B. Family papers
Arranged chronologically within series of papers |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 | | | Early family papers Early family papers include a copy of a deed from Joseph Allyn to Fred and
Grey Wolcott for land in Torrington, Conn. (1813); a letter from Oliver
Wolcott, Jr. to Capt. Ebenezer Barnard regarding the former's renting of a
house in New York (1785); a copy of a letter from George Washington to Oliver
Wolcott (1797); a facsimile and typescript of a letter from Roger Wolcott
(1754); and copies of letters of Oliver Wolcott (1777).
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| | | | General correspondence General correspondence primarily contains the correspondence of J.H.
Wolcott, including extensive series of letters from his brothers, Frederick
Henry and Charles Mosley; with his parents, Frederick and Betsey (Huntington)
Wolcott; and from his step-mother, Sally W. Wolcott. Also included is a letter
from J.H. to his fiancee in Nashville, Tenn., Elizabeth Flint (the engagement
was later broken); correspondence between Roger and his father and step-mother,
J.H. and Harriet (Frothingham) Wolcott; other misc. letters to Roger, including
one from Henry Cabot Lodge (1876); and additional family correspondence.
Additional correspondents of J.H. include Joseph P. Cooke, Samuel C. Armstrong,
and William Reid, the latter two being from the Hampton Institute.
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| Box 1 | Folder 11-14 | | | | 1812-1836 |
| Box 1 | Folder 15 | | | | J.H. Wolcott to Elizabeth Flint,
1836 |
| Box 1 | Folder 16-21 | | | | 1837-1888 |
| Box 2 | Folder 1-2 | | | J.H. Wolcott business papers,
1825-1836 J.H. Wolcott business papers relate to his partnerships in the merchant
firms in Boston with Amos and Abbott Lawrence, Jonas Emery Stone, and others.
The papers include a copy of the partnership agreement between Wolcott and J.E.
Stone (1825); promissory notes of J.H. with A. and A. Lawrence; copies of
partnership agreements and dissolutions among A. and A. Lawrence, J.W. Edwards,
and J.H. Wolcott (1830-1837); and correspondence between Wolcott and Amos
Lawrence, Abbott Lawrence, and J.W. Edwards. Along with business interests, the
correspondence of Abbott Lawrence during his term in the U.S. House of
Representatives also relates to the revoking of various bank charters and the
money situation in the country at that time.
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| Box 4 | Vol. 2 | | | Cornelia Frothingham Wolcott letterbook,
1838-1850 Cornelia Frothingham Wolcott letterbook (1838-1850) contains letters from
her to her sisters Harriet (Hatty, later J.H.'s second wife), Eliza Robbins,
Louisa Jackson; her brother Theodore Frothingham; and other family members. The
letters span from before her marriage to J.H. Wolcott until three years after
their marriage, also the year of her death. Most of the letters were copied by
Cornelia and later by Harriet.
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| | | | Huntington F. Wolcott Civil War Papers Huntington F. Wolcott Civil War papers contain letters from H.F. Wolcott to
his father and step-mother, J.H. and Harriet Wolcott from his positions in the
field as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, from March May, 1865.
Also included are his commission (1864); a muster roll (March 28, 1865); and a
few of his orders.
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| Box 2 | Folder 3-4 | | | | 1864-1865 |
| Box 2 | Folder 5-6 | | | | Copies of letters |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 | | | | Clippings |
| | | | Roger Wolcott letters from abroad Roger Wolcott letters from abroad include a few loose letters to his parents
and a letterbook containing copies of his letters to Harriet Wolcott while he
and his new bride Edith Prescott Wolcott were travelling abroad, 1874-1876.
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| Box 2 | Folder 8 | | | | Loose letters,
1874-1876 |
| Box 4 | Vol. 3 | | | | Letterbook |
| Box 2 | Folder 9-10 | | | Roger Wolcott to Roger Wolcott, Jr.,
1889-1898 Roger Wolcott letters to Roger Wolcott, Jr. written while the latter was
away at summer camps, 1889-1898, with some gaps in the years.
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| Box 2 | Folder 11-13 | | | Governor Roger Wolcott papers,
1895-1900 Governor Roger Wolcott papers contain correspondence, invitations to, and
responses to invitations from Wolcott while he was Lt. Governor and Governor of
Massachusetts and Chief Marshall for the Commencement at Harvard University in
1895. Also, two letters from John D. Long to Wolcott regarding Wolcott's
rejection of an offer to be a member of a federal commission sent to the
Philippines. With the exception of these two letters, these are the only
official papers related to Wolcott's governorship, the rest of the
correspondence related to his membership in clubs and other items of a personal
nature. Additional correspondents include Frederick Greenhalge, J.B.
Frothingham, Alexander H. Rice, Phillips Brooks, T.W. Higginson, Henry W.
Beecher, and M.A. Field.
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| Box 4 | Vol. 4 | | | Book of poetry Book of poetry mostly copied by Harriet Wolcott with some later additions by
Governor Roger Wolcott.
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| Box 2 | Folder 14 | | | Wolcott Memorial,
1881-1886 Wolcott memorial papers contain clippings and a list of the distribution by
Miss Wolcott of Longmeadow, Mass. of a memorial book done in 1881 by the sons
of Frederick Wolcott and given to the Wolcott Library in Litchfield, Conn, and
privately distributed by the family in 1886.
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| Box 2 | Folder 15 | | | H. F. and J.H. Wolcott Funds at Harvard University,
1891-1900 H.F. and J.H. Wolcott Funds at Harvard University, funds donated by Roger
Wolcott in the names of the late Huntington F. and Joshua Huntington Wolcott,
the former to be used by the trustees of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology and the latter for the purchase of books for the University Library.
These materials include a copy of the gift in 1891 and letters (1892-1900) from
F.W. Putnam of the Peabody Museum informing Roger Wolcott of the use of the
funds.
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| | II. Prescott family
Arranged by type of material |
| | | A. Family history materials
Included are genealogical materials; family trees; biographical sketches of
members of the Prescott family, including Col. William Prescott; and
clippings.
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| Box 2 | Folder 16-17 | | | Genealogical materials |
| Box 4 | Vol. 5-6 | | | Family trees, vols. 1 and 2 |
| Box 2 | Folder 18 | | | Biographical sketches |
| Box 2 | Folder 19 | | | Clippings |
| | | B. Family papers
Miscellaneous family letters including a facsimile of a letter from William
Hickling Prescott and one from Catherine Greene Hickling Prescott (with
typescript); and a typescript copy of the 1786-1789 diary of Catherine Greene
Hickling (later Prescott) written on the island of St. Michael, the Azores,
while her father, Thomas Hickling, was Consul there.
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| Box 2 | Folder 20 | | | Catherine Greene Hickling diary,
1786-1789
(typescript) |
| Box 2 | Folder 21 | | | Misc. family letters,
1840-1856 |
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| Box 2 | Folder 22-23 | III. Frothingham family
Genealogical materials and family trees.
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| | IV. Huntington family
Arranged by type of materialGenealogical materials and a document on the "Phrenological character of Mr.
[?] Huntington (1838).
See also the Chester-Huntington genealogy in the
Chester family series.
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| Box 3 | Folder 1-2 | | Genealogical materials |
| Box 3 | Folder 3 | | Phrenological character of Mr. Huntington,
1838 |
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| Box 3 | Folder 4-5 | V. Hickling family
Genealogical materials, including some biographical sketches of members of
the Hickling family and a typescript of Thomas Hickling's diary of a 1796 trip
to England and France.
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| Box 3 | Folder 6 | VI. Amory family
Genealogical materials.
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| Box 3 | Folder 7 | VII. Chester family
Genealogical materials, including a Chester-Huntington family sketch.
See also the Huntington family series for more
information on this family.
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| Box 3 | Folder 8 | VIII. Coffin family
Genealogical materials.
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| Box 3 | Folder 9 | IX. Greene family
Genealogical materials.
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| Box 3 | Folder 10 | X. Lombard family
Genealogical materials.
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| Box 3 | Folder 11-17 | XI. Other genealogical materials
Arranged alphabetically by family nameGenealogical materials, including notes, sketches, clippings, and family
trees on the Atkins, Austin, Blanchard, Collicot, Collins, Gager, Hale, Hall,
Hayden, Holyoke, Hutchinson, Kibbell, Leete, Linzee, Miller, Paine, Peabody,
Phipps, Pickering, Putnam, Pynchon, Rainsford, Rand, Smith, Sunderland,
Talcott, Townsend, Upham, Whittemore, and Williams families. Many of the notes
are those of Governor Roger Wolcott.
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| | XII. Miscellaneous
Arranged by type of materialThese materials include a set of sermons (1746-1811), most of which are by
Rev. Phillips Payson (1736-1801), minister at Chelsea, Mass., including the
funeral sermon of Capt. John Sale in 1763; a series of letters (1859-1865)
written to Hannah (Stevenson?], mostly from her brothers Robert H. and Thomas
G. Stevenson from the field during the Civil War, the former being a member of
the 24th Mass. Volunteers and the latter a Brigadier General with the U.S.
Volunteers; a set of cut-slip autographs of politicians and other historically
significant persons; and unidentified genealogical notes and other items.
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| Box 3 | Folder 18-19 | | Sermons,
1746-1811 |
| Box 3 | Folder 20-21 | | Letters to Hannah [Stevenson?],
1859-1865 |
| Box 3 | Folder 22 | | Misc. autographs |
| Box 3 | Folder 23 | | Misc. and unidentified |
Wolcott family papers II, Massachusetts Historical Society.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in
ABIGAIL,
the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers
desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should
search the catalog using these headings.
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| Persons: |
| | Hickling family. |
| | Huntington family. |
| | Prescott family. |
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| Organizations: |
| | Massachusetts. Governor (1896-1900 : Wolcott).
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| | United States. Army. Massachusetts Cavalry
Regiment, 2nd (1862-1865). |
| | United States. Army. Massachusetts Infantry
Regiment, 24th (1861-1866). |
Photographs from this collection were removed to theWolcott family Civil War
carte de visite album, ca. 1860-1866. Photo. Coll. 70.
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