Henry Wolcott

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Henry Wolcott (bp. 1579–1655)

Elizabeth Saunders (bp. 1585–1655)

Henry, the son of John and Agnes (Cross) Wolcott, was baptised on 6 December 1579 in Lydeard St. Lawrence, Somerset. [B] He died on 30 May 1655 in Windsor, Connecticut. [1] He married Elizabeth Saunders on 19 January 1606 in Lydeard St. Lawrence.

Henry's parents were married on 9 February 1578/9 in Lydeard St. Lawrence. [B]

Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Saunders and Anne Blake of St. Lawrence, co. Somerset. [3] She was baptised on 20 December 1585. She died on 5/17 July 1655. [3]

Henry came to New England on the Mary & John, arriving on 20 March 1630. [3] He left his two daughters, his oldest son John and his youngest son Simon in England for perhaps another ten years to be educated. [4]

Henry settled in Dorchester and was a freeman in 1630. [3] He was admitted freeman on 1 April 1634. He was an assessor on 3 November 1633. He was a fence viewer on 20 May 1634. He was a selectman on 28 October 1634. [1]

Henry moved to Windsor, Connecticut. He was the constable there on 26 April 1636. He was a tax collector on 9 February 1637/8. He was a deputy to the General Court from Windsor in April 1639. [1]

On 15 April 1639 John Wolcott sent a letter to his brother Henry Wolcott, living in Windsor. He tells him that their brother Christopher Wolcott of Wellington died testate on 25 March 1639 in the morning, leaving his personal estate to his wife and his real property to Henry. John was to have noting despite having supported him, "byeing h[im land]e by copie into Tolland Mill living." He said that Christopher had promised their father on his death bed that his son John was to be his heir "unto Tolland Mill." He mentions his wife and his children and says that his son John has not yet returned from the Indies. [C]

Henry went back to England in 1640 and returned to New England in 1641. [1]

Henry was an Assistant from 1643 to 1655. [1]

Henry wrote his will on 20 May 1655 and it was proved on 4 October 1655. Inventory on his estate was taken on 13 June 1655 and it amounted to £764 8 s. 10d. He left bequests to his wife, his eldest son Henry—to whom he left his land in England, his second son Christopher, his third son George and his youngest son Simon. Elizabeth wrote her will on 5 July 1655. She mentioned hers sons Christopher, George and Simon and her daughters Anne and Mary. [1]

Children of Henry Wolcott and Elizabeth Saunders: Order uncertain

i. John Wolcott was baptized on 1 October 1607 in Lydeard St. Lawrence. [1] He died without surviving issue between 1631 and 10 March 1642. [1]

John was living in England in 1631. [2]

ii. Henry Wolcott was born say 1616. [1] He died in 1680. [4] He married Sarah, the daughter of Thomas and Joane (Dabinott) Newberry, on 8 November 1641 in Windsor. [1][2]

iii. George Wolcott was born say 1622. [1] He died between 19 January and 12 February 1662/3. He married by about 1649 Elizabeth Unknown. [1] She may have been the daughter of Richard Treat. [1]

George made his will on 19 January 1662/3; his inventory was taken on 12 February 1662/3. [2]

iv. Anne Wolcott was born say 1624. She died in 1700. She married Matthew Griswold.

v. Mary Wolcott was born say 1626. [1] She died in 1689. [4] She married Job, the son of John Drake, on 25 June 1646. [1] He died in 1689. [4]

vi. Christopher Wolcott was born say 1628. [1] He died on 7 September 1662, unmarried in Windsor. [1]

Christopher made a nuncupative will on 4 December 1662. He left his estate to his siblings, unnamed except for Henry. [2]

vii. Simon Wolcott was born say 1630. [1] He died in 1687. [4] He married first Joanna, the daughter of Aaron Cooke on 19 March 1656/7 in Windsor. [1] She was baptized on 5 or 15 August 1638 in Windsor. [2] She died on 27 April 1657 in Windsor. [1] He married second Martha Pitkin on 17 October 1661 in Windsor. [1] Martha, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Pitkin, was baptized on 12 December 1639 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and died on 13 October 1719 in East Windsor. [2]

Endnotes:

B. Myrtle Stevens Hyde, "A Wolcott Correction," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 157 (2003): 256.

1. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 2049–52.

2. Clifford Stott, "Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and his Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey and Wolcott," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 163 (2009): 85–97, 199–211, 278–95; 164 (2010) 63–74, specifically 163: 285–6.

3. Henry A. Hudson, Jr., "Hon. Henry Matson Waite — For the People," Connecticut Nutmegger 38 (2005), 192–3.

4. "The Woolcotts of Windsor, (Conn.),"Connecticut Nutmegger, vol. 11 (1978), 3–12.

C. George Gibbs, "Letter of John Wolcott," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2 (1848): 373–4.

Revised 06-Jun-2023