Wolcott

I present this lineage as believed/published recently (1986) by the Society of Descendants of Henry Wolcott, and as well by numerous other authors since the time of Henry's emigration, including the display of the coat of arms (at right) on some gravestones, silverware, papers and portraits of his descendants, among them grandson Gov. Roger Wolcott and great-grandson Oliver Wolcott, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Arms of Henry Wolcott of Gaulden Manor, Tolland, Somersetshire, England.

ARMS- Argent, a Chevron between three Chess Rooks ermined.
CREST- A Bulls' Head erased argent, armed or, ducally gorged, lined, and ringed, of the last.
MOTTO- Nullis addictus jurare in verba magistri
Translation- "accustomed to swear in the words of no master"

"The chess rooks were introduced early in the fifteenth century through a knight of whom it is recorded in the old Family Pedigree:
Playing at ye chess with Henry ye fifte, kind of Englande, he gave him ye cheke matte with ye rouke, whereupone ye kings changed his coate of armes which was ye crosse with flower de lures, and gave him ye rouke for a remembrance."

Henry Wolcott of Goldon Manor, second son of Sir John, was baptized at Lydiard, St. Lawrence, the adjoining parish, 6th December, 1578, and married, 10th January, 1606, Elizabeth Saunders, daughter of Thomas Saunders of Lydiard, St. Lawrence, born 1589.

Upon the decease of his elder brother, Henry inherited his estates, including Goldon Manor and the Mill. Possessing a handsome income and established social position, his picturesque home, built for defense as well as for a residence, with rooms adorned by fine wood carvings there seemed every reason that Henry Wolcott should enjoy the gifts of fortune, but these were days that tried men's souls.

Impelled by religious motives, Henry Wolcott and his entire family, with the exception of his oldest son, came to New England and were among those that made the memorable march from Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River in 1635/6, and were among the founders of Windsor. Connecticut.

Here he assumed a position of influence and was a member of the Lower House in the First General Assembly held in Connecticut, 1637, and an Assistant to the Governor, 1643-1655, and he became the progenitor of one of the most distinguished families in America.

Henry Wolcott died at Windsor, 30th May, 1655, and his wife, Elizabeth, 5th July, 1655.

Children of Henry Wolcott and Elizabeth Saunders:

1. John, bapt. 1 Oct 1607, Lydiard, St. Lawrence; was living in England in 1631 and aparently never emigrated to America; dsp., probably before date of father's will in 1655.
2. Mary
3. Anna, died young
4. Henry, b. 21 Jan 1610; md. 18 Nov 1641, Windsor, Hartford, Ct., Sarah Newberry.
5. George, md. 1649, Windsor, Hartford, Ct., Elizabeth Treat.
6. Christopher, d. 7 Sep 1662.
7. Anne, b. 1620, England; d. between Sep 1700-May 1701; md. 16 Oct 1646, Matthew Griswold.
8. Mary, b. abt 1622, Tolland, England; d. 16 sept 1689, Windsor, Ct.; md. 25 Jun 1646, Windsor Hartford, Ct., Job Drake (Sgt.).
9. Simon, B. 11 Sep 1624, England; d. 11 sep 1687, windsor, Ct; md. 1st, 19 Mar 1657, Windsor, Hartford, Ct., Johannah Cook, and 2nd, 17 Oct 1661, Windsor, Hartford, Ct., Martha Pitkin

Margaret P. Hillhouse, HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL COLLECTIONS RELATING TO THE DESCENDANTS OF REV. JAMES HILLHOUSE, New York, Tobias A. Wright, Printer and Publisher, 1924, p. 49, 50.

Robert C. Griffen and Mitchell Alegre, WOLCOTT GENEALOGY, published by the Society of Descendants of Henry Wolcott, 1986 p. 0-59. (Heart of the Lakes Publishing, Interlaken, New York.]

William F. J. Boardman, The Ancestry of William Francis Joseph Boardman, Hartford, CT, 1906, pp. 308-312.

Coat of arms from a small plate/ashtray made by Brent (Wolcott) Roehrs for her father, Robert Wilson Wolcott. [He was my mother's mother's second husband. My line to Henry Wolcott is through my dad's side as 10th g-grandfather.]

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