Oliver Wolcott, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Oliver Wolcott, Jr. | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office February 3, 1795 – December 31, 1800 |
|
| Preceded by | Alexander Hamilton |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Dexter |
|
|
|
| Born | January 11, 1760 Litchfield, Connecticut, USA |
| Died | June 1, 1833 (aged 73) New York City, New York, USA |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
| Signature |  |
 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) was United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 and governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827.
He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, son of Oliver Wolcott, Sr. and Laura Collins Wolcott. He graduated from Yale University in 1778, later studying law at Litchfield Law School and being admitted to the bar in 1781.
Wolcott was appointed in 1784 as one of the commissioners to mediate claims between the U.S. and the state of Connecticut. After serving as state comptroller of Connecticut from 1788-90, he was named auditor of the federal treasury, and became Comptroller of the Treasury in 1791.
He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by George Washington in 1795 to succeed Alexander Hamilton; as Secretary, he was Washington's intermediary in getting the Collector of Customs for Portsmouth, New Hampshire to ship a runaway slave-woman back to Mount Vernon if it could be done quietly; it could not be, and she remained there.[1] He resigned in 1800 due to unpopularity, and a particularly vitriolic campaign against him in the press in which, among other things, he was falsely accused of setting fire to the State Department building.
In 1799, as Secretary of the Treasury, he designed the United States Customs Service flag.
From 1803 to 1815 he operated in private business in New York City, afterwards retiring to Litchfield. He was elected governor in 1817 as a "Toleration Republican", following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and serving ten years in the post. His tenure was noted for the economic growth and moderate policies that attended it. Additionally, he presided over a convention that created a new state constitution in 1818.
Wolcott died in New York City and is interred at East Cemetery in Litchfield. Prior to his death, Wolcott had been the last surviving member of the Washington Cabinet.
The town of Wolcott, Connecticut was named in honor of Oliver Jr. and his father Oliver.
[edit] References
- ^ Wills, Garry (2005). Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power. New York: Mariner Books, p. 209. ISBN 0-618-48537-6.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Alexander Hamilton |
United States Secretary of the Treasury February 3, 1795 – December 31, 1800 |
Succeeded by Samuel Dexter |
| Preceded by John Cotton Smith |
Governor of Connecticut 1817 – 1827 |
Succeeded by Gideon Tomlinson |
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
