The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: CT
Qualifying Service: Brigadier General
Author: James Edward Mitchell
Colonel Erastus Wolcott was born in (East) Windsor Hartford County on 21 Sep 1722 a son of Connecticut (CT) Governor Roger Wolcott (1679-1767) and his wife, Sarah Drake (1686-1748).
A brother Roger Wolcott (1704-59) from the Town of East Windsor was listed on the Lexington Alarm List during Apr., 1775 as an Ensign in Captain Amasa Loomis’s company; source, The Record of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution 1775-83 edited by Henry P. Johnston, under authority of Adj.-Gen of CT; and, Clearfield Publishers, pg 9. Colonel Erastus Wolcott is identified commanding (CT) 19th Militia, Wolcott’s Rgt. at Boston, between Jan.-Mar 1776 within the Table of Contents, pg xv and State Rgts at Boston, pgs 381-5. During the critical re-organization of the Continental army before Boston, Dec, 1775- Feb, 1776 when American soldiers were arriving and departing, Gen. George Washington called for rgts from states composing the New England Militia to defend and to guard the lines at various places until the new army had been well established and trained under new command and staff officers. Connecticut sent 3 rgts under Colonels Wadsworth, Erastus Wolcott and (John) Douglas. The rgts reached Boston toward the closing of Jan and remained there 6 weeks. The rolls of Colonel Wolcott’s rgt alone are recorded. His rgt formed a part of the detachment from the army that occupied Boston after the British army evacuated the town. Erastus married twice, 1st to Jerusha Wolcott Wolcott (1719-89) a 1st cousin by direct line kinship and a daughter of John Wolcott II and Hannah Newberry. His 1st marriage produced 6 children: Erastus Jr, c1747 (infant death); Flavia Wolcott Grant, c1750; Erastus Jr, c1752; Jerusha, c1755; Arodi, c1760; and, Albert, c1761. The 2nd marriage to Mary Conyers produced additional children that included Mary Wolcott (1764-1842). The earliest available recorded US Census was conducted in 1790 and may still be reviewed at the US National Archives Record Administration (NARA) at Washington, D.C. Names of Honorable Erastus Wolcott; Erastus Wolcott Jr; Albertus Wolcott; and, 1 other (Epaphrus) Wolcott appear recorded (pg. 410) as separate households. They are suggested to be neighbors at East Windsor, Hartford, CT. An approved Record Copy typed, supplemental application dated & approved on 31 Aug 1928 for Frank F. Cooper, Clifton Forge, Alleghany County, VA may be observed within the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Virginia State Society, that traces his direct lineage from Erastus Wolcott and wife, Mary Conyers’s daughter Mary Wolcott, above (1764). Compatriot Frank F. Cooper, Dec’d., SAR Application appears recorded upon as SAR Nat’l No. 46992 and State No. 715. A detailed, narrative by given by Frank F. Cooper supplied ample proof of his ancestor’s Revolutionary War military service found in The Record of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution 1775-83, pgs9, 158, 317, 381, 429, 438,446, 494, 613, and 623; also, Century Encyclopedia, Vol. 19. Erastus Wolcott’s death was recorded on 14 Sep 1793 at age 70. His beautifully inscribed & hand quarried, granite, upright, family headstone appears photographed online www.findagrave.com Find A Grave Memorial# 18986095 at Edwards Cemetery aka., Gods Acre Burying Ground, aka., Old South Windsor cemetery, Town of South Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut at Latitude: 41.84890, Longitude: -72.61110
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