James Wolcott
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James Wolcott, born 3 November 1789.[1], was celebrated entrepreneur and foundational member of Maumee, Ohio. Assisting in growing the community with his grand plans for the future of Maumee through a prominent, long standing business and politician career.
James, one of thirteen children born to Guy and Abigail Wolcott, was born in Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The family was of prominence which Wolcott set out to advance for himself.
At a young age, Wolcott began working in woolen mills in search of fortune. He worked with his Uncle to construct and operate a woolen mill and later with Joseph H. Hughes of Delaware, Ohio. Wolcott continued his westward expansion into St. Louis Missouri in 1820. A year later he married Mary Wells, granddaughter of Miami Chief Little Turtle.
The young couple took stead in Wiltshire, again for James’ aspiring millwork. 1823, he built a Willshire home for Mary and their two sons. However, in search of prosperity, Wolcott brought his family to the shores of the Maumee River, settling in Maumee, Ohio in 1826. Wolcott believed that the canals of Ohio would be a good venture with their new apparatus in the Maumee River Valley. The Ohio and Erie Canal had good prospects at the time. The family set for Maumee via boat and lived in a hotel until Wolcott purchased four river tracts and began work on the “Mansion on the River.” The mansion, still standing today, began as a story and a half log house and grew to 14 rooms.
James Wolcott had a passion for the profits of shipping via the Maumee River bringing goods and passengers to great ports such as Detroit, Sandusky and Buffalo. The heyday of his enterprise reigned from 1835-1850. He owned two ships, in 1840 he launched the General Harrison and the James Wolcott in 1843. Before that, he served as acting agent for shipping lines and profited from the Forwarding and Commissioning business which helped other frontier families acquire goods. He eventually built a mill for water power at the bottom of the hill leading into the river from his house. Wolcott would have been able to see his industry with a glance out of the southern window of his study, while passersby could gaze upon the federal style mansion he accumulated for his family.
In 1838, James Wolcott was elected the first president of the Maumee Council. Following, he was elected associate judge of the Lucas County Common Pleas court. The Wolcott ships were a hit and helped launch Wolcott further into the local political scene. In 1843 he served as mayor of Maumee. Wolcott was one of the individuals who helped assign Maumee as the county seat, seeing as they believed in its long term prosperity with river trade. Wolcott’s effort helped construct a courthouse and county buildings within Maumee. In 1837, Wolcott donated a lot to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Maumee where his family worshiped and eventually willed the mansion to.
James Wolcott's political career expanded into his aid in the founding of the Lucas County Whig Party. Wolcott was a great supporter of Henry Clay, a whig, and named his fourth born son after him. Serving as chairman of the Lucas County Whig party and traveling as a delegate to the state convention in support of Clay, Wolcott was disappointed when his wife’s fathers war comrade, William Henry Harrison was chosen for the presidential nomination instead.
Unfortunately, by 1850 the entrepreneurial success of James Wolcott had faded. The sharp turn from canals to railroads left Wolcott with near nothing but his estate. In the 1870 census, he was not listed with a career, but the ward of the Wolcott Mansion at the time, Smith Gilbert, was listed as a farmer[2]
In 1843, at the age of 43, Mary Wells Wolcott died in February. James Wolcott married Caroline B. Davis on the 21st of November in the following year. Mary Ann Wolcott, the daughter of James and Mary, took the lead of the household in the interim after her mothers death, and after the divorce of James and Caroline in September of 1857[3].
James Wolcott died on 5 January 1873[4]
References[edit]
1 Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55; Author: White, Lorraine Cook, Ed.; Publication Date: 1994-2002; Volume: 47
2 Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
3 Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.
4 Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
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