Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/716

WOLCOTT. 610 WOLF. manded a company of volunteers, raised by him- self, on the noithern frontier. He was sherilV of Litchfield County in 1751; a member of the Council from 1774 to 1786, and in the meantime was judge of the Court of Connuon Picas, and of the Litchfield District Probate Court. In 1775 Congress appointed him one of the Indian Com- missioners for the Northern Department, with instructions to secure the neutrality of the Iro- quois. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1770-78 and in 1780-84, and was one of the supporters and a signer of the Dec- laration of Independence. Entering the army as colonel of the Connecticut militia in _1J75, he became a brigadier-general in August, 1770, com- manding the fourteen Connecticut regiments raised to cooperate with the Continental army in the defense of New York, and taking an active part in the campaign against Burgoync; and in May, 1779, he was appointed a major-general. Again in 1784 he was an Indian Commissioner for the Northern Department, and as such nego- tiated a treaty with the Iroquois. He was Lieu- tenant-Governor of Connecticut from 1780 to 1790, and Governor from 1790 until his death. Consult Sanderson, Biographies of the Sif/ners, vol. iii. (Philadelphia, 1820-27). WOLCOTT, Oliver (1700-1833). An Ameri- can political leader, son of the preceding. He was born in Litchfield, Conn., graduated at Yale in 1778, and served in the Connecticut militia, as an aide to his father, during the latter part of the Revolutionary War. He was admitted to the bar in 1781, and was employed for several years in the financial department of the State Government, acting iu 1784 as commissioner, with Oliver Ellsworth, to adjust the accounts be- tween Connecticut and the United States. He was Comptroller of Public Accounts for the United States in 1788-89, was Auditor of the United States Treasury in 1789-91, and was again Comp- troller of Public Accounts from 1791 to 179.5. when he succeeded Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. He was retained in this posi- tion by .John Adams, and while performing the dutiesof his olfiee took an active part in Hamil- ton's oposition to the President, but resigned from the C'abinet in November. 1800. Subse- quently he was a judge of the United States Cir- cuit Court (in 1801-02)^ was engaged in mercan- tile pursuits in New Y'ork from 1802 to 1812. es- tablishing several large factories at Wolcottville (near Litchfiehl) ; was president of the Bank of North .America in 181214; jiresidcd over the Connecticut constitutional convcnlion in 1817, and was Governor of that State from 1817 to 1827, when he returned to New York. He wrote ■-everal pamphlets, including an Addrrfin to the I'cople of the United Hfates on the Hiihject of the Deport of a Commiltee of the House of Rep- re.sentafii-es (1802), and liritidlt Influences on Affairs in the United fitdles Proved and Ex- plained (1804). His papers liavc been edited by Gibbs as Memoirs of the Adminislrntions of Wcishimiton and John Adams (New York, 1840). ' WOLCOTT, Roger (1079-1707). A colonial Governor of Connecticut. He was horn in Wind- sor. Conn., was apprenticed 1o a weaver at the nge of twelve, and began an independent business career at twenty-one. In the campaign against Canada in 1711 he was commissary of t)ie Ccm- necticut troops, and in the celebrated Louisburg expedition of 1745 be was second in conuiuind, with the rank of major-general. After serving as a member of the executive council, judge of the Supreme Court, and Deputy Governor, he was for four years (1750-54) Governor of the colony. He wrote some crude verse, including Poetical Meditations, being the Improvement of some ^'acant Hours (1725), and a Brief Account of the Agency of the Honorable John AVinthrop, Esq., in the Court of King Charhs the iSccoiid, A.D. 1602, irhen he obtained a CItarler for the Colony of Connecticut (printed in the Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1st series, vol. iv. ). His journal of the Louisliurg expedi- tion is in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. WOLCOTT, Roger (1847-1901). An Ameri- can political leader. Governor of Massachusetts. He was born in Boston, Mass., graduated at Har- vard in 1870, was a tutor in French and hislcuy there in 1871-72. and graduated at tlic Harvard Law School in 1874. From 1877 to 1879 he was a member of the Boston Common Council, from 1882 to 1885 a member of the State House of Representatives, and was then again a member of the Common Council from 1887 to 1889. In 1892 he was elected Lieutenant-tiovernor of the State, although W. E. Russell (q.v.), the Demo- cratic candidate for Governor, was chosen. He was rci^lccted in 1893, 1894. and 1895. Before the termination of his fourth term lie became by llie sudden death of Governor Greenhalge, in May, 1896, acting Governor. In the following Novem- ber he was chosen Governor by the largest major- ity ever given to any candidate for that olhce in the history of the State, and was reelected in 1897 and 1898. Subsequently he was olTercd liy President McKinlcy the position of a niendier of the Philippine Commission, and later (lie Ambas- sadorship to Italy, both of which honors he de- clined. Consult Lawrence, Roger Wolcott (Bos- ton, 1902). WOLF (AS. n-iilf, Goth, wulfs, OHG. wolf, Gor. Wolf. wolf, connected with l.at. lupus. (!k. kos, lykos. OChurch Slav, rlukii. Lith. riiha.i, Skt. rrh-a, wolf, and with Skt. vrn^^c, to rend, Gk. IXkcii/, hellcein, OChurch Slav. rlH-nti. to haul) . The name of several typically canine ani- mals; specifically Canis lupus. Tliis, the 'wolf of the whole Northern Hemisphere, is ycUow- isli gray, with strong coar.se hair, vhich is long- est on the ears, neck, sluuddei-s, and haunches, and especially on the throat: the nuizzle is bhtck, the upper lip and chin white. The ears are erect and pointed, the muzzle sharp: the legs rather longer than those of the shepherd-dog: the tail bushy, but not curling: the eyes oblique, giving a pcctiliarly vicious expression to the countenance. The wolf is swift of foot, and lumls deer and other animals, packs of wolves associat- ing for this purpose; it also often conunits great ravages at night among sheep, and attacks calves, but seldom full-grown oxen or man, unless hard pressed by hunger, Avhen it becomes very danger- ous. In general, the wolf is cowardly and stealthy. It is not easily trajipcd, being oxtremcl.v cautious, and appearing to understand the nature and pur- pose of a trap almost as well as those by whom it is set. Diversities appear in the wolves of difTerent countries of Europe and Asia, but not very cim-