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Profiles of 1776 | The Wolcott Family by Mary Turley

Few anecdotes from America’s pivotal year of 1776 are as delightful as the one involving Founding Father, soldier, and Connecticut representative Oliver Wolcott and his remarkable little family of “rebels.” When the year began, Wolcott was juggling two careers: as his state’s principal delegate to the Continental Congress, and as Commander of the Connecticut militia. Congress had also appointed him Commissioner of Indian Affairs, his previous service in the French and Indian War having made him well suited for the role.

He proved Congress’s trust in his merits by hammering out a treaty with the Northern Indian nations, binding them to remain neutral during the upcoming conflict. He did this three separate times, all successfully. By these treaties, many settler families were spared the atrocities that had been inflicted upon them in previous wars.

All these achievements aside, Wolcott’s greatest disappointment of 1776 was his absence from Congress during the momentous vote for Independence. Gravely ill at the time and far away with his militia, he missed the proceedings in Philadelphia on July 4. It would be months before he could affix his name to the document he had helped to craft. But it was this sad absence that allowed him to witness a scene most of his contemporaries missed.

When the irreparable break from Great Britain was decided upon, General George Washington’s irregular Continental Army was in New York City, preparing to repulse an imminent and massive invasion by both the British army and navy. It was therefore of the utmost importance for the President of Congress, Mr. John Hancock, to quickly dispatch a fresh copy of the Declaration of Independence to the Commander in Chief. And so it was that on July 9, in New York City, the ordinary militiamen from every state—who had fought for over a year under a variety of banners and for a cause still nebulous in its desired outcome—first learned that they now had a country of their own. The reaction was tremendous and not entirely orderly.
Oliver Wolcott was in New York for this occasion, and there he witnessed not only the joy of the soldiers and the effusion of passion many citizens displayed, but also one of the most bizarre demonstrations of patriotic fervor ever expressed in colonial America. For General Washington had hardly finished reading the document when a motley group of soldiers, citizens, and ne’er-do-wells stormed Bowling Green in the Wall Street area. In their zeal, they toppled the stately and gigantic equestrian statue of His Majesty—chief enemy number one—King George III. Having done this, the mob proceeded to smash it to bits on the green before taking its head and parading it on a pike through the city streets. It was rumored to have later been sent to London as a taunt.

The mob then moved on to other celebratory actions, many equally destructive but of less political impact. Yet Wolcott remained on the green amidst the wreckage. The statue had weighed about four thousand pounds and was made of pure lead with a fine coating of gold leaf. As a militiaman and an old soldier accustomed to providing his own kit, Wolcott looked at that heap of rubble and had an epiphany. Bullets were made of lead, and bullets had been terribly hard to come by for the Americans. His soldiers often had to meet the enemy with no more than five or ten bullets each, if they were lucky, and Congress had proven unable to supply more.
Wolcott collected the salvageable pieces and arranged for a ship to take the heavy material by sea to the port of Norwalk, Connecticut. It was then loaded onto oxcarts and hauled sixty miles to his house in Litchfield. There, in the family orchard behind his house, he enlisted the help of his wife, children, and the local ladies to smelt and mold the rubble into ammunition.

Wolcott’s son, Frederick Wolcott, would later attest that his father—tall, muscular, and still in the prime of life—took an axe to the larger portions himself, dividing them into manageable pieces for Mrs. Wolcott’s great cauldrons, which were themselves sacrificed for the cause. Frederick also kept careful accounts of the production rate of their merry little band of melters, reporting a grand total of 42,088 bullets formed from the statue. It was recorded that Laura Wolcott, age fifteen, made 8,378; Mary Ann Wolcott, age eleven, made 10,790; and Frederick himself, at age nine, a respectable 936.
Proud papa Wolcott took these bullets with him into the Battle of Saratoga, furnishing his men with them and thus helping to defeat General John Burgoyne’s army with “hot blasts of His Melted Majesty.”
Wolcott would eventually sign the Declaration of Independence in October 1776 and later added his name to the Articles of Confederation in 1777. He survived the war, as did his wife and children. This most industrious and utilitarian Founding Father then took a well-deserved retirement at his home in Litchfield, although he remained active as Lieutenant Governor and took an enthusiastic part in local deliberations on the formation of our Constitution.

He was pulled from his ease in 1796 upon being elected Governor. Himself the fifteenth child of a previous governor of Connecticut, he was proud to step into the office his father had held forty-five years earlier—but now within a radically different and sovereign nation that he had helped to create. Of Wolcott’s character, which produced his own great contributions and those of his distinguished family, his biographer Sanderson wrote this glowing summation:
“As a patriot and statesman, a Christian and a man, Governor Wolcott presented a bright example; for inflexibility, virtue, piety and integrity, were his prominent characteristics. His integrity was inflexible, his morals were strictly pure, and his faith that of a humble Christian, untainted by bigotry or intolerance. Mr. Wolcott was personally acquainted with, and esteemed by, most of the great actors of the American Revolution, and his name is recorded in connexion with many of its most important events. It is the glory of our country, that the fabric of American greatness was reared by the united toils and exertions of patriots in every state, supported by a virtuous and intelligent people. It is peculiar to our revolution, and distinguishes it from every other, that it was recommended, commenced, conducted, and terminated under the auspices of men, who, with few exceptions, enjoyed the public confidence during every vicissitude of fortune. It is therefore sufficient for any individual to say of him, that he was distinguished for his virtues, his talents, and his services.”

©Mary Turley
LandmarkEvents.org

Images credit: Wikipedia and ChatGPT

1776 History Symposium at
Colonial Williamsburg! October 13-16

Whether you call it the War for Independence, the Colonial Era, or the American Revolution, the tumultuous decades that gave birth to the United States remain among the most important events in our history and still shape who we are as a people. Many of the political, theological, and cultural questions debated in the eighteenth century are still being contested today, and the legacy of independence, liberty, authority, and covenant has not faded in our present ideological struggles over the meaning of America’s past.

We believe that the simplistic and un-nuanced interpretations of the colonial and founding era so often presented as settled truth today require much deeper examination and careful interpretation of the historical record. We are attempting that deeper dive from an explicitly biblical framework. You should join us for this Colonial USA 250 Symposium as we explore the people, ideas, conflicts, and convictions that forged the American nation in the ideal location—Colonial Williamsburg.

*20+ sessions taught by distinguished Christian historians
*Accurate “woke-free” history from a biblical worldview
*Field trips into Colonial Williamsburg
*Free time to explore independently
*Farewell Banquet at Historic Tavern
*Access to exclusive $89 room rates at the *Woodlands Hotel in Colonial Williamsburg
* fellowship with faculty and new friends

John Witherspoon—
Scotland’s Gift to American Independence

It so happened that in the summer of 1776, amidst the sweltering deliberations in Independence Hall, Scottish Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon—the only active clergyman and only college president to sign the Declaration of Independence—stood among the patriots. As president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Witherspoon stressed the biblical principle of stewarding the mind. Rooted in the Presbyterian conviction that all realms of life come under the jurisdiction of Almighty God, he trained in the ideals of truth and liberty nearly 500 students during his 26-year tenure, including dozens of young patriot leaders like James Madison, plus 12 members of the Continental Congress, 28 U.S. senators, 49 U.S. congressmen, 10 cabinet officers, 3 Supreme Court justices, and numerous governors and judges.

The effects of his faithful diligence and high standards of scholarship truly shaped the course of a nation. While others fought on battlefields, Witherspoon’s arena was in the classroom.

For every homeschool parent today, Witherspoon’s legacy is a powerful reminder that training young ones to lay up the truth in their hearts is an act of long-term obedience whose impact can last for centuries.

Join Dr. Bill Potter at Princeton University on our Philadelphia tour, where we will examine Witherspoon’s assertion that:

“He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind.”
Our 250th anniversary tour is a small but meaningful way to “remember the deeds of the Lord” in our nation and the amazing providence that produced our founding document of freedom.

John Dunlap | Profiles of 1776 by Mary Turley

The distribution of truth has been labeled a treasonous act many times throughout the ages. Publishers have often been persecuted—whether for printing Bibles, tracts, or treatises—and have been executed, exiled, or otherwise had their livelihoods destroyed, not for material they themselves crafted, but for daring to propagate another’s words in the common tongue.

In her colonial days, America had already faced the issue of certain banned works, with treatises like Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan (1637) being forcibly suppressed by the colony of Massachusetts. Likewise, one of our most prestigious Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, was himself a newspaper printer, and his brother James, under whom he apprenticed, was arrested for seditious libel in the 1720s.

Such measures against the free press were not particularly common, nor were their sentences as severe as in England, but the cost had been proven to the colonists long before the need arose for someone to print the most seditious article ever seen in North America—the Declaration of Independence.

The final unanimous vote for secession from England was held by Congress on July 2. On July 3, John Adams predicted in a letter home that this day would enjoy all the fanfare of future celebrations, which July 4 now holds. On July 4 itself, Congress made small alterations to the text of the document, and once approved later that day, representatives began to affix their names.
By the evening of the 4th, the handwritten final draft was taken four blocks down the road to the print shop to be set for dispersal.

Earlier in the year, Irish-born printer John Dunlap had secured a lucrative—if somewhat risky—contract with the outlawed Continental Congress.

At age twenty-nine, Dunlap owned his own press and had made himself successful by printing sermons. Now he printed the Congress’ various entreaties and proclamations that preceded the drastic breaking with the mother country. And then, on the 4th, there came into his hands the most significant article of writing in our nation’s history—the publishing of which could bring down upon him an easy death sentence for crime of treason in the Americas.

Dunlap and his crew worked tirelessly throughout the night of the 4th. It is assumed that one or more members of the Committee of Five charged with drafting the document—these being Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Sherman, and Livingston—superintended the work in some capacity.

There is no official record of just how many broadsides Dunlap produced in this first prestigious effort, but the general consensus is around 150 to 200 copies. The ink smudges and off-kilter settings of some of them remain as indelible proof of the haste with which they were dried and then bundled for couriers to take to each corner of the thirteen newly free and independent states.
By the morning of July 5th, President Hancock was industriously sending out what became known as the Dunlap Broadsides with his own personal notes. To General Washington at New York he enclosed this note:
“The Congress, for some Time past, have had their Attention occupied by one of the most interesting and important Subjects, that could possibly come before them, or any other Assembly of Men. Altho it is not possible to foresee the Consequences of Human Actions, yet it is nevertheless a Duty we owe ourselves and Posterity, in all our public Counsels, to decide in the best Manner we are able, and to leave the Event to that Being who controuls both Causes and Events to bring about his own Determination. Impressed with this Sentiment, and at the same Time fully convinced, that our Affairs may take a more favourable Turn, the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the Connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them free & independent States; as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you, and to request you will have it proclaimed at the Head of the Army in the Way you shall think most proper.”

When President Hancock ran out of broadsides, Dunlap eagerly complied with the printing of more. Soon every town in America had heard it read aloud.

It is important to remember the timeline when considering the impact the dispersal of this momentous document had on the populace in general and Washington’s army in particular. Major land battles had been fought, martial law imposed, New York was on the brink of being leveled, and foreign mercenaries had been sent in to repress what was deemed a wholesale rebellion.
Up to that point, the men fighting these invaders and the populace enduring their rapacity felt a great sense of aimlessness. Were they fighting for redress of grievances? Were they fighting to keep their homes from being burned? Was all this expenditure of lives and fortunes only to result in submitting yet again to King George’s yoke? Reports from Congress up until now had hardly heartened them; all seemed bogged down in endless discussion and gridlock. One can only imagine the encouragement and resolve that receiving this firm “expression of the American mind,” as Thomas Jefferson called it, produced in patriot hearts.
But Dunlap’s story does not end with his momentous role in publishing our founding document. In the true Spirit of 1776, later that year the printer threw off his printing leathers and took up the uniform, serving in the cavalry at the rank of captain. In this capacity Dunlap led a troop at Trenton and later at Princeton, closing out the year with a miraculous victory and was observed to “boldly demand the surrender” of a group of Hessians.
When freedom had been won, John Dunlap fittingly resumed his work at the press and was aptly chosen to print the final ratified version of our glorious Constitution. Despite being responsible for proliferating the works of America’s greatest minds, Dunlap left behind no written letters or memoirs of his own, only business records.

In eulogy of him, Founding Father and signer of the Declaration Benjamin Rush wrote:

“From small beginnings as a printer he acquired by his business, but chiefly by speculation, an estate of perhaps three or four thousand dollars. So humble was his beginning in life that he slept upon a blanket under his counter and ate pepper-pot only bought in the market from his inability to purchase a bed or any other food. He was a staunch Revolutionary Whig, and active as a dragoon in the most perilous stages of the war. In the parties which divided his country he was always moderate, candid and just to both sides. To public institutions he was liberal, to the poor charitable and to his friends kind and affectionate. In his family he was less amiable and respectable than in society. He was early and uniformly my friend."

©Mary Turley
LandmarkEvents.org
Image credit: ChatGPT

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Soon La Fayette commanded over 5,500 regular troops, and there were another 3,000 militia men.

Cornwallis’ 8,800 British, Hessian and provincial troops were outnumbered by the time Washington and Rochambeau arrived on September 9th.

“If Cornwallis now faced the prospect of surrender,” wrote historian Louis Gottschalk, “it was in large part because Lafayette had persisted where others might have given up or had been cautious where others, yielding to an alluring temptation, might have proved too bold.”

The siege of Yorktown began on October 6th, and La Fayette helped lead the capture of British positions. Cornwallis surrendered October 19, 1781.

Historian Gottschalk observed: “No other person (except perhaps De Grasse) had contributed so much or so directly to the capture of one of England’s finest armies as had the young general fresh from the ‘Society’ of Paris.”

http://libertarianstvo.org/en/personalities/item/56-marquis-de-lafayette