Elizabeth (Saunders) Wolcott (bef. 1584 - 1655)

Born before 20 Dec 1584 in Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Wolcott Sr — married 19 Jan 1606 in Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, England

Descendants

Died 5 Jul 1655 after age 70 in Windsor, Connecticut Colony

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Elizabeth (Saunders) Wolcott migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Birth & Christening

Elizabeth Saunders ("Sawnders") was christened 20 Dec 1584 at Lydeard, St Lawrence, Somerset, England as daughter of Thomas Saunders and Anne Blake (mother was not listed on the christening record).^[1][2]

Elizabeth's ancestry to four generations appears in a 2009 article in NEHGR vol 163 by Clifford Stott.^[3]

Marriage & Children

Elizabeth married Henry Wolcott, son of John and Agnes (Crosse) Wolcott on 19 Jan 1606/07 at the same church as her christening in Somerset.^[4][5]

Immigration

The family emigrated to New England on the "Mary & John" in 1630 and was in Dorchester, Massachusetts by 1 Apr 1634.^[6] Henry applied for freemanship on 19 Oct 1630.

The couple are credited with these children^[6][3]

1. John Wolcott
2. Mary Wolcott Drake (____ - 1689)
3. Anna Wolcott Griswold
4. George Wolcott (____ - 1662)
5. Henry Wolcott (1610 - 1680)
6. Simon Wolcott (1625 - 1687)
7. Christophr Wolcott

Henry's will listed no daughters and gave the order of his sons as Henry (eldest), Christopher, George and Simon.^[3]

Considerable information about this Wolcott family in New England was published in the NEHGR in it's inaugural edition in 1847 based on papers found in the estate of the late Honorable Frederick Wolcott of Litchfield, Connecticut. Unfortunately some of the details of their English origins are not accurate, as the author may not have had access to original documents.^[7]

Additional Wolcott information is available in the 1881 work of Samuel Wolcott which is more detailed and possibly better sourced.^[8]

Death & Estate

Elizabeth died 5 Jul 1655 at Windsor, Connecticut.^[9] Her death apparently originally was written as "The wife of Henery Wolcot dyed July 5 1655"^[10]

A modern headstone has been erected in her memory at Palisado Cemetery Windsor Hartford County Connecticut. This stone gives a death date of 7 Jul 1655 which does not match her Connecticut Vital Records death date. Her FindAGrave memorial (See "See Also" section) has a photo of the headstone and list of family members but no sources.

Inscription: HERE VNDER LYETH THE BODY OF ELIZABETH WOLCOT WHO DYETH Y 7 DAY OF IULY ANNO SALVTIS 1655 AETATIS 73

Sources

1. ↑ Somerset : Lydeard St Lawrence : St Lawrence with Brompton : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58183fe3e93790eca3be7881 : viewed 10 Dec 2021) baptism Elizabeth Sawnder 20 Dec 1584
2. ↑ Genuki.org parish register transcripts 1584 christening of Elizabeth Saunders Lydeard St. Lawrence Letter S
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Stott, Clifford L., Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and His Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) p. 85 begins article Elizabeth Saunders appears on p. 282 $subscription
4. ↑ Somerset : Lydeard St Lawrence : St Lawrence with Brompton : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58185eb6e93790eb7fac6133 : viewed 10 Dec 2021) marriage Henry Wolcott to Elizabeth Sawnders 19 Jan 1606/7
5. ↑ Genuki.org Transcripts of Parish Registers 1607 marriage of Elizabeth Saunders to Henry Wolcott Lydeard St Lawrence Marriages (letter S)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995. Elizabeth Saunders in the primary entry for Henry Wolcott p. 2049 $subscription
7. ↑ The New England historical and genealogical register by Waters, Henry F. (Henry Fritz-Gilbert). Genealogical gleanings in England; New England Historic Genealogical Society; New England Historic Genealogical Society. Proceedings Publication date 1847 "The Wolcott Family" by Hon. Frederick Wolcott (decd) NEHGR 1:251
8. ↑ Wolcott, Samuel. Memorial of Henry Wolcott, One of the First Settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, and of Some of His Descendants (A.D.F. Randolph & Co., New York, 1881) Page 11
9. ↑ "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7FF-W2X : 16 January 2020), Elizabeth Wolcott
10. ↑ Welles, Edwin. Births, Marriages, and Deaths Returned from Hartford, Windsor, and Fairfield]] (Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1898) Page 43

See Also

• Find A Grave: Memorial #7369801 note that the headstone is not original but a modern tribute. The FindAGrave memorial has family members but no sources.
• "Wolcott Military Men and Women" a tribute website by John B. Wolcott.