Books and Manuscripts

Monroe, James
Partially-Printed Document, signed
Washington, (D.C.), February 24, 1821. Partially-printed document, accomplished in the hand of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and signed by President James Monroe, appointing Alexander Wolcott Collector of the Customs for the District of Middletown in the State of Connecticut; counter-signed by Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford. Paper seal intact in bottom left. 9 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (241 x 394 mm). Creasing from old folds; foxing and mat burn. In mat with an engraved portrait of Monroe and Great Seal of the United States, and in frame, 20 5/8 x 20 7/8 in. (524 x 530 mm). 

Alexander Wolcott (1758–1828), was a Connecticut politician, customs agent, and nominee to the Supreme Court. “He graduated from Yale College in 1778 and studied and practiced law. In 1785, he married Frances Burbank and settled in Middletown. He served as a Republican leader in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1796 to 1801. After the election of 1800, he was one of the Connecticut Republicans the administration consulted on appointments, and, in July 1801 the president named him collector at Middletown, a position he held until his death. In that capacity, he endorsed and firmly enforced the Embargo Act of 1807. On 4 Feb. 1811, Madison nominated Wolcott as associate justice of the Supreme Court. Levi Lincoln, who had recently declined the appointment after being confirmed by the Senate, supported Wolcott, but the Senate rejected his nomination on 13 Feb. by a vote of 9 to 24. Federalists strongly opposed him because of his vigorous support of the embargo; several Republican senators agreed that he did not have the legal and judicial expertise required for the office. Wolcott remained in politics and participated in the 1818 state constitutional convention. In 1828, he was remembered as the ‘father and founder of the Jeffersonian school of politics’ in Connecticut.” (Founders)