About Abigail

When Abigail Wolcott married Oliver Ellsworth, she provided him with the strength and stability to continue his highly productive life.

It was said of Abigail: “She exercised such concern and thoughtfulness for her husband’s needs that no anxiety regarding household cares ever disturbed his public life.”

Her influence as a mother was so profoundly felt not only by her children, all of whom became active in public service, but also in the lives of their descendants, many of whom carried out Oliver and Abigail’s commitment to excellence in public service in many fields of endeavor.

Abigail bore nine children with Oliver Ellsworth. They are listed below in order of their birth.

• Abigail:  born August 1774, traveled with her father to Congress in Philadelphia in 1790.
• Oliver Jr.:  born October 22, 1776, died May 20, 1778.
• Oliver III:  born April 27, 1781. Upon his graduation from Yale in 1799, he accompanied his father to France on a mission to arrange a treaty between the United States of America and France, died July 4, 1805.
• Martin:  born April 17, 1783, served as a Major in the War of 1812, moved into his parent’s home upon the death of his mother, died November 2, 1857.
• William:  born June 25, 1785, died July 24, 1785.
• Frances:  born August 31, 1786, died March 14, 1868
• Delia:  born July 23, 1789. She married the Honorable Thomas Scott Williams and died June 24, 1840.
• Henry:  born November 10, 1791. He a lawyer, a businessman, commissioner of the US Patent Office, mayor of Hartford, and a farming enthusiast. Henry died in 1858.
• William:  born November 10, 1791. Twin to Henry. William married Emily Webster, eldest daughter of Noah Webster. He was a professor at Trinity College for most of his life, represented Connecticut in the US House of Representatives and served as Governor of Connecticut between 1838, and 1842. He died in 1868.