Peter Olcott (April 25, 1733 – September 12, 1808) was a Vermont public official and military officer who served as a brigadier general in the colonial militia, the sixth lieutenant governor of the Vermont Republic, and the first lieutenant governor of the state of Vermont.
Early life Peter was born in Bolton, Connecticut Colony, and was the first of four children (2 sons and 2 daughters) born of Titus Olcott and his wife Damarus Eggleston, widow of John Marshell.
Olcott moved to Norwich, province of New Hampshire, in the early 1770s and served in numerous local offices, including Overseer of the Poor, Justice of the Peace and County Judge. A History of Norwich, Vermont, by Henry Villiers Partridge, 1905, pages 229 to 231Early History of Vermont, by LaFayette Wilbur, Volume 2, 1900, pages 374 to 375
Career Olcott was active during the American Revolution. He served as Sequestration Commissioner for Tory Property in 1777 and was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1778. He was a colonel in the Vermont militia, and his regiment took part in the Battles of Bennington and Saratoga. From 1781 to 1788 Olcott was commander of the Vermont militia's Third Brigade with the rank of brigadier general.Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont, compiled by Jacob G. Ullery, 1894, page 174
Olcott was a member of the Governor's Council in 1779, and again from 1781 to 1790.Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, published by E. P. Walton, Montpelier, Volume 1, 1873, page 241 Vermont: The Green Mountain State, by Walter Hill Crockett, Volume 2, 1921, page 222 He served on the Vermont Supreme Court from 1782 to 1784. He was Vermont's lieutenant governor from 1790 to 1794, and served in the Vermont House again in 1801. Olcott was also a trustee of Dartmouth College from 1788 until his death.A History of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire, by Frederick Chase, Volume 1, 1891, page 447The New Hampshire Repository, printed by Alfred Prescott, Volumes 1-2, 1845, page 270
Death Olcott died in Hanover, Grafton County, New Hampshire, on September 12, 1808 (age 75 years, 140 days). Descendants of Thomas Olcott, by Nathaniel Goodwin, 1845, page 28 He is interred at Meeting House Hill Cemetery, Norwich, Windsor County, Vermont.Personal observation, Find A Grave contributor LadyGoshen, November 8, 2011
Family life Son of Deacon Titus Olcott, he married Sarah Mills on October 11, 1759, and they had nine children, Pelatiah, Peter, Timothy, Roswell, Sarah, Margaret, Margaret, Mills, and Martha.
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