DeWolf was born in Lyme, Connecticut on October 17, 1744 in the prominent DeWolf family. He was a son of Simeon DeWolf (1719–1780) and Parnell (née Kirtland) DeWolf (1724–1827), who emigrated to Nova Scotia.[1]
His paternal grandparents were Benjamin DeWolf and Susannah (née Douglas) DeWolf of Lyme and his maternal grandparents were John Kirtland and Lydia (née Belden) Kirtland of Saybrook, Connecticut.[1]
In the autumn of 1780, DeWolf offered a "handsome reward" to anyone "securing a Negro boy named 'Mungo', 'about fourteen years old and well built'."[3] His account books showed the sales in the West Indies of slaves from Hants County.[3] DeWolf was also said to have given his slaves their freedom, but they chose to remain in his employ.[citation needed]
Personal life
His granddaughter, Lady GoreHis granddaughter, Catharine Suther.
On 16 March 1769, he married Rachel Otis (1741–1807), a daughter of Dr. Ephraim Otis of Scituate, Massachusetts,[4] and sister of Susannah (née Otis) Haliburton (mother of William Hersey Otis Haliburton).[5] Together, they were the parents of:[6]
Sarah Hersey Otis DeWolf (b. 1770), who married Maj. Nathaniel Ray Thomas Jr., the Collector of Customs at Windsor who was a son of prominent Loyalist Nathaniel Ray Thomas, and a first cousin of Lady Frances Wentworth (who was known for her affair with Price William Henry, later King William IV).[7]
Rachel Hersey DeWolf (1772–1772), who died in infancy.[1]
Rachel Otis DeWolf (1773–1815), who married James Fraser (c. 1760–1822) in 1802. Fraser, who was born in Inverness, Scotland, served in the New Brunswick assembly and the Nova Scotia Council.[1]
John DeWolf (1775–1775), who died in childbirth.[1]
Susanna Isabella DeWolf (1776–1777), who died young.[1]
Frances Mary DeWolf (1778–1791), who died young.[1]
Isabella Amelia DeWolf (b. 1779), who married Capt. John McKay of 27th Regiment in 1821.[1]
Harriet Sophia DeWolf (b. 1781), who married Rev. William Colsell King, Rector of Windsor, in 1799.[1][8]
DeWolf died on 1 September 1819 in Windsor, one of the oldest magistrates in the Province and, by that point, an inhabitant of Windsor for upwards of fifty years.[9]
Through his surviving daughter Rachel, he was a grandfather of Sarah Rachel Fraser (b. 1803), who married Hon. Charles Stephen Gore (third son of the Arthur Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran[10] and was the mother of Eliza Amelia Gore (1829–1916), who married William Hay, 19th Earl of Erroll in 1848 and who served as Lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria for twenty-eight years[11]); James DeWolf Fraser (1805–1852), who married Catharine Prescott (daughter of Charles Ramage Prescott); Harriet Amelia Fraser (1806–1880), who married Col. Dixon in 1826; Amelia Isabella Fraser (1808–1837); Frances Mary Fraser (1809–1827); Dr. Benjamin DeWolf Fraser (1812–1888);[12] Catharine Fraser (1813–1880), who married the Rev. Thomas G. Suther, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney; and Mary Hulbert Fraser (1813–1822).[1]
References
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l mEaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton (1910). The History of Kings County, Nova Scotia, Heart of the Acadian Land, Giving a Sketch of the French and Their Expulsion: And a History of the New England Planters who Came in Their Stead, with Many Genealogies, 1604-1910. Salem Press Company. pp. 630–631. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Americana, American Historical Magazine. 1915. pp. 97–98. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^ a bHalifax, Nova Scotia Historical Society (1891). Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. Nova Scotia Historical Society. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Eaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton (1895). The Elmwood Eatons. privately printed. p. 23. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Weis, Robert Lewis (1967). Descendants of the Honourable Benjamin DeWolf and Rachel (Otis) DeWolf of Windsor, Nova Scotia. Providence, Rhode Island. OCLC 433980101. Retrieved 8 June 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Briggs, Lloyd Vernon (1889). History of Shipbuilding on North River. Norwell Historical Society. p. 275. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Akins, Thomas Beamish (1865). A Brief Account of the Origin, Endowment and Progress of the University of King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. Macnab & Shaffer. p. 66. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Murdoch, Beamish (1867). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. J. Barnes. p. 445. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^"Arran, Earl of (I, 1762)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^"Erroll, Earl of (S, 1452)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^The Court Magazine and Monthly Critic, and Lady's Magazine and Museum: A Family Journal of the Belles Lettres, Music, Fine Arts, Drama, Fashion, Etc. Dobbs. 1841. p. 326. Retrieved 8 June 2020.