Oliver Wolcott, Jr. was United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 and the 24th Governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, Wolcott was the son of Oliver Wolcott, Sr. and Laura Collins Wolcott. He was able to graduate from Yale University in 1778, despite serving in the Continental Army from 1777 to 1779. He later read law and studied at Litchfield Law School to be admitted to the bar in 1781. He was a clerk in Connecticut's Office of the Committee on the Pay Table from 1781 to 1782, and a commissioner on that committee from 1782-1784. Wolcott... was appointed in 1784 as one of the commissioners to mediate claims between the U.S. and the state of Connecticut. After serving as state comptroller of Connecticut from 1788–90, he was named auditor of the federal treasury, and became Comptroller of the Treasury in 1791. He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by George Washington in 1795 to succeed Alexander Hamilton. In 1799, as Secretary of the Treasury, he designed the United States Customs Service flag.
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