Christopher Parsons Wolcott was a Republican politician from the state of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. He was Ohio Attorney General

Ohio Attorney General

The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Mike DeWine.-History:...

  1856-1860 and First Assistant Secretary of War 1862-1863.

Wolcott was born December 17, 1820 in Wolcott, Connecticut

Wolcott, Connecticut

Wolcott is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,215 at the 2000 census.Wolcott was founded in 1796 and was originally named Farmingbury...

. In 1833 he was moved to Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and attended public schools. He attended Washington College

Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

 in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, where he graduated in 1840. He read law with Tappan

Benjamin Tappan

Benjamin Tappan was an Ohio judge and Democratic politician who served in the Ohio State Senate and the United States Senate...

 & Stanton in Steubenville, and was admitted to the bar and began practice in Ravenna, Ohio

Ravenna, Ohio

* Chris Bangle; automobile designer* Bill Bower, last surviving pilot of the Doolittle Raid* David D. Busch; best-selling author* William Rufus Day; U.S. Supreme Court justice* Calvin Hampton; Classical organist* Robert B...

. In Ravenna he partnered with Lucius V. Bierce. In 1846 he moved to Akron, Ohio

Akron, Ohio

Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...

. In Akron he partnered with William Otis, until Otis removed to Cleveland. He then partnered with William H. Upson

William H. Upson

William Hanford Upson was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and judge from Ohio.Upson was born in Worthington, Ohio. His parents were Dr. Daniel Upson and Polly Wright. He attended Tallmadge Academy, pursued in classical studies and graduated from Western Reserve College in 1842...

, which lasted the rest of his life. In 1856, Governor Salmon P. Chase

Salmon P. Chase

Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...

 appointed him Ohio Attorney General to replace the deceased Francis D. Kimball

Francis D. Kimball

Francis D. Kimball was a Republican politician from the state of Ohio. He was Ohio Attorney General in 1856.Kimball was born 1820 in New Hampshire. He was reared as a Whig and an Abolitionist. In 1842 he moved to Medina County, Ohio, and was soon elected to county office. He was prosecuting...

. He was elected to a two year term later in 1856,, and another in 1858.

His cases as Attorney General included the Breslin Treasury defalcation and the Wellington Rescue, where his arguments before the United States Supreme Court were widely celebrated.

Ohio Governor William Dennison

William Dennison (Ohio governor)

William Dennison, Jr. was a Whig and Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 24th Governor of Ohio and as U.S...

 named Wolcott to replace the deceased John C. Wright at the Peace Conference of 1861

Peace conference of 1861

The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of more than 100 of the leading politicians of the antebellum United States held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 that was meant to prevent what ultimately became the Civil War. The success of President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party in the...

.

In May, 1862, Secretary of War, fellow Steubenville native and Wolcott's brother in law, Edwin M. Stanton

Edwin M. Stanton

Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...

 asked him to be First Assistant Secretary during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.
Stanton was prophetic, as under the strain of the job, Wolcott's health gave out, leading to his resignation February, 1863. He returned to Akron. After two months of suffering, he died there April 4, 1863.