The Two Lemuel Kollocks – Wrentham/Georgia

by William H. Jones

Three minutemen from Wrentham, helped move the American Colonies toward the ultimate goal, the Declaration of Independence, in 1776. All three were Wrentham representatives to the early beginnings of the County Congress and the writing of the Suffolk Resolves on September 9, 1774 in which the Massachusetts Bay Representatives chastised George III, the King of England for the siege of Boston. While still believing that George was the Monarch, the Colony representatives pledged to unite and defeat the “cruel and oppressive acts of the British Parliament”. The final draft of the Resolves was completed in by the 17th of September, 1774 and was delivered by Paul Revere to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

The three Wrentham Representatives, who helped make history were: Jabez Fisher, Samuel Lethbridge, and Lemuel Kollock. This paper is highlighting Lemuel Kollock, perhaps the better known of the three, his achievements, and those of his son, Lemuel Kollock II.

Lemuel Kollock, third and youngest child of Cornelius Kollock and his wife, Jerusha Billings, was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, September 5, 1728. He was married in Medfield, Massachusetts on November 16, 1762 to Abigail Wheelock, daughter of Ephraim Wheelock and his wife Priscilla.

Lemuel and Abigail settled at 60 Common Street in Wrentham and had seven children; Jerusha (1755-1838), Eunice (1757-1786), Oliver (1760-1777), Abigail (1762-1784), Sarah (1764-1789), Lemuel (1766-1823), and Hannah (1770-1792).

Besides being one of the first Wrentham representatives to both the County Congress and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, he was an active resident of the town, attending town meetings and holding offices as a Selectman, Assessor and on various committees.

In the early 1770’s, he became active in the Wrentham Minutemen Company. On the 22nd of April, 1757, he was the Clerk in Samuel Day’s militia company and was quickly promoted to the rank of Ensign.

By 1775, he was promoted and became Captain of a Wrentham Minutemen Company and as such, was on the Committee to welcome General George Washington as he came to Cambridge.

On December 8, 1776, at the request of Rhode Island Governor, Nicholas Cooke, to counter the British troops ashore at Newport, three Wrentham militia companies were dispatched to Warwick, a travel distance of seventy miles.

One of the companies that was dispatched from Wrentham was lead by Captain Lemuel Kollock and under his command was; Noah Thayer, Drummer, Charles Dupee, Fifer, Samuel Day, Sergeant, Joseph Hancock, Sergeant, Silas Metcalf, Sergeant, Ezra Ware, Sergeant, Jonathan Everett Jr., Corporal and Timothy Wight, corporal. In addition, there were 23 privates.

Records show that the company had a standard travel distance for one day at twenty miles, so more than three full days of their service was consumed in walking from Wrentham to Warwick and return.

The other two companies responding to the alarm from Wrentham were commanded by Captain Samuel Fisher and Captain Ebenezer Pond.

Lemuel Kollock died on the 14th of July, 1795 at the age of 66. He is buried in Section F, Lot 84 in the Wrentham Center Cemetery, Wrentham, Massachusetts.

Sources:

- Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War

- Research by William H. Jones

Dr. Lemuel Kollock II

Dr. Lemuel Kollock was born on the 21st day of October, 1766, in Wrentham, Massachusetts and was the son of Lemuel Kollock (728-1795) and his wife Abigail Wheelock Kollock (1730-1784). After studying medicine, he practiced for a time in rural South Carolina and then moved to Savannah, Georgia in 1792, where he remained until his death on the 12th day of November, 1823.

He married Maria Campbell, the daughter of Macartin and Sarah Fenwick Campbell in 1802 and their children were: Phineas Miller Kollock (1804-1872), Mary Fenwick Kollock (1806-1885), and George Jones Kollock (1810-1894).

Lemuel was a successful physician, one of the founders of the Georgia Medical Society in 1804 and promoted medical education in Georgia by teaching young men in the City of Savannah.

Dr. Lemuel Kollock died in Savannah and is buried in the Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Chatham, Georgia.

Source: Research by William H. Jones