DeWolf family

The DeWolf family, also written as D'Wolf or DeWolfe, is a historically prominent family whose documented North American lineage is generally traced to Balthazar DeWolf, an early settler recorded in Hartford, Connecticut, in the mid-seventeenth century. The family later developed important branches in New England, Rhode Island, the Caribbean, and Atlantic Canada. Because the name appears in several spellings and genealogical accounts, the precise European origin of Balthazar DeWolf remains disputed. Sources have variously connected him with Dutch, English, German, Huguenot, Polish, Russian, Jewish, or Livonian backgrounds, but no single origin is established conclusively. Balthazar and his household were associated with Connecticut communities including Hartford, Wethersfield, and Lyme. His descendants became involved in the commercial and political life of the Atlantic world. One major branch emerged through Charles DeWolf of Guadeloupe, who relocated from Connecticut to the French West Indies in the early eighteenth century. His descendants in Bristol, Rhode Island, became merchants, shipowners, plantation interests, and slave traders. The Bristol DeWolfs are associated with the transportation of more than 11,000 enslaved Africans to the United States before the United States prohibition on the African slave trade took effect in 1808. James DeWolf became the best-known member of this branch and accumulated substantial wealth through slave trading and related commercial activities. The family’s historical prominence therefore includes a deeply consequential and extensively criticized connection to slavery and the wider Atlantic slave economy. The family also produced public figures whose activities were separate from, or chronologically later than, the slave-trading careers of earlier relatives. These included judges, legislators, merchants, clergy, military officers, physicians, authors, editors, painters, bankers, lawyers, and philanthropists. John DeWolf documented a maritime expedition to the North Pacific and a journey across Siberia in an 1861 book. Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe became an Episcopal bishop, while his son Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe Jr. was an editor and author who received the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Other descendants included poet Theodora Goujaud DeWolf Colt, landscape painter Charles DeWolf Brownell, illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, and Canadian naval officer Harry DeWolf. A separate Nova Scotia branch settled in Horton Township, in the Grand Pré area, in 1761. The branch became involved in local commerce, law, medicine, education, religion, and politics. Several DeWolfs represented or served communities in Nova Scotia, and descendants entered wider Canadian public life. The settlement later known as Wolfville was officially given that name in 1830, a change associated with the local DeWolf family and particularly with Elisha DeWolf Jr., who served as postmaster. The DeWolf name remains present in geographic, genealogical, architectural, and cultural contexts. Linden Place in Bristol, Rhode Island, is closely associated with the family, especially through George W. DeWolf and Theodora DeWolf Colt. DeWolf Avenue in Bristol and the community name Wolfville in Nova Scotia are other public reminders of the family’s regional influence. In the modern period, some descendants have addressed the family’s role in slavery through documentaries, books, public talks, and historical discussions. The family is consequently remembered both for its contributions to civic, cultural, and professional life and for the wealth and status that some members derived from human trafficking and slaveholding.

The DeWolf family’s recorded North American history begins with Balthazar DeWolf, who appears in Hartford, Connecticut, records in 1656 and later settled in Lyme after 1668. Genealogical traditions differ about his European background. Some accounts connect the family to Dutch or Livonian origins, while others propose English, German, Huguenot, Polish, Russian, or Jewish ancestry. The available evidence does not establish one definitive explanation. Balthazar and his descendants became part of the English-speaking settler population of New England, and family branches later spread through the Caribbean and Atlantic Canada. The Rhode Island branch developed from Charles DeWolf of Guadeloupe, who was born in Connecticut and moved to the French West Indies. His descendants established themselves in Bristol, Rhode Island, where they combined shipping, commerce, plantation interests, and political influence. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, members of this branch participated in the transatlantic slave trade. James DeWolf became especially prominent as a merchant and slave trader, while George W. DeWolf was also associated with slave trading and owned Linden Place. The Bristol branch is believed to have transported more than 11,000 enslaved people to the United States before the African slave trade was prohibited in 1808. This history is central to contemporary assessments of the family and complicates narratives that focus only on its later civic and cultural achievements. The family’s maritime activity extended beyond slave trading. Captain John DeWolf, also known as John DeWolf II or “Norwest John,” commanded the Juno on a voyage to Alaska connected with the maritime fur trade. After selling the vessel to the Russian-American Company, he travelled overland across Siberia to Saint Petersburg. He later described the expedition in his 1861 work, A Voyage to the North Pacific and a Journey through Siberia More Than Half a Century Ago. Another major branch formed in Nova Scotia. In 1761, Simeon, Nathan, and Jehiel DeWolf moved with their households to Horton Township in the Grand Pré region. Later family members became merchants, judges, physicians, legislators, clergy, educators, and scholars. Elisha DeWolf Jr. served as the local postmaster when the community’s postal designation changed to Wolfville in 1830. The name has remained associated with the settlement and with the region’s early colonial history. Across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, DeWolf descendants entered a wide range of professions. Theodora Goujaud DeWolf Colt was a published poet and helped restore Linden Place. Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe became an Episcopal bishop, and his son Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe Jr. became a distinguished editor and biographer, receiving the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Other descendants included painter Charles DeWolf Brownell, illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, lawyer and philanthropist Wallace Leroy DeWolf, Canadian politician James DeWolfe, and Vice Admiral Harry DeWolf, who commanded HMCS Haida during the Second World War. The family’s legacy is visible in place names, historic properties, genealogical publications, and public memory. DeWolf Avenue in Bristol reflects the Rhode Island branch’s local influence, while Wolfville reflects the Nova Scotia branch’s role in community administration. In recent decades, descendants and historians have increasingly examined the family’s relationship to slavery, emphasizing accountability and historical education alongside recognition of the family’s achievements in politics, literature, religion, business, military service, and the arts.

1. 1925Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe Jr. receives a Pulitzer Prize

   The editor and author received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

   Source
2. 1861John DeWolf publishes his travel account

   John DeWolf published an account of his North Pacific voyage and overland journey across Siberia to Saint Petersburg.

   Source
3. 1830Wolfville receives its official name

   The Nova Scotia community’s postal district was officially renamed Wolfville, a change associated with local DeWolf family history.

   Source
4. 1808United States bans the African slave trade

   The United States prohibition on the African slave trade ended the legal phase of the activity through which members of the Bristol DeWolf branch had accumulated significant wealth.

   Source
5. 1761DeWolf settlers move to Nova Scotia

   Simeon, Nathan, and Jehiel DeWolf moved with their households to Horton Township in the Grand Pré area, establishing the family’s important Nova Scotia branch.

   Source
6. 1656Balthazar DeWolf appears in Hartford records

   Balthazar DeWolf is recorded in Hartford, Connecticut, marking one of the earliest documented points in the family’s North American history.

   Source

A historical family lineage rather than a commercial consumer brand. Its public identity is defined by Atlantic colonial history, maritime and mercantile activity, political and cultural prominence, and the documented involvement of parts of the family in the transatlantic slave trade.

• Involvement in the transatlantic slave tradeControversy

  Members of the Bristol, Rhode Island, branch were prominent slave traders and plantation interests. The branch is believed to have transported more than 11,000 enslaved people to the United States before 1808. The family’s slave-trading history is the principal source of modern public controversy surrounding the DeWolf name.

  Source

1. DeWolf family