WOLCOTT, E.A.

WOLCOTT, WELSH, RODMAN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/3/2003 at 18:55:49

Biography reproduced from page 327 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

E. A. Wolcott, of Algona, has for the past nine years conducted a hardware and plumbing establishment here. His birth occurred in Boone county, Illinois, in the year 1869, his parents being William and Lucia (Welsh) Wolcott. The father made his way to the Prairie state from New York at an early day, traveling by ox team. Subsequently he removed to Sharon, Wisconsin, and there followed farming throughout the remainder of his life, passing away on the 17th of March, 1911, when seventy-eight years of age. His widow, who survives him, is now seventy-seven years of age.

Mr. Wolcott obtained his education in the graded and high schools of Sharon, Wisconsin, and also pursued a business course in Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, Indiana. In 1893, when twenty-four years of age, he entered a hardware establishment at Sharon, Wisconsin, and was there employed for six or seven years. In 1899 he removed to Leland, Winnebago county, Iowa, and was there engaged in the hardware business on his own account. In 1903 he came to Algona and purchased the interests of King Brothers and has since conducted a hardware and plumbing establishment here under the name E. A. Wolcott. The success which has attended his efforts in this connection is but the merited reward of untiring energy and able management. He is likewise interested in a number of industrial enterprises in Algona and Kossuth county and is widely recognized as a substantial and representative citizen.

In 1895 Mr. Wolcott was united in marriage to Miss Alice Rodman, a daughter of Garrett Rodman, of Walworth, Wisconsin. Her grandfather, Lemuel Rodman, was one of the earliest settlers of Wisconsin and owned large tracts of land in that state. Our subject and his wife have a daughter, Jean Wolcott, who was born in April, 1904.

Mr. Wolcott is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Prudence Lodge, No. 205, F. & A. M. He is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias, being a member of Lodge No. 174, at Algona. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1911 he was elected president of the Kossuth County Agricultural Society and in 1912 was reelected, being therefore the present incumbent. He is alert and enterprising, possessing the progressive spirit of the times, accomplishing in business circles what he undertakes, while his geniality and deference for the opinions of others have made his circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.