Edward O. Wolcott

Edward Oliver Wolcott (March 26, 1848 – March 1, 1905) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Republican United States Senator from the state of Colorado from 1889-1901.

Early life Wolcott was born on March 26, 1848, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He was one of eleven children born to Harriet Amanda ( Pope) Wolcott and Samuel Wolcott, D.D., a Congregationalist minister, missionary, and writer of hymns. Among his siblings was Anna Wolcott Vaile, an educator who established the Wolcott School for Girls. As a boy, Wolcott and his family moved to Ohio.

He was a descendant of Oliver Wolcott, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He graduated from Yale College before attending Harvard Law School, from where he graduated in 1875.

Career He served in the 150th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

From 1876 to 1879 he served as a district attorney in Colorado. In 1879, Wolcott moved to Denver, where he began his political career as a Colorado state senator (1879–1882). In 1889, he was elected by the Colorado General Assembly to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. When he entered Congress, he was the youngest member of the Senate.

Personal life In 1890, Wolcott and Frances Esther (née Metcalfe) Bass (1851–1933) were married by The Rev. Francis Lobdell at St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York. Frances, the widow of U.S. Representative Lyman K. Bass, was the daughter of James Harvey Metcalfe and Erzelia Frances ( Stetson) Metcalfe of Buffalo. From her first marriage, she was the mother of Lyman M. Bass, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York. They later divorced in 1899. Wolcott's remains were cremated in Paris, and the ashes were interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.

Legacy The town of Wolcott in Eagle County, Colorado, is named after him. It was originally known as Bussells, but was changed in his honor.