Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
In 1866, Edward enrolled at Yale College but soon left it.
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
Wolcott attended Harvard Law School, where he received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1875.
Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
In 1866, Edward enrolled at Yale College but soon left it.
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
Wolcott attended Harvard Law School, where he received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1875.
lawyer politician senator statesman
Edward Oliver Wolcott was born on March 26, 1848, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, United States. He was the third son of the eleven children of Samuel Wolcott, a Congregational minister, and Harriet A. (Pope) Wolcott. Edward's siblings included Samuel Adams, Henry Roger, William Edgar, Herbert Walker, Agnes Vaile, Charles H. Toll and Anna Wolcott Vaile, among others.
In 1859, Edward's family settled down in Chicago, and then, in 1862, in Cleveland, where he attended the Central High School. In the final months of the American Civil War, Wolcott served as a private in the 150th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Later, in 1866, he enrolled at Yale College, but soon left it to enter business. Then, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1875.
At the beginning of his career, Edward lived in Black Hawk, Colorado, where he taught at a school for a short time. Then, he left for Georgetown, where he began a law practice. In the late 1890's - early 1900's, Joel F. Vaile and Charles W. Waterman were Edward's partners and his firm prospered in the service of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and of other corporations.
As for Edward's political career, it began in Georgetown. In 1876, he was elected district attorney and town attorney, and promptly made a name for himself as an energetic and eloquent public prosecutor. In 1879, he settled down in Denver and was elected to the Colorado Senate, where he served from 1879 to 1882.
Wolcott's rise to eminence was rapid. At first a supporter of Nathaniel P. Hill in his struggle with Henry M. Teller and others for the control of the party and its patronage, he later joined the ranks of the Teller faction. Recognized as the Republican Party leader, he forced his own election to the United States Senate on March 4, 1889. Edward was reelected in 1895, but failed in 1901 and again in 1902 and 1903. Thus, on March 3, 1901, his political career ended.
After Edward was denied the renomination to the Senate, he once again took up the practice of law in Colorado and maintained that practice until his death, which happened while he was on vacation in Monte Carlo.
Edward's activities were normally along the Republican Party lines. He worked with Matthew S. Quay and other Republican leaders for the furtherance of party measures. On the other hand, since he came from a metal mining state, he was in his earlier years an ardent advocate of the free coinage of silver. As such, he opposed the repeal of the Sherman Act in 1893. After the repeal, he modified his ideas about silver and thought to gain relief for the mining states through international bimetallism. In 1897, Wolcott was made chairman of the unsuccessful commission, which sought to interest France and Great Britain in the matter.
It's important to note, that, in 1896, when William Jennings Bryan and the Democrats espoused the cause of free silver, Edward refused to desert his party as Teller had done. By this refusal, he alienated many of his friends and lost any chance of reelection to the Senate. His most notable activities in that body, aside from his advocacy of silver, were his opposition to the Federal Election Bill in 1890 and to President Cleveland's Venezuelan message.
Edward's manner towards strangers and enemies was often arrogant, towards friends often free. He was a "high liver", lavish in the expenditure of money and thoughtless in giving.
Physical Characteristics: Wolcott was a large man, always very carefully dressed.
Edward's marriage to Frances (Metcalfe) Bass on May 14, 1891, ended in divorce in 1900.
Samuel Adams raised stock near San Antonio, Texas.
Henry Roger was a capitalist, living in Denver.
William Edgar was a Congregationalist minister in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Herbert Walker was a lawyer in Denver.
Anna Wolcott Vaile was an educator, who established the Wolcott School for Girls and was on the Board of Regents for the University of Colorado.
Charles W. Waterman was a lawyer and a United States Senator.
