Wolcott History – Civil War Involvement and small town feel

Olcott’s “History of Wolcott” from 1874 lists all the men of Wolcott who were involved in the Civil War. There are over 50 names in this list. That might not seem significant until one realizes that this represents about 10% of the entire population of the town at the time (in an earlier post I noted that Wolcott was one of the smallest towns in Connecticut and in 1870 the officially recorded population was only 491.)  So for a small town it was certainly very patriotic.

Many of the families in town sent multiple family members: Upson (3), Moulthrop (4), Andrews (3), Alcott (4), Norton (3), etc. There are twenty-two graves in the various Wolcott cemeteries for Civil War Veterans, including several for those who gave their lives during the war – the youngest being Burritt Norton who was only 16. Many of the men on this list were my cousins from various family lines (Frisbie, Upson, Alcott, Harrison, Moulthrop, Norton).

It’s hard to imagine what life would have been like in Wolcott at the time with such a high percentage of the young men off to war (although some were as old as in their early 50’s). It’s also hard to imagine the population being as small as it was.

When my parents moved to Wolcott in 1946, the “small town” feel was still very much in evidence. Although the population in the late 1940’s had grown to approximately 3000, that’s still only 20% of what it is today. My father used to tell about being able to drive to work in Waterbury – 7 miles away down Route 69 – without seeing another car on the road until after getting into Waterbury. He lamented that in his later years he would have to wait for a break in traffic before being able to even pull out onto Route 69.

When my wife and I built our house in Pennsylvania in 1977, we had a similar experience. Although we were only 5-6 miles from town, people would comment, “why did you build something so far away,” and “no one will ever drive all the way out there to visit you.” My 10 mile commute to work only had a single traffic light. Now that same route has 11 traffic lights, I also have to wait for a space in traffic to pull out onto the main road, and during rush hour in the morning or afternoon there is one light that regularly backs up between a quarter and half mile.

Like my father, I long for the “good old days” with fewer people and fewer cars. When I was growing up in Wolcott, riding my bicycle all the way to school was a safe activity and I knew most of the families along the way. Now it’s dangerous to let your children even ride their bikes beyond the end of the driveway. Is that progress?