Wolcott History – Census Records, Schools, and Teachers

Wolcott Census

There is an excellent plot of the census totals for Wolcott in (*1) which I have copied below. As you can see, the population was less than 1000 individuals from the time of the first US census in 1800 until after 1930. After the construction and paving of what is now Route 69 in 1934, the population increased sharply and with the end of WWII in 1945, that increase accelerated for the next 25 years. The increase since then has been much more gradual. But within the period from 1800 to 1930, you can also see a drop from the close to 1000 population to only half that before it recovered in the early part of the 1900s.

[Wolcott Census Chart]

To get a better look at the census figures, here they are in a chart format. The first three columns mirror those in Wikipedia (*2), but as I began looking at them, I had to actually update Wikipedia as there were some missing or misplaced figures, so I used other sources to get the correct results (*2a-*2c).

In the census records from before 1850, there is only one line for each family, with the head of household recorded followed by a breakdown of the household by gender and age-range. Thus, while we can count the number of families in town, there is not much detailed analysis that can be done. I have gone through all the census reports for Wolcott from 1800 to 1940 counting all the families and put the results in the next two columns. (Note that the 1890 census details were lost in a fire so no analysis of that year can be done). It is interesting to note the change in the size of families in town over the decades.

[Wolcott Census Details]

Wolcott Schools

In 2008, Flo Goodman, in one of her excellent monthly articles about Wolcott History, gave a brief synopsis of the history of the Wolcott school system (*3). I’ve commented before on this as well (*4). As she noted, “During the 1770 meeting of the Ecclesiastical Society, a school committee was chosen and it was voted to divide the town into districts. Nine districts were established as follows: North, Northeast, Center, Southwest, South, West, Mill Place, East, and Southeast. … [O]nce school houses were built, the Southeast district and the one at Mill Place were discontinued.” In the map attached to (*3), which is from 1868, you can see these districts outlined. (Note that by 1868, the East district is also no longer in existence. The East and Southeast districts formerly occupied the area between Woodtick/County roads and the eastern border of town which were vacant by the time this map was produced as the land had been leased to New Britain and Southington for use as a watershed for their reservoirs which were built a few years later.)

In an earlier blog about the 1870 census and this map (*5), I made some comments about these school districts as well as mentioning the three teachers who were listed in that census. But unresolved was why there were only three teachers in the census when there were still clearly six schools in six school districts. The synopsis that Flo wrote (*3) clearly shows a continuity of schooling for several of these schools (Southwest pre-1821-1950, North until 1945, South pre 1812-1966, Center 1856-1930, West thru 1946). I have not been able to locate enough teachers in the census records for the 1860-1930 period to staff each of these schools, so the question about staffing is still unresolved. However, I’d like to report on what I have found.

Teachers

As noted above, the census records prior to 1850 only list the head of house, so we will not be able to do any analysis for those years. While the 1850 lists all members of the house and gives their age and gender, the only one with a listed occupation is the head of the house. Thus, we cannot identify any teachers in this census either (they are likely to be either daughters in the 17-25 age range, or female borders in that same range). So, our analysis of the census records will begin in 1860.

I have pulled out the names of anyone with a listed occupation of “teacher” or “school teacher”, then tried to find out more about them.

1860

Mary Alcott, 18, daughter of James Alcott (West district)

Born in 1842 in Wolcott, married Coral Dwight Blakeslee in 1868 and continued living in Wolcott, died in 1917 and is buried in Bristol

Antoinette Alcott, 20, daughter of George Alcott (West district)

Born in 1840 in Wolcott to George Alcott and Harriett (Hattie) [Nichols], married in 1863 to Oliver Smith, died in 1919 and is buried in Chicopee, MA

Anna Alcott, 17, daughter of George Alcott (West district)

Born in 1843 in Wolcott to George Alcott and Harriett (Hattie) [Nichols], married in 1865 to Edward Peck, died in 1897 and buried in Derby

Since all three Alcott girls lived in the West district, it is unknown which school they taught in.

1870

Anna E Root, 17, boarding with George Atwood family (Northeast district)

Born in 1853 in Plainville to Timothy Root and Lucelia (Celia) [Merrill], family moved to Wolcott sometime around 1869, married in 1874 to Ransom B Hall, widowed in 1889, married a second time in 1902 to widower Wilson Pierpont (my great-grandfather), died in 1938 and buried in Wolcott (Woodtick cemetery)

Ella Crandal, 22, boarding with Lowry Richardson family (West district)

Born in 1848 to Philander Crandall and Lucinda [Richardson], married in 1880 to William Palmer, died in 1930 and buried in Colchester, CT. Is she boarding with her uncle and aunt?

Sarah L Fiske, 25, daughter of Pastor Warren C Fiske (Center district)

Born in 1845 to Warren Fiske and Harriet [Parsons], died in 1934 and buried in Southington

1880

Fanny Tracy, 24, boarding with Charles Hall family

No other information available

Harriet Stevens, 26, boarding with Ransom B Hall family

No other information available. Note that she was living with someone, Anna [Root] Hall, who had been a teacher like herself 10 years previously

Harriet Fairclough, 17, daughter of Joseph Fairclough

Born in 1864 to Joseph and Catherine Fairclough, married in 1890 to Charles Grant, died in 1951 and buried in Bristol

Lillie Frisbie, 18, boarding with Frank Munson family

Born in 1859(?) to Merritt Frisbie and Fidelia [Chatfield], married in 1886 to Frederick Upson Higgins, died in 1920 and buried in Southington

1900

Nellie A Brown/Browne, 30, daughter of John P Brown (immigrant)

Born in Wolcott in 1870 to John Brown (immigrant from Ireland) and Sarah Ann Pratt (from Cheshire), never married, died in 1955 and buried in Waterbury

Grace R Butler, 20, boarding with Andrew J Slater family

Born in Seymour in 1880 to Samuel Butler and Ella [Rankin], married in 1907 to Herbert Arthur, died in 1928 and buried in Seymour

Minnie (Alfreda Minnie) Norton, 36, sister of Carroll Norton

Born in 1863 in Wolcott to Rufus Norton and Ellen [Beecher], never married, died in 1956

1910

Mabel Upson, 32, granddaughter of Esther Lane

Born in 1877 in Wolcott to Evelyn Upson and Elsie [Lane], married to Arthur Harrison, died in 1949 and buried in Wolcott (Edgewood cemetery)

Nellie A Brown, 39, daughter of Sarah Brown

Not married, still teaching 10 years later

1920

Ruth I Todd, 29, daughter of John R S Todd

Born in 1890 in Wolcott to John Robert Streat Todd and Edith [Williams], in 1930 was still teaching but in New Haven, never married, died in 1978 and buried in Wolcott (Woodtick cemetery)

Dora M Merrick, 60, boarding with William E Tyrrell

Born in 1859 in MA, never married, died in 1933 and buried in Wilbraham, MA

Marjorie E Warner, 25, daughter of Wilfred Warner

Born in 1894 in Waterbury to Wilfred Warner and Julia [Ashton], married Norris Wildman, died in 1949 and buried in New Milford, CT

Nellie A Brown, 49, daughter of Sarah Brown

Not married, still teaching 20 years later!

1930

Celinda Wakelee, 24, daughter of John B Wakelee

Born in 1906 in Wolcott to John Wakelee and Rose [Andrews], married in 1940 to Elliott Mayo, died in 1997 and buried in Wolcott (Woodtick cemetery)

Margaret Shay, 19, boarding with Claude V Badger family

No other information available

1940

Celinda Wakelee, 34, daughter of Rose Wakelee

Not yet married (wedding was a month after school ended), still teaching

Sarah Quinn, 25, daughter of Thomas Quinn

Born in 1915 to Thomas Quinn and Bertha [French], unmarried, died in 2001

 

Notes:

*1 - http://connecticuthistory.org/over-time-wolcotts-historical-population/

*2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolcott,_Connecticut (note that I made a Wikipedia correction to bring these figures into line with the official ones on the CT state site in *2a-*2c)

*2a - https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Register-Manual/Section-VII/Population-1756-1820

*2b - https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Register-Manual/Section-VII/Population-1830---1890

*2c - https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Register-Manual/Section-VII/Population-1900-1960

*3 - https://web.tapr.org/~wa1lou/whs/oldnews200808.html

*4 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/04/wolcott-history-chronology-of-wolcott.html

*5 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2020/12/wolcott-history-learnings-from-1870.html