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PROFILE OF WOLCOTT, WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK

From the 1860 Gazetteer of the State of New York, by J. H. French

WOLCOTT (1) - was formed from Junius (Seneca co.) March 24, 1807. Butler, Huron, and Rose were taken off in 1826. It is the N. E. corner town of the co., Lake Ontario forming its N. boundary. Its surface is undulating, with a general inclination toward the Lake. In several localities are tracts of low marsh land. The streams are Wolcott and Big and Little Red Creeks, and several smaller streams, which flow N. into Lake Ontario. A part of Port Bay, in the N. W., Blind Sodus Bay, (2) in the N. E., and two smaller bays, extend inland from the lake. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam. Iron ore is found in the N. E. part. Wolcott, (p.v.) near the S. W. corner, was incorp. Feb. 24, 1852. It contains 4 churches, an academy (3), 2 flouring mills, 2 sawmills, a furnace and agricultural machine shop, carding machine, and carpet and coverlet factory. Pop. 600. Red Creek, (p.v.) in the S. E. part, is incorp., and contains 3 churches, the Red Creek Union Academy, 2 gristmills, 3 sawmills, a woolen factory, furnace, and tannery. Pop. in 1859, 597. Furnace Village, (4) in the W. part, contains a furnace, sawmill, and 12 houses. The first settlement was made by Jonathan Melvin, sen., on Lot 50, in 1805. (5) The first settled minister was Daniel S. Buttrick. (6)

Footnotes:

Named from Gov. Oliver Wolcott, of Conn.
Named from the sandbar which stretches its mouth from the W. shore.
The Leavenworth Institute, incorp. in 1859; named from Isaac Leavenworth, who contributed one-half the total cost.
Wolcott Furnace manufactures about 450 tons of pig iron per annum from ore dug in the N. E. part of the town.
Among the other early settlers were Adonijah Church, from Mass., in 1806, Osgood Church and family, in 1807, Dea. Knapp and Lambert Woodruff, in the vicinity of Red Creek, Noadiah Child, in 1811, and Jacob Snyder, with his family of 10 children, in 1813. The first death was that of a son of George Salmon. Obadiah Adams kept the first inn, and Noadiah Child built the first saw and grist mill, in 1814.
There are 8 churches in town; 2 M. E., 2 Bap., 2 Presb., F. W. Bap., and Meth. Prot.

PROFILE OF WOLCOTT, WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK

From the 1824 Gazetteer of the State of New York, by Horatio Gates Spafford

WOLCOTT, a large Post-Township at the N. end of Seneca County, 22 miles N. of Waterloo, 9 N. of the Erie Canal, in Galen; bounded N. on Lake Ontario, E. by Sterling of Cayuga County, S. by Galen, W. by Lyons and Sodus. This town embraces the head, and the principal part of Sodus, or Great Sodus Bay, with its Island, all of East Bay and Port Bay, and on the E. extends to Little Sodus Bay. Including these bays its extent is 12 miles E. and W., and about 11 N. and S. The soil is generally a deep, warm, and mellow sandy loam composed of sand, gravel, and clay, in various proportions; timbered with beech, maple, bass, elm, buttonwood, and hemlock, all of luxuriant growth, and yielding large crops of all kinds of grain, grass, and the fruits of this climate. It is well supplied with durable springs and brooks. The surface is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, formed by gentle, parallel ridges, lying nearly N. and S. The inlets of Sodus, East, and Port Bays, supply good mill seats, and mills in plenty. A road, in continuation of the Alluvial Way, or Ridge Road, runs through this town, in a direction from Rochester, on which a bridge of 1/4 mile in length has lately been erected, across Sodus bay, at Port Glasgow. This bay forms a commodious and safe harbor, and has 6 to 8 feet of water on the bar at the entrance. It has 3 islands, of considerable size, under cultivation, and the whole cirucumference of the bay, with its coves and points, is about 15 miles. Its waters are deep and clear, abound with fish and fowl, and its shores have a great many elegant sites for buildings, commanding extensive and highly picturesque views. Port Glasgow, at the head of navigation on the bay, has a pleasant situation, and a good harbor; and from this place to the village of Clyde, in Galen, on the Erie Canal, there is a good road, over a portage of 10 3/4 miles. A road is also now opening from Adams's Mills, on the inlet of Port Bay, to the Canal at Bucksville, in Mentz. There are numerous roads, communicating with the villages of Rochester, Canandaigua, Geneva, Waterloo, Auburn, Oswego, Utica, &c. - Iron ore abounds, for the working of which there are now in operation a Furnace and Forge, owned by the Messrs. Chapin, from Salisbury, in Connecticut, men of experience in business. Several Salt Springs have been discovered, but are not yet worked. The inhabitants are principally Yankees, immigrants from the New England States, whose large improvements, buildings, and fine orchards, indicate a high degree of prosperity. About 20000 acres of new lands are yet for sale in this town, to actual settlers only, on a long credit, at the Pulteney Land Office, in Geneva. The title is perfectly good, and I would advise the sons of industry, from Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, looking for a freehold, to visit Wolcott, a flourishing town, finely situated, already accommodated with good roads, mills, &c. East Wolcott Post-Office, is in the E. part, 11 miles, by the Post-Office books, from Port Glasgow, where the Wolcott P.O. is kept. Sodus bay, is 30 miles E. of Port Genesee, 30 W. of Oswego, and 12 N. of Lyons V., on the Canal. Population, in 1810, 480; in 1820, 2867; 747 farmers, 114 mechanics, 7 traders; 4 foreigners not naturalized; 2 free blacks; 1 slave; taxable property, $517954; 27 school districts; schools kept 6 months in 12; public monies received in 1821, $298.94; 654 children between 5 and 15 years of age; 708 received instruction that year; 562 electors; 5534 acres of improved land; 2054 cattle, 214 horses, 3719 sheep; 17282 yards of cloth made in families in 1821; 4 grist mills, 12 saw mills, a carding machine and clothier's works, 3 distilleries, and 4 asheries.

Current Place Names in the Town of Wolcott:

Desbrough Park, Duncans Corners, Furnace Village, North Wolcott, Red Creek, Wolcott, Yellow Red Corners

A research tip from Frank Dennis:
William A. "Bill" Armstrong, Wolcott Town Historian, has written/compiled three softbound books of photographs, newspaper clippings, etc., about Wolcott, including some of Rose (and Huron?). The titles are as follows:

Times Remembered. A Look Back at Wolcott, New York and Surrounding Areas. Vol. 1. 1996.
Times Remembered. " " Vol. 2. 1997.
Times Remembered. " " Vol 3. 1998.
Unfortunately, there are no indices.

1867 Directory of Wolcott

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 1 - 11

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 12 - 18

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 19 - 24

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 24 - 29

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 30 - 37

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 38 - 45

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 46 - 51

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 52 - 57

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 58 - 63

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 64 - 69

Grip's Historical Souvenir of Wolcott, N.Y. 1905, pages 70 - 77