Edward O. Wolcott

Edward Oliver Wolcott (March 26, 1848 – March 1, 1905) was a prominent American politician during the 1890s, who served for 12 years as a Senator from the state of Colorado.

A native of Hampden County, Massachusetts, Wolcott moved to Ohio as a boy and served in the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. In 1875, he graduated from Harvard Law School and moved to Colorado where he set up a law practice.

In 1879, Wolcott moved to Denver, where he began his political career as a Colorado state senator (1879–1882). In 1889, he was chosen to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate, as a member of the Republican Party. He was reelected in 1895, and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1901, 1902 and 1903.

While in Washington, D.C., Wolcott was a leading advocate for the coinage of silver. In 1897, President McKinley named him chairman of the commission sent to Europe to report on international bimetallism. He was a popular host and guest in Washington society. He was chairman of the Committee on Civil Service (Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses), and Retrenchment Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Fifty-fourth through Fifty-sixth Congresses).

In 1901, Wolcott was denied renomination to the Senate, which ended his political career. 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). Wolcott's remains were cremated, and the ashes were interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.