History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1311

today among the foremost ones in the city. In addition to the selling
feature of his business Mr. Nicholls keeps up his contracting business
quite the same as before, interior finishing and decorating being his specialty in the contract line, and this particular branch of his business necessitates the employment of a large force of trained' artisans.
It is pleasing to remember that Mr. Nicholls was reared in this
city, and that he is undeniably "making good" in his business is a source
of much satisfaction to those people who have known him practically all
his life. He has' carried on his business activities with due regard for
the most exacting principles of business integrity, and his methods are of
a high order calculated to bring success to any man.
Mr. Nicholls is a Mason, and he is an earnest member of the Chamber of Commerce.
On October 12, I904, Mr. Nicholls was married to Miss Amy Dolley,
of this city, and they have one daughter, Dorothy, born on July 30, I906.
WILLIAM C. WOLCOTT. No better illustration of the high awards to
be attained through a life of industry and earnest endeavor could be
found than that exemplified by the career of William C. Wolcott, president of the Wolcott Packing Company and the directing head of the
leading meat business of Genesee county. Starting life as a poor boy,
without the advantages of financial standing or influential aid, he has
through his own efforts gained a position among the leading business
men of Flint, which city has been the scene of his activities for more
than thirty years. Mr. Wolcott was born October 20, I857, at Bellevue,
Huron county, Ohio, and is a son of Thomas and Mary A. (Ford) Wolcott.
Thomas Wolcott was born in England, where he was reared to manhood, and during the early forties emigrated to the United States, settling in Ohio. During his residence in Bellevue he followed the trade
of carpenter and builder, but upon coming to Flint, Michigan, in I867,
established himself in the butchering business. This he continued
throughout the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-three
years, a moderately successful man. He was married in Ohio to Mary
A. Ford, also a native of England, who had come to this country in
young womanhood about the same time as her husband. She died in
I863, having been the mother of five sons, of whom William C. was the
first born.
William C. Wolcott commenced his education in the public schools
of his native place, and completed his studies in Flint to which city he
had come as a lad of ten years. When he was sixteen years of age he
began to learn the butchering business in the establishment of his father,
and continued with him until he was twenty-five. In I882 he established
his first modest store, at the corner of Detroit and Second avenue, and
since that time he has continued to be engaged in the same line, being
today the oldest merchant in Flint in the meat business. He has developed his industry into the largest of its kind in Genesee county and in
this part of the state, and in addition to five retail establishments, is
president of the Wolcott Packing Company, an incorporated concern.
This company slaughters on an average of twenty-five cattle, sixty hogs
and forty sheep, and a proportionate number of calves per week, depending upon the season. The plant of this firm is situated just outside
of the corporate limits of Flint, in Flint township, and the company
employs on an average of fifteen people, while the five retail stores have
from sixteen to twenty employes. Wilson E. Wolcott, a younger brother
of William C., is associated with him in the five retail markets. The
officers of the Wolcott Packing Company are: William C. Wolcott, presi