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Westcott Store Fronts

It’s the most common response when being introduced to a non-Westcott. “Like the Westcott ruler?” Well, yes. And, as in the Westcott Automobile, the Westcott Mailboat, the knuckle-saving Westcott Wrench. And don’t forget the cigars, pottery and paint. The late Betty Acker, long-time Westcott Society Historian and a SSWDA President, was rightfully proud of the inventors and entrepreneurs among our kin. She wrote numerous stories about the ruler, the wrench and other products and services with Westcott branding. She was always on the lookout for more examples of Westcott products and services on business cards, ad slicks, stationery and promotional items, creating a pipeline for more research and stories. The images on this page provide a sampling of the items she collected. Perhaps you know the story behind one of these other uses of the brand, and will share it with Betty’s successor at dsmithmark@cox.net. David Smith, March 15, 2021. Updated, January 9, 2022.

Devere Wescott Store

This is a 1929 calendar for the Devere Wescott Store, located in Sumner, Iowa, which carried “Everything Electrical, Radios, Plumbing, Heating.” The painter of the calendar was Maxfield Parrish. Parrish designed a painting each year for the Edison Company; this painting, “Golden Hours,” was his eleventh one. (Click the calendar to enlarge the image.)

Devere was a descendant of Stukely and Juliana Westcott in the tenth generation: Devere Wescott10, Harley9, Orris Waterman8, George Washington7, George Washington III6, George Washington Jr5, George Washington4, Jeremiah Westcott Jr.3, Jeremiah2, Stukely1.

He was born om May 21, 1910 in Sumner, Iowa. He married Helene Julia Rockdaschel (b 1913) on June 24, 1933. They had four children: Barbara Mary, Harley George, Marjorie Hellen and Allen. Devere died on March 27, 1967 and is buried in Sumner.

Devere’s cousin Frank, the co-founder of Wescott & Winks, was a produce dealer and a leading citizen of Sumner, Iowa at the beginning of the twentieth century.

H.D. Wescott, Horse Supplies Dealer
Buggy whips, anyone? Dealer Hiram D. Wescott in Centreville, Michigan is the man to see. He also carries harnesses, valises and all manner of horse supplies.

Harness maker and tack dealer Hiram Wescott was born on September 28, 1843 in St. Joseph County, Michigan and spent all of his years there except for his stint in the 11th Michigan Infantry Regiment from 1861 to 1864, during which he saw action in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1868, Hiram married Mary Ann Hewings, who died the following year at the age of 21. On April 25, 1872, he married Marion Wallace (1851-1931); they had one child who lived to adulthood, Clarence. Hiram died on February 22, 1934, three years after the death of his second wife. Hiram D. Wescott was the son of William and Sarah (Vigers) Wescott and the grandson of Samuel and Deborah (Brown) Wescott. Lineage, if any, to Stukely and Juliana Westcott has not been resolved.
Sources: Ancestry.com for Michigan Death Records, St. Joseph County Marriage Records, Civil War Database; FindaGrave.com

Moore, Westcott & Co., Hardware Store
The image on the left is a trade card for Moore and Westcott’s hardware store in Iowa City, Iowa. The store location is described in a 2018 “Survey and Evaluation Update” of the city’s central business district:

J.K. Corlett operated a carriage and wagon manufacturing business from 118 S. Dubuque Street in several small buildings prior to the Civil War. In 1881 he sold the property to Edmund Shepherd and a two-story Italianate Style commercial block was erected on the site. Moore, Westcott & Co., a retail hardware store, located on the first floor and the upper level was used for storage. A decade later a third floor was added incorporating a mansard roof. At the same time the hardware business added a wholesale line to its trade. After the turn of the 20th century, the hardware store was discontinued and a series of retail tenants occupied the building’s three storefront spaces.

C.C. Wescott, Chillicothe, Illinois Grocer

Charles Calvert Wescott, known as C.C. Wescott in his careers as a banker, postmaster, and purveyor of “Staples and Fine Groceries” in Chillicothe, Illinois, was born on June 29, 1849 in Washington, D.C. From 1851 on, he lived in Peoria County, Illinois. We find this sketch of C.C. Wescott in the “Biographies of Peoria County Illinois”:

Charles C. Wescott Merchant; born in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1849. Two years later his parents came to Illinois, settling in Marshall County. His father was elected County Clerk in 1856, and the family removed to Lacon. Here Charles C. attended school for several years, and then took a business course in a Commercial College in Peoria. In 1869, after leaving college, he opened a grocery store at Sparland, which he conducted successfully for three years. In 1875, he sold out his business and became cashier in the bank of Truitt & Matthews at Chillicothe, which position he retained for twelve years. In 1887, he again entered into the grocery business, in which he is still actively engaged. In 1871, Mr. Wescott was married to Mary Kidd in Lacon. and they have six children: Charles E., James L., Edith M., Ida G., Florence and Virginia. Mr. Wescott has always been an enthusiastic Democrat, and held the offices of Mayor of Chillicothe two years, and that of Alderman for an equal period. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks, and the Mystic Workers of America. He has had a varied experience in business, and is ably equipped for the responsibilities which rest upon a man who has at heart the welfare of the community in which he lives. He is popular and highly esteemed by all. [From Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, Edited by David McCulloch, Vol. II; Chicago and Peoria: Munsell Publishing Company, Publishers, 1902]

C.C. operated the grocery store until his retirement in about 1912. He then became postmaster in Chillicothe. An entry in the 1918 U.S. Senate Executive Journal records his reappointment and changes his name in one swoop; “Charles C. Wescott to be postmaster at Chillicothe, Illinois, in place of C.C. Westcott. Incumbent’s commission expires April 24, 1818.” He died seven months after his reappointment (November 7, 1918).

Charles Calvert Wescott was the son of James Wescott (1822-1893) and Marion Virginia (Lowe) Wescott (1830-1853). Lineage, if any, to Stukely and Juliana Westcott has not been resolved.

Sources: “Biographies of Peoria County Illinois”; FindaGrave.com Charles Wescott memorial; and History of Peoria County, Illinois (1880 by Johnson & Co.)

Wescott’s Hardware News

This is the second issue of Wescott’s Hardware News, published in 1924 by store owner Ivan Burton Wescott and loaded with helpful information about unclogging drains, canning, managing garden hoses and products to help you do much more. (Click the image to enlarge the page 1 and view the second page.)

We do not know whether there was ever a third installment of Wescott’s Hardware News, but we do know that Wescott operated his Dalton, Pennsylvania store for 21 years starting in 1923, as reported in The (Scranton) Tribune. He was a World War I veteran and a prominent citizen of Dalton.

Ivan Burton Wescott was born on May 18, 1891, in nearby Nicholson, the son of Lowell and Hattie (Chase) Wescott. Ivan was a descendant of Stukely and Juliana Westcott in the ninth generation through one line of descent and in the tenth generation through two other lines:

  • Ivan Burton Wescott9, Lowell Wescott8, Susan Franklin7, Westcott Franklin6, Anne Westcott5, Peleg Westcott4, Jeremiah Westcott, Jr.3, Jeremiah Westcott2, Stukely Westcott1
  • Ivan Burton Wescott10, Lowell Wescott9, Richmond Wescott8, Nathaniel Wescott7, Ephraim Westcott, Jr.6, Freelove Stone5, Eleanor Westcott4, Jeremiah Westcott, Jr.3, Jeremiah Westcott2, Stukely Westcott1
  • Ivan Burton Wescott10, Lowell Wescott9, Richmond Wescott8, Nathaniel Wescott7, Ephraim Westcott, Jr.6, Ephraim Westcott5, Benjamin Westcott, Jr.4, Benjamin Westcott3, Jeremiah Westcott2, Stukely Westcott1
    (To keep this all straight, you need to know that Ephraim Westcott5 married Freelove Stone5 and that Ephraim Westcott, Jr.6 married his mother’s niece who was also named Freelove Stone6 .)

Ivan married Frances Smith on June 12, 1917; their son Neal was born in 1922. Ivan died on January 7, 1969 and is buried in Dalton.

Sources: Edna Lewis, The Westcott Family Tree, 1999 (See index numbers 1219, 754); FindAGrave.com Ivan Burton Wescott memorial; The (Scranton) Tribune: Wedding anniversary account and obituary; FamilySearch.com for Veterans Administration Master Index and other records.

Westcott and Bowen, Headquarters for Holiday Goods

 
Frank Westcott was 20 years old when he teamed up with E.R. Bowen to start a dry goods store in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1856. Three years later, their trade card featured the patterns of Mademoiselle  Demorest (of Paris and New York, no less) and boasted a full line of holiday goods for the discriminating buyer. Westcott bought his partner out in 1882, and according to a front-page remembrance in the Pawtucket Times  (May 29, 1941), he operated “the dress and dry goods store for approximately 50 years, catering to the leading families in town, a clientele then generally spoken of as the carriage trade.”

Frank William Westcott was born on December 14, 1856 In Seekonk, Massachusetts, the son of Valorus Perry and Emily (Williams) Westcott. He was a descendant of Stukely and Juliana Westcott in the eighth generation: Frank William Westcott8, Valorus Perry7, Valorus6, Jonathan5,  Samuel4, Benjamin3, Jeremiah2, Stukley1. Frank and his cousin Ellis Perry Westcott were both active in the formation of the Society of Stukely Westcott Descendants of America. In some records, he is Frank Williams Westcott, emphasizing that he was also a descendant on the maternal side from Rogers Williams.

He married Abbie Louise Colwell (born November 5, 1857) on June 11, 1885. They couple had no children. Abbie died on February 4, 1917. Two years later, he married Jennie Briggs Leavens (1872-1947), a widow with two daughters, one of whom died in 1925. Frank was a permanent deacon on the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket. Frank died on May 29, 1941.

Sources: Ancestry.com for vital records, city directories, and Family Tree of Catherine Salemma; Edna Lewis, The Westcott Family Tree (see number 565); Pawtucket (R.I.) Public Library.

Robert E. Wescott (1869 to 1922), Photographer

A single undated portrait of an unidentified subject in the Westcott Society Collection comes from the Wescott Studio in the Central Block, Lowell, Massachusetts. The only other evidence on the print as to the identity of the cousin (or distant cousin) is the logo at the bottom consisting of the initials R.W. imposed on four compass points.

The 1900 Lowell City Directory lists Robert E. Wescott Photographer with a studio at “53 Central [Street], rooms 82 and 85.” Wescott made the portrait sometime between 1892 when he first operated a studio in the Central Block and 1905 when he joined forces with Ernest A. Clark in a “Newly Remodeled” studio at 53 Central. The 1900 directory also lists Robert under Artists in the business directory, so we can attribute the stylized “Wescott” and the RW symbol to Robert himself.

Robert Wescott’s ads in the Lowell City Directory in 1903 (left) and 1905 (right) show that he and his partner were not the only game on town.

Wescott’s Studio ads in the Lowell City Directory in 1892 (left) and 1895 (right) were a bit more prosaic but promised a full array of photo services.

Robert Westcott’s relationship with Stukely and Juliana Westcott has not been resolved. In fact, it is more likely that he is descended from original settler Richard Westcote of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Here is what we do know about him from city directories, the Federal Census and other documents:

Robert Edward Wescott was born in 1869 in Elizabeth, N.J., the fourth child of Dr. Robert Wescott and Hannah (Little) Wescott, who was from Massachusetts. Some time before 1888, the family moved to Lowell, where Robert’s father set up a new practice. Dr. Wescott died on April 29, 1890. In the 1890 Lowell City Directory, 20 year-old Robert is listed as a “border” in the house rented by the widow Wescott.

The following year, Robert’s occupation is listed in the city directory as photographer, but there is no business address. In 1892, Robert is still a border, but he has a studio at 31 Central Street in Lowell.

In 1903, Robert married 24 year-old Elizabeth Achemist of Topsfield, Massachusetts, and the couple settled in nearby Dracut. His mother died the following year on March 21.

Robert continued his photography business in Lowell until his death on April 22, 1922, in Dracut, at the age of 53. It appears that Robert and Elizabeth were childless.

If you have any information about this distant cousin, please send it along to historian@SSWDA.org.

Sources: Ancestry.com and FamilySeach.com for access to City Directories, 1822-1995, U.S. Federal Census, and other vital records.

Four More Briefly Noted

Here are items from four other Westcott (or Wescott) named businesses for which there is no additional information in the archive. Please send any leads or hunches you may have to finding the kin behind these business to Historian@SSWDA.org.

L.W. Westcott & Co., Office Equipment, Boston

 

Wescott Brothers for Choice Groceries, Otego, New York

S.M. Wescott’s Broadway Cafe, Boston

J. Westcott & Son, Dealers in Boots and Shoes, Holley, N.Y.

This undated trade card, the only evidence of J. Westcott and Son’s shoe business in the the Westcott Society Collection, promotes a shoe polish for which the firm is the “sole” agent in Holley, New York. Here is the pitch:

Imparts a finished and permanent gloss of Ladies and Children’s Kid Boots and Shoes. It is warranted entirely free from all properties injurious to leather. It makes the leather soft and pliable, and does not soil the finest clothing when properly applied.

Any leads on the who, what, when and why of the Westcott’s business are great appreciated as Historian@SSWDA.org.

 

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