Harlan P. Wolcott was one of the organizers and original settlers of Garfield and for over thirty years was closely allied with the affairs of Pawnee county. Colonel Wolcott was born Nov. 15, 1838, at West Farmington, Ohio, and was married to Hattie M. Castle, April 26, 1865, at Geneva, Ohio. Of their union four children were born: Leora C., who died in October, 1901; Stella A.; Harry H..; and Louise E. Colonel Wolcott was a veteran of the Civil war, in which he gave valorous service in defense of the Union. He responded to Lincoln's first call for troops by enlisting in the Nineteenth Ohio militia for three months' service. In the fall of 1861 he reënlisted for three years, in the Forty-first Ohio infantry. He was wounded in the left arm at the battle of Shiloh and lost his left foot at the battle of Stone River. He enlisted as a private and had been advanced to the rank of first lieutenant, when he was discharged on account of the loss of his foot. Afterward he was appointed paymaster of volunteers and was given the rank of major. While performing the duties of paymaster he was stationed, first at Columbus, Ohio, and later at Washington, D. C., and three years after the war was honorably discharged and given the brevet of lieutenant-colonel. In October, 1872, Colonel Wolcott was one of a committee of four sent to Kansas by an Ohio soldiers' colony to look up a location for a town for the colony. The Santa Fe railroad had been built as far as Camp Criley, a large railroad camp, which had then moved on, however, and there later was organized the town of Garfield. It was named in honor of Gen. James A. Garfield, who at that time was congressman from the district in Ohio from which the colony had come and who was known personally to many of the colonists. In a letter to Colonel Wolcott, acknowledging the tribute. General Garfield promised to give a bell to the first church erected in the town bearing his name. The first church built was the Congregational and in its belfry still hangs the bell which General Garfield gave. When the town was first settled buffaloes were still roaming the prairies and buffalo meat was the only fresh meat to be had. Of the original thirty families that settled there, Mrs. George Stone is the only one still living at Garfield. All the discouragements of the '70s and early '80s zid not lessen Colonel Wolcott's faith in the ultimate future of Kansas, and he lived to see the state take its place among the most prosperous and progressive states of the Union. He was register of the United States land office at Larned from 1890 to 1894, until moved to Garden City. From 1890 until his death at Topeka, March 1, 1906, he an invalid and his closing years were filled with pain and suffering, but he bore it all bravely and with Christian fortitude. He was a member of the Congregational church and a deacon of that church for years. He was a man well known for his strength and probity of character and none of his community was more honored and esteemed than he. Funeral services were held at Topeka, conducted by his pastor—Rev. Charles M. Sheldon—and the Grand Army of the Republic at the capital city. His body was then taken to his old home at Garfield, where a second service was conducted by the Reverend Southerland, of Great Bend, and the Grand Army Post of Larned, and his remains were then placed at rest in the Garfield cemetery.

Harry H. Wolcott, son of H. P. Wolcott and editor of the "Larned Chronoscope," is a native Kansan and was born July 18, 1876, at Garfield, in the county in which he resides. He was reared in his native county, where he received a public school education and was graduated in the Larned High School with the class of 1894. He farmed with his father three years previous to entering the business department of the "Topeka Stale Journal," where he remaind nine years. In 1907 he became part owner of the "Larned Chronoscope" and is its editor. It is Republican in politics and is the pioneer paper of Pawnee county, having been established by the late Henry Inman. On Oct. 24, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wolcott and Miss Gertrude Williamson, of Larned. Mrs. Wolcott was born Jan. 16, 1876, in Missouri, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Williamson, natives of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott have three children.