What’s this?...every voter in town is an elected official?
We’ll go to Wolcott for that story.

Wolcott was holding its very first town meeting on this day in 1791. Those in attendance voted in Robert W. Taylor as Wolcott's town clerk.

The number of people in attendance at this first town meeting is not known, but three short years later, in 1794, Wolcott had only four registered voters. Not surprisingly, all four held public office, and rumor has it, the vote was unanimous.

Wolcott would grow over the years and become a busy Vermont town. By the late 1800s, Wolcott sported two grocery stores, a hotel, and three general stores. Wolcott's ranks of registered voters also grew, and getting elected became a bit more of a challenge.

Image courtesy the Vermont Historical Society.

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