Rollin M. Wilcox, "An Honest Merchant"

Rollin Merritt Wilcox was born in 1836 in Rock Creek, Ashtabula County, Ohio to Harmon Wilcox and his wife, the former Maria Mabel Hubbard. Rollin’s uncles were well known Sandusky businessmen, L.S. and R.B. Hubbard. Below is an undated daguerreotype of Rollin and his brother E.H. Wilcox.

In 1859 Mr. Wilcox married Martha Newton, and they had a daughter named Jessie. Mrs. Martha Newton Wilcox died when she was not yet age 30. In 1870, Rollin married again, to Helen M. Smith. Rollin and Helen also had several children, Laura, Merritt, and Mabel. Mrs. Helen Smith Wilcox was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Library Association of Sandusky, from 1875 to 1877.

For many years, Mr. Wilcox was connected with the Wilcox Company, a dry goods and department store, in operation in Sandusky from 1886 until 1929.

            

In the first days of operation, the store was called Hubbard and Wilcox. Later it became March and Wilcox. The third name of the business was E. H. and R. M. Wilcox. (Edward Harmon and Rollin M. Wilcox were brothers.) After the death of Edward H. Wilcox in 1886 his son C. B. Wilcox entered the firm, and the firm became known as the R. M. & C. B. Wilcox Company.  

On May 1, 1902, Rollin M. Wilcox died at his home on South Columbus Avenue, after a brief illness. An obituary in the May 4, 1902 issue of the Sandusky Register featured the headline, “A Good Man Gone.” The article went on to declare that he was an honest merchant, and maintained that excellent reputation throughout his long career. Mr. Wilcox was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery in the family lot. After his death, his son Merritt S. Wilcox began working for the company.