by Larry Larned, town historian
(Published in the Bolton Community News, February 1994)
A bit of Bolton history was recalled recently when Ruth Finley Bell of Rockville graciously donated family items of another era to Ruth Converse, historian of the Bolton Congregational Church.
The items belonged to Mrs. Bell's grandparents, the W. C. White family, who lived in the house now occupied by the Larned family opposite Bolton's town hall. Included in the donation were a family Bible, photographs, 19th century clothing, and old books.
The White family ran a general store and post office in the front ell of the house until 1919 when ownership of the house and farm passed to Kneeland Jones. W. C. White was postmaster at Bolton Center from 1894 until his death in 1912. His daughter, Maude E. White, succeeded her father as postmaster for seven years, becoming one of the first women postmasters in Connecticut.
Ruth Finley Bell told the church historian the story of her grandparents meeting and getting married in Coventry before moving to Bolton. As a young girl, she visited her grandparents in Bolton and remembers Maude very well.