To any interested Woolsey: This may be of special interest to the Utah Woolseys. William Andrew Woolsey was a younger brother of my great-grand mother Sarah Woolsey (Hickerson). William Andrew Woolsey was born 1 Jan 1833 in Randolph Co., Illinois. This is more plausible because his sister Sarah Woolsey was married in Randolph County, Illinois to William M. Stevens 23 Jul 1834. He died just a few weeks later, and Sarah then married George Washington Hickerson in Fayette Co, ILL. in 1838. William Andrew Woolsey and Sarah Woolsey are children of Joseph Woolsey and Abigail Schaeffer. Joseph Woolsey, with his large family, appears in the 1830 census of Jackson Co, Indiana, with his oldest son Thomas Woolsey and his family. Joseph Woolsey is dead by the time of the 1840 census in Fayette Co, Illinois, where Abigail Woolsey is head of house. The family has not really known what happened to William Andrew Woolsey but I have been able to piece together a part of his life. In the 1850 Census he is found, with his brother-in-law George Washington Hickerson, in the gold country of California, where they have a hard time eke ing out a living, finally open a store and raise and sell vegetables to the miners, returning to Utah in 1851/1852. He may be the Wm Wolsey in the 1860 census of California, but I haven't found him in the 1870 census yet. Saturday night I was re-reading the 1880 census of Utah and again came across William A. Woolsey age 47 born in Ireland and Parents born in Ireland. I had first seen that and then dismissed it as an Irish family. As I think about it, it appears to me that either William didn't know where he was born or the census taker made a mistake. 1880 Census 6th Ward, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co, Utah. p.47 Woolsey, William A. 47 m Miner born Ireland Ireland Ireland Ann 47 f wife kh England England England Eardley, Edward J. 17 m stepson Utah England England Mary E. 15 f Step dau Utah England England As I studied this again I realized that there may be a clue in the Eardley family as to what had happened to William Andrew Woolsey. Also I had found where one George H. Woolsey, age 22, died in 1893 and was buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery, son of William A. Woolsey and N. Woolsey. Also where William Andrew Woolsey, s/o Joseph Woolsey, died in 1893 and buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Also there is an Ann J. Eardley born 1833 in England and died 1910 in Salt Lake and buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. So, Saturday night, I called several Eardley families and the only one that answered told me that he wasn't acquainted with any Woolseys in the Eardley family. I set it all aside, thinking I would get into the Salt Lake Cemetery and check it out. But, I received a telephone call Sunday night from the above Eardley gentleman and he told me that he had a distant relative who goes to the same church as he does, and he told her about my call. She said that she was a great-granddaughter of the Mary E. or Mary Emma Eardley of the above census, and Mary Emma had a brother named Edward J. Eardley, children of John Eardley and Ann Jones. This gentleman called me Monday morning, getting my phone number from his telephone id, and gave me her phone number. I thanked him and then gave her a call. She confirmed the above and said that John Eardley was called by Brigham Young to help settle the southern part of the state, at St. George. He took his first wife Ann Cross and a large family with him, but couldn't afford to take his second wife Ann Jones and her two children, or she didn't want to go south and go through that pioneering experience. So she and her two children remained in Salt Lake where she worked in Brigham Young's kitchens for several years. She then met William Andrew Woolsey and she asked Brigham Young to give her a divorce from John Eardley, so she could marry William Andrew Woolsey, which Brigham did. So William Andrew Woolsey and Ann Jones Eardley were married, and she brought her two children, Edward J. Eardley and Mary E. Eardley, with her. It appears that William Andrew Woolsey and Ann Jones had at least one son, George H. Woolsey, who died in 1893, age 22 years. I have told this at rather great length to illustrate what happens when one is busy digging around, and asking questions, and seeking out one's ancestors. The answers are there, and all we need to do is to seek. I'm making good progress on the Census records, and already they are a great help to me. The hard part, the slow and tedious part, is checking the records and names, and then putting them into my computer. I started this census records search so I could determine where all the Woolseys came from and tie them back to their state of origin, mostly New York, so that I could have a better handle on the New York Woolseys. That is coming along. Thanks for listening. Sincerely, Wilford W. Whitaker