To Jeanine Olsen and interested Woolsey descendants: Jeanine wrote: "Hi Wilford, This is most interesting. Where did you find an account of Abigail's siblings? I have no record of any siblings, not that there weren't any, I just don't have them. I have for Abigails parents John Schaeffer and Nancy Hopkins and Johns parents were Jacob Schaeffer and Abigail Oliver. Does this coincide with your records? Could you send me the details on this family. If the fathers name was Schaeffer, then why would Jonathan Shepherd have changed his name, ( possibly illiterate?) and did the other sons do the same also? Look forward to hearing from you. Jeanine Olsen" To which I reply: Jeanine, thank you for your interest. Your help is greatly appreciated. Jeanine, one doesn't "find" an account of these families. One digs it out, line by line, fact by fact, page by page, from the original records. For example, I said that the MARRIAGES of Mercer Co, Ky were NOT INDEXED. I don't know if people know what is meant by that. What that means is, if one is going to find anything from that source, one must read it page by page. Now, what we are looking at, on the microfilm, is page after page of handwritten, sometimes almost illegible handwriting, made doubly difficult because of poor filming, or too much light or not enough light, some pages so faint they can hardly be read, others so dark, one wears out one's eyes trying to decipher what was written. It is a cause for celebration when one runs across a well-written, well-filmed original work. I have used white pieces of paper inserted in different positions in the micro-reader trying to raise a little black squibble a little darker on the page, or have actually placed my head into the reader, trying to "decipher" what was written there. Do that for six or eight hours at a stretch, with a short break for lunch (and of course mandatory bathroom breaks) and one knows one has put in a full day. And then realize that after reading page by page all day long, one has only covered about 45 - 50 pages out of a 600 page book! This task is not for the faint of heart. It is a daunting task, but I have had success in this field, when no one else has, because I am able to stick with it until completed. I do this when I feel that there are records in a particular area that have not been turned up, but the family must be there somewhere. I do this with Deed Records, Will records, Probate Records, Marriage Records, Tax and Census records, etc. when I feel that a closer examination will surely turn up something. More often than not, I will go to that amount of work, and not turn up anything, or perhaps only one item, such as Joseph Woolsey's bond with Jonathan Shepherd, which is why I treasure it so greatly. {what is frustrating is that people say, "oh, that's nice. what else have you got?"} Now most people don't do this, because of time or cost. Few people could afford to hire me to do this work, because at $50 per hour, it becomes very expensive, very quickly. I am now retired, and have the time and means to do this kind of work, when warranted, to "document" this Woolsey and related families. For this I am grateful to my wife, who puts up with my obsession, and to my family, which supports me in my efforts. So, Jeanine, it would be wonderful "to find" an account of this family, but "it just ain't gonna happen". Someone has to dig it out. You ask me to send details. I'm still working on them, and do not want to put out something that is not yet "finished", recognizing I may never "finish" this. It has been my unfortunate experiece that people want me to "send everything you have on the family" and then I never hear from them again. "Everything I have on the family would include 4 filing cabinets, 38,000 plus names in my computer, and about 50 feet of shelf space. Are they sure they want everything? Now actually, the Shepherds didn't change their name. A little history: Sarah Woolsey Hickerson and her daughter Clarissa Melissa Hickerson Whitaker were "savers". They saved every scrap of paper that ever came across their desk. They kept everything they had in a medium sized wooden box that my grandmother Clarissa gave to her daughter, my Aunt Paloma Whitaker Stott, who gave the box to me. In this box are small scraps of paper with payments of taxes, church contributions, deeds, various family data by the box full, original Temple records from the Nauvoo Temple, Endowment House, Mississippi River baptisms, Salt Lake Temple etc. There are letters from the early 1840's to the 1930's, plus many records of Abigail and Sarah Woolsey. Abigail Schaeffer [my spelling] said her grandfather was "Jacob Shiffer", and her father was "John Shaffer" and she also used the spelling "Schaffer". The old German is generally Schaeffer (spelled with an umlat "a" and not with the "e" but I include the "e" to indicate it should be an umlat (which is also an umlat "a", but I can't make an "umlat", a letter with two dots over it, on this internet.) To pronounce it, purse your lips, think "aa" and say "ee". It will come out something like Schauyffer ??? So any of the above spellings would be close, Shiffer, Shaffer, Schaffer. I said above they didn't change their name, they just Americanized it. Usually the first two generations in America would keep the old world spelling, but the younger generations would begin to want to become wholly Americans, so they would adapt the "American" ways and spellings. The German was Schaeffer or Schaffer meaning "Shepherd" The English (American) was Shepherd. I hope this helps. Thank you for letting me sound off. Sincerely, Wilford W. Whitaker