To descendants of Joseph Woolsey and Abigail Schaeffer: and other interested Woolsey descendants: I have just finished some interesting research on one of the sons of Joseph Woolsey and Abigail Schaeffer, several of whose descendants traveled to Utah with the Mormons. William Andrew Woolsey was the youngest child of Joseph Woolsey and Abigail Schaeffer, b 1 Jan 1833 in Randolph Co, Illinois, and died 8 Dec 1893 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was buried 9 Dec 1893 in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. I will trace his movements with some detail as I am trying to find descendants of William Andrew Woolsey, especially any in California. William Andrew Woolsey was born in Randolph Co, IL in 1833. His sister [Wilford's great grandmother] Sarah Woolsey md in Randolph Co, IL to Wm. M. Stevens, 23 Jul 1834. Wm M. Stevens died soon after marriage. But this shows that the Woolseys were in Randolph Co, Ill as early as 1833, and probably as early as 1832. [Sarah Woolsey md as her second husband George Washington Hickerson, of Fayette Co, ILL, from whom Wilford Whitaker descends.] John D. Lee [Mormon firebrand and leader] married as his first wife Agatha Ann Woolsey, an older sister of William Andrew Woolsey. John D. Lee later married another sister of William Andrew Woolsey, Rachel Woolsey, who remained faithful to John D. Lee until he was executed in Utah for his part in the "Mountain Meadows Massacre". John D. Lee had many wives, including a cousin of the Woolseys, Emeline Woolsey Von, a d/o Jacob C. Woolsey, a brother of Joseph Woolsey, who also joined the Mormon church and came west with them in 1848. John D. Lee also md Abigail Schaeffer Woolsey, the mother of the Woolseys in Utah, but he always claimed it was a marriage in name only, for her protection and so she could travel with her children to Utah. In the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, the early leaders drew converts and members to themselves, in a form of "Adoption" in which the leaders would persuade men [both single and married] to join with them individually and with their families, to form extended family units. This was in addition to polygamy, in which men would form several family units, with one wife for each family. For example, Brigham Young "adopted" several men and their families, who would be loyal and work with him to help build "up his kingdom". John D. Lee was an "adopted" son of Brigham Young (along with several others). John D. Lee, in his turn, "adopted" several young men to help him "build up his kingdom", which included several of his brothers-in-law [George Washington Hickerson, Thomas and Richard Woolsey, and William Andrew Woolsey, who would be a boy in his teens, and several other young men and their families, including George Laub and Thomas Johnson.] This system of "Adoption" was rife with arguments and contentions, and did not last very long, as soon Brigham Young and John D. Lee gave permission for their "Adoptees" to leave the arrangement. Some did leave, often with bitter feelings, and others remained "faithful" to their "fathers". George Washington Hickerson seemed to have remained "faithful", while William Andrew Woolsey harbored deep resentment towards John D. Lee for many years afterwards. In the "Journals of John D. Lee" we find many references to the Woolseys, including William Andrew Woolsey, as they worked together to leave Nauvoo in the winter of 1846, and then worked together at the farm at Summer Quarters, raising corn for those to follow, where John D. Lee had been asked to remain as the pioneers and others left for the Great Salt Lake Basin in 1847. John D. Lee and some of the Woolseys left for the Basin in 1848. We find William Andrew Woolsey in these "Journals" [with others] hauling ploughing, hauling timber, planting, weeding, shucking [husking] and hauling corn, sawing timbers, making bridges, etc. All the activities of pioneers on the frontier of Iowa and Nebraska. William Andrew Woolsey was at the center of a disagreement between Abigail Schaeffer and some of her children who advised that she wait before she went to the Vallley. John D. Lee said she had married him for his protection and she should listen to his advise, which was to leave with him in 1848. Some of her sons, especially James H. Woolsey, said that he would take her youngest son, William Andrew Woolsey, and keep him away from her. Abigail decided to follow John D. Lee and made a stirring statement to her children, who she had gathered around her, saying she was determined to go, and that those who she had nurtured would take away her youngest son, when she needed him in her old age, should not do so. Abigail Schaeffer Woolsey Lee started for the Valley in 1848 but never made it all the way, succumbing to the "Rocky Mountain Fever" and dying "at the Ninth or Last Crossing of the Sweetwater River" in Wyoming Territory. There she was buried on the windswept plains, in a grave that was dug by her brother-in-law Jacob C. Woolsey, with a large stone that had her name and dates chiseled upon it. William Andrew Woolsey must have come with this group. [Wilford Whitaker has an old tin type, carefully wrapped in a soft cotton cloth, but suffering the ravages of time and use, of a lady who he thought was Agatha Ann Woolsey Lee, until he saw a photo of Agatha Ann Woolsey Lee, and is not fairly certain that it must be a likeness of Abigail Schaeffer Woolsey.] After arriving in the Valley, they settled around the old Fort and George Washington Hickerson was given the corner where the Walker Bank was built and was a landmark in Salt Lake City for many years. He then traded that property to the Walker brothers for a broken down wagon and lame oxen team, which George Washington Hickerson used to haul his family and relatives to the mouth of the Weber Canyon, north of Salt Lake. There he moved onto a good farm and built a log house, where Wilford's grandmother [Clarissa Melissa Hickerson] was born. With several of the Woolseys, they dug a canal to take water out of the Weber river and has been used many years for irrigation. We next find George Washington Hickerson, with his brother Andrew Jackson Hickerson [from Fayette Co, ILL] in the 1850 Census of Louisville, Eldorado Co, CA 15 Jan, with others from Fayette Co, ILL, and with Wm Wolsey, age 20. They had travelled to CA from Utah in 1849 with the Pomeroy Train, herding cattle to CA, through Los Vegas. Now they had had little success in mining for gold, so they turned their attention to a little store and providing goods and vegetables to the miners. William Andrew Woolsey is found several times in the Utah records, then appears in the 1860 census of Valley Mills P.O, Washington Twp, Alameda Co, CA. In a letter from William Andrew Woolsey to his sister Sarah Woolsey Hickerson, 14 Feb 1859, Alvarado, Alameda Co, CA, he writes: William Woolsey & Emily Woolsey to G. W. Hickerson. Dear Brother and Sister . . . you speak of my family. I have a small one. I was maried to years ago to 18 of January we have got a boy 7 months old. I got tired of keeping old batch and living a dog's life. I suposed that all of the girls back there that I was acquainted with was maried off or at least them that I was in love with I get along very well I am an old man I can't get along without my pipe my wife sends her love to you both says she would like to make you a visit if convient but she wil haf to stay home ahile I go I cannt . . ." So we know his wife is named Emily and they md 18 Jan 1857. ON-LINE CA Genealog Index - William Woolsey married Emily Brazer 1857. Marriage date: 1857. 1860 Census Vallley Mills PO, Washington Twp, Alameda Co, CA. FHL# 803055. 14 Aug p. 210. #1480-1475. William Woolsey 26 m farmer -- $1000 NC ? Emily 26 f MO Charles O. 8 m CA Henry 6 m CA William 2 m CA Leroy (Lucy?) 3/12 m (f?) CA Emily must have been married before, to a Woolsey!! I have a letter (not at hand) in which one of the Woolseys is asking the name of "the cousin who married a Woolsey". This marriage between William Andrew Woolsey and Emily Brazer did not last long. In a later letter, William Andrew Woolsey writes his sister Sarah Woolsey Hickerson, "You ask about my family . . . we are no longer together, THANK GOODNESS..." [I believe his language was a little more colorful than that.] and we find her in the 1870 Census: 1870 Census Gold Hill P. O., Gold Hill Twp, Storey Co, Nevada. FHL# 552334. 5 Jul p. 337. # 6-5. D. M. Tyrell 41 m miner $3000 - Scotland E. A. " 33 f keeping house Mafs? Chas. Wolsey 18 m CAL Henry " 15 m CAL William " 12 m CAL Lucy " 10 f CAL We possibly find William Andrew Woolsey in the 1870 census of Silver Park P.O., Silver Park Twp, Nye Co, NV FHL# 552333. 12 Jul p. 243 # 10-2 Wm Wolsey 31 m Teamster Illinois William Andrew Woolsey came back to Utah and was working in Salt Lake City when he met Ann Jones, the second wife of John Eardley, who was called to help settle Southern Utah. John Eardley did not take his second family to Southern Utah, but left them in Salt Lake City, where Ann Jones Eardley worked in Brigham Young's kitchens for several years. Brigham Young gave her a divorce from John Eardley so she could marry William Andrew Woolsey. They married 1871 and had at least one son, George H. Woolsey, b 1871? in CA? d 19 Mar 1893 and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery but later moved to So. Cottonwood, Salt Lake City. I wonder who moved him? I also wonder why he is not found in the 1880 census? We next find William Andrew Woolsey in the 1880 Census: 1880 Census 6th Ward, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co, UT 3 Jun p. 47. # 92-103. Woolsey, William A. 47 miner Ireland Ireland Ireland Ann 47 wife KH England England Eng Eardley, Edward J. 17 m stepson shoe factory UT En En Mary Emma 15 f stepdau at school UT En En Ann Jones Eardley Woolsey is buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery, but no stone marks her final resting place. William Andrew Woolsey is also buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery, but some distance away, also in an unmarked grave. Ann J. Eardley b Eng 1833 d. 10 Mar 1910 SLC. This has been an interesting bit of research and I hope it strikes a spark of interest in some of the descendants of this man. Wilford's great-grandmother and grandmother were "savers" as they saved every scrap of paper that they came across, receipts, deeds, bills, "Utah scrip", gold coins, family data, all which were given to Wilford's aunt, who gave to him the old wooden trunk in which these were all saved. And which helped spark his interest in his family, over 40 years ago. Thank you all for listening and responding. Sincerely, Wilford W. Whitaker