THE OLD HOME PLACE (Videos attached)

Welcome to the Woolsey Homepage - The Descendants of Charles Woolsey, son of "Old" Jehu Moses Woolsey

In the photo are pictured Charles Woolsey with his wife Nancy "Tharp" Woolsey.  Pete is on Charles' lap.  Young Jehu is at Charles' knee.  (This is the only photo in existence of Young Jehu.)  William is at Nancy's side.  (William would die soon after photo was made.)

In this list, names are indexed by surname.

WOOLSEY
Jacob C.
Moses Jehu or Jehu Moses ("NOT" John D.! Bad mistake there! That's another guy.)
Charles
Solomon
Ivy Albert (Till)

ADKINS/ATKINS
Austin
Owen

THARP/THORPE
Lamech (Pappy)
William
Moses

THE WOOLSEYS OF SHANNON AND TEXAS COUNTY, MISSOURI

We are the children of Jehu Moses Woolsey - the elder, who was born in Kentucky and later moved to Illinois where he lived for a period of years. It was in Illinois where Jehu first married Jane Davis and later Elizabeth J. Burklow. To their unions were born Cynthia, Solomon, Charles, William, Susan Effie Ann, Harriett Pernecy, Mary Melvina, Martha, and Sterling Price Woolsey. Although Jehu was a property owner during his stay in Illinois, on the eve of the Civil War he relocated in 1860 with his family to Delaware Township, Shannon County, Missouri. Solomon would be seriously injured at the Battle of Wilson Creek near Springfield, Missouri, but would recover to fight again. Sometime before the close of that dreadful conflict, Jehu Moses Woolsey was dead along with his son, Solomon, who died in a military hospital at Little Rock, Arkansas, following the Siege of Fort Smith. Charles had been recorded as a prisoner of war after his surrender at Jacksonport, Arkansas, following the fall of the Confederacy. Returning at the end of the war from safe quarters in Arkansas, Jehu's widow and remaining children would again start their lives over in Texas and Shannon County, Missouri.....We are currently looking for any information on the names of George Washington Woolsey, Jacob C. Woolsey, Richard Woolsey, Jr., Thomas J. Keeth, Alexander and Pernecy or Pernecia (Woolsey) Campbell, Mary Josephine (Woolsey) Patterson, or Jehu Moses Woolsey. Thanks for your interest and help!

WOOLSEY FAMILY FORUM

This is a great place to keep in contact with everyone.

Click Here: The Woolsey Family Forum

Persistent Myth of "John D. Woolsey"

Recently I saw this posted on one of several genealogical web sites...regarding the false assumption that our ancestral link in Missouri was one, "John D. Woolsey."

"She married John D Woolsey in Perry Co, Illinois, September 1, 1836. John was born in Pulaski Co. Kentucky 1815. John was the son of Woolsey and Unknown. John died 1867 in Shannon Co, Missouri, at 52 years of age. His body was interred 1867 in Texas County Missouri, Houston Rural Cemetery."

This is just one example of an established myth which has been widely accepted/promoted within our direct line of Woolseys! There are census records for Old Jehu Woolsey and obituaries of his first-generation children (including one obituary that states the father's name was "Jay Hugh") proving that there was no "John D. Woolsey" in our direct line! The Woolsey ancestor who moved into Shannon County, Missouri, was Jehu Moses Woolsey - the elder, not some mysterious "John D. Woolsey."

The death date for Jehu Moses Woolsey - the elder, was NOT 1867 because Old Jehu's very own daughter, Susan Effie Anne Woolsey Orchard, supplied information for the publication of the Goodspeed book, A Reminiscent History of the Ozark Region, stating, "Judge James Orchard married Susan E. Woolsey, daughter of J.M. Woolsey, formerly of Shannon County but who DIED DURING THE WAR!" Now, 1867 is NOT "during the war" and "J.M. Woolsey" is not John D! At the time this book was published, both James Orchard and Susan Effie Anne Woolsey Orchard were VERY MUCH ALIVE! At the time of publication for the Goodspeed book, James Orchard had not even become senator within the state of Missouri yet....as he later would. James' wife, Susan Woolsey Orchard, was the informant for the information regarding her side of the story printed in the Goodspeed book! Now, if Susan (the living daughter of Old Jehu and the wife of a future Missouri senator) didn't know that her father's name was "J.M. Woolsey" and that he died "during" the war (although that's what she CLEARLY stated being of sound mind), then how can a few family members presently claim to have the "real scoop" 150 years after the fact?

Further more, there are obituaries, military records, and the widow's pension request for the "REAL" John D. Woolsey, son of Joseph and Abigail Woolsey. The records clearly state that John D. Woolsey was discharged from the military during the Mexican War for the reason of dysentery. He died soon after and his widow, Jane King, (who had remarried at the time of request)......later applied for his military pension, including the name of their Woolsey child!

Finally, regarding the recent mis-marking of an unknown grave in the Houston Rural Cemetery in Texas County, Missouri,......THERE ARE NO KNOWN RECORDS OF ANY WOOLSEYS IN TEXAS COUNTY, MISSOURI, until Charles Woolsey, son of Old Jehu Woolsey, moved up Jacks Fork of the Current River after the war to homestead property (1876) across the creek from his father-in-law, Lamech "Pappy" Tharp. Prior to and during the war (in this area of southcentral Missouri) the Woolseys were EXCLUSIVELY located in Shannon County, Missouri.....not Texas County. Now, knowing this.....it is highly unlikely to assume that Old Jehu would be buried at Houston Rural Cemetery! If Old Jehu is buried anywhere, he is buried at the old Woolsey homeplace cemetery in Shannon County on a point of land located between the mouths of Rough Creek and Leatherwood Creek, where they empty into the Jacksfork River. This is the old "J.U.(Jehu)Woolsey" homeplace in Delaware Township, Shannon County, that predates the war (as stated in Lewis' book "Jacksfork of the Current River.")

The ancestor of Shannon and Texas County Woolseys was Jehu Moses Woolsey - the elder.