Flora Elizabeth (Baker) Woolsey (1847 - 1879)

Born 15 Sep 1847 in Barre, Orleans County, New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of George W. Woolsey — married 15 Sep 1866 in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin, USA

Descendants

Died 22 Sep 1879 at age 32 in Falling Springs, Fayette County, Iowa, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joan Stewart Smith [send private message]

Biography

Flora Elizabeth Baker, also called "Elizabeth," "Libby" and "Lizzie," was born on 15 Sep 1847 in Barre, Orleans County, New York. She was youngest of the 8 children of George B. Baker and Dorcas Taylor Griffen. ^[1] Her siblings were Martha Ann (Baker) Robson, Eliza Ann Freelove (Baker) Hoyt, Mary Jane (Baker) Miller, Phebe Griffen (Baker) Healy, William Henry Baker, Julia O. (Baker) Burk and Samuel James Baker.^[2]

The obituary of Libby's older sister Eliza (Baker) Hoyt, born 13 years before Libby, said that Eliza was born in Verona, Oneida County, New York in 1834, which implies that the family lived there at the time.^[3]

The family then moved 150 miles west to Barre, Orleans County, New York, as Libby's birth record names her birth place as Barre.^[1] Family members fit the ages in one of the two George Baker households in Barre on the 1840 U.S. census.^[4]

By 1850, the George B. Baker household was living in Elba, Genesee County, New York, where Libby's family had moved a few miles south from Barre to the next county.^[5] The southern boundary of Barre is shared with the towns of Elba and Oakfield in Genesee County.

Elba is where her maternal Griffen grandparents, and other aunts and uncles, had also moved, from Oneida County, New York and Dutchess County, New York, per Phebe's Aunt Julia Ann (Griffen) Travis' 1895 obituary.^[6]

About 1865, Libby, her parents George and Dorcas, and other family members moved 655 miles west to Lyons, Walworth County, Wisconsin. The last time Libby's parents, who died in Lyons, were recorded on the census was the 1860 U.S. Census in Elba, Genesee County, New York.^[7]

Marriage

Libby Baker married George W. Woolsey, his 1st wife, on 15 Sep 1866 in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin.^[8]

George W. Woolsey was born on 15 Mar 1842 in LaFayette, Onondaga County, New York. He was the son of Richard Daniel Woolsey and Ruth C. Robins.^[9][10]

Children

Libby Baker and her husband George W. Woolsey had the following 6 children:^[2]

1. Lilla May Woolsey (1867-1951), married Fred Winslow Fellows^[11]
2. Oren Henry Woolsey (1869-1916), married Rose Emaline Mott^[12]
3. Clarence Eugene Woolsey (1872-1953), married Jennie Palmer^[13]
4. DeWitt Woolsey (1874-1875), died young^[14]
5. Agnes Ida Woolsey (1875-1947), married Charles Lewis Taylor, Harry Wellington Whitbeck^[15]
6. William James Woolsey (1878-1962), married Lavinia Thankful Featherstone^[16]

George and Libby first lived in Bloomington, Grant County, Wisconsin, where their two oldest children were born. They then moved 60 miles northwest to Windsor township, Fayette County, Iowa.^[17] They lived in a log cabin near the area of Falling Springs in Auburn, a township just north of Windsor township, and northwest of the city of West Union.

Death

Elizabeth "Libby" Woolsey, aged 32, died on 22 Sep 1879 in Falling Springs, Fayette County, Iowa. She suffered a terrible death caught in the cog wheels of a cane mill, leaving 5 young children.^[18] Libby was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Auburn, Fayette County.^[19]

According to her granddaughter, Phebe May (Fellows) Ellsworth, Oak Ridge Cemetery is "on a high hill not far from the little church on the Turkey River and not too far from the house they lived in, where she played the zither and sang, thereby entertaining all who lived up and down the river. My mother [Lilla May (Woolsey) Fellows, who was 12 when her mother Libby died] often told us of this."^[2]

After Libby died, George married his 2nd wife, the widow Isabelle Darling (Smith) Cotten on 28 Apr 1883 in Crawford County, Wisconsin, USA. ^[20] George and Isabelle did not have any children. Isabelle had 5 children from her 1st marriage to Orson A. Cotten.

George, aged 61, died on 20 Jul 1903 in Shopiere, Rock County, Wisconsin, USA.^[9] He was buried there in Shopiere Cemetery.^[21] His 2nd wife Isabelle died 16 May 1924 in Rockville, Bates County, Missouri.^[22]

Obituary

Unidentified Newspaper, Iowa, Sep 1879: ^[18]

A Terrible Accident

On Monday last between the hours of 5 and 6 o’clock in the evening, occurred one of the most terrible accidents it has ever been our duty to record.

George Woolsey lives near Falling Springs, about a mile north of the residence of Nathan Shaw, in Windsor. He had a cane mill in operation, and while absent at Auburn his wife was feeding the mill alone. At about the time mentioned the children at the house, a few rods away, heard their mother scream, and when they reached the mill she was hanging by the flesh in the cog wheels, above the cylinders.

One of them started toward Auburn for their father, while the other, a little girl, was kept constantly busy supplying the demands of her mother for water. It was twenty minutes at least before Mr. Woolsey arrived and realizing the condition of his wife, he knocked the gearing apart with an ax, and took her in his arms to the house. She died before the house was reached.

There is not positive means of knowing how the accident occurred, but it is supposed that while the mill was in motions she undertook to tighten a loosened wedge, the sleeve of her dress caught in the gearing, drawing in the arm, her screams increasing the motion of the horse, until her side was literally crushed to a pulp. After the horse was stopped she was compelled to hang suspended, in what must have been terrible agony, her feet just touching the ground, until here husband’s return.

She leaves five little children, the youngest but ten months old.

Ames Intelligencer, Ames, Iowa, 3 Oct 1879, Page 6 ^[23]

Mrs. George Woolsey, of West Union, was killed a few days since by being caught in the cog wheels of a cane mill.

The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, 1 Oct 1879, Wed, Page 3:^[24]

Mrs. Geo. Woolsey, of West Union, was caught in the cog wheels of a cane mill one day last week, and horribly mangled. Death ensued in a short time after the accident.

Census

1850

Elba, Genesee County, New York, United States. ^[25]

1860

Elba, Genesee County, New York, United States. ^[26]

1870

Windsor, Fayette County, Iowa, United States.^[17]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "New York Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDLW-WGW : 18 January 2020), GS Film Number 1010198, Digital Folder Number 007585925, Image Number 00109. Elizabeth T Baker born 15 Sep 1847, parents "George B. and Dorcas Baker", Barre Orleans County [Transcription incorrectly says “Bane”.]
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Ellsworth, Phebe May Fellows. The Many Branches; Genealogy of These Families, Fellows, Woolsey, Stewart, Ellsworth, Towslee. Compiled and self-published, Monroe, Green, Wisconsin, 1985 [Because sources were not readily available at the time, this book contains some inaccuracies. The author is the granddaughter of Flora Elizabeth "Libby" (Baker) Woolsey and George W. Woolsey.]
3. ↑ Obituary of Eliza (Baker) Hoyt, Unidentified Newspaper, Dec 1891. “Died Sunday morning Dec. 6, at the residence of her son, Eliza Hoyt, aged 57 years. Deceased was born in Verona, Oneida County, N.Y. January 1, 1834 …” etc.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTR-X9H : 30 September 2021), Barre, Orleans, New York, United States, Household of George G. Baker, 7 total: 1 Male: 15-19 [UNKNOWN], 1 Male: 30-39 [GEORGE], 2 Females: Under 5 [MARY JANE, PHEBE], 2 Females: 5-9 [MARTHA, ELIZA ANN], 1 Female: 30-39 [DORCAS]
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCYX-J7R : 23 December 2020), George B Baker household, Elba, Genesee, New York, United States
6. ↑ Obituary of Julia Ann (Griffin) Travis, Elkhorn Independent, Elkhorn, Walworth, Wisconsin, May 1895. Excerpt: "...Deceased was born Oct. 27th 1811, in Dutchess County, NY, and was the daughter of Charles and Martha Griffin. She moved with her parents to Oneida county in 1828, thence to Genesee county in 1831 ..."
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCWF-8YR : 18 February 2021), George B Baker household, Elba, Genesee, New York, United States
8. ↑ "Wisconsin, County Marriages, 1836-1911," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK85-MJLH : 26 May 2020), George Woolsey and Lizzie Baker married 15 Sep 1866 in Rock, Wisconsin, United States
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} "Wisconsin, Death Records, 1867-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLW5-242 : 11 January 2022), George Woolsey, aged 60y 4m 5d, painter, died 1903 in Rock County, Wisconsin, buried 21 July 1903 in Shopiere County, Wisconsin. Born 15 Mar 1841 in Onondaga County, New York, parents Richard W. Woolsey, born Delaware County, and Ruth Woolsey, born Onondaga County, residence Shopiere, Wisconsin, wife Isabelle Woolsey
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCB5-HQC : 23 December 2020), George H Woolsey in household of R D Woolsey, LaFayette, Onondaga, New York, United States
11. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #33033891
12. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #43177972
13. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #94291834
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #43178299
15. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #23148824
16. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #94291838
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDVS-S75 : 28 May 2021), Windsor, Fayette County, Iowa, United States, George Woolsey household
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Obituary of Mrs. George Woolsey, Unidentified Newspaper, Iowa, Sep 1879
19. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #38861191
20. ↑ "Wisconsin Marriages, 1836-1930", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRVH-LMB : 30 January 2020), George Woolsey, parents Richard Woolsey and Ruth Woolsey, married Isabella Cotten, father Samuel Smith, on 28 Apr 1883 in Crawford, Wisconsin
21. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #50690290
22. ↑ Missouri State Board of Health, Death Certificate 13946. Isabelle Woolsey, died 16 May 1924, Rockville, Bates County, Missouri, 77 years, 6 months, 14 days, cause of death, vascular heart disease, Bright’s disease of kidneys, housekeeper, widowed, born 2 Nov 1846, Buffalo, N.Y., name and birthplace of parents unknown, interred 17 May 1924, Rockville Cemetery, J.A. Finley, M.D., informant Chas Cotton [son] of Rockville, Mo.
23. ↑ Obituary of Mrs. George Woolsey, Ames Intelligencer, Ames, Iowa, 3 Oct 1879, Page 6, newspaperarchive.com
24. ↑ Obituary of Mrs. George Woolsey, The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, 1 Oct 1879, Wed, Page 3
25. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCYX-JW9 : 23 December 2020), Elisabeth Baker in household of George B Baker, Elba, Genesee, New York, United States
26. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCWF-DVR : 18 February 2021), Elisebeth Baker in Charles Monell household, Elba, Genesee County, New York

Acknowledgment

Biography of Flora Elizabeth "Libby" (Baker) Woolsey written by Joan Stewart Smith, her 3rd great granddaughter.