Jane (Newton) Woolsey
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Jane Eliza (Newton) Woolsey (1801 - 1874)

Jane Eliza Woolsey formerly Newton
Born in Alexandria, Alexandria, Virginia, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 28 Jun 1827 [location unknown]
Died at age 73 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 27 Jul 2015
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Biography

Flag of Virginia
Jane (Newton) Woolsey was born in Virginia.
Jane staunch abolitionist, raised her 8 children to be the same; all served the Union in the Civil War; Jane was a nurse throughout the war and worked with daughter Georgeanna at Gettysburg.
'New York state flag'
Jane (Newton) Woolsey was interred in New York.

Jane Eliza Newton

Birth: Nov. 9, 1801 Alexandria, Virginia
Death: Dec. 22, 1874 Manhattan, New York

She served in the Civil war as a nurse along with her daughters Abby Howland Woolsey', Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey Bacon, and Jane Stuart Woolsey, Mary Elizabeth Woolsey Howland.

Parents:

Commodore William Newton and Jane Stuart

Spouse and Children:

Charles William Woolsey (1802 - 1840) m. June 28, 1827
  1. Abby Howland Woolsey (1828 - 1893)*
  2. Jane Stuart Woolsey (1830 - 1891) Civil War Nurse
  3. Mary Elizabeth Watts Woolsey Howland (1832 - 1864)*
  4. Georgeanna "Georgy" Muirson Woolsey Bacon (1833 - 1906) Civil War Nurse
  5. Eliza Newton Woolsey Howland (1835 - 1917) Civil War Nurse
  6. Harriet Roosevelt Woolsey Hodge (1837 - 1878)*
  7. Caroline Carson Woolsey Mitchell (1838 - 1914)*
  8. Charles William Woolsey (1840 - 1907)*

On the night of 13 Jan 1840, Jane's husband Charles was on the steamer Lexington returning to Boston when the smokestack ignited, spread to the 150 bales of cotton onboard, and the steamer burst into flames killing all but four onboard. This horrific tragedy caused Jane to take stock of the family's situation and make plans to relocate nearer to family in New York. She was the mother of seven young daughters and was expecting her eighth child.

In 1840 and 1850, Jane (transcribed as Eliza J) was the head of household due to the death of her husband early in 1840. The family was living in New York City. The 1840 Census shows 1 male under 5, and 11 females: 3 under 5, 3 from 5-9, 1 from 10-14, 2 from 15-19, 1 from 20-29, 1 from 30-39, and the 1850 Census details are in the table below. Both appear to include servants.[1][2]

HouseholdRoleSexAgeBirthplaceOccupation
Jane E WoolseyheadF48Virginia
Abby H WoolseyF22Virginia
Jane S WoolseyF20New York
Mary E WoolseyF18England
Georgianna M WoolseyF16New York
Eliza M WoolseyF15Massachusetts
Harriet R WoolseyF13Massachusetts
Chas W WoolseyM10Massachusetts
Mary R AdamsF50Virginia
Ellen MooneyF23Ireland
Martha MoranF22Ireland
Mary J TaylorF23Ireland

The New York City directory for 1856-1858 shows Jane as widowed and living at 127 Tenth street. [3]

Having witnessed slave auctions, Jane vowed to fight slavery and raised her children to fight it as well. In the Civil War, four of her daughters served as nurses for the Sanitary Commission, only son Charles served as 2nd Lieutenant in the 164th New York Infantry, and the rest of her children dedicated their time to war relief. Five of the daughters became published author: Jane, Abigail, Mary and Georgeanna.

Jane supported her daughters' desire to become war zone hospital nurses, but required that at least two Woolsey ladies would serve together – mother and daughter team or sister teams. She and Georgeanna went to Gettysburg immediately after the battle, at first believing that Charles had been wounded, and then upon learning he was not, remained and were responsible for establishing and overseeing a Sanitary Commission camp near the railroad station at the edge of the battlefield.

Mother and daughter oversaw the pitching of tents, cooking of food, distribution of medicine and provided skilled medical nursing for the sick and wounded men. Jane began to be called "Mother", partly in gratitude for her spirit and caring approach toward each. She listened to the men's stories, comforted them, fed them and distributed clothing. According to Georgeanna's "Three Weeks at Gettysburg", she estimated that nearly each of the 16,000 soldiers who left Gettysburg stopped for at least a meal at their tents. It was a horrific scene – what loss and what misery. Of the thousands of wounded, most had very serious, often life-threatening wounds.

Jane continued to serve as nurse until the end of the war.

Burial

Woolsey Cemetery, Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York, USA Find A Grave: Memorial #55752267[4]

Sources

  1. 1840 Census "United States Census, 1840", citing p. 152, NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm , FamilySearch Record: XHTN-JPQ (accessed 13 June 2023) FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9YTB-8WM Image number 00307, Eliza J Woolsey in New York City, New York County, New York, United States.
  2. 1850 Census "United States Census, 1850", citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FamilySearch Record: MCTZ-J76 (accessed 10 June 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-6S5Q-9RD Image number 00102, Georgianna M Woolsey (16) in New York City, New York County, New York, United States. Born in New York.
  3. New York City Directory "United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990", citing Record number: 254, FamilySearch Record: 6Z89-NFRF (accessed 13 June 2023) FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-J3DB-K4L8 Image number 00515, Name: Jane E Woolsey; Residence Date: from 1856 to 1858; Residence Place: New York County, New York, United States; Source Pub Title: Trow's New York City directory, City directory, 1856-1858.
  4. Memorial Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 15 January 2021), memorial page for Jane Eliza Newton Woolsey (9 Nov 1801–22 Dec 1874), Find a Grave Memorial no. 55752267, citing Woolsey Cemetery, Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York, USA ; Maintained by DMC (contributor 47184694) .

See also:





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jane by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jane:

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here is a person that she can become

"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2M-F76C : 11 July 2016), Jane Eliza Newton Woolsey, 1874; Burial, Glen Cove, Nassau, New York, United States of America, Woolsey Cemetery; citing record ID 55752267, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

posted by Robin Lee