24: Susan Emily Woolsey

Grave of Susan Emily Woolsey (source)

There are six Woolseys buried in the cemetery, four of whom died in the 1850s. The grave of the youngest Woolsey is perhaps the most poignant: it commemorates Susan Emily Woolsey, only child of Jonathan and Maria Woolsey, who died in 1859, four years after the death of her father.

Jonathan Woolsey's father, Jonathan Sr., died the year that Jonathan Jr. was born, making him the last of ten children by Jonathan's mother, Susanna Carstang. Susanna's parents were Gideon Carstang (1751-1817) and Catharine Fowler. Gideon Carstang was a descendant of Gideon Carstang, a rope maker born in the 1680s who lived at Philipsburgh Manor, and his wife Catherina Cockefer, a woman of Dutch descent.

In 1850, 25-year-old Jonathan Woolsey Jr., a cartman, was living in Manhattan with his wife Maria, 24. According to the census, they had been married that year. They shared their apartment with 14-year-old Hannah Nickinson, a servant. Their daughter Susan was yet to be born.

In 1851, the succession of Woolsey deaths began with the death of Susanna Carstang Woolsey. Her son Jonathan died in 1855; his grave is inscribed: "By his wife Maria this stone was placed." Jonathan's brother Joseph died in 1858, and finally Jonathan's daughter Susan died in 1859. As always, I wonder if the same disease carried both of them off.

What of Jonathan and Susanna's eight other children?

Catharine Woolsey, the couple's first child, was born in 1806 and died in 1809.

Isaac Woolsey, born 1810, was a boat captain. The year before she died, Susanna was living with him, his wife Marietta Bird, his unmarried sister Mary, and his son Alonzo in Ossining. Alonzo later became a guard at Sing Sing Prison, though not at the same time as Amos Babcock.

1850 US Federal Census

Mary Woolsey, born 1816, married Gilead Holmes, who owned a furniture store. They had two children, Charles and Marietta. In 1870 they were housing their niece, Susan, and in 1880, Susan's father Daniel. Mary died in 1893.

Susanna Woolsey, born 1821, married Valentine Cox, a miller, and lived in Lewisboro. They had five children. Susanna died in 1889. After his wife's death, Valentine moved in with his widowed daughter, Mary Church, and her house full of Churches.

Daniel Woolsey, born 1823, was a shoemaker who married Mary Sands. By coincidence, they also happened to have a daughter Susan Woolsey who was born around 1850. In 1870, Susan was living with her aunt Mary Holmes. By 1880, Susan had moved out, but now Daniel was living with Mary, her husband Gilead Holmes, and their son Charles. Both Daniel and Charles worked as clerks in Gilead's furniture store. However, in 1896, he was admitted to the Westchester County Poorhouse as "sick and destitute." He was recorded as having two brothers living, but the number "2" was then crossed out. Two children were living, though.

I have seen many people - either those buried in the cemetery or their relatives - who were in the Westchester County Poorhouse at one point in their lives. This was a time before nursing homes, hospices, or home health aids, and so many of the people who wound up in the poorhouse were simply old and sick and unable to take care of themselves. They might have had family, but family members might have been ill-equipped to take care of them. Without knowing more details, I can't really judge Daniel's family who were unable to give him a place to live in 1896.

I realized that I've been forgetting to count the most popular given names in each family. So here are the most popular names in the Woolsey family:

Mary/Maria (6)
Susanna/Susan (5)
Catharine (3)
Marietta (2)
Jonathan (2)
Charles (2)
Carrie (2)

1. Jonathan Woolsey (1783-1826) m. Susanna Carstang (1786-1851) in 1805
1. Catharine Woolsey (1806-1809)
2. Joseph B. Woolsey (1807-1858) 
3. Isaac Woolsey (1810-1856) m. Marietta E. Bird (1815-)
1. Alonzo B. Woolsey (1839-1914) m. Carrie M. Ackerman (1841-before 1910)
1. Charles Woolsey (1864-1880)
2. Carrie Edna Woolsey (1874-1914)
4. James Woolsey (1812-)
5. Catharine Woolsey (1814-)
6. Mary Woolsey (1816-1893) m. Gilead Holmes (1824-)
1. Charles Holmes (1856-)
2. Marietta Holmes (1858-1935) m. Marcus Washburn (1853-) in 1887
1. Harold Holmes Washburn (1891-)
7. Sarah Woolsey (1819-)
8. Susanna Woolsey (1821-1889) m. Valentine Cox (1822-1903)
1. Mary J. Cox (1849-)
2. Sarah F. Cox (1851-)
3. Maria L. Cox (1853-)
4. Ellen B. Cox (1858-) m. Francis B. Church (1855-)
1. Susannah Church (1876-) m. Young
1. Mary E. Young (1909-)
2. Clarence E. Church (1878-) m. Catherine Ward (1877-) in 1898
1. Elsie I. Church (1899-)
3. Ernest Church (1880-) m. Frances (1877-)
1. Ellwood B. Church (1904-1974) m. Helen Cone (1905-)
1. Shirley H. Church (1925-)
2. Norma M. Church (1928-)
5. Georgeanna Cox (1859-)
9. Daniel Woolsey (1823-) m. Mary Sands (1823-before 1880)
1. Susan Woolsey (1849-)
10. Jonathan Woolsey (1826-1855) m. Maria (1827-) in 1850
1. Susan Emily Woolsey (1850-1859)