HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY
![<span>CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette ©2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-320Signed_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-320Signed_12190313.jpg)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette ©2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-316_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-316_12090627.jpg)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette ©2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-290_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-290_12090627.jpg)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette ©2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-80_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-80_12090627.png)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette © 2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Outside cemetery_w378_h378/Outside cemetery_12090627.jpg)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY :</span> Photos by Jenny Burdette ©2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Nature_w378_h378/Nature_12101204.png)
![<span>Lewis Clinton and Mollie McLean in 1905:</span> Courtesy of Linda Blum](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/McLEAN Lewis & Molly 1906 2016-1 2_w378_h378/McLEAN Lewis & Molly 1906 2016-1 2_09200945.jpg)
![<span> Lizzie and Esther McLean in 1905:</span> Courtesy of Linda Blum](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Lizzie Ballard McLean & Esther McLean 1906 2_w378_h378/Lizzie Ballard McLean & Esther McLean 1906 2_09200945.jpg)
![<span>Juan F. “Du," Esther, Mollie, & Lewis McLean :</span> Courtesy of L. Blum](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/McLEAN J.F., Esther, Molly & Lewis 1906 20151 2_w378_h378/McLEAN J.F., Esther, Molly & Lewis 1906 20151 2_09200945.jpg)
![<span>Cemetery:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette © 2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-154_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-154_12100129.jpg)
![<span>CEMETERY:</span> Photo by Jenny Burdette © 2021](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Woolsey5-07-21-323_w378_h378/Woolsey5-07-21-323_12100129.jpg)
![<span>HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY:</span> Original Fence](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Cemetery old fence_w378_h378/Cemetery old fence_12090600.jpg)
![<span>CEMETERY Original Fence:</span> Photo by Ryan Arvay ©2001](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Old Fence 2(1)_w378_h378/Old Fence 2(1)_12100518.jpg)
![<span>Cemetery 1906 Original Fence:</span> Photo by Ryan Arvay ©2001](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/proportion/Screen Shot 2021-12-11 at 11.36.09 AM_w378_h378/Screen Shot 2021-12-11 at 11.36.09 AM_12110437.png)
![CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-320Signed_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-320Signed_12190313.jpg)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-316_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-316_12090627.jpg)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-290_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-290_12090627.jpg)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-80_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-80_12090627.png)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Outside cemetery_w46_h46/Outside cemetery_12090627.jpg)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Nature_w46_h46/Nature_12101204.png)
![Lewis Clinton and Mollie McLean in 1905](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/McLEAN Lewis & Molly 1906 2016-1 2_w46_h46/McLEAN Lewis & Molly 1906 2016-1 2_09200945.jpg)
![Lizzie and Esther McLean in 1905](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Lizzie Ballard McLean & Esther McLean 1906 2_w46_h46/Lizzie Ballard McLean & Esther McLean 1906 2_09200945.jpg)
![Juan F. “Du," Esther, Mollie, & Lewis McLean](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/McLEAN J.F., Esther, Molly & Lewis 1906 20151 2_w46_h46/McLEAN J.F., Esther, Molly & Lewis 1906 20151 2_09200945.jpg)
![Cemetery](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-154_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-154_12100129.jpg)
![CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Woolsey5-07-21-323_w46_h46/Woolsey5-07-21-323_12100129.jpg)
![HISTORIC WOOLSEY CEMETERY](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Cemetery old fence_w46_h46/Cemetery old fence_12090600.jpg)
![CEMETERY Original Fence](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Old Fence 2(1)_w46_h46/Old Fence 2(1)_12100518.jpg)
![Cemetery 1906 Original Fence](../../../../images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/cache/images/friendsofhistoricwoolsey/site/products/crop/Screen Shot 2021-12-11 at 11.36.09 AM_w46_h46/Screen Shot 2021-12-11 at 11.36.09 AM_12110437.png)
Ferrol Sams, storyteller, doctor, and author, tells of visits to his grandfather's grave at Historic Woolsey Cemetery with two of his grandsons on Christmas morning to carry on a family tradition.
"The sun was rising when I gathered them that morning, and it made the winter trees across the fields glow gold with slanted light. We tiptoed. We bent over. We hugged the granite marker carved with 'Sams. Compton. Giles. Cole.' The boys looked at me and I nodded. 'Christmas gift!' they shrieked as they sprang around the sides
and into the family plot."
– Ferrol Sams, from Christmas Gift!
Each cemetery’s physical environment tells stories unique to its community and to the people buried there. While no exact records indicate the first burials in the cemetery, based on genealogical research and personal journals, two of Thomas B. Gay’s children were buried there in the 1830s. In 1875, Gay’s heirs sold the land to Reverend I. G. Woolsey, MD who permitted members of the community and church to be interred in the cemetery.
In December 1906, Juan Fernandez McLean placed the original fence, made by the Stewart Iron Company, around the cemetery. In 2007, Woolsey Baptist Church replaced the original fence with a more modern fence after several cars damaged part of the original. To preserve the fence’s history, the original has been incorporated into our logo.
To celebrate and honor the lives and legacies of those laid to rest in the cemetery, Friends of Historic Woolsey is committed to preservation, storytelling, education, and community. Please visit our Contact page to share your stories with us.
In addition to cleaning up and maintaining the grounds of the cemetery, Ground Penetrating Radar Systems (GPRS) provided a geophysical analysis of the area outside of the cemetery fence which identified the locations of forty-four potential unmarked graves.
Please do not remove any historic items including grave markers from the historic cemetery. If in the past you have done this by replacing unreadable markers, please contact us and return the original markers to Friends of Historic Woolsey to be replaced in their rightful place in the cemetery.
We are continuing to improve and restore the Historic Woolsey Cemetery. We'd love to have a family representative for each person buried in Historic Woolsey Cemetery for our records. Please contact us to send us email an with your contact information. Also we are updating our records; please contact us with information such as careers, interests, military service, etc. about anyone buried in the cemetery.
GPRS Unmarked Graves Survey