DON'T LET THE SPELLING FOOL YOU.
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In reply to:
Some Woolleys of Chautauqua & Cattaraugus Counties, NY
Pete 3/03/08
Pete,With regard to spelling the WOOLLEY or WOOLEY name---it makes no difference.Some of our ancestors spelled it both ways.To carry the mis-spelling further, I have seen our name butchered with such spellings as WOOLLIE, WHOLEY, WOLLEY, WOLIE, WILLEY, WILLY, WHALEY, WILLIE, WOLEY, WOOLY, WOOLSEY and other odd spellings that sound phonetically correct.Our ancestors generally knew how to spell the name but when left in the hands of a public officeholder or clerk---watch out.Whether it's a Deed, Will, Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Mortgage, Newspaper article, grave stone carver, announcement; they will spell it as they hear it.They would not ask the family member to spell the name as most people in the 18th and 19th centuries weren't sure themselves.There were a lot of illiterate people out there in those times and the public servant didn't care that much.When that public document gets filed, the mistake is perpetuated for all time.
"W-O-O-L-L-E-Y, two O's and two L's".That's how I give my name for a person to write on a form......and they still get it wrong!
I'll check out the WOOLEY's in Yorkshire.They are in the locality of the other WOOLLEY family that I mentioned previously. They trace to their ancestor Moses WOOLLEY(1793-1858) (believed to have come from New Hampshire) and his son David C. WOOLLEY(1819-1892).Yorkshire is in the Northeast corner of Cattaraugus Co. and Perrysburg is in the Northwest corner right next to Hanover in Chautauqua Co.
Anyway, back to your Eseck and my Able in Dutchess.How are they related?In the 1800 Census Eseck lived 5 doors down the road from Abel and son Edward in the Town of Pawling (Dover was formed from part of Pawling in 1807).There has to be a connection.
Yours truly,
Dave Woolley
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