Woolsey family

The genealogy of the Woolsey Family is somewhat controversial. We know for fact that Nancy Ann Woolsey, daughter of Oliphant Woolsey and Elisabeth Bernard, is a direct descendent of George Woolsey and Francis Roberts. There are some genealogists who claim that George was a descendent of either Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Lord Chancellor under king Henry VIII (1514-1520), or of the Cardinal's younger brother Robert Wolsey. Others argue that there just isn't enough documentary evidence to support this assumption.

George Woolsey was an English merchant who lived for a while in Rotterdam, Holland, where he married Frances Roberts in 1610. However, his son George Joris was born in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, England in 1616. He was only a small boy when his father died and his uncle Benjamin Wolsey took him to America on. Later he became an agent of Isaac Allerton, a leading Dutch trader in New Amsterdam who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. George made great progress and by 1659 he was the manager of Isaac Allerton's business. He married Rebecca Cornell, daughter of Thomas Cornell and Rebecca Briggs, on 9 Dec 1647 in Dutch Church, Flushing, Long Island. They had nine children: Sarah, George, Thomas, Rebecca, John, Mary, William Walton, William and Abigail..... more

George Joris Wolsay arrived in New Amsterdam aboard a sailing ship in 1643

• A1. George Wolsey of Bristol, England, d:1628, Rotterdam, Holland, m. Francis Roberts;
  • B1. George Joris Wolsey, b:1616 England, d:1698 New York, m. Rebecca Cornell;
    • C1. John Woolsey, lvd:1660/1729 Jamaica, Queens, New York, m. Abagail Stevenson;
      • D1. John Woolsey, b:1706, m. Mary Sammis;  ==>  Sammis family
        • E1. John Woolsey, lvd:1737/1819, m. Sarah Oliphant;  ==>  Oliphant family
          • F1. Oliphant Woolsey, lvd:1790/1826, m. Elizabeth Barnard;  ==>  Barnard family
            • G1. Mary Ann Woolsey, lvd:1812/1846, m. James Yandell;  <==  Yandell family