THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 31, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Richard J. Woolsey was born on October 25, 1834, at Harbor Creek, Erie County, Pa., one of 12 children born to the Joseph Woolseys. Four male members of this family served the Union cause during the Civil War.  Richard attended the common district schools of that area – until he was 11 years of age, when he went out on his own working for farmers.  He received his education in Erie County, going to school in the wintertime and working for his room and board. Richard decided to leave Pennsylvania and come to the Town of Lind, Waupaca County, where his uncle, John Brown, then was living.

            He started out from Girard in Erie County, went to Cleveland, Ohio, then on to Chicago, and from there went by rail and stage to Madison and Waupun, thence by rail to Fond du Lac, and from Fond du Lac he took a stage for some time before he transferred to oxen through the woods to Omro.  He proceeded on to the north and arrived in the Town of Lind on March 3, 1855.

            All the money that he had was script from Pennsylvania, which was worthless here. So, broke an without work, he went to live with his uncle, John Brown.

            The first thing Woolsey did in the line of work was to make shingles which he hauled to Berlin in Green Lake County, a distance of 26 miles, and trade them for provisions.  The following year he worked at lumbering in the woods and ran logs on the Wisconsin River.

            On November 18, 1856, Richard J. Woolsey was married to Laura Lamphear in the Town of Lind.  She was born in St. Lawrence County, N.Y., April 1, 1838.  They were to become the parents of two children:  Fred Z., and Eunice M.

            In the spring of 1856 he bought some land in Marathon County.  He had saved enough money to pay for this, but never lived there.  Richard later traded this land for a yoke of steers and a wagon.

            After their marriage, the Woolseys rented a farm in Section 27, Town of Lind, and they lived here until May 27, 1859, when he, with his wife, hauled by that same yoke of steers started for Wright County, Minn., which was still a pioneer section.  From Wright County they moved on to Blue Earth County, Minn., before the days of the homestead laws, and pre-empted 160 acres of government land.

            Their cabin was like all others, built from lumber taken from speculator’s land.  He remained here until the spring of 1860, when his wife’s health became poorly and he abandoned the place. After selling all his possessions and leaving any improvements to the place, they had barely enough money left to get them back to the Town of Lind.  He was again penniless and had to start out all over again. Richard worked some land on shares in the summer and went to work in the woods in the winter.

            Richard J. Woolsey enlisted in Company M, First Wisconsin Cavalry, on November 21, 1861, at Weyauwega.  He was recruited by Lt. Caldwell, a well known and respected man from this area. Mr. Woolsey was actively engaged in many battles of the Civil War.

            On page 819, in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Upper Wisconsin, there is an interesting account of Richard J. Wooley, “Dick Woolsey’s Daring Dash.”

            In essence, this is what it went on to say:

            “Dick was a large-framed man of 200 pounds and a bundle of good nature, rather decided in his opinions and ways of doing things.  He was a private in Co. M, 1^st Wisconsin Cavalry in the spring of 1864, when he was out on patrol duty with 13 other men with Sherman’s army in Georgia.  They were not to exceed 14 miles from the main body.

            Somewhere along the way they met up with some southern women who offered them water and were unusually talkative.  Dick became uneasy and feared that something was up and suggested to the officer in command that they meant mischief.  After some discussion the officer discovered that a body of Wheeler’s Rebel Cavalry was after them across the road ahead of them was another line.  There was a dense forest on both the right and left and no place to go.  Now the officer realized that Dick was right, that the women had been stalling for time.  The officer halted to consider what avenue to take, but the Rebel Cavalry unit behind just kept coming on.

            Here Dick took the initiative and called for the men to follow him.  With reins in his teeth, revolver in his left hand and saber in his right, he spurred his big horse straight ahead, firing as he went.  The line opened up and let them through, firing as they did.  When the patrol reached the Union lines there were only six left.  It was supposed that the others had been taken prisoners, as no bodies were found on the road the next day.  None were ever heard from.  Woolsey was made corporal the next day for his gallantry.

            Here is another interesting account:

            When on a march to Selma, Ala., they had a skirmish with the Confederate Generals Chalmers and Forrest. After this fight Mr. Woolsey came upon a lieutenant of the 8^th Mississippi Cavalry who was dying.  He took from him four buttons, some Masonic emblems and a white stone ring set in gold.  He also secured his portfolio containing letters addressed to parties in Tip Top, Jasper County, Miss.  Mr. Woolsey was also a Mason and would have returned all of these mementoes to the proper parties, but no replies were ever received from his many letters.

            Richard J. Woolsey was discharged July 19, 1865 and mustered out July 22, 1865.   He passed away March 1, 1914, and is buried in the family plot at Lind Center.

            This poem, “The Old Canteen,” was written by Richard Woolsey’s daughter, Eunice, Mrs. William Bartlett, who passed away July 20, 1903.  She is buried in the Lind Center Cemetery.

THE OLD CANTEEN.

I’ll treasure the old canteen,

So battered and worn,

For it was father’s companion

Through sunshine and storm.

Oh! What tales it could tell

Of the battles that were fought

And the comrades who fell.

 

While now it is rusty, battered and old,

But more precious to me

Than diamonds or gold.

It is dear to me,

And I’ll guard it with care,

For it went with father

All through the war.

 

It was away down in Dixie,

At a place called Burnt Hickory,

That a Reb’s rifle bullet

Brought it to the ground;

But father, undaunted,

From his horse sprang down

To save his canteen,

While bullets whistled around.

 

All through the ranks

This sent a great cheer,

Which routed the Rebs,

From the front to the rear.

Oh, I thank God

That the hardships of war are o’er,

And the North and the South

Are at peace once more.

 

Our mother bravely waited

With us little ones at home,

None can tell the fears she had

For the beloved one that was gone.

He went at his country’s call,

Perhaps never to return,

But oh! What joy when the struggle was o’er,

Our father returned.

We hoped, to leave us no more.

 

He brought home to mother

His old haversack,

And the old canteen, too,

Which was saved at risk of his life;

For ‘twas shot from his side

In the midst of the strife.

 

Ofttimes I’ve heard father tell

Of the hunger and thirst,

When for want of food

Shared corn with his horse.

Often at night,

The damp ground for a bed,

His saddle for a pillow,

And the stars overhead.