The Woolley family of Long Island

Please take a moment to help us with a small donation toward site maintenance. The costs involved in providing a site of this size are high. We can't do it alone. If you leave it to someone else this resource will disappear. We need your support to stay alive!!

Long Island Records
Cemetery, County, Village, Town and Hamlet

Surname Databases
Major Surnames from LI History

Reference Books
Online and CD Collections

Surname Books and Articles
Online and CD Collections

The Woolley family of Long Island

Long Island Woolleys from Suffolk & Nassau Counties

This file had been submitted by George Woolley. Please give him the appropriate credit when using his research.

The following notes were submitted by George in reference to his file:

     I am descended from emigrant Robert Woolley (born 8-2-1615 St. Albans Abby, Hertfordshifre, England). He is son of Robert Woolley & Tecla Pemberton. He is first found in Fairfield, Connecticut 1639.
He relocated from Fairfield to Setauket, Long Island in 1655, and shortly thereafter relocated to Southampton, Long Island where he married Anne Woodruff (his second wife) in 1661.
     He had two sons John & Joseph from earlier marriage who also settled in Southampton and Southold, Long Island. He had 5 daughters and a son, Robert, Jr., from his second marriage. About 1680 he relocated to E-town (now Elizabeth) New Jersey and became an E-town Associate and drew a 100 acre Westfield lot #69 in 1699.
     Emigrant Robert Woolley's son, John, married and had a son John who had a son John who had a son John married to Hannah Allen July 6, 1729 in St. George's Church in Hempstead, Long Island. Their son Benjamin married Susan Stocker whose son Stocker Woolley married Eliza Cheeseman after Stocker's first wife Phebe Tredwell died 8-9-1820 on their Great Neck Woolley Homestead farm on Lakeville Road across from Lake Success.
     Emigrant Robert Woolley's mother, Tecla Pemberton, was daughter of Roger Pemberton who was brother to Alice Pemberton who married James Williams (Alice & James Williams are the parents of Rev. Roger Williams who founded Providence, Rhode Island). Emigrant Robert Woolley inherited his father's estate in 1627, as well from the 1634 will of Alice Pemberton Williams before he emigrated to America. He is one of the earliest settlers of Fairfield Connecticut; Southampton, Long Island; and a founder of Westfield, New Jersey. I believe his son Robert accompanied him to New Jersey along with his second wife, Anne Woodruff, and their 5 daughters.
    He apparently died intestate between 1702-1712 in Westfield or Etpwn, New Jersey or Long Island. His eldest son, John was awarded all his Long Island estate, and son Joseph was granted permission to keep his Southold, Long Island farm that Joseph worked & lived. Emigrant Robert Woolley's holdings were rather extensive and scattered between Long Island and New Jersey when he died apparently intestate (no will found yet; but he was a witness to several others’ wills).
    John Woolley (b. April 1702 on Long Island, d. December 1785 at Great Neck, Hempstead, Long Island) married 7-6-1779 to Hannah Allen (b. 8-6-1702 at Great Neck, d. January 1785 in Great Neck. He was the son of John Woolley who married Abigail (unknown maiden name). John Woolley b. April 1702 had a brother Tancred (both mentioned in their father’s will dated 9-29-1751 & Proved 10-28-1751).
Hannah Allen (above) was daughter of Henry Allen (b. about 1675 in Hempstead,d. 1728 in Great Neck) married about 1700 in Hempstead to Mary Udall (b. 10-14-1677 in Flushing, d. 1747 in Great Neck.
John Woolley & Hannah Allen had the following eleven children:
1. Benjamin b. 1743 married 11-30-1768 Susannah Stocker (b. 11-9-1754, d. 7-17-18-9 Great Neck.
2. John (b. 10-11-1732, d. 1-17-1782 Great Neck family farm).
3. Elizabeth married 3-11-1754 to Luke VanNostrand.
4. Jane married a ? Campbell.
5. Philip buried 1780
6. Charles
7. Joseph b. 1740 married 4-28-1763 to Mary Toffey
8. Samuel married first on 11-17-1775 to Margaret Morrell, married second 12-06-1785 to Deborah Hewlett
9. Thomas b. 9-4-1748 married 6-8-1773 to Phebe Tredwell (b. 10-20-1756).
10. William
11. Henry b. 7-4-1734, married 9-20-1742 to Miriam Cornell.

My father’s brother, Lawrence M. Woolley & their cousin, H. Leslie Hicks are the authors of “Woolley’s in America. I have copy of this book as well as most of their original pages that were given to me. I have since discovered a great deal of information that they had not yet discovered when this book was assembled during the 1940’s and early 1950’s.