Absolom Woolf, Famed Original Mormon Convert, Born in Pelham in 1832
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I have written before about John Anthony Wolf and the Wolf Homestead that once stood in Pelhamville. See:
Thu., Aug. 27, 2015: More About Anthony Wolf of Wolfs Lane Fame Who Built the Wolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville.
Wed., Aug. 26, 2015: Stories About The Old Wolf Homestead in Pelhamville, Told by J. Gardiner Minard.
The Anthony Woolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville
in an Undated Photograph Courtesy of The Office of The Historian
of the Town of Pelham. Absolom Woolf Likely Was Among the
Children Born in This Home. NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.
Detail from 1853 Map Showing Pelhamville. Source: M. Dripps & R. F. O.
Conner, Southern Part of West-Chester County N. Y. (1853). The Woolf
Homestead Is Shown Between the "M" and "V" in the Word "PELHAMVILLE"
in this Map Detail. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
In 1841, the Woolf Family of Pelhamville became pioneers of another sort. John Anthony Woolf and his wife joined the Mormon Church. Sarah was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by James G. Devine on May 20, 1841. John Anthony Woolf was baptized two months later by C. Wesley Wardle on July 20, 1841. John Anthony Woolf soon became president of the church branch in New Rochelle.
Two years later, the Woolf Family became true pioneers. John and Sarah packed up their family including their eleven-year-old son Absolom, joined with other members of their Church and headed to Nauvoo, Illinois, traveling by canal boat, river steamboat, and wagon to get there. The group traveled to Nauvoo to join with Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism and the Latter-Day Saint movement. They purchased a farm near Smith's home in the spring of 1843.
Within a short time, the so-called "Illinois Persecution" of the Mormons began. "The Prophet," Joseph Smith, was murdered in Illinois on June 27, 1844. The persecuted Mormons, including the Woolf Family, began fleeing Nauvoo and trekked across the continent as part of the first group of Mormon pioneers to settle in the promised land that came to be known as Utah. The family traveled with the Edmund Hunter Company across the Plains. During the migration, young Absolom met families with two very young girls: Harriet Wood and Lucy Ann Hambleton.
These Mormon pioneers arrived in Salt Lake City on October 6, 1847. By then, young Absolom Woolf was a fifteen-year-old lad. On the trip westward, the fifteen-year-old lad drove three yoke of oxen from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Salt Lake City.
What happened next in Absolom Woolf's young life made him world-famous late in the final years of his life. He remained in Salt Lake City for about two years, then departed for the southern part of the Territory to help settle that region. At about that time, or perhaps a little later, the Wood and Hambleton families followed and departed for the southern part of the Territory.
During the 1850s, Asbolom Woolf served as a mail carrier for a Judge in Gilmore, Utah. The work was dangerous, but he was selected due to his skills as a horseman and Indian scout. During this time he became an experienced and somewhat notorious "Indian fighter." As a consequence, he was elected a peace officer and, according to one account, as such he was "constantly on the warpath" against Indians in Southern Utah.
By the mid-1850s, Absolom "Appy" Woolf lived in Nephi, Utah, about a hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. So did Harriet Wood and Lucy Ann Hambleton, two teenagers whom Appy Woolf had met as mere children on the original migration across the plains in 1847. He began "keeping company" with Harriet Wood. The two fell in love.
In those days, Salt Lake City was known as the "Mecca of the Mormons" who made semi-annual pilgrimages there to attend church conferences. At the end of one such pilgrimage attended by both Appy Woolf and Harriet Wood, Harriet stayed behind in Salt Lake City to visit friends while Appy departed for Nephi.
There was no postal service at the time -- only private carriers (like Appy who had served as a mail carrier for a judge who needed to correspond with Salt Lake City). Thus, the two young lovers could not correspond.
As the weeks passed, however, travelers passing through Nephi reported gossip and rumors that Harriet Wood had met a young man in Salt Lake City, fallen in love, and even married him. Appy Woolf was devastated.
Soon, however, another young teenager whom he knew, Lucy Ann Hambleton, began to console him. The relationship blossomed and the two fell in love. They became engaged to marry.
Shortly before the wedding, Harriet Wood returned to Nephi and was shocked at the turn of events. She had met no young man in Salt Lake City, much less married. She loved Appy Woolf and wanted to marry him.
Appy Woolf did not know what to do. He decided to "turn away from both women and wait for future developments to determine which of the two really loved him." He hoped he could determine if one or both merely had a passing fancy for him. After time, however, it was apparent that both young women had a "deep-rooted and enduring" love for him.
He sought the advice of a Mormon religious leader who reportedly heard his plea for advice and told Appy "Marry 'em both, my boy, marry 'em both." Appy gathered with both girls and laid the matter before them. They readily agreed to be married to him. The three journeyed to Salt Lake City and, on April 19, 1857, were married in a "double ceremony" -- a rare event at the time even in the Mormon faith where polygamy then was permitted. Appy Woolf was 23 years old. Both his new brides were 16 years old.
The three lived together in striking harmony eventually settling in Hyde Park, a small village near Logan, Utah. Absolom "Appy" Woolf became a "farmer, horseman and stockraiser."
The polygamous marriage certainly was fruitful. Appy and Lucy Ann had twelve children, three of whom died before adulthood. Appy and Harriet had ten children, three of whom also died before adulthood. Appy's children, in turn, produced 110 grandchildren and, before Appy's death, an additional 21 great-grandchildren. According to one account: "All the children are grown, and there is not a black sheep in the flock. They are scattered all over the Western country, in Idaho, Oregon, Canada and other states. Nearly all are well-to-do farmers; a few are in business."
The threesome and their large family lived happily until 1890 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued the Woodruff Manifesto, known also as the "1890 Manifesto" and the "Anti-Polygamy Manifesto." In it the church advised against any future plural marriage. Religious leaders began to advise those in polygamous relationships to separate and live monogamously. Appy Woolf's religious superiors so advised him.
According to several reports, Appy was offended and even rebelled. According to multiple accounts, "he had married his wives in good faith and resented the idea of putting aside one of them, but finally he gave heed to the advice of his ecclesiastical superiors, and by agreement with his wives, the home of Lucy was selected as his future place of abode."
Harriet Wood remained in a home nearby without Appy. However, Harriet and Lucy Ann reportedly visited each other daily and acted as loving sisters toward each other.
On April 19, 1907, Absolom Woolf and his two wives made history and became world-famous. That day Appy celebrated a Golden Wedding Anniversary with two wives. One account claimed that no other in the Mormon Church or otherwise had done so. Newspapers throughout the United States included sensational coverage regarding Absolom Woolf's marriage to two women for fifty years.
Absolom "Appy" Woolf, born in Pelham on February 4, 1832, died in Hyde Park, Utah on February 16, 1910. Lucy Ann Hambleton Woolf, born in Cass, Indiana on July 16, 1840, died in Cache, Utah on October 19, 1920. Harriet Wood Woolf, born on October 30, 1840 in Payson, Illinois, died on April 19, 1912, in Hyde Park, Utah.
Is it possible that Pelhamite Absolom "Appy" Woolf, who was among the original Mormon converts and pioneers who established the Mormons in Utah, is the only person ever to celebrate fifty years of marriage to two women? Indeed, he celebrated 52 years and died shortly before his 53rd anniversary.
* * * * *
Below is the text of newspaper articles about Absolom Woolf and his wives that form the basis of today's Historic Pelham article. Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.
"ABSOLOM WOOLF" in Undated Photograph. Source: LIVING FOR
FIFTY YEAR WITH THE SAME TWO WIVES, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday
Magazine, May 19, 1907, p. 62, cols. 1-6 (Note: Paid subscription required to
access via this link). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.
The Two Wives of Absolom Woolf: Mrs. Harriet Wood Woolf (On Left)
and Mrs. Lucy Ann Hambleton Woolf (On Right). Source: LIVING FOR
FIFTY YEAR WITH THE SAME TWO WIVES, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday
Magazine, May 19, 1907, p. 62, cols. 1-6 (Note: Paid subscription required to
access via this link). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.
"LIVING FOR FIFTY YEARS WITH THE SAME TWO WIVES
-----
The Eventful Golden Wedding of Absolom Woolf, Mormon, Who Married Two Women on the Same Day and Is Now Surrounded by Seventeen Children and Over a Hundred Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren
MARRIED to two women for 50 years! Living with both of them for half a century, all three people in one house a good part of the time, with never a cloud to darken the horizon of domestic joy.
In these days of divorce problems it is considered a matter of note when a man attains his fiftieth wedding anniversary with one wife. But two!
This hitherto unheard of claim to distinction belongs indisputably to Absolom Woolf of Hyde Park, a little village near Logan, Utah, and his two wives -- Lucy Ann and Harriet -- who, on April 19, in the presence of 17 children and more than a hundred grandchildren and great-grandchildren, celebrated the event that has made them world-famous.
Even in the Mormon Church, to which the Woolfs belong, no such occasion has ever occurred before, and the happy trio are still receiving the congratulations of their co-religionists.
They receive them all in wonderment, yet in indifference, for, having walked in humble paths all their days, they have outgrown the desire for worldly acclaim, and really see nothing remarkable in the fact that they have lived and labored together for 50 long years in almost perfect harmony, and in the same peaceful atmosphere.
'If I had known that it would have raised such a commotion,' says Mr. Woolf, 'I don't believe we'd a' had any golden weddin', 'cause we're jest common folk and don't want people makin' a fuss over us because we've lived together happy for 50 years; if we hadn't intended to do so why we wouldn't have got married, so you see we hain't done more'n our duty.'
Utah Honors the Woolfs.
But people in Utah honor the Woolfs not alone for their admirable example of marital felicity, but because all three are pioneers of '47 -- people who came there with Brigham Young's sturdy band two years before the great rush to the California gold fields. Then, too, they were among the first settlers of the valley, coming in the year 1847. Speaking of the trip from the central part of the State to the valley, one of the wives -- Lucy Ann -- says:
'Well, it's wonderfully different now, isn't it? The other day my sister came up to see me, and she made the trip from Manti in one day; when we came up in '61 it took us three weeks, and such weather as we had. I drove a team and carried a baby in my arms, and every night when we stopped we were both drenched through and through. I ain't never wanted to travel between here and Manti since, although, of course, it's nice to ride on the railway now.'
Mr. Woolf was married to his wives on the same day, April 19, 1857, the ceremony being performed in the Mormon Endowment House in Salt Lake City. The names of the young women were Lucy Ann Hambleton and Harriet Wood, and they were each just beyond their sixteenth year. Miss Hambleton was born in Cass County, Indiana, and Miss Wood in Illinois. The husband was born in Pelham, Westchester County, New York, in 1832. There is a romance connected with his marriage to the two young women.
In those days it was customary, in Utah at least, for persons to marry at an early age. Mr. Woolf had been 'keeping company' with Miss Wood for some time and they were practically engaged. They were living 100 miles south of Salt Lake City, at Nephi. Salt Lake City, then as now, was a Mormon Mecca to which all devout Latter Day Saints journey to attend the semi-annual conferences of the church. Upon one such pilgrimage Miss Wood remained Miss Wood remained in Salt Lake City with friends. There was no mail service in Utah in those days, so the only way the sweethearts had of communicating with each other was by means of riders or freighters passing between the two points.
Married Some Other Man.
Word finally reached Mr. Woolf that his sweetheart had deserted him and married some other man in Salt Lake City. This report reached him several times and although it 'cut him up pretty bad,' as he puts it, he determined not to pine for the faithless one, but to seek another.
Miss Hambleton had already evinced a fondness for him, and in trying to rid his mind of the other girl, he found great comfort in her affection. About the time they were ready to wed, Miss Wood returned from the city and at once made it plain that she was not married to any Salt Laker, nor had she ever entertained a hope or thought of such a union.
'Appy,' as Mr. Woolf is familiarly called, was in a pretty pickle -- both young women were in love with him and he had made love to both. What was he to do? After turning the matter over in his mind he decided that in fairness he could do but one thing, turn away from both women and wait for future developments to determine which of the two really loved him, believing the one with a passing fancy for him would soon turn to another. But he soon learned in no uncertain way that the affection which each woman held for him was deep-rooted and enduring, so he sought the bishop for advice.
'Marry 'em both, my boy, marry 'em both,' was the counsel of the shepherd of the flock to which young Woolf belonged.
Polygamy was a principle of the Mormon faith, and the young pioneer was a devout religionist. He accepted the advice and laid the matter before his two sweethearts. They acquiesced in his decision and in April, 1857, they journeyed to Zion's central city and were there united to the one man they loved. After 50 years of life together, neither has any regrets.
Union a Faithful One.
For many years the two wives had but one home, yet they never had a serious quarrel or dispute. Their neighbors attest the truth of that statement, while they marvel at the even dispositions of the members of this trio.
The union has been a very fruitful one, too. Lucy Ann has borne her husband 12 children, while Harriet has presented him with 10. Each wife has buried three. All the children are grown, and there is not a black sheep in the flock. They are scattered all over the Western country, in Idaho, Oregon, Canada and other states. Nearly all are well-to-do farmers; a few are in business. Mr. Woolf and his wife have, all told, 110 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, a total of 153 descendants. About two-thirds of this number were present at the golden wedding celebration.
Mr. Woolf is a man of sturdy build, with a frank, open countenance, and the keenest eyes. Like his father before him, he is and always has been a farmer, horseman and stockraiser. His parents became converts to the Mormon faith in 1843 [sic] in New York, and in the following year they moved to Nauvoo, Ill., then the Mormon headquarters. They reached there just before Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith, was killed. In 1847 he started across the great plains for Utah and although but a boy of 15, he drove three yoke of oxen from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake City.
It was while crossing the plains that he formed the acquaintance of the young girls who were to become his wives. He remained in Salt Lake City about two years, then went into the southern part of the Territory to help settle that region.
In the early 50's he acted as a mail carrier for Judge Kinney, who held court at Gilmore, being selected for this very dangerous work because of his skill as a horseman and Indian scout. He had some mot thrilling encounters with the red men, but is loathe to talk of them except to members of his family, and he has an intense dislike for what he conceives to be notoriety.
Probably no man in the State, however, has done more Indian fighting than 'Appy' Woolf. He went through the Black Hawk and Tintic wars, and wound up his fighting career in the bloody struggle at Battle Creek, Idaho, where practically a whole tribe of Indians was wiped out. In the settlement of Southern Utah the Indians were especially troublesome, and Mr. Woolf having been elected a peace officer was constantly on the warpath.
Not a Minute's Peace.
'Why, darn their red hides, they wouldn't let you be in peace for a minute, day or night,' he remarked to some friends the other day. 'If we wanted a load of wood, two men went out to get it and ten or a dozen of us had to go along with rifles to protect 'em. When we harvested our crops we'd all go to one man's patch and while ten or fifteen of us were cradling the grain, three or more would lug the rifles up and down the field so as to have them handy in case redskins showed up. When they knew we were ready for 'em they seldom bothered, but occasionally they come too far out from cover and there'd be target practice right away.'
While this veteran is reticent when questioned about his interesting career, just mention a horse and he is ready to talk as long as you are willing to listen. He is a great lover of fine horses, and was among the first to bring blooded animals into that district. A few days ago a horse fair was held there, and despite inclement weather and rough roads, Mr. Woolf drove in and spent the day among the scores of blooded beasts on exhibition.
He makes his home with Lucy Ann Woolf, although he maintains Harriet, his other wife, in a comfortable little home about a quarter of a mile away. When the Mormon Church issued the Woodruff Manifesto commanding its followers to abandon the practice of polygamy, Mr. Woolf rebelled, for he had married his wives in good faith and resented the idea of putting aside one of them, but finally he gave heed to the advice of his ecclesiastical superiors, and by agreement with his wives, the home of Lucy was selected as his future place of abode.
Relgiously Observed Promise.
Unlike many others in his condition, he has religiously observed his promise to live in monogamy. Nevertheless, the two women visit with each other, attend each other in illness and no two sisters could display more consideration for one another. Their neighbors marvel at it, but to them and their husband it is quite a matter of course, and they simply smile at the wonderment of those about them. To them life is now but a season of rest and peace after the performance of a duty that has been well done.
'We hope to enjoy it many years yet,' said Mr. Woolf, 'but when the call comes we are ready, for we believe there's a greater happiness beyond, don't we Lucy?'
And Lucy smiled a glad assent."
Source: LIVING FOR FIFTY YEAR WITH THE SAME TWO WIVES, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine, May 19, 1907, p. 62, cols. 1-6 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link).
"FOR HALF A CENTURY MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES LIVED HAPPILY
-----
Is marriage a failure? Well, not always -- not if you have two wives.
In these divorce ridden days a man is counted lucky if he lives out a long lifetime happily with one woman, but Absolom Woolf -- it is part of the story that he lives in Utah -- has spent more than 50 years as the husband of two women, with never a cloud on the domestic horizon. He married them both on the same day. In fact, he had what you might call a double wedding, and the happy brides had only one thought -- to make their beloved bridegroom happy. Mr. Woolf declares that they succeeded in the superlative degree, and last year, when the trio celebrated their golden wedding, each of the aged wives declared that she never had felt a single pang of jealousy during the half century of nuptial bliss.
The Woolfs live at Hyde Park, Utah, and up to the time of their golden wedding the world had not discovered the unparalleled romance. Even in the Mormon church, to which they belong, it is said no such occasion ever has occurred before, and the happy trio received congratulations with something of wonderment. They are not society folks and are not used to the notice of the world.
The marriage of Mr. Woolf, which occurred April 19, 1857, in Salt Lake City, was the result of an unusual romance of the pioneer days. The young women were Lucy Ann Hambleton and Harriet Wood, and each maiden had just passed her sixteenth year. Miss Hambleton was an Indian girl, while Miss Wood came from the prairies of Illinois. They were both beauties, and still retain the charm that comes to those who grow old happily.
Absolom Woolf, called 'Appy' by his wives and friends, was born in Pelham, Westchester County, N. Y., in 1832. He was one of the original concerts to Mormonism, and was with that sturdy band of pioneers who made the plunge into the desert in 1847, two years before the gold seekers fared across the continent to California. The two young girls, who afterward became his brides, were in the same party.
It was the custom in those days for people to marry early, and Mr. Woolf began 'keeping company' with Miss Wood when she was 15. They lived at Nephi, 100 miles south of Salt Lake City. Even at that early day Salt Lake City was the Mecca of the Mormons, who made semi-annual pilgrimages there to attend the conferences of the church. Upon one such pilgrimage Miss Wood remained in the central city with friends, and thus the two lovers were separated.
There were no mails in Utah at that day, but gossip seems to have traveled with as much speed as at the present day. While Woolf did not hear from his sweetheart directly, he heard in a roundabout way that she was being wooed with much fervor by a young man of the city. Later he heard from what seemed to be a reliable source that Miss Wood was married.
Although he was much grieved by the news, Mr. Woolf determined to show the young woman that there was just as good fish in the sea as the one he had failed to land. He found that Miss Hambleton was ready to comfort him, and before he knew it he found out that pity was akin to love. They became engaged, and he thought he had put the faithless girl out of his heart altogether.
Just before the date set for the wedding Miss Wood returned from Salt Lake City, and Mr. Woolf found out when it appeared to be too late to Dame Rumor was a prevaricator. Miss Wood was not married. Not only that, but she had not even a lover in Salt Lake City, and her heart still clung with fond endearment to the young man in Nephi who, as she believed, was waiting faithfully for her return.
This was an embarrassing position for the young man as well as for the girls. But at that time polygamy was an open tenet of the Mormon church, and it offered a way out. It was not even then the custom to have 'double weddings,' however, the faithful followers of Brigham Young making it a practice to take their honeymoon on the installment plan.
Mr. Woolf waited awhile to see if the dilemma would not settle itself. But time showed that the two girls really loved him, and he could not make up his mind that he could be happy with either 'were t'other dear charmer away.' He sought his bishop for advice.
'Marry 'em both, my boy; marry 'em both,' was the counsel of the shepherd of the flock to which young Woolf belonged.
He took the matter before the young women in the frank way that was the fashion in those days.
'I love you both, my dears, and both of you love me. Shall we get married?'
The remarkable part of it is that the girls were satisfied with this arrangement. According to their religious convictions the matter was right and proper. The two young women were good friends, and they were not jealous of one another.
The trio made a pilgrimage to Zion's central city, and there the two girls were united to the one man they loved, and the astonishing thing in the story is that 'they lived happily ever after.'
Mr. Woolf now makes his home with his wife Lucy Ann. When the Mormon church issued the Woodruff manifesto commanding its followers to abandon the practice of polygamy Mr. Woolf rebelled, for he had married his wives in good faith and resented the idea of putting aside one of them, but finally he gave heed to the advice of his ecclisiastical superiors and by agreement with his wives the home of Lucy was selected as his future place of abode. Unlike many others in his condition, he has religiously observed his promise to live in monogamy. Nevertheless, the two women visit with each other, attend each other in illness and no two sisters could display more consideration for one another."
Source: FOR HALF A CENTURY MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES LIVED HAPPILY, The Spokane Press [Spokane, WA], Nov. 23, 1908, Seventh Year, No. 13, p. 8, cols. 1-3 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link).
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Undated Photographs of Absolom Woolf and His Wives,
Lucy Ann Hambleton and Harriet Wood. NOTE: Click
on Image to Enlarge.
Undated Photograph of Absolom Woolf.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
March 4, 1910 Death Certificate of Absolom Woolf.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
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Labels: 1832, 1857, 1890, 1910, 1912, Absolom Woolf, Anthony Wolf, Harriet Wood Woolf, John Anthony Woolf, Lucy Ann Hambleton Woolf, Mormons, Wolf Homestead, Wolfs Lane
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:17 AM
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