Arkansas Cemeteries
Woolly Cemetery
Township
7 North, Range 12 West, Section 4
Greenbrier,
Faulkner County, Arkansas
Submitted
by Sondra
Johnson
Woolly
Cemetery is an old family cemetery in north central
Faulkner
County, about a mile south of the entrance to
Woolly
Hollow State Park on Arkansas Hwy. 285.
A
census was taken in Nov. 1978 by James Kilduff and family.
Blessing,
John, b. 1868, d. 1888
Blessing,
Rebecca, b. 1870, d. 1952
Blessing,
Samuel M., b. 1835, d. 1891
Fowler,
Rosa Agnes, b. 1884, d. 1885
Woolly,
Abijah Davis, b. 16 Sep 1895, d. 16 Sep 1895
Woolly,
Effie Myrtle, b. 1889, d. 1906
Woolly,
Jesse C.
Woolly,
Jonathan James, b. 1836
Woolly,
Mary Blessing, b. 1862, d. 1891 (“Wife/Martin Alfred Woolly”)
Woolly,
Mary Kathrine, b. 1846, d. 1896
Woolly,
Minnie Jane, b. 1887, d. 1888
Woolly,
Octavia Isabelle, b. 1883, d. 1884
Woolly,
Olley, b. 17 Jan ??, d. 11 Aug 1896
Woolly,
Sarah Downing, b. 13 Aug 1811, d. 8 Feb 1881
Woolly,
Thomas (Billy), b. 20 Sep 1884, d. 13 Sep 1888
Woolly,
W.L.W.
Woolly,
William Levi, b. 6 Aug 1853, d. 2 Mar 1902
Woolly,
William Riley, b. 18 Mar 1812, d. 10 Jan 1859
Woolly,
baby, d. 1921
Woolly,
baby, d. 1912
“William
Riley Woolly, his wife, Sarah Downing, and seven
of
their nine children left their home in Wayne County, Tennessee,
to seek
a new home in the southwest. In two ox-drawn wagons,
they
loaded all of their household and farm possessions.
William
drove one wage and Albert, the eldest son, drove the other.
Carefully
hidden in the bottom of William’s wagon was a poplar wood box
containing
silver dollars — ‘almost all one man could lift’ — as he wrote later,
which
was his cash worth.
They
moved first into East Texas, but were not
satisfied
and returned to Arkansas.
They
found land to their liking along Black Fork Creek
and in
the rolling hills of what was to become the Centerville Community.
Here
they unloaded their wagons and began life anew, clearing land and
erecting
a home and barn. Their homestead, in 1853, was just south of what is
now
Woolly Hollow State Park.
William
Riley was born in Kentucky on March 18, 1812.
His
wife, Sarah Downing, was born August 13, 1811 in South Carolina.
They
were married in Wayne County, Tennessee.
To this
union, eleven children were born. The twins, William Levi and Martin Alfred,
were born in Arkansas.
Albert
Gallatin was born Feb. 9, 1833.
He died
of smallpox on his way to the Gold Rush in the 1850’s.
His
burial place is unknown.
Elizabeth
Ann was born Jan. 23, 1835.
She
married John Albert Donnell and lived in Conway.
She
died July 12, 1908 and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Conway, Arkansas.
Jonathan
James was born Dec. 19 1836.
He
married Rebecca Angeline McNew, born Oct. 16, 1840.
They
had one daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, born June 10, 1861, died May 14, 1931.
Jonathan
James died during the Civil War
and
Rebecca married George Washington Blythe after his death.
Rebecca
died Feb. 11, 1918 and is buried at
McNew
Cemetery in Greenbrier, Arkansas, along with
Sarah
Elizabeth.
Andrew
Jackson was born June 12, 1839
and
John Riley was born October 7, 1841.
Both
lost their lives in a Civil War battle.
James
Alexander was born March 24, 1844, and married Lydia Vaughn.
Mary Katherine
was born Aug. 24, 1846. She never married.
Sarah
Teresa was born Nov. 30, 1848, and married
John
Martin Vaughn (b. Nov. 8, 1870, d. Mar. 9, 1947)
Both
are buried at McNew Cemetery.
Abijah
Davis Woolly was born Feb. 8, 1851, and married Jane Blessing.
William
Levi and Martin Alfred were twins born Aug. 6, 1853.
They
married sisters, Lucinda Jane and Mary Caroline Blessing, respectively.
They
were cousins of Abijah Davis Woolly’s wife, Jane Blessing.
Martin
Alfred Woolly acquired land and built the log cabin
which
has been moved to and restored at the Woolly Hollow State Park.
Martin’s
wife died when their children were young.
Martin
cared for the children the best he could.
Two of
them attended Hendrix College in Conway.
William
Levi donated land for and helped to build the
first
one-room school in the community, Woolly Hollow School.
His son
Alfred Mack and his wife, Jessie Henderson,
continued
to live in the community and farm until their retirement in 1951.”
From
“Faulkner County — Its Land and People,”
Faulkner
County Historical Society, pg. 422.
