Amador
County
Biographies
EUGENE GEORGE WOOLSEY, D. D. S.
For
approximately three decades Dr. Eugene G. Woolsey has been engaged in the
practice of dentistry in Ione and has gained a large and representative
patronage, his patients coming from a wide radius of surrounding country. Skilled and honest work has been the secret
of his success and today he stands deservedly high in professional
circles. Dr. Woolsey was born in the
town in which he now lives, on the 14th of October, 1877, and is a
son of Robert and Mary Elizabeth (Atkinson) Woolsey. His father, who was of English and Dutch
descent, came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1850 and first
located at Land Plana, Amador County, where for six years he engaged in mining
and in general merchandising. He worked
from fifty to sixty Chinamen in his mining claims, and during that period also
conducted a boarding house. About 1856
he came to Ione and, worked with his brother, as bookkeeper, and for
Wells-Fargo as express agent. He and a
nephew later bought their merchandise in carload lots, and in supplying the
miners it was a common sight in the early days to see their eight- or ten-mule
freighting outfits making their way across the mountains to the various mining
camps and other localities. Mr. Woolsey
died in 1893, at which time his business was taken over by a nephew, who
eventually closed it out, thus ending one of the famous institutions of the pioneer
mining days in this part of the state.
Mary Elizabeth (Atkinson) Woolsey, who was born in Ohio, of an old
American family, was brought across the plains, a baby in arms. On one occasion she was accidentally left
behind and the company had proceeded some distance before her absence was
discovered. Members of the party hastily
retraced their steps and she was found unharmed. She survived her husband many years, passing
away in January, 1924. To Mr. and Mrs.
Woolsey were born two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.
Eugene
C. Woolsey was educated in the public schools of Ione and in private schools
and then entered the dental school at the University of California, from which
he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1900. He entered upon the practice of his
profession in Shasta County, but at the end of a year he came back to Ione and
opened an office, in which he has practiced continuously to the present time.
Dr.
Woolsey was united in marriage to Miss Elsie D. Smiley, who was born and reared
in Placer County, this state, and is a member of an old and well known pioneer
family. To them have been born four
children; Robert, is engaged in business in Ione; Kenneth, who is a graduate of
the University of California, is now with the Pacific Finance Corporation at
San Francisco. During the World War he
was in the Reserve Officers Training Camp.
Ethel is a student in the College of the Pacific, and Ruth is in high
school. There is also one grandson. Dr. Woolsey has always given his support to
the Republican Party and for twenty-six years has been a member of the county
central committee. He is a member of the
Free and Accepted Masons, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Woodmen of the
World, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and the Lions Club, of which he is
vice president. He is a life member of
the Alumni Society of the University of California. He takes a keen interest in all athletic and
outdoor sports. He is very fond of
fishing and derives much enjoyment from work in his garden. He is widely recognized for his professional
learning and ability and has charge of the dental work in the Preston School of
Industry. He stands for those things
which make for the good of society and is regarded as one of Ione’s substantial
and dependable citizens.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 56-57. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies