Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN WOODWARD WOOLLETT
JOHN WOODWARD WOOLLETT.--The fame of Sacramento as an ornate capital is due in part to the eminent qualifications of her architects, among whom Messrs. Woollett & Lamb certainly play an important and an enviable role. The senior member of this well-known firm, John Woodward Woollett, was born at Londonville, N.Y., on July 11, 1876, the son of William M. and Fannie (Nellegar) Woollett, the former also an architect, through which fortunate circumstance our subject got the best possible professional start in the world.
John Woodward Woollett went to the grammar and high schools in Albany, and later, as a member of the class of 1899, was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For a while, he was at Wilmington, Del.; and at Pittsburgh he worked as a structural engineer. In 1894, he joined his brother William, also an architect, at Albany. In 1911 he left the Empire State and came West. In California his ability was soon recognized, and in 1912 he was appointed state architect, a position he filled with ability for about fifteen months. Since then he has continued to follow his professional work in Sacramento. In 1919, Mr. Woollett formed a partnership with Arthur H. Lamb, whose interesting life-story is given elsewhere in this historical work, the firm bearing the name of Woollett & Lamb; and they have been so successful that they are doing much of the best architectural work in Sacramento and northern California. Mr. Woollett is a member of the Rotary Club, and a Republican.
Mr. Woollett was married, in 1906, and at Andover, Mass., to Miss Constance Somers of Boston, and their happy union has been blessed with three daughters and two sons - Harriette, John, Constance, Charlotte and Frank. Mr. Woollett is a member of the board of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and a director in the Y. M. C. A. of Sacramento, his interest in young men being particularly strong, and his desire for social and religious service of a practical, effective kind, always marked.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County, California
With Biographical Sketches, Page 854. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA.
1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.