Lawrence Woolery was born in either Germany or Pennsylvania. He is listed in some references with a middle name of Abraham, but without any evidence for it. We don't have any trustworthy information as to where he was born, or when (or if) he came to America. The obituary of his grandson below states that Lawrence arrived in America in 1786, just before his son Jacob's birth. However, there are conflicting data which imply that some of Jacob's older brothers were born in America, e.g., it is said that Michael was born in Madison county, KY, in 1781, which agrees with Michael's son's 1880 census record in which Isaac reported that his father was born in KY. There's also speculation that Lawrence may have been born in Pennsylvania shortly after the arrival of his parents and that the Woolery family name, in Germany, may have been either:
•Ullery,
•Ulrich, or
•Ullerich.
Lawrence is said to have been born 9 Apr 1739, and to have died on his hundredth birthday in Missouri.1 The following obituary, which allegedly appeared in the Western Emigrant, Boonville, Missouri, 10 Apr 1839, page 3, column 3, was posted on the Woolery Family Genealogy Forum:
:Near Palestine in Cooper County on the 9th inst., after a short illness, Mr. Lawrence Woolery, age 100 years. The deceased was an early settler of Cooper County and much respected by all who knew him.
Lawrence Woolery married Margaret "Peggy" Horn, who may have been born in Germany. Some say her ancestors came from the Netherlands and settled in New York during the 1600s. She is said to be buried at Old Mt. Nebo cemetery along with Lawrence, and to have died at age 96, but her marker cannot be found and no birth date is available from any reliable source. If the list below of their children is accurate, and all are Peggy's, she must have been about twenty years younger than Lawrence. However, Lawrence is listed in the 1830 census as having a woman between 80 and 89 years of age in his household. In the 1840 census, their son (?) has a woman between 90 and 99 in his household. If these entries refer to Peggy, she must have been born no later than 1750, which would make her at least 52 years of age when the last child attributed to her was born. In view of this anomaly and the conflicts between children's birth places, I can't help but wonder if there are two Woolery families whose children's names have been mixed together.
Children. The list of Lawrence and Peggy Woolery's children given here is based on the Moon Family Pages and several other web sites. As I've mentioned, there are conflicts between the children's birth dates and Peggy's likely age at the time they were born. I won't speculate here as to the answers to this riddle, but will update this page whenever I find additional information. The birthplaces listed here for the children are as recorded by the U. S. census takers. I've color-coded the children's names to indicate my best guess as to whether they moved to Indiana or Missouri, or remained in Kentucky:
1.John Woolery, born 1779.
2.Michael Woolery, born 20 Jan 1781 in Kentucky, married 28 Mar 1805 to Jane Todd, died 3 Dec 1823.2, 3 (My g-g-g-grandparents)
3.Peter Woolery, born 1783, married 22 Aug 1811 to Peggy Coons, later married Ann Powell.
4.Francis Woolery, born 1785, married 7 May 1810 to Ruth Henderson, died 1856.
5.Jacob Woolery, born 27 Feb 1786 in Pennsylvania, married 26 Mar 1808 to Hannah Todd, died 1866.2, 4
6.Henry A. Woolery, born 1787, married 25 Mar 1810 to Nancy Corum, died 17 Mar 1842 in Cooper county, Missouri.1
7.George Woolery, born 1788, married 9 Oct 1810 to Matilda Lee, died 1844.
8.infant, born 1790.
9.Margaret Woolery, born 1792, married 9 Oct 1817 to Lewis Jones.
10.Abraham Woolery, born 17 Dec 1794, married 18 Mar 1817 to Nancy Ellison, also married Emily Jane Brannen, died 23 Dec 1846.1
11.Isaac Woolery, born 1796, married 15 Feb 1816 to Frances Watson, died 25 Jul 1851.
12.Stephen Woolery, born 1799 in Kentucky, married Hannah (Briscoe) Woods, died 19 Oct 1871 in Missouri.5
13.Catherine Woolery, born 1801, married 27 Apr 1820 to Thomas Jacob.
14.James Woolery, born 1801 in Kentucky, married 19 Mar 1822 to Margaret Watson.6
15.Joseph W. Woolery, born 30 Sep 1802 in Kentucky, married 17 Aug 1828 to Nancy (Titsworth) Hamilton, died 14 Oct 1871.
http://cwcfamily.org/woolery.htm
