Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Woolsey Family Papers
Date (inclusive): 1875-1990
Date (bulk): 1935-1959
Collection Number: BANC MSS 99/132 c
Creator:
Woolsey Family
Extent:
4 cartons, 3 oversize folders
6.25 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The collection represents the personal, familial, and business activities of three generations of the Woolsey family, a family
influential from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries in Berkeley, California. The bulk of the correspondence in the Woolsey
family papers is addressed to or from William Harold Woolsey and his wife, Mary Catherine Woolsey.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Information for Researchers
Access Information
Collection is open for research.
Conditions of Use
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html
.
Any proposed reference in a publication by Karla Winkenhofer Knapp must have her explicit permission during her lifetime.
Access to the collection is guaranteed to all members of the Woolsey family.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Woolsey Family Papers, BANC MSS 99/132 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Alternative Form of Materials Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Removed or Separated Material
Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collection of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Hart, Nellie
Robson, Francis Shattuck, 1885-1949
Shattuck, Francis Kittridge
Woolsey, Mary Catherine, b. 1897
Woolsey, Rosa Morse, b. 1861
Woolsey, William Edgar, 1854-1939
Woolsey, William Harold, 1900-1956
Woolsey, William Harold, 1931-
Young, Sally Woolsey, 1929-
Shattuck family
Woolsey Family
Woolsey family--Archives
Land tenure--California--Alameda County
Landowners--California--Alameda County
Real property--California--Alameda County--Maps
Berkeley (Calif.)--History
Berkeley (Calif.)--Maps
Shattuck Hotel (Berkeley, Calif.)
Cadastral maps.
Family papers
Maps
Administrative Information
The Woolsey Family Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Helene Woolsey on August 27, 1998.
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Jae Mauthe in 2012.
Biography/Organization History
William Edgar Woolsey was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1854 to Ezra Woodhull and Martha Ann Woolsey. The E.W. Woolsey family
moved to California in 1868, renting homes and land in Oakland and Berkeley until 1877 when they purchased 200 acres in Sonoma
County, 9 miles from the city of Santa Rosa. W. E. Woolsey graduated from Oakland High School and attended the University
of California, Berkeley (then the College of California) for three years. W. E. Woolsey married Rosa Livingstone (born 1861)
the niece of Francis Kittredge and Rosa Morse Shattuck in 1884. The couple settled on the Woolsey family ranch in Sonoma
County where W.E. Woolsey was instrumental in organizing the first Prune Growers Association in Sonoma County as well as the
first fruit growers cooperative in the State - the California Cured Fruit Association.
After the death of Francis K. Shattuck in 1906, W. E. and Rosa Woolsey sold the Sonoma ranch and moved to Berkeley to manage
the Shattuck estate for Rosa M. Shattuck. The Woolseys inherited the Shattuck home at 2216 Shattuck Avenue after the death
of Rosa M. Shattuck in 1908. The estate’s grounds were bounded by Shattuck Avenue, Allston Way, Milvia Street, and Kittredge
Street. As president of the Shattuck Hotel Association, incorporated in 1907, W.E. Woolsey carried out Francis K. Shattuck’s
plans to build a magnificent hotel in Berkeley, erecting the Shattuck Hotel at Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way. Construction
on the hotel began in 1909 and was completed in 1913. In 1910, W.E. and Rosa Woolsey donated the land at Allston Way and Milvia
Street for the construction of the YMCA building. In 1919, W.E. and Rosa Woolsey sold the Shattuck Hotel – and the block bounded
by Shattuck Avenue, Allston Way, Harold Way, and Kittredge Street – to Wallace W. Whitecotton for one million dollars and
purchased 2,000 acres of the Leland Stanford Ranch at Vina, in Tehama County, California.
W.E. Woolsey was director of the First National Bank of Berkeley, first clerk and charter member of the First Congregational
Church of Berkeley, and member of the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Association, the Elks Lodge, Durant
Lodge of Mason No. 248, Berkeley Commmandery No.42 Knights of Templar, charter member of the Berkeley Country Club and the
San Francisco Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. W.E. Woolsey died at his Berkeley home at 52 Oakvale Avenue in 1939.
W.E. and Rosa Woolsey had three children: Mrs. Florence May Heidt (born 1893), Mrs. Frances Shattuck Robson (born 1885), and
William Harold Woolsey (born 1900). In 1924, after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, William Harold
Woolsey (a.k.a. “Hap” and “Hatch”) took charge of the family ranch in Vina, California. He also managed the Woolsey family
land corporation, Woolsey, Robson, and Heidt. (Frederick T. Robson and Horace Heidt were W.H. Woolsey’s brothers-in-law).
William Harold Woolsey married Mary Catherine Hart (born 1897) in 1928. They had two children: William Harold Woolsey Jr.
(born 1931) and Mrs. Sally Young (born 1929). The Woolsey family papers were donated to the Bancroft Library by Helene S.
Woolsey, the wife of William H. Woolsey Jr.
Scope and Content Note
The collection represents the personal, familial, and business activities of three generations of the Woolsey family, a family
influential from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries in Berkeley, California. The bulk of the correspondence in the Woolsey
family papers is addressed to or from William Harold Woolsey and his wife, Mary Catherine Woolsey. Materials also include
the correspondence of their son William H. Woolsey, Jr. (often referred to as "Bill”) and their daughter Sally. Nellie G.
Hart was the mother of Mary Catherine Woolsey and figures prominently in much of the personal correspondence. The collection
provides detailed genealogical information for the Woolsey family as well as the Shattuck, Livingstone and Robson families.
Business records, including those of the Shattuck Hotel Association and Berkeley Tract Maps as well as records from Stanford
Vina Ranch in Tehama County, California, are included in the Family Business Papers Series. Records of the Woolsey family
properties in Berkeley contain financial, legal and narrative reports, documenting their important influence on the city of
Berkeley.