Notes

• From: "Joe Woollett (H)" <<email address>>
  To: <<email address>>
  Subject: Woollett History
  Date: 25 January 2005 07:45
  
  Dear Les:
  
  I have had your email letter dated November 01, 2001 on my desk since I
  received it.  My intention has been to respond to you with answers to some
  of your questions.
  
  I found the letter when I finally did a deep cleaning - tossing things out
  and filing away the valuable ones.  Your letter remained a few weeks longer
  because I really did want to stay in contact with you.
  
  It seems that I am the one of my generation of this branch of the family
  that is keeping records and corresponding with people around the globe.
  
  Of course, their are may responses on the internet simply by asking Google
  to respond to Woollett!
  
  I am interested in the "Wally" that you corresponded with in Troy New York.
  Troy is right next to Albany, the place where William Lee Woollett came to
  after leaving London.
  
  I visited the Old Albany Cemetery and copied the records there.  The
  Woolletts are buried together.  William L. Woollett was shown to have been
  born in London and was 58 years old when he died May 22, 1874.  I believe
  that he came to this country with his father, also William Lee who was
  supposed to have been one of William the engraver's sons, but I saw nothing
  about his burial.  I think that he may have been a cabinet maker, as his
  tools were passed on until I received them.
  
  His son, William M. Woollett, died at age 30 on October 17, 1880.  This man
  had 5 sons.
  One, Walter Woollett, died on May 6, 1881 when he was 7 months old.
  
  William M. Woollett, was an architect, like his father.  He attended the
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and became well known for his
  work, despite his short life.  He was made a Fellow in The American
  Institute of Architects in his early twenties!
  
  The other four sons of Wm. M. include my grandfather, William Lee and his
  brother John, both of whom graduated form MIT and became architects.  They
  practiced together in Albany, and then moved to the San Francisco Bay area
  in about 1908, where they set up an office. Later on they split, my
  grandfather coming to Southern California to practice, and John going to
  Sacramento to practice.
  
  Wm. Lee had three children, 2 girls and one boy.  The boy was my father,
  William Woollett.  All have now died.
  
  John had 5 children, including two sons and three daughters, all of whom
  have now died.  Their offspring have also died, although I met them all.
  Their children are mostly living, including one living in Belgium, one an
  emergency-room physician living in Hawaii, and one a retired Professor of
  physics living in central California.
  
  Before going on, let me say that Wm. M. had, as I said, two other children.
  They were Francis, who became a Pastor and had no children, and Joseph (from
  whom I am named), who apparently had a lumber business in the State of
  Colorado, and had at least one child, who was named after him (his son David
  died a few years ago, and would not return my telephone calls - I never met
  him).
  
  My grandfather, William Lee, was a remarkable architect.  He designed
  several well-known movie theaters in the 1920's, one of which, the "Million
  Dollar" theater, is a historical landmark in Los Angeles.  His Pilgrimage
  Play theater in Hollywood was an outdoor theater for an annual religious
  event (which I saw once), that has been redesigned and is now owned by the
  County of Los Angeles.  A cross still stands on the hill overlooking
  Hollywood, and is a well known landmark. It has stirred much controversy
  over the years, some wanting to remove it, others defending its right to be
  there, and to remain there as a symbol not only of the Christian Faith, but
  as an important part of the history of Hollywood.
  
  Sadly, his best work, the Graumans Metropolitan Theater, was torn down in
  the late 1940's before the City Historical Commission was formed, which
  would have prevented its destruction. Wm. Lee died shortly after it was
  destroyed.  The theater was located in the heart of Los Angeles, at one
  corner of the famous Pershing Square.  Diagonally across from it is the
  Biltmore Hotel, still standing and one of the best known landmarks of the
  City.
  
  My father Wm. Woollett, practiced architecture in Los Angeles, but did not
  continue his father's practice (do to the depression in the '30's).  He
  designed churches (like his grandfather and great grandfather in Albany, New
  York).  He was one of the founders of the Cultural Heritage Board in the
  City, that has saved many architectural treasures (none of my grandfather's,
  unfortunately, the timing was not right).  You mention my father in your
  letter in connection with the "traffic Commission". It was not the "Traffic
  Commission". but the Cultural Heritage Commission, and he was not in
  difficulty!
  
  Perhaps the greatest legacy that my father left was his drawings,
  lithographs, and etchings.  The lithographs, done by hand directly on the
  metal plates, and acid etched by him, and printed by him, in the 1930's,
  have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., and toured
  by the California Museum of Science and Industry.  There is a permanent
  exhibit in the International Offices of Bechtel Corporation in San
  Francisco.  In later years he did water color and acrylic paintings, of
  which his sons have many.
  
  My father had four sons, William Jr., James, Joseph (me), and Morgan.
  Probably the best known is my older brother William Jr.  His career has been
  in Public Administration.  As a City Manager, he started four cities here in
  California, including the City of Irvine, where he served for almost 20
  years.  He then became the CEO of the Transportation Corridor Agencies
  (TCA), during which time his agency built two highly controversial toll
  roads.  After "retiring" at age 72, he started another city, and then has
  returned, at age 76, to serve as interim CEO of the TCA, where he is now.
  
  Les, I'm afraid that will have to be it for tonight. I've probably given you
  more than you asked for or wanted.  But, you do have the story of the
  William Lee Woollett branch of the family in America.
  
  Before signing off, you might be interested to know that along the way, I
  corresponded with Charles "Babe" Woollett of Canada and Hawaii.  He has
  written a book about himself as a bush pilot in Canada.  After working for
  Canadian Pacific Airline, he retired in Hawaii and died a few years ago.  He
  too had engravings that were passed down in his family.  He apparently was
  from the Charles Woollett branch, who was supposed to have been one of the
  engravers sons.  How many sons did the engraver have, 40 or 50?  One story
  is that he had no children, another that his wife suffered from want after
  he died.  One story is that he never actually married, making all his
  offspring bastards. Another one was that his mistress was African.
  
  The story I quote most often is that we are all descended from "Mouse"
  Woollett, who was William the Conqueror's body guard because of his unusual
  height and strength.  Also, the name Woollett is the Anglisized version of
  the Scandinavian Oollett (spelling?) which simply means the "wool person"
  The -ett ending makes the term a proper name, which stuck when it was
  changed to Woollett.  Of course, it would mean "wool person" in English
  also.  My step mother (another story) called my father a "wool gatherer"
  because he was often off in his creative imagination instead of listening to
  her, or remembering what she said.  I qualify for that also.
  
  Please forgive if I have missed some typographic errors.  I am not a good
  typist.
  
  Joe Woollett