The surname Woolworth is of Anglo-Saxon origin and was derived from "wulf" or "wolf." The termination, worth, appears to have been added at a much later period than that in which the surname was originally adopted. In the early records of Newbury, Mass., the name of the recognized ancestor of the family now under consideration appears first as Richard Woolery, and later as Woolworth. The name is enrolled among the revolutionary patriots, and also among the defenders of the Union in the civil war.

(I) Coffin's "History of Newbury" states that Richard Woolery landed there in 1678, having previously taken the oath of allegiance at Ipswich. He was then thirty years of age, and "his business had been that of a weaver for the 'King's Bench.'" He may have come from Virginia and was perhaps a son of Richard Woolery, who arrived there from England in 1635.
Richard Woolery married, Dec. 24, 1678, in Newbury, Hannah Huggins, and in 1685 removed to Suffield, Conn., where he had been granted land five years previous, and in the records of that town he is called both Wollery and Woolworth. He died in Suffield, Dec. 26, 1696, surviving his wife, who died Oct. 19, 1691.
Children, born in Newbury:
A daughter, who died in infancy.
Hannah.
Children, born in Suffield:
Elizabeth, died in childhood.
Richard, see forward.
Abbie, also died young.

(II) Richard (2), only son of Richard (1) and Hannah (Huggins) Woolworth, was born in Suffield, Dec. 6, 1687, died Oct. 29, 1732. He married, in Suffield, Sept. 15, 1714, Elizabeth Hall, of Taunton, Mass., who died in 1760.
Children:
Elizabeth, Richard, Azariah, Hannah, Timothy (see forward), Ebenezer, Reuben, Mary and Dinah.

(III) Timothy, fifth child of Richard (2) and Elizabeth (Hall) Woolworth, was born in Suffield, May 17, 1722, died Feb. 22, 1804. He married, in Suffield, June 3, 1747, Mercy Olds, born April 30, 1724, died Oct. 30, 1801.
Children:
Josiah and Elijah (twins), Ebenezer, Justin, Reuben, Phineas (see forward), Mary, Levi, Lucy, Seth, Timothy, Sylvanus, Zadoc and Alexander.

(IV) Phineas, sixth child of Timothy and Mary (Olds) Woolworth, was born in Suffield, Oct. 31, 1754, died in Pinckney, N.Y. in 1815. With four of his brothers he served in the revolutionary war. He responded to the Lexington alarm from Suffield; re-enlisted May 13, 1775, in the Tenth Company, Connecticut Line; participated in the battle of Bunker Hill; and was discharged Dec. 17, 1775.
It is evident that he went from Suffield to Granville, Mass., and removed from the latter place to Lewis county, N.Y., in 1806. Tradition asserts that he and his family made the journey from Mass. during the winter season on sleds drawn by oxen, settling first in Denmark, afterward removing to Copenhagen on the Lowville road, and finally locating permanently in Pinckney. He was one of the most successful pioneers in Lewis county, and having acquired a large amount of real estate he gave to each of his children seventy acres of land during his lifetime, reserving one hundred acres for himself.
In 1781 he married Mercy, born Oct. 10, 1758, died in Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, N.Y., Aug. 15, 1831, daughter of Captain Simeon and Grace (Phelps) Sheldon, of Suffield; granddaughter of Thomas and Mary (Hinsdale) Sheldon, and great-granddaugther of Isaac Sheldon, the first of the name in New England, who moved from Windsor, Conn. to Northampton, Mass., where he died in 1708. She was admitted in the First Baptist church, Suffield, in 1802.
Children:
Thaddeus, Chauncey, Timothy (see forward), Jasper, Eunice, Alexander, Sheldon, Content and Mila.
These children are said to have been born either in Suffield or Granville, but no record of their birth can be found in either of these towns.

(V) Timothy (2), third child of Phineas and Mercy (Sheldon) Woolworth, was born in 1787, died in Pinckney, N.Y. in 1870. In 1813 he married Catherine Brown, of Rodman, N.Y., who died in Pinckney in 1866.
Children:
Rhoda, born in 1814.
Seth, 1817, married Estgher McBrier.
Levi, 1818, died 1838.
Julia Ann, 1819, married Fowler Butts in 1849.
James, see forward.
Ruth, born in 1822, married James R. Emons; died June 6, 1858.

(VI) James, fifth child of Timothy (2) and Catherine (Brown) Woolworth, was born in Pinckney in 1820. He engaged in farming in his native town. He married Rominda Butts.
Children:
Orrin J.
Robert Timothy.
Garey G.
Mary R., see forward.
Ward W.
Lena M.

(VII) Mary R., fourth child of James and Rominda (Butts) Woolworth, was born in Pinckney, April 10, 1859. In June, 1879, she married Robert Emmett Gregg (see Gregg III), and resides at Barnes Corners, Pinckney.

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