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Rabbi Louis Wolsey




Photo provided by Karen Wolsey


LOUIS WOLSEY (WILLIAM WOLSEY1) was born January 1877 in MI, and died March 04, 1953 in PA - Philadelphia, Philadelphia. He married (1) FLORENCE HELEN WEINER June 12, 1912 in OH - Cleveland, Cuyahoga, daughter of ABRAHAM WIENER and BELLE AUB. She was born 1893 in OH - Cleveland, Cuyahoga, and died February 1941. He married (2) HELEN FRANK MYERS 1943.


CENSUS:
1900 June 4, Little Rock, Ward 2, Pulaski, AR - Dist 73, 917/87/116
Wolsey, Louis, boarder, w, m, January 1877m 23, s, Michigan, Germany, NY, Rabbi, r/w
Home of Sophia Navra

1910 April 18, Cleveland (Ward 26), Cuyahoga, OH - Dist 392, East 116th Street, 1932/43/52
Wolsey, Louis, head, m, w, 33, s, MI, POLAND, (speaks Yiddish), NY, clergyman in Jewish Church

1920 January 5, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH - Dist 385, East 115, 1719/87/178
Wolsey, Louis, head, rents, m, w, 43, mrd, MI, POLAND, NY, clergyman
Wolsey, Florence, wife, f, w, 26, mrd, OH, MI, PA
Wolsey, Allon, son, m, w, 6, s, OH, MI, OH
Wolsey, Jonathan, son, m, w, 2 6/12, s, OH, MI, OH
Sheddy, Susan, servant, f, w, 17, s, r/w, OH, IRE, IRE
Metzer, Mary, servant, f, w, 35, widowed, 1916 yr of naturalization in AL, HUNGARY, HUNGARY, HUNGARY

1930 April 5, Melrose, Cheltenham, Montgomery, PA - Dist 27, Valley Road, 8/112/117,
Wolsey, Louis, head, rent, 175, M, w, 53, mrd at 34, MI, NY, NY, clergyman, Rabbi
Wolsey, Florence, wife, f, w, 37, mrd at 19, OH, OH, OH
Wolsey, Allon, son, m, w, 16, s, OH, MI, OH, none
Wolsey, Jonathan, son, m, w, 13, s, OH, MI, OH
Mohen, Arthur, butler, m, w, 26, mrd at 25, GER, GER, GER, servant - butler private
Mohen, Marie, servant, f, w, 24, mrd at 25, GER, GER, GER, servant - private

MARR:
US, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Jewish Marriage Record Extracts, 1837-1934
about Florence H. Wiener
Name: Florence H. Wiener
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Birth Location: Cleveland
Residence Location: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Mother: Belle Aub
Father: Abraham Wiener
Spouse: Louis Wolsey
Marriage Date: 12 Jun 1912
Marriage Performed By: Louis Grossman
Volume/Page: 81/227

MARRIAGE:
(Provided by Karen Wolsey

14 Jun 1912 Jewish Independent Fri, Cleve, O, p 1;

FLORENCE WIENER-Rabbi Louis WOLSEY--Beautiful Wedding in The Euclid Avenue Temple. Ceremony Performed by Rabbis Stolz and Grossman--... An event in local society was the marriage on Wednesday evening of Miss Florence Helen Wiener, daug of M/M Abraham Wiener, of 2422 E. 40th St, to Rabbi Louis Wolsey, spiritual leader of the Euclid Avenue Temple.

The marriage ceremony took place in the temple, Euclid Ave and E. 82nd St. The handsome gowns of the ladies, the magnificent appointments and the artistic floral decorations throughout the sacred edifice formed a picture of rare beauty and splendor.

Every seat in the temple auditorium was occupied when the bridal party entered to the swelling tones of the grand organ, opening with a brief selection from "Lohengrin," followed, just at the conclusion of the ceremony, by Mendelssohn's wedding march.

Ushers David Wolsey, of Saginaw, Mich; Geoffrey Ettelson & Nathan Krieger, of Chicago, Edgar Aub, of Cincinnati; Aubrey Wiener & Rabbi A. Hirschberg, of Chicago, wo was his classmate at the Hebrew Union College.

Bridesmaids: Helen Nusbaum, Rhea Huebschman, Irene Hirschheimer, Ethel Lowenstein, of this city, Edith Wolsey, of Saginaw, MIch. & Helen Ronsheim, of Cincinnati, and the matron and maid of honor, Mrs. Jack Einstein and MIss Miriam Klein. The little flower girls, Edith Einstein and Theresa Aub Mack, strewed rose pedals in the path of the bride, who entered on her father's arm.

Other ushers: Alvin Zucker, Jerome Halle, Ferdinand Strauss, Maurice W. Bruml, Max Fisher, Irving Heller, Walter Stone, Jack Stotter, Ralph Wertheimer, Oscar Fishel, Leon Sanger, Edward Bloch, Jerome Antell, Al Bondy, Morris W. Kastriner, Sam Oppenheimer, Dr M. Blahd, A. A. Lederer, Oscar W. Fishel & Jay Goodman.

At six o'clock, Dr. Joseph Stolsz, of Chicago, who confirmed Rabbi Wolsey and was his teacher, assisted by Rabbi Louis Grossman, of Cincinnati, one of his teachers at the Hebrew Union College, performed the ceremony. The entire altar was covered with huckleberry vines, hydrangeas and jpink roses. On each side of the altar were seven branch candelarbras, which were showered with white roses. There were palms and huckleberry vines in profusion at the windows and balcony, which were interspersed with pink flowers.

Following the reception a dinner for 75 guests, including only members of the families, was served at the Excelsior Club.

Miss Wiener was a beautiful bride in a gown of an exquisite rose point lace and French brocade, with a corsage of tulle, embroidered with chiffon orange blossoms and on the most Frenchy lines. A pear train, which was worn by her mother and her grandmother, was one of the distinguishing features of her gown. Her gown was also worn by her mother at her own wedding.

Mrs Jack Einstein, sister of the bride, who was matron of honor...Miss Miriam Klein, maid of honor.

Rabbi and Mrs Wolsey left for New York and will sail next week for a trip to Europe. They will return the latter part of August.

Guests from out of town: M/M Wolsey and David Wolsey of Saginaw, Mich, Rabbi & Mrs Joseh Stolz, of Chicago, Mrs William Baer, Miss Belle and Miss Myrtle Baer, Mr Milton Baer of Milwaukee, Mrs Helen Aub, Messrs Sam and Edgar Aub, Miss Helen Ronsheim, Mr Seward Ronsheim, M/M I. Solomon, Mr Russell Solomon, M/M Jacob M. Mack, Master Richard Mack, Miss Theresa Mack, M/M Jesse Bloom, Dr. Louis Grossman, of Cincinnati, Rabbi A. Hirschberg, Mr Geofrey Ettelson, Mr Nathan Krieger, Miss Cherrie Davis, M/M Joseph Frank, Mr Milton Hart and M/M M. Lyon, of Chicago, Miss Bertha Weissman, and Mr Albert Weissman, of Detroit.

MARRIAGE: Rabbi Wolsey Married To Mrs. F. Meyers
Announcement has been made of the marriage in New York of Rabbi Louis Wolsey of the Rodeph Sholom Congregation at Broad and Mt. Vernon Street to Mrs. Helen F. Meyers 47, of 20 South Baton Rouge Ave., Ventnor, Atlantic City.

Mrs. Meyers is the daughter of the late Martin Frank of York and Lancaster, PA. She lives with her mother, Mrs. Emma Frank in Ventnor.

Mrs. Meyers has a 21 year old son, Edwin Jr. who is a Cadet at the Naval Air Training Center at Pensacole FL.

MILITARY:
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
about Louis Wolsey
Name: Louis Wolsey
City: Cleveland
County: Cuyahoga
State: Ohio
Birth Date: 8 Jan 1877
Race: White
Roll: 1831860
DraftBoard: 14

Card 3339 - A5116
Louis Wolsey
2403 Carnegie, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH,
Age: 41 DOB: Jan 8, 1877
Clergyman Euclid Ave Temple
Euclid Ave 32, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio
Family: Mrs. Louis Wolsey, 8403 Carnigie, Cleveland, Cuy, Ohio
Signed by: Louis Wolsey
Medium Height; Medium Build; Brown Eyes; Black Hair

RESEARCH:
Research on the net:
30. . (Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia) Davis, Edward. THE HISTORY OF RODEPH SHALOM CONGREGATION, PHILADELPHIA, 1802-1926. Philadelphia: no publisher, 1926. Cloth. 8vo. 155 pages. First edition. With an introduction by Rabbi Louis Wolsey, commemorating the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the congregation. The Congregation is the second oldest in the United States. SUBJECT (S): Congregation Rodeph Shalom. Gilt lettering on cover.
Ex-library with minimal markings. Tape mark on binding. Very light wear to covers and edges. Otherwise in Very Good condition. (amrn-8-? 8). (ID
#17348) $30.00.

CORR:
2007 January 22, from Heather Blair
Rabbi Louis Wolsey is mentioned in the book _A Corner of the Tapestry_ by Carolyn Gray LeMaster (University of Arkansas Press, 1994). This book is about the Jews in Arkansas.

On p. 62, it says that Rabbi Wolsey was the rabbi of the Reform synagogue, B'nai Israel in Little Rock from 1899 to 1907. After Little Rock, he moved on to the Euclid Avenue Temple in Cleveland, OH where he increased a congregation of 180 members to over 1200. From there it was on to Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.

In Little Rock, he was the chaplain for the Arkansas State Guard, served on the Little Rock Board of Education and co-founded the Little Rock public library. What a busy man!

The Navra family he was boarding with had been in Little Rock since 1853.
(p. 24). On p. 139, the book says that Morris Navra was the first president of B'nai Israel. I'm not sure, but I think Sophia was Morris's sister-in-law.

CORR:
2007 Janaury 22, from Wilford Whitaker:
I have this on Rabbi Louis Wolsey [sent to www by Fred Woolsey]. American Jewish Archives. An Inventory to the Louis Wolsey Papers 1866-1948. 2.4. Linear feet. The Louis Wolsey Papers were given to the American Jewish Archives by Rabbi Wolsey in three segments during the years 1947-1952. - Louis Wolsey was born in Midland, Michigan on 8 Jan 1877. He was educated at public schools in Clare (Michigan), Chicago, and Cincinnati, graduating in 1895 from Cincinnati's Hughes High School. Wolsey then entered Hebrew Union College where, in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati, he studied for his bachelor's degree while training for the rabbinate. In 1899 Wolsey received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati and, in that same year, received ordination from Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Upon ordination, Wolsey became rabbi at Congregation B'nai Israel in Little Rock, Arkansas. He remained there eight years, during which time he served as Chaplain General of the Arkansas State Guard, was a member of the Little Rock Board of Education (1906-1907), and co-founded Little Rock's Carnegie Library. - . .
. . After 1925, Wolsey became actively identified with many national Jewish organizations and movements. . . . In Feb 1942, at its annual convention in Cincinnati, the CCAR passed a pro-Zionist resolution favoring the establishment of a Jewish army in Palestine. Wolsey, who was committed to Reform principles of Judaism which saw Judaism as a universal religion and not a nationality, was adamantly opposed to "political Zionism" and outraged at this CCAR resolution. Soon after the convention, he, also with sixteen other Reform rabbis, addressed letters to CCAR members concerning the formation of a "non Zionist" association. . . . Beginning in the fall of 1944, however, Wolsey began to experience a sense of alienation from the anti-Zionist movement. He felt that Berger and Wallach ran the ACJ in an "undemocratic fashion" and they they overemphasized ACJ's anti-Zionist aspects rather than its Reform principles. As a result, Wolsey resigned as vice-president in December 1945, and thereafter became totally inactive in the ACJ. . . . . In 1848, upon the creation of the State of Israel, Wolsey formally withdrew as a member of the American Council for Judaism. In a statement released to the press, he called for the dissolution of the Council and pleaded for an effort to heal all wounds in order to strengthen Israel by creating a united spiritual front of American Jews. Wolsey's recognition of the realities of the situation and his willingness to state his changed position in public won him much acclaim. . . . . Rabbi Louis Wolsey died 4 Mar 1953 in Philadelphia. Wolsey had married Florence Helen Weiner in Cleveland and they had had two sons, Jonathan L. and Allon. In Feb 1941, Mrs. Wolsey and Jonathan L. Wolsey died. In 1943, Wolsey md Mrs Helen Frank Myers. Upon his death in 1953, he was survived by his second wife and his remaining son Allon.

I believe that the Rabbi Louis Wolsey, b 1877 in Midland County, Michigan, is the son of William Wolsey and Katherine Krueger of Midland. I have not found this couple in the 1880 census, in Michigan, or anywhere else in 1880, probably because of the way their name was spelled by the census taker. I neglected to put down where I got her name, but possibly from the Michigan marriages??

William Wolsey (born 1851 in Russia) and wife Frances (born 1857 in New York) are found in the 1900 census of Clare, Clare County, Michigan, [remember Rabbi Louis Wolsey went to high school in Clare] with two children: David A., son, born in 1882, age 17, in Michigan, and Edith, dau, born in 1884, age 15, in Michigan. William said he was born in Russia and his parents were born in Russia. William was a dry goods merchant and he said he immigrated to the U. S. in 1870. Frances was born in New York and her parents were born in Russia. In 1900 Rabbi Louis Wolsey would be 23 years old and, apparently, was away from home.

The 1910 census of Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan, shows about the same information about William and Frances Wolsey. The 1920 and 1930 census shows the same, except William said he immigrated in 1869, and only daughter Edith is at home. William Wolsey made a step up as he is listed as the President of a Milling Company.

So, the descendants of George 'Joris' Woolsey do not have a Jewish Rabbi in their family tree, but he appears to have been a good, busy, and upstanding man, doing honor to the name of Wolsey.

You can follow the Rabbi by checking various census records in which he does appear, in which he states that his father was born in Russia and his parents were born in Russia and his mother was born in New York and her parents were born in Russia.

CORR:
2008 April 10 from Karen Wolsey

I came across your info about Louis Wolsey; his mothers name was Frances Krueger Wolsey. She was born in New York and that is where William and she were married (1876). They had three children, Louis, David Albert and Edith. David and Edith were born in Clare, MI.

Rabbi Louis Wolsey had two grandchildren when he died in 1953. They lived in Cleveland, OH.

I have been doing and looking for the Wolsey's Family History for some time now and have hit some dead ends. So, if I can help you or if you have anything that can help me, let me know.


Children of LOUIS WOLSEY and FLORENCE WEINER are:

  1. ALLON WOLSEY, b. 1914, OH - Cleveland, Cuyahoga.

    RESIDENCE: June 1979, Reseda, Los Angeles, CA

    MILITARY: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
    Name: Allon W Wolsey
    Birth Year: 1913
    Race: White, citizen (White)
    Nativity State or Country: Ohio
    State: Pennsylvania
    County or City: Montgomery
    Enlistment Date: 17 Feb 1941
    Enlistment State: Pennsylvania
    Enlistment City: Philadelphia
    Branch: Infantry
    Branch Code: Infantry
    Grade: Private
    Grade Code: Private
    Component: National Guard (Officers, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
    Source: National Guard

    Education: 4 years of high school
    Civil Occupation: Addressing-Embossing Machine Operator or Clerk, General
    Marital Status: Single, without dependents
    Height: 71
    Weight: 170

    DEATH:
    California Death Index, 1940-1997
    Name: Allon Weiner Wolsey
    Social Security #: 167035783
    Sex: MALE
    Birth Date: 27 Dec 1913
    Birthplace: Ohio
    Death Date: 10 Jun 1979
    Death Place: Los Angeles

  2. JONATHAN L WOLSEY , b. July 05, 1917, OH - Cleveland, Cuyahoga; d. February 1941.



Wilford Whitaker,
wilfordwhitaker@yahoo.com.


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Carolyn Woolsey Wilkerson .