Sacramento Historic City Cemetery in Sacramento County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

May Hollister Woolsey

November 13, 1866 – September 21, 1879

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado

1. May Hollister Woolsey Marker

Inscription. May Woolsey was the beloved only daughter of Luther and Mary Woolsey, who lived at 916 E Street. May died just a few months before her 13th birthday in 1879 from encephalitis. Her grief-stricken parents made attempts to contact her with the help of a spiritualist, then packed up her belongings in a trunk and sealed it behind a wall. The trunk was rediscovered 100 years later in 1979 by the home’s new owners during a remodel. Today, its contents help tell the story of childhood and loss.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical date for this entry is September 21, 1879.

Location. 38° 33.74′ N, 121° 29.976′ W. Marker is in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County. It is in Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. Marker can be reached from Buckeye Avenue south of Magnolia Avenue, on the left when traveling south. The resin marker is mounted to a metal post at the grave site of May Woolsey, plot A18, lot 1372. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1000 Broadway, Sacramento CA 95818, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Theodora Tiffee Purkitt, M.D. (within shouting distance of this marker); Veteran of Foreign Wars Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Sacramento Turn Verein (within shouting distance of this marker);

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Charles Duncombe, M.D. (1787 – 1862) (within shouting distance of this marker); John Bigler (within shouting distance of this marker); Old Masonic Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); Jane Norris (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Luella Buckminster-Johnston (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sacramento.

More about this marker. Inset Image:
Portrait of May Woolsey, c. 1876, Center for Sacramento History

Also see . . . The May Woolsey exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum. YouTube Video

"The trunk’s contents, over 600 items, offer a rare glimpse of life in Sacramento during the 1870s."

(Submitted on June 19, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California.)