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THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery in Sacramento County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

May Hollister Woolsey

November 13, 1866 – September 21, 1879

 
 
May Hollister Woolsey Marker image. Click for full size.
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. It 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.

Regionally, this marker is
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in Sacramento Valley and specifically in the Central Valley. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexico’s Alta California.

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); 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.
 
Other markers no longer nearby. The G.A.R. Memorial Plot (was a few steps from this marker but has been permanently
May Hollister Woolsey Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Joseph Alvarado, May 7, 2023
2. May Hollister Woolsey Marker
removed); Charles A. “Charlie” King (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed).
 
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.) 
 
May Hollister Woolsey Headstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Joseph Alvarado, May 7, 2023
3. May Hollister Woolsey Headstone
Headstone of May's Parents image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Joseph Alvarado, May 7, 2023
4. Headstone of May's Parents
Marker and Headstones image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Joseph Alvarado, May 7, 2023
5. Marker and Headstones
City Cemetery Map image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Joseph Alvarado, May 7, 2023
6. City Cemetery Map
Founded 1849
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 19, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 19, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California. This page has been viewed 2,830 times since then and 112 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 19, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California.   6. submitted on June 29, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California.
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Jul. 4, 2026