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JAMES WOOLLEY
Vol. 3, p. 966-967

The present efficient and popular Sheriff of Tulsa county has been a
resident of the Southwest from the time of his birth, early became
prominently identified with the great cattle industry, long before
the immense open ranges had suffered restrictions, and his operations
were not confined t his native State of Texas but extended also into
Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory - the present State of
Oklahoma, within whose borders he has maintained his home about
twenty-eight years and with the civic and industrial progress of
which he has been closely concerned. He is the owner of well improved
farm property in Tulsa County, besides being interested in productive
and development work in the oil fields, and his popularity has been
signified by his service as a member of the board of county
commissioners having immediately preceded his election to his present
office, in which he is giving a vigorous and effective administration.

Mr. Woolley was born at Weatherford, the judicial center of Parker
County, Texas, on the 20th day of May 1868, and was the eight in
order of birth of the nine children of Elijah and Elizabeth (HOWARD)
Woolley, both of whom were born near Springfield, Missouri, in Greene
County. The parents passed the closing years of their lives in Texas
and each attained the age of sixty-four years. In his native sate
Elijah Woolley was reared to manhood, and there he continued to be
identified with farming and stock-raising until 1866, when he removed
with his family to Texas, where he became a pioneer agriculturist and
a prominent and successful stockman, his operations in the cattle
business having been of extensive order. He was a man of sterling
worth, energetic and resourceful, loyal as a citizen and a staunch
supporter of the cause of the democratic party.

After availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of
the Lone Star State the present sheriff of Tulsa County continued to
be associated with his father's farm and cattle business until he had
attained to the age of nineteen years, when he initiated independent
operations in the handling of cattle. He gained broad and practical
experience in this field of industrial enterprise, in connection with
which he handled thousands of cattle in Texas and later in what is
now the State of Oklahoma. Here he grazed large herds on the open
range and in pastures, and his cattle were shipped to the markets in
St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. He ability and energy brought to
him marked success and prestige, and for a long period he was known
as one of the representative cattlemen of the Southwest, his
shipments from Oklahoma having averaged from 8,000 to 10,000 head
annually. Later he became actively concerned in the mining and
shipping of coal, and his operations in the Oklahoma coal fields
continued until 1907, the year of the admission of Oklahoma as a
state. In this year he was elected a member of the first board of
county commissioners of Tulsa County under the state government, and
of this important office he continued the incumbent two successive
terms, within which he advocated and upheld progressive policies that
tended greatly to the civic and material advancement of the county
and the city of Tulsa.

In the meanwhile he gave his general supervision to his well
improved farm, which is one of the valuable properties of Tulsa
County, and also operated oil wells, these lines of enterprise still
receiving his active attention. Mr. Woolley has should himself to be
most liberal and public-spirited and as a stalwart in the camp of the
democratic party he has been influential in political affairs of
Tulsa County. In November 1914, he was elected sheriff of the county,
and he assumed the duties of this office on the 4th day of January
1915, his preferment in this connection giving evidence of the
confidence and esteem reposed in him by the people of the county. The
sheriff is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is
well known in the state of his adoption and may consistently be
termed one of the pioneer citizens of the City of Tulsa.

On the 16th day of November 1898, Mr. Woolley wedded Miss Texana
DAWSON, who was born and reared in Texas, and they have three
children - Irene, William E. and Leon.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Linda K Ricco, August 1999.