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Descendants of Edward Wooster of Connecticut

By Nick Wooster

I am indebted to Ray Wooster who brought to my attention an article on the website "Your Dying Charlotte" by Ann Longmore-Etheridge (https://dyingcharlotte.com/). The site is dedicated to the stories behind pictures, artefacts and most specifically mourning jewellery, and it is from this site that the majority of this story is taken. "Dying Charlotte" was probably from a wealthy British family of the Regency period and was likely to have been a young woman when she realised she was dying. She left a brooch which was inscribed, "Dear Henry, accept this as a token of sincere Love from your Dying Charlotte."

The article discovered on the website by Ray was about Avis Burr Wooster (Tree) and her family. Avis Burr was from a military family and, in 1820, married Russell Wooster in Southbury, New Haven, Connecticut. Russell was a great great grandson of Edward Wooster (1622-1689) who arrived from England in 1651 and founded the town of Derby in Connecticut. Many claim that Edward was from Cheddington in Buckinghamshire and hence a potential link to our Great Wooster Tree emerges, however some quite extensive research on the Worcester website casts great doubt on this. Russell and Avis had four children, and this article is concerned with their two sons, Colonel William Burr Wooster and Dr Samuel Russell Wooster.

Dr Samuel Russell Wooster

The younger of the two sons, Samuel was born on 22 April 1830 in Oxford, Connecticut and studied at Yale Medical College. In 1857 he moved to Grand Rapids in Michigan where he built an excellent reputation due to his genial disposition and exceptional professional ability. In 1858 he married Michigan native Josephine Ella Godfrey and they had one daughter, Louise D Wooster (1861-1950). During the American Civil War, Samuel served as assistant surgeon to the 8th Michigan 8th Volunteer Infantry and would have seen and dealt with many severe injuries inflicted on the soldiers in his regiment during this time. In April 1863 he was commissioned as a full surgeon in the Michigan 1st Calvary, and saw a rapid rise in his status as he was first appointed as Brigade Surgeon whilst on duty at General Custer's headquarters in July and then in September was made the Surgeon-in-chief of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Brigade. He was then appointed acting staff surgeon by the Secretary of War himself, Edwin M Stanton. After the war Samuel practiced in Muskegon, but returned to Grand Rapids in 1871, where he was one of Kent County's two coroners and became a city physician and health officer. In 1889 he was appointed President of the Kent County Medical Society. Samuel died, aged 75, on 6th February 1906 after he went into shock following an operation for chronic cystitis and was buried in the mausoleum at Gracelands Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Grand Rapids.

Colonel William Burr Wooster

Russell and Avis's eldest son, William Burr Wooster was born on 22 August 1821 in Oxford, Connecticut and graduated from Yale Law School in 1846. He established a successful law practice in the town of Derby and in 1858 was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives. The following year he was voted onto the Connecticut Senate.

William was a strong abolitionist and viewed the war as a righteous crusade to end slavery. He joined up in September 1862, nearly a year after his brother and was Colonel of the 20th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was in command during a disastrous battle at Chancellorsville in Virginia, where he was taken prisoner by the Confederate forces and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.

He was later exchanged for Confederate prisoners and was back in command of his regiment to fight at Gettysburg in July 1863, where there is a monument to the heroics performed by the 20th Connecticut during the three-day battle.

William is best remembered for his Colonelcy of the 29th Connecticut Volunteers, Coloured, the state's first black regiment, which he took charge of in March 1864. The unit distinguished itself in many battles and was the first Federal infantry to march into the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia when it fell in October 1864. Having been imprisoned there, the irony for William must have been overwhelming!

When the war ended and back in Connecticut, William became a partner in the law firm of Wooster, Williams and Gager and just two years later he was Paymaster General for the State of Connecticut. He was very active in the Derby area, becoming the first President of the Derby Gas and Electric Company and later a director of the Birmingham Water Company.

William (second left) with his partners from his law practice. William H Williams, Chief Justice David Torrance and Edwin B Gager, all of whom went on to become judges.

William married Jemima (Jay) Wallace in 1870 and died on 20 September 1900. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Derby, Connecticut.

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  Page last updated

  08 October 2023