In the year 1889 a dozen or more Morgan, Radford, Lovell, Woolsey and related families left Utah to pioneer in Star Valley, Wyoming

The families that made the move to wyoming were the Thomas and Ann Watkins Morgan family along with Thomas Morgan's second wife Nancy Jane Radford, the John Whitlock and Leah Radford family, the Joseph Hyrum and Leah Ellen Lovell family, the Abraham and Dianna Woolsey family, and related Ross, Moore, Ryset, Radford and Morgan families.

The Morgan, Radford, Ross and Moore families that made the move to Wyoming are covered in detail elswhere on this website. The purpose of this page is to show the connection and common experiences of the Morgan, Radford, Lovell and Woolsey families and to describe the Wyoming experience more completely.

After a disasterous two years of hardship on land they homesteaded near what is now Etna, Wyoming, the Morgan, Radford, Lovell, Woolsey and related families began to move to the Ririe, Idaho area which is lower down on the Snake River and has a milder climate. Here they had to begin all over again, homesteading land, clearing it of brush, building irrigation canals, and breaking out the soil for farming. This was a very difficult and stressful period for all the families involved.

The Joseph Hyrum and Leah Ellen Radford Lovell family, shown in the picture above, probably accompanied the other families to Wyoming because Leah Ellen Radford was a daughter of John Whitlock Radford. Joseph Hyrum Lovell is not in the above picture because he died soon after the family arrived in Idaho and was deceased when the picture was taken.

Joseph Hyrum Lovell Life History

Click on the link above to see a picture of Joseph Hyrum Lovell and a history for him and his family.

Joseph Hyrum and Leah Ellen Radford Lovell Family

Click on the link above to be taken to a webpage with pictures of all the families that resulted from the marriage of Joseph Hyrum Lovell and Leah Ellen Radford Lovell.

Back row, L-R: Franklin Woolsey (1882-1945), Mitchell Dealton Woolsey (1884-1939), Leah Ann Woolsey (1880-1940), John Thomas Woolsey (1881-1929), Clara Jane Woolsey (1886-1966).

Front Row, L-R: James Melvin Woolsey (1896-1953), Abraham Mitchell Woolsey (1854-1926), Clarence Vernon Woolsey (1895-1953), Dianna Rebecca Radford Woolsey (1859-1913).

Picture made about 1897.

Abraham Mitchell Woolsey was born on 23 Jul 1854 in Provo, Utah, Utah. He died on 11 Feb 1926 in Cascade, Cascade, Montana. He was buried on 16 Feb 1926 in Cascade, Cascade, Montana. Abraham married first Susan Black, daughter of George Black and Susan Jacaway on 21 Feb 1874. Susan was born on 26 Jan 1858. He married second Dianna Rebecca Radford 8 Sep 1878.

Dianna Rebecca Radford Woolsey, sister of Nancy Jane Radford, was born 6 April 1859 in Filmore, Millard, Utah. She married Abraham Mitchell Woolsey 8 Sept 1878 in Kanosh, Utah. They had eight children, five of whom were born before the 1888 trip to Wyoming. They were residents of Leamington from about 1880 to 1888. According to Star Valley Stake membership records, this couple had a child named Everal on 23 April 1889 in Freedom, Wyoming. This child is not in the picture above and may have been deceased when the picture was made. Dianna Rebecca died 23 April 1913 in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho and was buried 25 April 1913 in the Shelton Cemetery near Ririe, Idaho.

The Abraham and Diana Rebecca Radford Woolsey family also apparently accompanied the migration to Wyoming because Diana Rebecca Radford was a daughter of John Whitlock Radford.

Leah Ann Woolsey

Click on the link above to see a picture of daughter Leah Ann Woolsey (1880-1940)(Standing back row center in the picture above) and her husband Robert Lee Wright

It is important to note that the pictures above were taken when the Lovell and Woolsey families were older, long after the wyoming experience, and long after they had settled in Idaho. But these families, although they had children, were young families when they moved from Utah to Wyoming. John Whitlock Radford, father of both of the wives of these two families, when asked why he was moving to Wyoming, said "I am going to Wyoming to die with my family." John Whitlock Radford did, in fact, die with his family in Wyoming. And Joseph Hyrum Lovell died soon after they moved on to Idaho. Reading their histories, written later, one has to believe that the stress and hardship of the two years in Wyoming took a huge toll on them all. And brought about an early end to some.