JULIA MARY ANN DUHAMEL WOOLSTENHULME
(Author of the following biography of Julia Duhamel, 2nd wife of James Woolstenhulme, is unknown)
Julia Mary Ann Duhamel, was born February 15, 1844 in Jersey Isle. She was the daughter of John Duhamel and Mary L. Greeley. Her parents received the Gospel and had sent money ahead for their emigration to America, but her father died six weeks before they were to sail. That left her mother with four children to come to Utah alone. She set sail on the ship Olymphia and arrived in Iowa. In 1863 she came to Bountiful with the Captain Taylor Company.
We have no history of Julia Duhamel's life from this time until she married James Woolstenhulme, except that she helped her mother card wool and weave cloth which they sold for food to feed the family.
The first summer after her marriage, she lived in a wagon box until three weeks before her first child was born. Then they moved into a log house, where a son was born on November 24. She was the mother of 11 children, three of them dying at birth. She raised four girls and four boys. One girl and three of the boys were still living at the time of this writing.
Julia Duhamel Woolstenhulme never had the privilege of attending school. She taught herself to read and write so she could write her own letters to her husband when he was on his mission. Sometimes, writing a letter would take her two or three days. She spent much time reading. She also made all the stockings for her family.
She was Second Counselor in the Morrell Relief Society for over forty years. At the time Summit County was divided, she made six five-layer cakes, one for each ward, to be raffled off at the end of the celebration. They were lovely, big fruit cakes and brought in quite a sum of money for the new Stake House.
She made cheese and butter and was always praised for the quality of her cheese. She also made her own soap. She suffered many hardships during her life. She died March 5, 1925, at the age of eighty-two, and is buried in the Marion Cemetery.