Edwin D. Woolley

Who was Edwin D. Woolley?

Edwin Dilworth Woolley, Sr. was a Mormon pioneer, an early Latter-day Saint bishop in Salt Lake City, and a businessman in early Utah Territory who operated mills.

Woolley was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and raised in a Quaker family. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 1830s and later served as a missionary in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

In 1851, Woolley was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature. For many years Woolley was bishop of the 13th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. He referred to a member of his ward, the young Heber J. Grant, as lazy, which has been likened to someone calling Abraham Lincoln dishonest.

Woolley was the grandfather of J. Reuben Clark and Spencer W. Kimball, among other Latter-day Saint leaders.