Woollam, Missouri

Joseph G. Woollam came from Hulm, England in 1840 or 1841. The King of England owed the Woollams some money, and he said if two of the daughters would come to Missouri, he would give each of them eighty acres of land in Montgomery County, near Price’s Branch. The two girls, Elizabeth and Sophia, came to America, along with brothers Edward and Joseph. Joseph settled in Gasconade County and set up a store in 1850 in the area named Woollam after him. He married a neighborhood girl named Miss Seitz. He was postmaster there also for a number of years. Eventually, Joseph Woollam returned to Montgomery County, selling his properties to Herman Koch, who ran the store for a time until he sold out to Martin Seba and then Arnold Rhump put up a store in 1865. The store was owned and operated by a series of Third Creek residents, including William Berger, Henry AufderHeide, Charles Mellies (who built the present brick building), and Samuel and Joshua Tappmeyer. William Sassmann operated a blacksmith shop here until he moved his business to the area southwest, later called New Woollam.

Sassmann persuaded Frederick Ernst Strehlmann, a wheelwright from Jeffriesburg, Franklin County, to come to New Woollam and establish a shop. In 1877, Mr. Strehlmann built a new frame house near the blacksmith shop and moved there with his wife May and their children. Andrew Loeb operated the blacksmith shop for ten years, until he was bought out by William August Juedemann, and he, in turn by Victor Biere.

The store at New Woollman was operated for several years by Henry Brandhorst and Andrew Loeb. Frederick Strehlmann bought the New Woollam store in the late 1800s. His son-in-law, Herman Boettcher, joined him as a partner in the store, which was known as the Strehlman-Boettcher Store. Mr. Strehlmann also served as Postmaster of New Woollam for 16 years. The original store burned in 1890 and the present store building was built soon after. The Post Office was discontinued September 15, 1932.