John William Woolf

John William Woolf
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
In office November 9, 1905 – 1912
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Martin Woolf
Constituency	Cardston
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
In office May 21, 1902 – August 31, 1905
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	District abolished
Constituency	Cardston
Personal details
Born	November 27, 1869 Hyde Park, Utah
Died	February 22, 1950 (aged 80) Salt Lake City, Utah
Resting place	Salt Lake City Cemetery
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lucinda Marie Layne (1888–1913) Quina Austin (ca. 1902–?) Faith Young (?–1950)
Relations	Martin Woolf (brother)
Children	William Layne Woolf
Occupation	Rancher

John William Woolf (November 27, 1869 – February 22, 1950) was an American-born Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Born in Utah to polygamous parents, he moved with them to Cardston, Alberta as a young man. There he became a prominent rancher, and was elected in the 1902 Northwest Territories election. When Alberta was created in 1905, he became a member of its first legislative assembly. He resigned that office in 1912 to return to the United States; his son believed that this was because he had taken a second wife and feared prosecution under Canadian polygamy laws. Back in Utah, he pursued a number of business ventures with his son. He died in 1950.

Woolf was born November 27, 1869 in Hyde Park, Utah, the son of John Anthony Woolf II, a polygamous Mormon. While he was a young man, his family fled to Canada to avoid anti-polygamy laws and settled near Cardston, Alberta. In June 1888, he married Lucinda Marie Layne, with whom he had one child, William Layne Woolf, in 1890. Lucinda died in 1913. In Canada, Woolf established a 900 acres (360 ha) ranch, where he remained until he left the country. From this ranch, he supplied the British with horses during the Second Boer War.

Woolf's home, a rock house rated by his son as one of the two finest in Cardston that replaced a one-room log cabin in 1902, was an active social centre. Among those who spent time there was Quina Austin. Woolf's son believed that his father and Austin were polygamously married around 1902 by John W. Taylor.

Woolf was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in the 1902 election, defeating Heber Simeon Allen in the district of Cardston. He served in this capacity until 1905, when the new province of Alberta was created out of part of the Northwest Territories. Though in keeping with territorial custom Woolf had served as an independent in the territorial legislature, federally he was a Liberal, and in the debate over whether Alberta's politics should be conducted on an independent basis or along party lines, he was a strong advocate of the latter option.

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