“Our Story.” — A Family of Builders
Before software.
Before systems.
Before “workflow.”
There were carpenters.
Carpentry runs through every generation of my family’s history in America. Not as a trade we adopted later, but as the work that shaped how we contributed, built, and stood behind what we made.
The First Builders — 1772
In 1772, five Woolbert brothers settled in what is now Atlantic County, New Jersey. They brought with them practical skills rooted in German craftsmanship — woodworking, carpentry, and the ability to build what early American communities required to survive and grow.
They didn’t only construct buildings.
They built homes, barns, cabinets, and furniture — everything needed to turn raw land into functional places to live and work. Carpentry wasn’t divided into specialties. Builders framed structures, fitted interiors, and made the furnishings that filled them.
Cabinets were built by hand. Furniture was made to be used every day. Nothing was disposable. If something failed, it affected real people.
That expectation — to build things that worked and lasted — became a constant.
Building What Life Required
That mindset carried forward through each generation. Carpentry wasn’t abstract or distant; it was practical, necessary, and personal.
My grandfather and uncles continued that tradition through cabinetmaking and constant hands-on carpentry while working a farm. There was always something to repair, rebuild, or improve — in the house, the barn, or the shop.
Cabinets were built to fit the spaces where families lived and worked. Doors, stairs, and structures had to function every day. Nothing was theoretical. If something broke, it had to be fixed — correctly.
Craftsmanship wasn’t about perfection for its own sake. It was about making things work, and making them last.
Our story Continues- Read More
Allison Woolbert — Carpenter, Woodcrafter, Builder of Systems