The Parents of James Grantson Holliman, Part III

by Glenn N. Holliman

From Christopher Holyman, Sr. (1618 - 1691) to James Grantson Holliman (1750 - 1836) - The Lineage

In the last post cousin Jeanette Holiman Stewart of Texas demonstrated to my satisfaction that James Grantson Holliman's parents could not have been Jesse and Charity Cofer Holliman of Isle of Wight County, Virginia.  The dates and locations do not work.

As a descendant of James Grantson and Christopher, Sr (DNA testing), I was curious as to who my missing ancestors are.  So are others, one being a careful and thoughtful genealogist, another distant cousin, Joe Parker, again of Texas.  I share below his thesis with you.  And Joe, calls it that, his thesis.  We both agree that genealogy is a process where information is gathered, assessed, and lineages tested by time and additional research.

                                                        Above, Joe and Gladys Parker


Joe wrote me the following several months ago, and I quote,


 "Based on what I have been looking at the last few months, it is my personal belief that James Grantson Holliman was a grandson of Richard Holliman who died in 1711.  The author of the Hollyman book, George A. Holleman, has that one of Richard's grandsons is name 'James'.  This James lives in the correct era, and mingled with Hollimans who are descendants of the Richard Holliman (a son of Christopher Holyman, Sr.), all in Johnston County, North Carolina.


Until further information comes along, I am going to go along with this opinion.  Somewhere out there, there is a thread of evidence that does point out his father and his lineage.  Just find it and properly identify it."


So Joe proposes (and I am in agreement with him with the evidence in hand including my own research) this branch of the James Grantson Holliman tree:

Christopher Holyman, Sr. (1618 -1691) and unknown wife (Anne)
to
Richard Holliman (1660s ca -1711) and Margaret Jordan House Holliman
to
Samuel Holliman (abt 1708 -1789) and
to
James Grantson Holliman (1750 -1836)

During our Holliman Round Table in Fayette, Alabama on October 14 and 15, 2011, Lynn Holliman of Texas and I discussed the above with Joe.  Thanks to the work of Walt O. Holliman, who died 2003, we were able to examine his additional research in detail.  Walt's evidence bore out Joe and Jeanette Stewart's  research.  By legal records such as wills, land deeds and military service, no one else qualifies as James Grantson Holliman's father.

Samuel Holliman appears to be the great grandfather that many family genealogists have been searching for decades.


In our next post, we examine some more Colonial Era Hollimans....