Exploring further Holleman History in Old Virginia - Part 6

by Glenn N. Holliman
We continue our series of articles on the historic 1830 Holleman House which rests in Isle of Wight County, Virginia on part of the original plantation of Christopher Holyman (1618-1691), the founder of most Hollimans (and many spellings) living in the United States today.  My continued thanks to Sarah Barlow Wright, Janet Wright Moore and Susan Holleman Brewer for their sharing of information and critique of these articles.  This series could not have been done without their generous participation.  GNH

Descendants of Christopher Holyman (d 1691) who reside in Virginia to this Day.....
From the memorabilia of Gladys Holleman Barlow, courtesy of her daughter, Sarah Barlow Wright, are some additional photographs.  Below, is the extended family of Josiah James (1851-1937) and Augusta Hannah Holleman (1859-1941) gathered for a picture in 1921.  They are sitting on the front steps of the house.  Wilson Holleman (1803-1873), builder of the house, had given it the name of 'Mayfield' and for a number of years the post office in the vicinity was called Mayfield.

Fifty-four years later another family gathering was photographed on the same site on a cold day in February 1975.   As with all families new generations are born as the old depart.  This was a celebration of Gladys Holleman Barlow's 80th birthday.  She is on the far right with the purple corsage.  Of interest to the historian, the names of Cofer and Gwaltney, families who lived in the Mill Swamp area in the 1600s with the original founder, Christopher Holyman, still are living in the vicinity and marrying 20th Century Hollemans.

 

Below, present in 1975, just as they were on a summer day in 1921, were brother and sister, Joseph Howard Holleman (1897-1979), about whom we have written previously,  and Gladys Holliman Barlow (1895-1996). Howard, a long serving member of the Virginia House of Delegates from neighboring Surry County, also is pictured as a young man on the left, below.  Gladys, Howard and their brother, Algernon Hardy Holleman ((1902-1963) were born, not at the Holleman House, but at another house on the farm.

 

 Gladys Hortense Holleman Barlow (1895-1996), lived a long and generous life in Isle of Wight County serving, among other activities, as a teacher, school principal, active leader in her Baptist Church and numerous civic organizations.  In 1921, she married Gordon Eugene Barlow, a member of another prominent and early family of the County. They had five children: Gordon Eugene Barlow, Jr., Hannah Barlow Bain, Joseph Holleman Barlow, Sarah Barlow Wright and William Kyle Barlow.  At the time of her passing there were eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

 

 

Both the Barlow and Holleman family contributions to the community are recorded in Helen Haverty King's 1986 work, Historical Notes on Isle of Wight County, Virginia, a must read for the serious student of James River history.

 

Next posting, using Mrs. King's historical writings and the Federal Censuses of the middle 1800s, we shall learn more about the Hollemans who remained in Virginia....

 

Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!).

Join your many cousins at MyFamily.com and view an expanded Holliman family tree and many files on the history of the family.  Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation. 

Or go to the HOLLYMAN GENEALOGY MyFamily site at http://myfamily.com/group/hollyman . 

Then click on "Request to Join" in upper righthand corner!

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring Further Holliman History in Old Virginia, Part 2

by Glenn N. Holliman

Descendants of Christopher Holyman (d 1691) who reside in Virginia to this Day....

We continue to report on the descendants of Christopher Holyman (1618-1691), who live in the Isle of Wight County and Richmond, Virginia.  My thanks to the distant cousins who kindly shared their time and photographs.  There will be several more articles on Isle of Wight County, which to most Holymans (and many various spellings)  is our American ancestral starting point.

Below, Caroline Holleman Thomas and her husband, Bill, in their Richmond, Virginia home earlier this year. Caroline is the sister of Joseph Howard Holleman, Jr.,  about whom I wrote in the last post.  Both are children of Joseph Howard Holleman, Sr. and  Bessie Faircloth Holleman.  Bill and Caroline are retired educators.

Above, Caroline holds a drawing of the 1830 Holleman House located along the Blackwater River near the Mill Swamp Baptist Church in Isle of Wight, Virginia.  Caroline and Bill had their wedding rehearsal dinner by romantic candlelight in the historic home in December 1962.  The dinner party was hosted by her Aunt  Louise and Uncle Algenon (Nonnie) Holleman.   

Most persons in the U.S who bear the Holleman name (and various spellings such as Holliman, Holloman, etc.) trace their linage to this farm adjacent to the Mill Swamp near the Blackwater River in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

If there be a 'Plymouth Rock' for Hollimans, this is the place although, of course, the brick 1830 home was not built during the 17th Century.  Christopher Holyman's original home, most probably a log cabin, would have lasted only 20 to 40 years as a habitable house. Since the 1680s, Hollemans have lived on the same land patented by Christopher Holyman during the reign of King Charles II of England. 

Below, this water color is in the possession of Sarah Barlow Wright of Smithfield, a first cousin of Caroline Holleman Thomas.  Mrs. Wright has told me that the clapboard building on the right of the painting pre-dates the Federal style home, and was the Holleman home while the 1830 building was being constructed.  The out building still stands today, probably of 18th Century construction. 

 
Below, Algenon Holleman who with his wife, Louise, hosted the 1962 rehearsal dinner for their niece, Caroline Holleman, and Bill Thomas.  Algenon's son, William Joseph (Billy Joe) Holleman, owns the home today.  His son, Joseph (Joey) Holleman, lives in the historic home with his family. 

This above photograph is courtesy of Sarah Barlow Wright, whose mother, Gladys Holleman Barlow, grew up in the early 1900s at the Holleman House.  We will begin their stories in the next posting.

Next more on the Hollemans of Isle of Wight, Virginia....

Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!). Mrs. Peddie can assist also in any DNA research.

Since early 2010, I have been publishing research and stories on the broad spectrum of Holliman (Holyman) family history at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ . For stories on my more immediate family since the early 20th Century, I have been posting articles since early 2011 at http://ulyssholliman.blogspot.com/ .

Let's save the past for the future! If you have photographs, letters, memorabilia or research you wish to share, please contact me directly at glennhistory@gmail.com. Several of us have an on-going program of scanning and preserving Holyman and related family records. Write please and tell us of your items. Thanks to the Internet, we are able to scan, upload to the web (with your permission) and return the materials to you.