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.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Family's Colonial Era, 1607 - 1775, Part I

The following five colonial history posts are put together from a number of sources including published historical works, internet sites, and from the research of our contributors Dr. Rhodes Holliman, Maxine Wright, Glenda Norris, Ron Holliman, the late Walt Holliman and other family members who came before them. Those who have additional information or ideas for genealogy posts, please let us hear from you. Only by researching, critiquing, and listening to one other can our understanding of the past increase.

"From where did we come" is one of the oldest questions we humans ask. For Hollimans, our American experience began in Jamestown, Virginia where English America was founded by some adventurous colonialists from London in 1607. In this post we begin an on-going series about the first decades of our family in American.

By: Glenn N. Holliman

The map right identifies Smithfield, Virginia, where Christopher Holliman, Sr. settled by 1661. Jamestown is not marked but is just south of Williamsburg, where one can catch a ferry to Isle of Wight County on the south side of the James River.


By any measure, the life of Christopher Holliman, Sr. (ca. 1630 - 1691) was one of adventure and economic success. We know he sailed over on a ship that was sponsored by John Coxe of London. Christopher stepped onto American soil in Jamestown, Virginia on May 22, 165o. He was only 19 or 20 years of age when he began his adventure in the "new world."

Christopher Sr.'s first wife was named Anne, last name unknown, and of that union, six children grew to maturity. Those of us reading this are descended from their eldest, Christopher, Jr. (You can review the "lineage" page at the top of this blog to refresh your memory.)

There is no other record of Christopher Sr. until 1661, when a deed states that he purchased land near what is now Smithfield, Virginia, across from Jamestown on the south side of the James River. He farmed several hundred acres along Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Pagan, which itself runs into the James River. From this body of water, Christopher, Sr. easily loaded hogsheads of tobacco onto ships which would transport his cash crop to England. He purchased more land along Cypress Swamp in 1668.

He did well economically because in 1684, now in his 50s, he patented a large amount of land from the Royal Governor between the Mill Swamp and the Blackwater River. The Blackwater River is the western boarder of Isle of Wight County. The plantation, as he styled it in his will, was large - 1,020 acres, a large farm for the time and place. When he died in 1691, his will divided the land among his children and his second wife, Mary Gray Holliman.

Where is the exact location of the original site? The deeds, dependent upon landmarks now gone, except for the Swamp and Blackwater River, are unclear. A family friend and professional geographer who also traces his family back to Isle of Wight County, Paul Fly, suggested I look along the border of Surry and Southampton Counties.

In March 2010 my wife, Barb, our oldest granddaughter, Holly, age 4 1/2, and I took a day trip from Richmond, Virginia down Highway 460 past Wakefield, Virginia to the hamlet of Ivor. There we turned east on Proctor Bridge Road, crossed the Blackwater River and made some interesting 'discoveries' that I will share with you next week!


The Blackwater River (pictured right) flows southward into North Carolina. It is deep and wide enough for boats to carry tobacco casts to ships bound for England. Tobacco was the cash crop of Virginia and was the mainstay of its colonial economy. In his 1691 will, Christopher Holliman Sr. records that he had tobacco barns, confirming tobacco too was his financial foundation.