Our Families Colonial Era, Part XXVII

by Glenn N. Holliman

Richard Holliman (1665? - 1711), a Son of Christopher Holyman, Sr (1618 - 1691)...and the Grandfather of James Grantson Holliman (1750 - 1836)


Christopher Holyman, Sr., the founder of the Holyman family that immigrated from England to Jamestown, Virginia in 1650, had six children, four males and two females.  The girls married Atkinson's and the boys carried the family name forward, sometimes spelling it Holliman, Holleman, Holloman, Holyman and other variations depending on the literacy level of the county court clerk at the time!

Above the Holleman House in Isle of Wight County, Virginia near the Blackwater River.  Built in the 1830s, the home and farm are still owned by descendants of Christopher Holyman, Sr.  On this plantation, Richard Holliman grew up. When of age, he sold part of his inheritance to a brother and purchased land in Surry County adjacent to his boyhood home.

Holliman family researcher, Joe Parker, proposes that Richard Holliman, one of Christopher, Sr.'s sons is the grandfather of my 4th great grandfather, James Grantson Holliman.  Based on the evidence we have at this date (subject always to additional research and interpretation), I favor Joe's thesis. James Grantson Holliman's father?  That would be one of Richard's sons - Samuel Holliman, my 5th great grandfather, and Richard, my generation's 6th great grandfather.

Let's first examine what we know of Richard Holliman, his life and go from there.  George Holleman in his 1953 classic volume on the family does not give a birth date for Richard, but lists him as the 4th child born to Christopher and an unknown mother.  The third child, William, was born in 1661 and the 5th child, Ann Holyman Atkinson married in 1691.  So if Ann were born in the late 1660s or early 1670s, then Richard's birth falls approximately in the mid-1660s, give or take a few years.

Richard would be the first son of Christopher Holyman, Sr. to die in 1711, perhaps in his mid-40s.

Information is available on Richard and his wife, and mother of Samuel, one Margaret Jordan House.
We will look closely at the fascinating Jordan lineage in later posts, a remarkable early Virginia family branch of the Holymans.

Above, Bishop Holliman (b 1919) surveys some of the land of Isle of Wight plantation founded by Christopher Holyman, Sr (1618-1691) in 2011.  Bishop, this writer's father, is a 6th great grandson of Christopher.

From Christopher Holyman, Sr.'s 1691 will, we know Richard inherited land along the Blackwater River in Isle of Wight County.  Evidently, he sold some of it to his brother, Thomas.

Richard Hollyman patented 1150 acres of land in Surry County, Virginia in 1696, five years after his father died.  The Christopher Holyman, Sr. land was on the border of Isle of Wight and Surry Counties.

Obviously doing well, Richard patented another 1,023 acres on the south side of the main Blackwater River, 25 April 1702. This latter he received for transporting immigrants to Virginia.  There is evidence he inflated the numbers in order to secure more acres under the 'head right' system.  For every person one 'imported' to Virginia, one received 50 acres outright.  (Information found p. 83, Crutchfield, James A. The Grand Adventure.  Richmond, Dietz Press, 2005 with contributions by Joe Parker, genealogist.) 

Next, the Walt O. Holliman Manuscripts are ready for emailing.  Lists shortly to be posted in this space.

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....

A Holliman History by Walter O. Holliman, Part II

 by Glenn N. Holliman


This is the second in a series of a history of the Holliman family written by Walter O. Holliman in 1995 and edited in 1996.  


In the 1995 document with which we begin below, Walt presents a 1990s interpretation of the Holyman family in England.  As readers of this blog know, we now have evidence that the American Hollimans emerged from Bedford and Buckinghamshires in the 17th and 16th Centuries.  


This first generation provided by Walt is curious, and he hesitated to include it in his work.  I have hesitated also, but feel there may be some clues worth exploring now that we have the Internet.  He quotes the late Dr. Charles Holliman of North Carolina for a considerable portion of his information of our family's early Virginia history.  


Unfortunately Walt was not able to obtain original sources for much of Dr. Holliman's work.  For example, information from my research in England does give a hint that Hollimans emerged from London, as early as the 1400s, but the name George Holliman is unknown to me.  A Holliman as a member of the London Stock Company?!  This startling statement certainly calls for more research.


Also, the Bermuda assertion is curious.  There was an amazing amount of slave and tobacco trade between Bermuda and Virginia in the 1600s.  While there is evidence of one Richard Holliman, a son of Christopher Holyman, Sr., transporting settlers to Virginia by ship, this writer has not seen as of yet, any evidence of Hollimans living in Bermuda.

The next page below  requires careful review.  Walt states Thomas Holliman is the son of George Hollyman, and was a stockholder in the London Company.  Cavaliers and Pioneers, p. 30-31 is cited as the source.  This requires investigation as this thesis is completely new to this writer.


In the next sentence, Walt records as have others, of one Thomas Holeman, acquiring land in Martin's Hundred in 1635 near Jamestown.  The speculation on one Thomas Harvey is the first time I have seen such.  Alas, Charles Holliman is quoted in several places but with no annotation.  


Item 3 below merges several persons and events, and one cannot be sure if Christopher Holyman is born in Virginia or transported there with his sister.  This writer does not accept this page's interpretation as accurate as much more evidence is available today than in the early 1990s.  Again, I urge a careful reading of my earlier writings at this blog spot.

Below, with the next generation, Walt moves to surer ground.  His first source is George A. Holleman's 1953 book and some speculation of our English roots.  In paragraph 3, Walt again quotes Dr. Charles Holliman on Christopher Holyman's age and gives a Surry County deposition as the source.  Hmmmm....  The rest of the page is a valuable listing of Christopher Holyman, Sr.'s legal and land records in Virginia.  Here we see Walt produce his solid research with which he will be flooding us in future articles.

The page below reflects Walt's partial acceptance of Dr. Charles Holliman's thesis that Walt's descent from Christopher Holyman, Sr. is through Thomas Holliman, a son born ca 1655, dying 1734.  The information Walt records is valuable, but he is dubious that James Grantson Holliman is through Thomas.  Today, several learned Holliman genealogists believe descent from Christopher Sr. is through his son Richard Holliman to his son Samuel Holliman.

Notice person 18, iv. Samuel Holliman on the page below.  This writer believes his descent from Christopher Holyman, Sr. is through Richard to Samuel to James Grantson Holliman.  Walt  accepts the Samuel thesis himself later in his manuscript.

So we tip our hat to both Dr. Charles Holliman and Walt O. Holliman for their work almost two decades or more ago.  Now in the Internet age and with access to English archives, the early interpretations have changed considerably, but we still salute their efforts and recognize that genealogy is always a process that requires research and constant critique. 


Next posting, we continue Walt's Holliman history....

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXVI

by Glenn N. Holliman

Christopher Holliman, Sr's. Will, a Further Look...

In the last posting, I published the will of my ancestor, Christopher Holliman, Sr., died 1691.  Christopher left his two married daughters, Anne and Mary, not land, but one ewe each. That may seem unfair to 21st Century standards, but there were probably mitigating circumstances.

1. When they married their neighbor's sons, the Atkinsons, they married men who were expected to support their wives and children, and were expected to inherit land, just as did the Holliman sons.

2. The Atkinsons may very well have been provided doweries, thus in effect receiving their inheritances upon marriage.

3. Symbolically Anne and Mary both received an ewe, a female sheep. Most clothing worn by families in the 1600s of Colonial Virginia was home spun, that is clothes from the spinning of sheep wool. An ewe could become pregnant, and those produce additional sheep and wool for the family. Cotton would not become a cloth of choice until the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s in Georgia.

The will left everything else including land to the wife, Mary, during her lifetime. At her passing, two sons (but not all four) received the remainder. Hmmmm....perhaps Christopher Sr. was trying to be fair to all, or perhaps he favored two of his sons, Christopher and Richard, over Thomas and William.   Perhaps he had distributed some land earlier to these sons. We will never know.

Mention is made of orchards, an important supplement to the Colonial Virginia diet.  Until English persons were able to plant and harvest apples, the lack of fruit and subsequent vitamins had resulted in malnutrician and many early deaths.

Notice no slaves or indentured servants are mentioned in the Holliman will.  Although African-American slavery existed in the 1690s in Virginia, and the Assembly was passing more and more draconian slave laws, the great increase in importation of Africans would not occur until after 1700.  Tragically by 1790, one out of five Americans (700,000) would be enslaved, an incredible statistic. Virginia and South Carolina had the largest populations of trapped human beings.

Of considerable interest is the importance of the tobacco culture in his will.  The cultivation of tobacco, the cash crop, was critical.  The volume below by husband and wife historians tells the story of Middlesex county, Virginia during the 17th Century.  The Rutmans record that a whole tobacco crop of seeds could be cupped in one hand.  These tiny seeds were placed in dirt hills, three to four feet apart. It was not even necessary to clean the land completely; just girdle the trees.

No more equipment was needed than a hoe.  One laborer would 'crop' two to three acres which produced 1100 to 1200 pounds of cured tobacco.  Corn could be interspersed with the tobacco.  After a few years, when the soil was exhausted, the planter moved to new acres, and allowed hogs and cattle to graze on the abandoned land, allowing time and animal mature to re-nourish the soil.

The Rutmans published this cycle of a typical colonial agriculture year (see below and click to enlarge).  With very little imagination, we can picture our ancestors working this pattern year after year. Not to be reproduced for commercial purposes.

In future postings, we shall follow the fortunes of the Holliman children and their descendants....

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXV

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Will of Christopher Holliman, Sr.
Isle of Wight County, Virginia 1691


Below is Christopher Holyman's (Holliman, Holleman, etc) Virginia will of 1691.  This is an easy to read version, but it is authentic and  prepared, I believe, by a distant cousin.  The original was filed in the Isle of Wight when William and Mary occupied the thrones of England.  The colonies were almost a century away from George Washington, another Virginia, becoming President of the United States.  Let's examine the will and see what we can learn.  (Click on will to enlarge.)

We note first of all a salutation common to English and colonial wills of the time, a statement of faith and belief in Christ Jesus. These faith statements are less common today. Christopher's grave is lost.  Until the late 18th century, grave stones were rare in the colonies and virtually none at all in the 1600s Virginia.  A family cemetery is now located adjacent to the current 1830s two-story brick Holleman house on the site of the original 1,020 acres that Christopher Holliman, Sr. owned.  One suspects this might be the location of the first home, certainly a log house, and family grave sites  (Click Archives and visit articles  April 2010.)

Distant cousins visit at the original Christopher Holyman, Sr. (1618 - 1691) plantation in July 2011.  Pictured above at the Holleman farm in Isle of Wight County, Virginia are left to right, Bryan Payne (Tennessee), Alice Holliman Murphy (Texas), and Spenser and Corey Holleman, brothers who live at the original site.  This Holleman family cemetery, with the earliest headstones from the first decades of the 1800s, may have been the location of the grave of Christopher Holyman, Sr.

 Let's look at the bequests:

Thomas - Christopher had deeded already a plot of land to this son.  The number of acres is not mentioned for any of the bequests.

William - This son received that portion of land between Thomas's plantation and the neighbor, William Gualtney (later spelled Gwaltney and of Welsh origin).  The Gualtney's in the late 1800s will become merchants, first selling peanuts and later hams.  These are now the famous Smithfield Hams of Isle of Wight County.  Many of the Queen Anne style homes of downtown Smithfield were constructed from the financial success of the family.  Records indicate Holliman daughters married Gualtney's from time to time.

Christopher, Jr. - This first borne son received his cleared land and buildings already constructed.

Richard - The youngest son received land for tobacco growing, timbering and clearing more if he wished.  His bequest is the only mention of the principle crop - tobacco - and a bequest of a tobacco barn.  Richard continued  what became my branch of the family tree as he is my 6th great grandfather.  More on him later in my writings.

Next posting, more analysis of this 17th Century family will....

When We Were English, Part XXXIV

Have We Found the English Family of Christopher Holyman, Sr. of Virginia? by Glenn N. Holliman


Let’s play family history detective.  Here are the facts and what can be deduced.

1.     Christopher, according to family historian Peter Smith of Bedfordshire, was an uncommon first name in the 1500s and 1600s, so locating the name in 1589 is important.  In all my research, I have not found it ANY WHERE ELSE in England attached to the surname Holyman or one of its various spellings, except, of course, for the 1618 birth of Christopher Holyman in Bedford.

The parish church in Sherington, Buckinghamshire is named after St. Laud of France.  It is just possible that my generation's 9th great grandfather, Christopher Holyman's dust, may be embedded in the grounds surrounding this 19th Century restoration.


First names are often repeated from one generation to another.  Thomas of 1589 and 1595, is he the same Thomas Hollyman who marries in Bedford, Bedfordshire at St. Peter’s in 1609?

3.    And the Christopher Holyman born in Bedford in 1618 to Thomas, is he a grandson and named after the 1589 Christopher of Sherington, Buckinghamshire?

The Great River Ouse (yes, that is the name of this lazy 'river')  flows from Sherington to Bedford.  Here the stream meanders past Tyringham House, a great county estate a few miles west of Sherington.  Yes, the river flows west for a bit and then turns north and finally east, moving through Bedford and eventually to the North Sea.

4.    Sherington is upriver on the Great River Ouse which flows through Bedford, two blocks from St. Mary’s parish where Christopher Holyman, b. 1618, was baptized. Sherington is approximately 12 walking miles from Bedford.  Hmmmm.....

5.     We can find no records of Holymans in Sherington parish records after 1602 (and no records exist prior to 1603, except 1576 and no Hollymans that year).

6.     No records exist in Bedford, Bedfordshire prior to 1609 on Hollymans.

7.     No records exist in Bedford recording the death of Christopher Holyman, b. 1618, or his sister, Judith, b 1621, in Bedford.  (Of course not if they died in Virginia!)

The clues point to a connection....

When We Were English, Part XXVII

A LOOK DEEP INTO THE BEDFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES

by Glenn N. Holliman

Last June, with the help of Bedfordshire family historian, Peter Smith (photo below), we explored the Bedfordshire, England Archives.  

In addition to our reading microfilm of 17^th Century parish records, the archivists (see photo below) open the files of the almost 400 year old Bishop’s Transcripts (copies held by the dioceses of parish records). 

 I held the transcripts and viewed the names of Christopher and Judith Holyman (see below), born in 1618 and 1621.  The father’s name is given as Thomas.

If there be any question about the authenticity of these two persons, that is put to rest.  

Is this then truly the Christopher who sailed to Jamestown and inhabited the Isle of Wight County?  Were there other Christopher’s in England at this time?  Can we find more evidence to support the Bedford thesis or disprove it?

Can we find the birthplace of Thomas Holyman who married in 1609 and sired Christopher Holyman, born 1618?  When did this Thomas die and where?  The parish records do not tell us, yet.

Are there other places and archives in England to investigate?

Let’s keep looking….

When We Were English, Part XXV

Are We Bedfordshire Holymans?
by Glenn N. Holliman


According to parish records,  Thomas Holiman (Holyman) of Bedford, who may or may not have been born fifteen or so miles south in Woburn, married at St. Peter’s Church in Bedford in 1609 to Helenara Poynard.  Roger Smith suggests the name Helena might be Eleanor, and Poynard, which is not yet found in other Bedford records, may be P’nard or Peynard.  Spellings were not yet ‘settled’ nor is the handwriting of parish administrators always legible.

St. Mary's parish is today an archaeological trust facility, and has long since ceased to be a place of Anglican worship.  The building and cemetery stand on a busy street corner, two blocks from the river and across the street from Bedford College.  Imagine if you will four hundred years ago, no automobiles, only muddy streets, horse carts and the Holyman couple having their children baptised in this parish.  How many of them now reside in the cemetery?  We don't know.

Again according to parish records, this couple had the following children, all baptized at St. Mary’s Church in south Bedford, two blocks from the River Great Ouse (a wonderful name!).

John, b 1610 (was he named after a grandfather?)

Eleanor, b and d 1612 (may have been named after her mother)

Joan, b 1613

Thomas, b 1616 (named after his father)

Christopher, b 1618 (the believed to be emigrant to Jamestown, Virginia in 1650)

Judith, b 1621 (the believed to be emigrant to Jamestown, Virginia in 1650)

Eleanor, b 1625 (named after her mother and deceased sister)

Stephen, b 1625

Mary, b 1628

Tombstones were rare in 17th Century England (as in Virginia).  This one of a grieving angel in St. Mary's grave yard, is only from the 1800s.  Coal smoke and  pollution have worn away the stone carving.  The cemetery, like the church, is abandoned but the lawn is kept up and the grass mowed.  Do our 8th great grandfather, Thomas, and his wife lie in these grounds?

As discussed in earlier articles, a John Holiman died in Virginia in 1650, and a Thomas Holiman (or Holman) took possession of land at Martin’s Hundred, Virginia in 1636.  Are John and Thomas  from this same family, and is this the encouragement that led to Christopher and Judith to leave for Jamestown, Virginia? 

Encouragement Christopher and Judith undoubtedly had, but the 1636 Thomas in Virginia is most probably not the off spring of Thomas who married in Bedford in 1609.  Parish records indicate a Thomas Holiman married in 1639 at St. Paul’s, Bedford, and my guess this is the second son of the 1609 marriage.  Tragically, a son Matthew, died was buried at St. Paul's in 1640.

Next posting….a visit to Woburn and the Heritage Center there.

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXIV

Joe Parker is a diligent researcher of Holliman family history tracing his ancestry back to Christopher Holyman, Sr.  He  has  facts at his finger tips on the family from the early 1600s in Bedford, Bedfordshire to his 21st Century relatives in his home state of Texas.  Below, he shares his observations on just who those early Holymans were and what could their relationships be to one another. - Glenn N. Holliman


Christopher, Judith and John Holliman, some Additional Information concerning their Emigration to Virginia
by Joe Parker  


The Headrights of Christopher and Judith Holyman 


In 1650 when they arrived in Jamestown, both Christopher and Judith Holyman received head rights to acreage in the Virginia Colony.  My understanding is that when a man received a head right to any block of land, the wife also has ownership of that tract, by privilege of being married to the man who received the acreage.

This 1751 work depicts a colonial dock with hogsheads of tobacco on the wharf.  West bound from England, the ships would carry English goods and immigrants.  East bound from Virginia to England, tobacco in casts would be the item transported.

Why then would - Judith in this case - receive separate notice of receiving such acreage, unless she was possibly recipient of such land as a separate individual?  Conclusion, Judith was not the wife of Christopher, but yes, as the Bedfordshire English parish records indicate, more likely was his sister. - Joe Parker


Genealogist Robert W. Baird in his web site Understanding Headrights publishes the following which helps us to grasp more fully some of the reasons our Holymans might have come to the Virginia colony.


"The headright origin is found in the London Company’s “Greate Charter” of 1618:

“That for all persons…which during the next seven years after Midsummer Day 1618 shall go into Virginia with the intent there to inhabite, if they continue there three years or dye after they are shipped there shall be a grant made of fifty acres for every person… which grants shall be made respectively to such persons and their heirs at whose charges the said persons going to inhabite in Virginia shall be transported…”

• There were no restrictions on age or gender.  Headrights could be, and often were, children.  In fact, many imported indentured servants were teenagers.
• Persons settled in Virginia who subsequently left the colony and returned were sometimes successfully claimed as headrights.   A number of patents claimed importation of a specific person “the second time” or the “the third time” (or in one case, a total of six times.)   Although this seems contradictory to the spirit of the system, it appears to have been an accepted practice from the very beginning, for several Ancient Planters claimed multiple rights for their own arrivals in Virginia.  
• Because there was no system for validating or accounting for headright usage, headrights were often claimed more than once, and persons who had no “intent to inhabit” were used as headrights.  More on this later.

Hmmm....much to consider here as we look not just to the mid-1600s, but also the late 1600s and early 1700s and see the Holliman family utilizing the 'headright system'. - GNH

Keeping an Open Mind on just Who was John Holleman

As to John Holleman, who died in 1650 in Northampton County, Virginia, I have an open mind on this individual.  The fact that he left no worldly goods to any children should be looked at carefully.  He may have divided his fortune with his children (if any) before his death, and this could have left him virtually penniless at death.  John left his remaining goods to a friend who would help to settle the estate.  Conversely, this John Holleman could have been the husband of Judith, who arrived two weeks after  his death in Virginia.  Or John could have been her brother, born 1612 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.

I am not forming any set opinions until we search more in the Bedfordshire Archives and study additional works.  For now, I will return to my review of passenger lists of boats arriving in the Virginia Colony in the 17th and 18th Centuries.  - Joe Parker, Texas

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXIII

Exploring Further Possible Connections Between the English Civil War and the Early Holymans of Virginia
by Robert Holloman


During the past several articles, Robert Holloman, a descendant of Christopher Holyman, Sr., has been exploring connections between participants in the English Civil War and the arrival of the Holymans to Colonial Virginia.  In this posting, he proposes additional  evidence that suggests the Holymans were sympathetic to Charles I's forces in the fight with Parliament.  One remembers Charles I was executed in 1649, and many of his supporters fled the country.  Were some who fled the Holymans? - Glenn N. Holliman

My premise that the English Civil War sparked the emigration of Christopher Hollyman (and/or Judith) to Virginia is obviously not original as many families trace some of their American roots to this period.  Documenting the Hollyman (Holyman, Holliman, Holloman, etc) migration is challenging.  I have scattered notes and quotes about the topic that I continue to try and arrange in manageable order.

One is struck by comments such as in Richard L. Morton's Colonial Virginia, Vol. I, the Tidewater Period 1607 - 1710 (UNC Press, 1960) where on p. 166 is stated: "After Prince Charles's defeat in 1651 at Worcester, 1,610 Royalist prisoners were granted their request to be sent to Virginia."  Although Charles's army was predominately Scottish and not English at Worcester, prior to the battle his army had grown by the influx of English royalist supporters as it had moved south into England from Scotland.

This 19th Century engraving depicts the success of Oliver Cromwell and his forces over the future Charles II at Worcester, England in 1651.  After the battle, Prince Charles escaped and hide for a while in an oak tree, since known as the 'Royal Oak'.  Cromwell died in 1658 and in 1660, the Stuart family, Charles II, was restored to the throne of England.

Parliament decreed in September 1651 that all prisoners below the rank of Captain were to be sent to the plantations.  Prisoners from Chester, Worcester, Liverpool and Shrewsbury were sent to Bristol for transportation to Virginia and Bermuda.

A large number of these left with the annual Virginia fleet in the fall of 1651.  This fleet would join with Sir George Ayscue's fleet in Barbados where he was engaged in fighting to subdue Royalist forces that were then controlling the colony.

In December, Ayscue hired 150 prisoners from the fleet to join with his marines for a successful assault on Speight's Town.  In January 1652, Barbados submitted to Ayscue as the Virginia fleet continued to Jamestown.  The Virginia arrival of the Worcester prisoners is captured in the record of arrival of  270 prisoners from the ship including some of my non-Holliman ancestors, John and Sarah Bridger, who entered the colony as indentured servants. I cannot find any Hollimans on the list but I can not be totally certain because many names are not legible.

I have found other interesting connections between the English Civil War and Christopher Hollyman.  One of the first records of Christopher Holyman, Sr in Virginia is his granting of power of attorney to Thomas Pittman in 1660.  According to Pittman family websites, Thomas Pittman was a royalist officer who arrived in Virginia in 1649 from Monmouthshire, England.  Furthering this connection between the Pittman and Holyman families, his grandson, Thomas Pittman III would later marry Christopher's son William Holliman's widow, Mary Chambers Holliman in 1704.

As my descendants continuously lived in Virginia and North Carolina though my father and mother's generation, through the years I have discovered other members of my families who were Royalist immigrants.  For example, Joseph Bridger, who was born in Dursley, Gloucestershire, was a Royalist officer.  Joseph  Bridger arrived in the mid-1650s and is known to have brought several supporters with him to Virginia. After arrival he would prosper and become one of the leading citizens of Isle of Wight County.

His descendant Sarah Bridger, my 2nd great- great grandmother married  my 2nd great-great father Jesse Holloman in 1867.  Another descendant of mine, Thomas Carter, Sr, a Royalist arrived in 1650.  Charlotte Carter is my 4th great-grandmother.

Although I am skeptical that each story of a royalist emigrant to Virginia between 1645 and 1660 has a basis in fact, I argue that given the dates of Christopher Holyman's arrival in Virginia, that the English Civil War had to have played a prominent roll in the decision to emigrate.  Hopefully, with more research, a data trail can shed further light on this proposition. - Robert Holloman

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXII

This continues a series of articles by cousin Robert Holloman, a B.A. in history from the University of Virginia.  In the previous article Robert explored our possible royalist connections in the English Civil War.  In this post, he presents information and raises questions on who transported our ancestors to Virginia.  Again evidence points one in the direction of Bedfordshire, England as the origin of the Holliman (and various spellings) families in the New World. - Glenn N. Holliman


Who were the Sponsors of the First Virginia Holymans?

by Robert Holloman

In regards to the early settlement of Holymans in Virginia,  I have been attempting to track down information on the named sponsors of Judith and Christopher (and William in 1656) Holliman. According to records, these sponsors were John Cos(x), Thos. Wilkinson, John Sherlock and Thomas Rolph (William's sponsor). In May 1650, John Cox received 1,000 acres of land in Northumberland County on the south side of the Rappahannock River, for the transport of twenty persons including two John Coxes, Elizabeth Cox, Xtopher Holleman and Judath Halloman.

Below in the center of this map by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1751, one will find Northumberland and Lancaster Counties.  Just below the left red line is the Rappahannock River; above are Lancaster and Northumberland Counties. Click on the map to enlarge.

In August 1653, John Sherlock received land in Lancaster County (which was created from Northumberland County in 1652) for the transport of three persons that included Epper a (possible corruption of Christopher?) Holliman, and another grant in November 1653 for the transport of four persons that included both Judith and Christoper Holliman.

A possible connection to both John Cox and Christopher Hollyman is a Vincent Cox who was transported to Virginia as an indentured servant to a Richard Cole on the ship Honor in October 1649.  His birth in 1632 can be traced to Bedford.  His father was Henry Cox, and he had a younger brother, John Cox but that brother died ten days after birth in 1634 according to Bedfordshire record.  In 1653 Cox and Cole legally disputed the end to his term of indenture and that legal fight provides us today the detailed record to trace his passage from England.  After winning his release, Vincent Cox settled in Westmoreland County (which was also created from Northumberland County in 1652) and later would receive land in both counties several times in the 1660s.

Both the Wilkinsons and the Coxes are known to have property in Isle of Wight County in the time period of Christopher and Judith's arrivals.  The Cox and Wilkinson families later intermarried.

There is a recent 2006 (expanding a 1996) book on the history of the Wilkinsons entitled The Wilkinsons of Isle of Wight, Surry and Sussex Counties and Related Families (including Cox) by Gene Cox Wilkinson and George Carroll Wilkinson. I have recently attempted to contact the authors to see where in England these families had originated and any information on Cox and Wilkinson's activities in the years of Christopher and Judith, but have had not had success as yet.- Robert Holloman


More in the next post concerning possible Royalist connections....

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XXI

by Glenn N. Holliman

Were the Holymans Royalists Escaping the English Civil War?

Part I by Robert Holloman

Why did the Holymans come to Virginia at the time they did?  A descendant of Christopher Holyman, Sr., Robert Holloman, who holds a B.A. in history from the University of Virginia, recently shared this hypothesis with me.  With his permission, I share it with the larger family.  This is interesting reading, and points out more research is needed.  This is part one of several articles. - Glenn N. Holliman

Ironically near the end of the English Civil War in 1648, the English King, Charles the First, was incarcerated by Commonwealth troops on the Isle of Wight, England (not of course Isle of Wight County, Virginia where the Holymans were to live).  In this political cartoon Isle of Wight is labeled the Ile of Wait as the leaders of the rebellion, Oliver Cromwell, and others were trying to decide what to do with the defeated King.  A court  found the King guilty of treason, and he went to the executioner's block (see below).

One approach I have recently been exploring is to investigate whether there is a connection between the events of the English Civil War and the emigration of the Hollimans to Virginia. Bedfordshire, England is an area that gave strong support to Parliament against King Charles. If the Bedford Hollimans were royalist supporters, there may be records of fines they paid since royalists were required to pay to Parliament to either avoid military service or to support Parliament's campaigns.

As John, Thomas, Christopher and even Stephen Holliman of Bedford would have been of age to serve in the military, there may be records that reveal if any had served and in what capacity. The National Archives at Kew has a guide to researchers about records it holds of the English civil war and other potential sources - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/civil-war-soldiers.htm.

Could John Holliman have been a Royalist Supporter?

John Holliman's emigration to Virginia and his possession of a cutlass as evidenced by his will (1650) intrigues me. As we know, Virginia (and Maryland) remained supportive of royalists through 1651 when Cromwell sent a fleet to suppress Virginia. His representatives replaced the governor, William Berkeley, who had been appointed by Charles in 1641. This is the same William Berkeley who later in his second stint as governor would pardon Christopher Hollyman and his son after Bacon's rebellion in 1676.

 I think if John (Holyman who died 1650) had  emigrated from England in the 1640's, it could be he was a royalist supporter. Northampton County in Virginia where he died had previously been called Accomac Shire and was renamed Northampton County by the Virginia colony in 1644 to honor Lord Compton, Earl of Northampton, a royalist military leader who died at the battle of Hopton Heath in 1643.


Judith and Christopher Holliman - Royalists or Puritans?


Another interesting question for me is reconciling the multiple Jamestown landing records for Christopher and Judith Holleman. As there are records indicating both Christopher and Judith's arrivals in both 1650 or 1653, to me these two dates represent very different political regimes in the Virginia colony. The unapologetic, royalist era ended in March 1652 when Richard Bennett became governor. He was one of the few Puritans in the Virginia Land Company and also part of a major founding family in Isle of Wight County that over the years recruited hundreds of settlers to Virginia.

While there is strong evidence that the marketing campaigns of the Virginia company and its landholders presenting Virginia as a paradise attracted Englishmen of all persuasions between 1645 and 1670, the change of Governors in 1652 may have resulted in the perception of greater opportunity in Virginia for those who had supported Parliament and Puritans in particular. - Robert Holloman, a multiple great grandson of Christopher Holliman, Sr (d 1691)

The King represented Divine Right rule.  Parliament forces fostered representative democracy.  The Royalist forces were eventually defeated in battle, the King imprisoned and tried for treason.  King Charles I lost his head (see below) and the Commonwealth came into being.  In 1660 the monarchy was restored and King Charles II came to the throne.  The Stuarts always had troubles with various Parliaments and in 1688, James II was forced from the throne.  He fled to France rather than losing his head (literally) as had his father..

Comment on the above intriguing article by Robert Holloman, distant cousin, is most welcome.....Another article on possible Royalist connections continues in the next posting.

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XX

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Empire Strikes Back

With the premature death of Nathaniel Bacon, the rebellion in 1676 in Colonial Virginia began to die for lack of leadership. Royal Governor William Berkeley returned from exile on the eastern shore of Virginia, and began to reek vengeance with a rope. Before King Charles II and his new colonial appointees could stop the aged and angry governor, over 20 rebels went to the gallows.

When news of the rebellion reached London, the King and his council responded dynamically. For the first time in Colonial American history, troops from England entered the colonies to restore law and order and suppress a rebellion against the Royal Government. Over 1,000 British soldiers arrived with new civilian leadership in tow. Berkeley was summarily dismissed, and sent back to England to explain the rebellion and his actions. Before he could appear before Council, he had the good fortune to die of natural causes.

King Charles II, whose government had grown dependent of taxes from Chesapeake tobacco, was furious that Berkeley and his government had 'squeezed' the tobacco planters too tightly. The ability of the Crown to collect taxes had been jeopardized, and the complaints of the planters had best be addressed.

Virginia historian John Boddie reports that over 80 enlisted men and their officers were billeted in homes in Isle of Wight County for up to a year in 1677 and 1678. As in the 1770s in Boston, Massachusetts having civilians board soldiers quickly created stress and a financial burden on the home. Rowdy troops rapidly wore out their welcome. Here in America for the first time were planted the seeds of the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution.

Perhaps the presence of troops encouraged both Christpher Holyman Sr. and Jr. to join seventy or so of their fellow Isle of Wight citizens to sign a 1677 petition begging the pardon of the Royal Government and pledging loyalty to the same.

Again from John Boddie, "We humbly beg and lay hold of His Majesties most gracious Pardon, for as much as we, or some of us, at sometime or the other, since this Horrid Rebellion through fear, force or otherwise, deviated from our duties and allegiance to His Most Sacred Majesty."

This bit of public crawling seems to have moderated some of the anger of the new governor, Herbert Jeffreys, who wanted nothing so much as the planters to return to their fields and generate both tobacco and tax revenues. Our Holymans, caught in the middle of a vicious civil quarrel, survived and continued their lives as farmers along Blackwater River branch known as Middle Swamp.

We can surmise Christopher Jr's birthday as he had to be at least 21 to sign the petition. He now has officially appeared in a public record. In future postings, we will attempt to trace his life.

Next post, More on the Holyman family of Colonial Virginia.....

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XIX

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Rebellion Close to the Holyman Plantation

By the fall of 1676 Nathaniel Bacon's revolt had attracted hundreds of adherents, some who took delight in ransacking the homes and plantations of wealthy planters. A few of the rebels were of the planter class themselves, the most visible to history being one William Byrd, whose descendants would prosper financially, leave diaries and a political dynasty. (In the 1700s one Mary Byrd of this family would marry a grandson of Christopher, Sr.)

Other rebels, hundreds of young men in fact, were indentured servants and African-American slaves, an interesting mingling of persons, generally of a less economically prosperous class. The presence of armed Blacks during this period would later result in the House of Burgess passing highly restrictive slave codes in Colonial Virginia. As far as this writer knows this would be the last time that poor whites and Blacks would make common cause against a white power structure in Southern history prior to the Civil War. For the next several hundred years, white racial prejudice would overwhelm the common economic interests these two groups could have shared .

Isle of Wight and neighboring Surry County produced both supporters of Bacon and defenders of Governor Berkeley. Historian John Boddie in his work 17th Century Isle of Wight records numerous conflicts amongst neighbors and the forces of the Crown and the rebellion. A Major Arthur Allen, a prominent Crown supporter, fled his home near the James River, not fifteen miles north east of the Holyman plantation. Constructed in 1665, and still one of the finest examples of 17th Century Jacobian architecture remaining in the western hemisphere, the home was occupied for four months in 1676/77 by William Rookings, other commanders and up to seventy supporters of Bacon.

The rebellion collapsed in the late fall of 1676 after Bacon died of dysentery, and his body buried in the York River. Allen recovered the home in 1677 and later sued the occupants of his home for damages. This wealthy neighbor of the Holymans would not doubt be angry that his residence has become known as 'Bacon's Castle' after his nemesis! Today the home is on the National Register of Historic Places, is administered by the Association of the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and is open to the public. Google Bacon's Castle and view the home and read its history.

Bare in mind, this is one of the few examples of 17th Century brick construction surviving in North America. The Holymans and 99% of other Virginians at the time were living in unpainted wooden structures that in a short time disappeared to natural decay or fire. Virtually no 17th structures remain in Virginia. Bacon's Castle is one of the few.

During your next trip to Jamestown and Williamsburg, do cross west over the James River, visit the museum in Smithfield, the Holleman home near the Mill Swamp Baptist Church in Isle of Wight County and nearby Bacon's Castle.

Next posting, the Empire Strikes Back!

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XVIII

by Glenn N. Holliman

Why the Holyman's were Caught in the Middle of Bacon's Rebellion

The painting at right is Sir William Berkeley (1606 - 1677), a well-educated Englishman appointed by Charles I during the English Civil War to govern the colony of Virginia. He was successful when he arrived in 1642 to defeat the latest Powhatan Indian attacks and usher in a period of peace. Turned out in the early 1650s by the Commonwealth, he returned with the Stuart Restoration. He grew old in the position and became content with loyal assemblymen from a House of Burgess that sat from 1661 to 1676. Bacon's Rebellion resulted in the burning of his capitol, Jamestown, the loss of his post and eventually his recall to London. He died in 1677 before he could defend his actions before the Court.

In the 1671 Surry County, Virginia Record Book, p. 2 is this fascinating insight into our family and the Virginia colony on the eve of a great civil rebellion. It is recorded in George A. Holleman's original history of Hollymans in 1952.

"Att a courte houlden att Southwarke for he County Mar. 5, 1671...Upon complaint of Christo Holiman itt manifestly apearinge that the Coppahunck Indians have kild two hoggs of ye said Holiman. Itt is ordered that Capt. Pipsicoe within thee months make payment unto ye said Holiman of Six Buck and Six doe well drest Skins & in Case itt doe apeare heere after that any Indian shall Kill any hogg or hogs of ye English that they shall pay for every Hog by them Kild twnety Buck skins."

Well, what to make of this?

1. Surry County, founded from James City County in 1647, lies just north and west of Isle of Wight County.

2. The parish of Southwarke was located across the Isle of Wight County line. The plantation of Christopher Holyman straddled the county lines, and his theft occurred in Surry County. Many Holyman descendants will move into Surry County and from there to Johnston County, North Carolina in the 1700s.

3. The Indians were Quiyoughcohanocks (Cohanocks), allied with the Algonquian Powhatan Confederacy. This tribe had participated in the Good Friday Massacre of 1622 which almost wiped out the Virginia colony.

4. Subsequently, the Virginia House of Burgesses had passed draconian legislation that any Indian who crossed the Blackwater River could be shot on sight! The Holyman plantation was (and parts of it still are) adjacent to Surry County and the Blackwater River.

5. The 1670s saw considerable Indian unrest up and down the eastern seaboard. In 1675 the tension burst into King Phillip's War in New England. Thousands, both white and red, died in the greatest outburst of violence to that date in the English colonies.

6. As in New England, the increasing dissatisfaction with the population increase of the English settlements, let to Indian resistance in Maryland and Virginia. The population of Virginia more than doubled from 15,000 to over 30,000 by the 1670s further encroaching on Indian lands.

7. The theft of hogs from the Holymans was a typical incident between the English and Indians. The English,  who went armed and hunted deer for food and hides (a valuable commodity), evidently had little sense they were reducing the caloric intake possibilities of Indians. Indians felt that since whites could enter their hunting lands, and take game, they were entitled to enter English farms and take livestock! Tit for tat one would say.

The Hollimans and other colonialists did not see it that way.

Multiply these incidents by the dozens, add indiscriminate murders by both colonists and Native Americans, mix with land hunger by the English and decrease of hunting land by the Indians, and one has the recipe for another Indian War. In fact a murder of Nathaniel Bacon's overseer near Richmond, Virginia triggered a vigilante response led by Bacon. A peaceful Indian village near the North Carolina border was wiped out, and Indian women and children brutally murdered by Bacon's irregulars.

This was in defiance of Governor William Berkeley, a long serving administrator who wanted to build forts rather than unleash the militia. Those living on the edge of the frontier, presumably including the Holymans, desired immediate offensive action against Native Americans. Although Berkeley was furious with Bacon's actions as he had tried sincerely to maintain the peace, the rugged take-charge, take-no-prisoners attitude of Bacon attracted many colonial adherents.

Bacon also demanded reduction of taxes on tobacco, the money crop for almost all colonialists. Tobacco prices had plummeted in the recent decade due to too many settlers growing too much of Nicotiana tabacum. The English Navigation Act of 1663 forbade the colonists from trading with any nations other than the English. With Dutch and Spanish markets cut off directly from Virginia, there were fewer outlets and competition for the increasing supply of tobacco. Yet while income went down, taxes remained the same.

Something had to give.

Give it did with Bacon's Rebellion, a toxic brew of racial strife, physical fear, land lust and a burdensome tax load. Planters such as the Holyman's had to be sorely tempted to use force to defend the frontier and do something to reduce taxes. Some of the Holyman neighbors did join Bacon, and the result was strife in and around Isle of Wight County.

The Holymans, caught between two forces, remained loyal to the Crown.

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part XVII

by Glenn N. Holliman

Bacon's Rebellion - The Virginia Civil War Before the American Revolution

Some have called it the precursor to the 1776 Revolution, only one hundred years earlier. Actually, my reading of the violence and pain of 1676 Colonial Virginia is more of that of a Civil War. Two factions, one wealthier and in power, and the other less wealthy, less powerful and feeling physically threatened by Native Americans, clashed over taxes and 'homeland' security.

The insurgents, hundreds of white and some Black young men, rallied around Nathaniel Bacon, age 32, a cousin by marriage to the Virginia Royal Governor, and a planter near the Falls that is now Richmond, Virginia. A number of issues led to Bacon's revolt which resulted in brutal attacks on Indian villages, the rousting of the Royal Government and the burning, of all places, Jamestown, the capitol. Many died and many were hung by a recovering Royal authority.

Were Christopher Holyman, Sr., a planter with a thousand acres or so, and his children caught up in these events? Yes, they were. The Holymans had some legitimate grievances, but when push came to shove, they opted to support the Royal Governor, one William Berkeley. For that no Holyman swung by their necks as did 22 rebels in the autumn of 1676, including a few of their neighbors.

Still the standard for understanding Bacon's Rebellion is Wilcomb E. Washburn's 1955 work. It is fair, balanced and points out the issues on both sides.

Numerous historians have provided excellent interpretations of the events of the rebellion such as Alan Taylor's, American Colonies and especially Edmund S. Morgan's American Slavery, American Freedom.

Next Post, the Rebellion and Why the Holyman's were Caught in the Middle....