Carson in Florida

The Carson Family

From Washington County, Virginia
To Rockcastle County, Kentucky
To Jellico, Tennessee
To Davie, Broward County, Florida

James Holman (Holdman, Holeman)
Born: about 1814 in Madison County, Kentucky
Died: about 1886 in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky

James Holman (Holdman, Holeman) was born about 1814 in Madison County, Kentucky. He lived in the area of Brodhead and Crab Orchard, Kentucky, which are on the border of three Kentucky counties: Lincoln, Garrard, and Rockcastle.

On June 4, 1835 in Garrard County, Kentucky, James Holman was married to Martha Ramsey, the daughter of Alexander Ramsey, by Baptist minister Benjamin Polston.

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The results of the DNA tests show that the descendant of James Holeman, b. 1814 is:

"very tightly related" to the descendant of the Daniel Holman who was born about 1787 in North Carolina, had children in Tennessee, and homesteaded in Douglas, Missouri;

"very tightly related" to the descendant of the Kenneth Holeman who died in 1871 in Upperfreehold, Monmouth Co., New Jersey who is thought to be a descendant of Robert Holeman, died 1709 in New Jersey;

"related" to a descendant of the Elias Holeman (1759 - 1827, Burlington County, New Jersey); and

"related" to the descendants of Thomas Holeman, born about 1723, who moved from the Shenandoah Valley to North Carolina in 1752.

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Any Holman from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, or the Lord Fairfax controlled area of Virginia who wanted to go to North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Ohio River Valley during the period 1730 to the Revolutionary War passed through the Shenandoah Valley.

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Notes from
ANNALS of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1736 to 1871
JOS. A. WADDELL

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"Massannutting" and Adam Miller on south branch of the Shenandoah River

Waddell in this book points out that there may have been settlers in the Shenandoah Valley before the Joist Hite group crossed the Potomac and settled in the Valley.

In 1716, Virginia Governor Spotswood, starting from Williamsburg, proceeded to Germanna (on the Rapidan River, east of the Blue Ridge). From there, by horseback, he and his group crossed the Blue Ridge mountain range into the Valley. It is believed that the party crossed at Swift Run Gap. The country discovered by Governor Spotswood (near present day Elkton), became a part of the Virginia county of Essex. Spotsylvania County was formed from Essex (and other counties) in 1720, and Orange County from Spotsylvania in 1734.

The country west of present day Staunton, and now in Bath County, had been explored, and the Cowpasture river was known and named, as early as 1727. It is certain that white people located in that region about the time, or soon after. Settlements were made immediately around present day Staunton in 1732. The explorers no doubt came up (west) the valley of the James River.

The colonial government encouraged the settlement of the Valley as a means of protecting the area east of the Blue Ridge from Indian incursions. The settlers were almost exclusively of "the Scotch-Irish race, natives of the north of Ireland, but of Scottish ancestry." It is believed that all the earliest settlers came from Pennsylvania and up (south) the Valley of the Shenandoah. It was several years before any settlers entered the Valley from the east, and through the gaps in the Blue Ridge.

In 1726, the first permanent settlement by white people in the section of valley which became Augusta County (Massannutting) was made by natives of Germany, on the Shenandoah River, a few miles from the present day village of Port Republic.

About 1726, Adam Miller, a native of Germany, lived on the south branch of the Shenandoah River near the Massanutten mountain (near Elkton).

About 1729 [1730?] a group of "Dutchmen" purchased about five thousand acres from Jacob Stover, moved from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and settled in an area called "Massannutting." By 1733, fifty-one people on nine plantations were settled there. They sent a petition to the Virginia Council saying that their properties were settled prior to the land grant held by William Beverly, and therefore should be excluded from the Beverly grant .

[Note: From "The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc."
The Germanna Colonies consist primarily of the First Colony of 42 persons from the Siegerland area in Germany brought to Virginia to work for Spotswood in 1714, and the Second Colony of 20 families from the Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg area of Germany brought in 1717, but also include other German families who joined the first two colonies at later dates. At the time, the Germanna area was the westernmost outpost of colonial Virginia.
In 1725, most of these Germans moved west to the Robinson River Valley, and in 1733, Johann Caspar Stoever became the first pastor of their German Lutheran Church. He came to America in 1728 with an adult son of the same name, and a daughter, Elizabeth Catherine, who married Johannes Kuntz in 1738 in Pennsylvania. The son of Johann Caspar Stoever, Sr. was the Pastor of the Lutheran Congregation of the Hill Church in Cleona, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.]

[Note: In 1737 Johann Caspar Stoever, Jr. married Daniel Hoolman and Elizabeth Cathay on North River, Shenandoah. vulgo. Cockel Town in Orange county, in the Colony of Virginia.
Which river did Rev. Stoever mean?
* The Shenandoah River divides into the north branch and the south branch near present day Front Royal.
* The south branch of the Shenandoah River (at present day Port Republic) divides into the North River and the South River.
* The Middle River empties into the North River, between the North River and the South River. (It was previously called Carthrae's river.)

[Note: In 1737, the time of the marriage of Daniel Holman, the law in Virginia was:
Only ministers of the established church were permitted to perform the ceremony. A minister not of the established church was subject to a heavy penalty. The minister of the local parish should receive all the fees for marriages, even if they were performed by another minister.
Licenses were issued by the Justice of the Peace, and the Clerk of Court was required to report the names of the parties to the Secretary of the Colony, so the Governor would have an account of the fees collected.]

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In 1730, John and Isaac Vanmeter, of Pennsylvania [?], obtained from Governor Gooch a warrant for 40,000 acres of land to be located in the lower (northern) valley. This warrant was sold in 1731, by the grantees, to Joist Hite, also of Pennsylvania. Hite proceeded to induce immigrants to settle on his grant. He moved his family to Virginia, in 1732, and fixed his residence a few miles south of the present town of Winchester. Settlers soon flowed in to take possession of the rich lands offered by Hite; but a controversy arose in regard to the proprietor's title. Lord Fairfax claimed Hite's lands as a part of his grant of the "Northern Neck." Fairfax entered a caveat against Hite, in 1736, and then Hite brought suit against Fairfax. This suit was not finally decided until 1786, long after the death of all the original parties, when judgment was rendered in favor of Hite. The dispute between Fairfax and Hite slowed the settlement of that part of the Valley, and induced immigrants to push their way south to regions not implicated in such controversies.

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In 1734, the Orange County Court opened. Gov Gooch named justices for the "Commission of the Peace" James Barbour, Zachary Taylor, Joist Hite, Morgan Morgan, Benjamin Borden, and John Smith. Morgan Morgan was a native of Wales, and about 1726 moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Erected first cabin in the Valley, south of the Potomac River (present day county of Berkeley)

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John Lewis and Scotch-Irish

The early settlers of Augusta County were Scotch-Irish; and, up to the time of the Revolutionary war, very few persons of any other nationality came to live in the county. (During the time of Cromwell, a number of French Protestant refugees settled in Ireland, and afterwards, upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, many more came over. Being of the same religious faith as the Ulster Presbyterians, they affiliated with them, and thus it is that some French names appear among the Scotch-Irish.)

Waddell states that there is confusion in the history reports regarding the first settlement of present day Augusta County (John Lewis, John Salling, and John Mackey). Waddell believes that Mackey and Salling explored the Valley about 1726.

John Lewis (Scotch/Irish) immigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania. (He was fleeing the law regarding a fight with a landlord.) Apparently, he came with (or followed) Joist Hite when he relocated from Pennsylvania to the Valley. In 1732, John Lewis moved south through the Valley and settled on un-claimed public lands in present day Augusta County. He was soon followed by Scotch/Irish Pennsylvanians moving south through the Valley. (John Lewis first located on the left bank of Middle River, then called Carthrae's River. Then, he moved to Lewis' Creek, two miles east of present day Staunton, where he built a stone house, known as Fort Lewis.)

John Lewis was associated with both William Beverly and Benjamin Borden.
Tradition says that John Lewis met Benjamin Borden in Williamsburg in 1736 and invited him to visit his house in the Valley. However, Waddell believes that John Lewis met Benjamin Borden in 1734 through the Orange County Court while Borden was living in the Winchester area.
On February 21, 1738, William Beverly conveyed to John Lewis 2,071 acres, a part of the Beverley Manor grant in Orange county.

Colonel John Lewis, the pioneer, died February, 1762, having attained the age of eighty-four years. His will was executed November 28, 1761, and admitted to record November 18, 1762. He was buried on the farm where he lived, two miles east of Staunton. The executors were the testator's three sons, Thomas, Andrew and William. Charles is named in the will, but no mention is made of Samuel. Colonel John Lewis is to have been the best backwoodsman of his day.

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William Beverly (Augusta County)

In 1732, William Beverly was trying to get a grant from the Virginia Council for fifteen thousand acres on both sides of the Shenandoah River near the Massanutten mountain. Beverly believed that Pennsylvanians would buy the land because it was cheaper. Beverly and others secured a grant from Council in 1736 for 118,491 acres "in the county of Orange, between the great mountains, on the river Sherando." Beverly was very generous with the settlers already there. In 1738, William Beverly issued a deed to William Cathrey.

1748, William Beverly laid out the town of Staunton.

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Benjamin Borden (Rockbridge County)

Benjamin Borden was a native of New Jersey, and agent of Lord Fairfax in the lower (northern) Valley, then a part of Orange County. In 1734, he secured from Governor Gooch a large grant for land in the area of present day Rockbridge County. Along Linnville Creek in Rockingham County, while on the way to locate his grant, he met the family of Ephraim McDowell who were on the way to the property they had settled in Beverley's Manor in 1737. The group then went to home of John Lewis, and together they located the site of Borden's grant (Borden's Manor).

Borden was also promised 100,000 acres on the waters of James River, west of the Blue Ridge, as soon as he should locate a hundred settlers on the tract. Borden offered a tract of one hundred acres for anyone building a cabin within his grant. (Each settler earned Borden one thousand acres.) An Irish girl named Peggy Millhollan, a servant of James Bell, dressed in men's clothing and earned the rights to six or seven cabins.

Benjamin Borden died in Frederick County in 1743 and his son, Benjamin Borden, Jr., took over the management of the Rockbridge grant and obtained his patent in 1739.

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William Cathray

The Shenandoah River divides into the north branch and the south branch near present day Front Royal. The south branch of the Shenandoah River (at present day Port Republic) divides into the North River and the South River. The Middle River empties into the North River, between the North River and the South River. (It was previously called Carthrae's River.) Christians Creek and Lewis Creek empty into the Middle River.

William Beverley's deed to "William Cathrey," the first of a long series of deeds by Beverley to various persons, was admitted to record September 28th, 1738.

On September 1, 1740, James Blair, acting Governor granted to James Anderson 270 acres "lying in that part of Orange county called Augusta, on a branch of Cathry's river, called Anderson's branch,"

In 1741, Benjamin Borden, Jr "swore the peace" against George Moffett. Moffett's securities were James Cathray and John Christian.

In 1742, John Buchanan, John Smith, Samuel Gay, James Cathray, and John Christian qualified as captains of militia.

Gilbert Christian
Landed at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, in 1726, and in 1732 removed to a spot near present day Staunton, on Christian's Creek, giving his name to that stream.
Son, John Christian was a prominent citizen. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace.
Son, Robert Christian married Isabella Tiffins, of the lower (northern) Valley, and is the ancestor of the Christians now living in the county.
Son, William Christian is presumed to be the Capt. William Christian, who was a member of a "Council of War," in 1756. His wife was Mary Campbell, probably a sister of Arthur Campbell.
Daughter, Mary Christian married, first, John Moffett and became the mother of Col. George Moffett. She married, secondly, John Trimble, and became the mother of Capt. James Trimble.

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Virginia to Kentucky

The most frequented route of travel from the eastern and northern states to Kentucky was called the "Wilderness Road." John Filson, one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky, in 1786 recorded in his journal the stopping points along the trail: the "Falls of the Ohio," (Louisville), Bardstown, Harrod's Station, Logan's Station, Cumberland Mountain, Powell's Mountain, Black Horse, Washington Court-house, Head of Holston, Fort Chiswell, New River, Alleghany Mountain, Botetourt Court-house, North Branch of James River, and Staunton. The distance from the Falls of the Ohio to Staunton was five hundred and nine miles. (Life of Filson, by Colonel R. T. Durritt).

A northern route was also traveled to some extent, but it was exceedingly dangerous on account of the hostility of the Indians on the north bank of the Ohio river (through the wilderness to the Kanawha, about where Charleston now stands, and then go down the Kanawha and Ohio rivers).

In the year 1783 or 1784, a large party of Augusta County people moved to Kentucky by way of the "Wilderness Road." Eight or ten families announced that they would meet on October First in Staunton to start the journey. "By the time the party reached Abingdon, they had increased to three hundred persons, and when they arrived at Bean's Station, a frontier post, they were joined by two hundred more from Carolina. Three-fourths of these were women and children." At some point along the way, General James Knox joined the group and assumed command. The group arrived at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, the First of November and from there branched off to their respective destinations.

The Knox family were early residents of the part of Augusta County that became Bath County. General James Knox, the son of the James Knox who died in 1772, was one of the first persons who moved from the more thickly settled part of Augusta County to the Holston. As early as 1769, he went from the Holston on hunting expeditions to Kentucky. In command of a military force he went down the Holston and built a fort called "Fort Knox," and the surrounding settlement grew into the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. General James Knox married Anne Montgomery, the daughter of William Montgomery, and the widow of General Benjamin Logan.

General Benjamin Logan's parents were natives of Ireland, but married in Pennsylvania. Soon after their marriage they moved to Augusta County, where in 1743, their son, Benjamin, was born. In 1769, the Logans, the Montgomerys, the Campbells, and others moved to the Holston, now Washington County. (General Benjamin Logan was one of the people of the Holston settlement who signed the "call" to the Rev. Charles Cummings to become their pastor, in 1773.) In 1775 General Benjamin Logan went to Kentucky and established Logan's Fort, near the site of the present town of Stanford, Lincoln county.

Jane Logan, the oldest daughter of General Benjamin Logan, was the wife of Colonel John Allen. John Allen was born in what is now Rockbridge County, in 1772. His father, James Allen, emigrated to Kentucky in 1780, and first settled near the present town of Danville, and then to the vicinity of Bardstown. Allen County, Kentucky is named after Colonel John Allen. (See Collins' History of Kentucky).

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Virginia to Tennessee

The grandfather of General John Sevier was a native of France and a Huguenot. On the revocation of the Edict of Nautes, he fled to London, and became a prosperous merchant. His son, Valentine Sevier, came to America, and settled in the Valley about 1740. In 1753, Valentine and his wife, Joannah, conveyed to Andrew Bird a tract lying between Limestone Ridge and Smith's Creek, now in Rockingham County.

It is probable that in the fall of 1769, Valentine Sevier went to the Holston, along with the Campbells, the Logans, the Knoxs and others. The Campbells settled in what is now Washington County, Virginia, but Sevier went on to the part of North Carolina that became East Tennessee. General John Sevier, son of Valentine, was born in 1745, and probably on Smith's Creek.

In 1777, General John Sevier was appointed judge and administered all the functions of government in the "Washington District," in North Carolina. The people of the district west of the mountains complained that they were neglected by North Carolina, and with General John Sevier as the leader attempted to create a new state to be called "Franklin."

North Carolina asserted lawful jurisdiction over the district and for a time something like civil war existed. John Sevier was declared a traitor, and a warrant for his arrest was issued. After the attempt to create a new state failed, Sevier was pardoned, elected to the North Carolina Senate, elected to the US Congress, and became the first Governor of Tennessee.

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