A couple of weeks ago, I spent several days outlining all the children and identified grandchildren of Thomas Kennedy, who first visited Boonesborough, Kentucky in 1776!

Thomas’s daughter, Nancy, married Ephraim Holland, who are my husband’s ancestors.

Thanks to Thomas’s youngest son, Jesse, who in August 1850 wrote down as much of his family’s history as he knew – which was quite a bit – I learned that one of Ephraim’s and Nancy’s unidentified sons was Montgomery Holland and he migrated north to Ohio, with one or two of his sisters, per Jesse’s information.

As Nancy Holland reportedly died in Boone County, which is pretty much in the path from Scott County into Ohio, I have to wonder if she died along the way. I’ve found no evidence of Hollands in land deeds or on tax lists in Boone County.

Montgomery Holland was born c1809, likely either in Fayette or Scott County, Kentucky, and likely had few memories of his father, who died in 1814.  His wife was Martha Meyers, born c1810 in Ohio. her parents are unknown and her death certificate states father unknown and her mother’s maiden name as Meyers.

No marriage record has been found for Montgomery and Martha, but they likely married about 1830 and probably in Ohio since Martha was born there.

Looking at this family, I have to admit it is unique, as it appears that not a single one of their seven children ever married even though they all lived to adulthood, with the exception perhaps of Charles who isn’t found after 1850, when he was 12 years old.

The Holland family hasn’t been found in 1830, unless they are the M. Holland household, which is possible, as there is one male 20-30 and one female, also 20-30.

By 1840, Montgomery Holland was enumerated in Ward 1 of Cincinnati, where they all remained for the rest of their lives.

The household was quite large and there are one male and one female who I can’t identify.

In 1840:

Male, born 1790-1800 (ticked the wrong box?) Montgomery
Female, born 1800-1810 Mary C.
Female, born 1810-1820 Martha
Female, born 1821-1825?
Male, born 1826-1830?
Male, born 1831-1835 George
Male, born 1831-1835 Richard
Male, born 1836-1840 Ephraim
Male, born 1836-1840 Charles

The female born 1821-1825 isn’t in the home in 1850, nor is the male born 1826-1830.

Montgomery Holland, 1850, Cincinnati, Ohio
Source: Ancestry

Three more children joined the family between 1840 and 1850 – Milton, Robert and Martha.

Notice, too, that Mary Holland, last in the last, born Kentucky, is the real estate owner. She is likely one of Montgomery’s previously unidentified sisters and not in the home in 1860.

Montgomery Holland is last found in the 1860 census, still in Cincinnati with his family:

Montgomery Holland, 1860, Cincinnati, Ohio
Source: Ancestry

Martha was head of the household in both 1870 and 1880:

Martha Holland, 1870, Cincinnati, Ohio
Source: Ancestry

Martha Holland, 1880, Cincinnati, Ohio
Source: Ancestry

The family trades were house painting and brick mason.

This is an interesting family. I don’t think I’ve ever come across an instance where not a single child ever married, but that seems to be the case here, unless one of them married after 1880.

Sometime probably in the 1880’s, Milton Holland purchased a big family plot at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Mary died in 1857 and Montgomery a decade later in 1867. Montgomery and Mary had both originally been buried at the Methodist Protestant Cemetery, which closed in 1891. That explains why on 28 April 1891, they were both interred at 3:00 p.m. in Spring Grove. George is in space 1, Ephraim in space 2, Martha (mother) in space 3, Mary  in space 4, Montgomery in space 4A, Milton in space 6, Martha (daughter) in space 7, Robert in space 8.

Notice anything about the space numbers above? Yep, space 5 is missing. Neither Charles nor Richard shows up in the cemetery list, so I searched by section and lot number. Was I surprised! In space 5 was Catherine McGuire Holland, sister-in-law of Milton Holland, died on 14 January 1914 of chronic diabetes! She was born 11 March 1858. In the 1900 and 1910 censuses, she reported that she had never given birth to any children.

Who did Kate McGuire marry? It took reading un-indexed death records for Hamilton County, but I found the answer:

Ephraim Holland, M

I checked to make sure that M didn’t mean MALE. The other letters in that column were S and W – SINGLE and WIDOWED. Ephraim married Katie McGuire sometime between the 1880 census and his November 1887 death.

I also read multiple volumes of Hamilton County marriages for that time period, but didn’t find an entry for them.

Montgomery Holland died on 9 July 1867, no cause noted. Martha Meyers Holland died 23 April 1888 of old age.

Children, all born and died in Cincinnati:

1. George W., born 1831; died 15 September 1886 of bowel disease and a hemorrhage. His death certificate says he was single.
2. Richard P., born 1834; died after 1880. He served in Co. G, Ohio 2nd Infantry, beginning on 04 Sep 1862 and mustered out one month later, on 04 Oct 1862,  both in Cincinnati.
3. Ephraim, born 1836; died 21 November 1887 of peritonitis
4. Charles, born 1838; no further record after 1850 census
5. Milton G., born 10 December 1844 or 1848; died 15 October 1922 of chronic myocarditis
6. Robert, born 1846; died 1 April 1931 of senility
7. Martha, born 1851; died 22 January 1923 of pneumonia

The only loose end in this story is Richard P. Holland, who was at home in 1880, but not found in any other records. I have no idea if the 8 cemetery plots had anything to do with his disappearance, but there were just enough plots for the (unmarried) family and then Ephraim went off and got married. I have no idea what became of Richard.