Tag Archives: James Holland

Holland, Hollon

James Holland & Annie Thompson: Missing Child Found, Howard County, Missouri

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Have I said lately how much I love full-text search on FamilySearch? I keep finding more records that were deeply buried that are sorting out and piecing together extended family members.

James Madison Holland, born c1791, Kentucky, married Annie Thompson on 27 November 1818 in Howard County, Missouri.

Annie died sometime between the birth of her last child in 1828 and before the 1830 census which shows no adult female at home in James’s household.

The 1850 census of Howard County, Missouri includes James, second wife Sarah (Hutchinson) and several younger Holland family members. One was 23 year old “Nick” Holland. I never knew what to make of this young man. He was unmarried and I couldn’t find any trace of a Nicholas Holland anywhere after 1850.

An 1852 lawsuit filed in Howard County between the heirs of Ephraim Thompson, deceased – Annie’s father – sorted out the problem and provided me with the seventh and only unknown child at home with James Holland in 1830. He was the youngest child, born ENOCH and perhaps called “Noch,” which the census taker mistakenly enumerated as “Nick.”

All events are in Howard County, Missouri, unless otherwise noted.

Children of James and Annie (Thompson) Holland:

  1. John, born 10 January 1820; died 5 January 1904, Sullivan County, Missouri; married (1) Adaline Hoskins, 18 June 1843 (2) Fannie Ann Crooks, 16 January 1896, Sullivan County, Missouri
  2. Sarah, born c1821; died before 11 July 1861; married James E. Head, 23 March 1848
  3. Ephraim, born July 1822; died 10 July 1891, Sullivan County, Missouri; married (1) Eleanor Newcom, 22 September 1842 (2) Elizabeth Hoskins, 23 August 1846, Sullivan County, Missouri
  4. James, born c1824; died 5 December 1903, Linn County, Missouri; married Eramanthus Elizabeth Scott, 9 June 1847
  5. Edmund, born c1825; died after 1852; married Nancy Dodson, 8 June 1848
  6. Mary, born c1826; died after 1860; married Stokely Wyatt, 20 March 1845, Chariton County, Missouri
  7. Enoch, born c1828; died 31 March 1864, Jackson County, Missouri, during the Civil War; married Rachel A. Butler, 21 October 1854.

I have previously written about the children of the other six Holland siblings, so this update will only include Enoch’s family.

Enoch and Rachel (Butler) Holland had the following children:

  1. James W., born c1856, Howard County, Missouri; died 19 December 1893, Modesto, Stanislaus, California; married Sallie Hern, c1878. They were the parents of nine children.
  2. Lucy T., born c1859, Howard County, Missouri; died 2 February 1901, Howard County, Missouri; married William James Spilman, 24 August 1881, Howard County, Missouri. They were the parents of nine children.
  3. Jesse Butler, born 27 January 1862, Howard County, Missouri; died 27 May 1949, Moniteau, Howard, Missouri; married Harriet Hern, 24 July 1884, Boone County, Missouri. They were the parents of three children.
  4. William A., born August 1864; died 6 February 1912, Stanislaus County, California; unmarried.

This completes the family sketch of James Madison Holland and Annie (Thompson) Holland.

Holland

12 for ’26: Updating the Family of James Madison Holland, MO (c1791-1868)

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After recently finding that James Holland and wife Annie Thompson had a previously-unknown-to-me son, Edmund Holland, I starting digging once again.

Edmund Holland married Nancy Dodson on 8 June 1848 in Howard County, Missouri.

He appears in the 1850 census, dated 25 October 1850, living with the Jackman brothers in Grass Valley, Yuba, California.

Then I took another look in 1850, trying to locate his young wife, Nancy (Dodson) Holland and found:

1/1 James Holland, 59, farmer, $1100, born Kentucky
Sarah Holland, 59, born Virginia
Nick Holland, 23, born Virginia
Nancy Holland, 17, born Missouri
P. Holland, 17, born Missouri
Nancy Holland, 22, born Kentucky
Ed Holland, 26, born Missouri

So, on 14 September 1850, Ed Holland was apparently living with his father’s family. It’s possible that they gave his name to the census taker even though he might already have been in California. Or, because the Yuba County census with the Jackmans is dated 5 weeks later, he might have just left for California.

In any case, Edmund had apparently died between 1855 and 1860 when Nancy was living in her father’s household with three Holland children – Martha, born c1851, Annie, born c1853 and Sarah, born c1855.

I suspect that “Nick Holland” might really be Sarah Hutchinson’s child by her first marriage given that he was born in Virginia.

However, who are Nancy Holland and P. Holland, both 17 and both females? James and Sarah married on 28 October 1832. Could the girls be twin daughters born to James and Sarah?

Although no marriage record has been found (by me), one Nancy Caton, wife of William Caton, died 30 October 1897 and is buried at Big Springs Christian Church Cemetery in Hilldale, Howard, Missouri. She was born in 1833 and is linked as the daughter of James and Sarah (Hutchinson) Holland.

Could “P. Holland,” aged 17, be the same as Miss Patsey Holland, who married Marion Cates on 11 September 1855?

As for Nancy (Dodson) Holland and daughters, Nancy was also married to Marion Cates by 1870. Could Patsey have died and Nancy then married Marion?

Edmund and Nancy’s daughter Martha Ann married Joseph Maphies and they settled in Cedar County, Missouri. Martha died on 22 December 1928 and her death certificate names her father as “Edwin Hollon.”

Annie married John Dobbs and they settled in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri. She died on 3 September 1940 at her son’s home in Kansas, but is buried in Joplin.

Sarah E., born in 1855, apparently died between 1860 and 1870. Nothing further is known about her.

This deep dive following the BSOs has provided quite a bit of new information about James Holland and his family – well worth the hours I’ve spent!

Hollon, James Hollon, Thompson

Annie Thompson, Is Your Daddy Ephraim Thompson?

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Thank goodness for FAN clubs. Those Friends, Associates and Neighbors can be a terrific help when we’re trying to sort out families.

This journey has produced a couple of real surprises. One Thompson FAN club – that of the family of William Thomson and Ann Rodes – led directly to a second FAN club – that of Ephraim Thompson.

Here is what I’ve discovered so far and my new – and I think perhaps correct – theory about Annie Thompson’s origins.

Ephraim Thompson was also from Kentucky, but unlike the Thomsons, he migrated from Washington County, at about the same time that the Scott County families went on the move. Washington County borders Mercer County, which has a marriage record for Ephraim Thompson to Sarah (Sally) Curry, reportedly the daughter of William Curry. The Currys hailed from Botetourt County, Virginia. Ephraim and Sally married on 18 October 1798.

There is no 1800 census for Kentucky, but the 1810 Washington County census shows the household of Ephraim Thompson, which fits well with a man who married in 1798:

Male, 26-44 (Ephraim, born  1766 -1777, if 21 when he married)
Female, 26-44 (Sally, born 1766-1784)
Male, 16-25 (Could Ephraim have child by a first marriage or sibling living with them or farm hand?)
Female, under 10 (born 1801-1810) (Annie?)
Male, under 10 (born 1801-1810) (Elmore?)
Male, under 10 (born 1801-1810)
Male, under 10 (born 1801-1810) (Elias)

There were still 14 Thompson households in Washington County, Kentucky, but Ephraim’s was not one of them. The 1820 Missouri census is lost, so we next have the 1830 census of Howard County, Missouri:

E. Thompson’s household is just three doors away from that of J. Holland:

Ephraim’s 1830 household now looks like this:

Male, 50-59 (Ephraim, born 1770-1780)
Female, 40-49 (Sarah, born 1780-1790)
Male, 20-29 (born 1800-1810) (Elmore?)
Male, 20-29 (born 1800-1810)
Female, 20-29 (born 1800-1810)
Male, 15-19 (born 1811-1815) (Elias?)
Female, 15-19 (born 1811-1815) (Polly, m. Wm. Alexander Nov 1827)
Male, 10-14 (born 1816-1820)
Female, 5-9 (born 1821-1825)

Ephraim Thompson’s last census enumeration was also recorded in Howard County:

Male, 60-69 (Ephraim)
Female, 60-69 (Sarah)
Male, 20-29
Female, 20-29
Female, 15-19
Male, 10-14
Male, 5-9

By 1840, it looks like Ephraim is the head of a blended family with the youngest child probably a grandchild.

Marriage and probate records help fill in some of these children.

  1. Elmore Thompson married Martha (Patsey) Smith, 25 February 1830, Boone County, Missouri
  2. Annie Thompson married James Holland, 27 November 1818, Howard County, Missouri
  3. Sarah Thompson married Samuel W. Scott, 26 February 1821, Howard County, Missouri
  4. Polly Thompson married William Clarkston, 28 May 1828, Boone County, Missouri
  5. Hannah Thompson married William Alexander, 10 January 1833, Boone County, Missouri

I think this is actually a second marriage for Ephraim himself and that Sally died between 1840 and early 1842:

Ephraim Thompson married Isabella Jones, 21 December 1842, Boone County, Missouri. Isabella was born c1822 and died 6 January 1894 in Boone County, Missouri.

Elmore Thompson, who married Martha (Patsey) Smith on 25 February 1830 in Boone County, Missouri, died before 13 September 1840, leaving a will naming Ephraim Thompson as executor. I’d say that definitely places him in Ephraim’s family.

Elias Thompson was the administrator for Ephraim’s estate in 1847.  He was born c1810. I’d say that places him in Ephraim’s family, too.

Not having the 1820 census really hurts here, as Sarah was already married in 1821 so not at home with her parents in 1830.

More work needs to be done to determine whether Ephraim who married Isabella Jones was Ephraim who died in 1847 or a son, Ephraim. However, Isabella is back in her parents home, an apparent widow with a 3 year old son, David Thompson, with her. It appears that David died young, as he is not with his mother in1860, nor can I locate any David about 13 years old in 1860 in Missouri.

Land deeds disposing of the property of Ephraim Thompson in 1847 might name heirs, so that is something to be looked up at the Family History Library.

For the time being, I am proposing the following family:

Ephraim Thompson, born c1775; died before 25 August 1847 married Sarah (Sally) Curry on 18 October 1798, Mercer County, Kentucky. She was born c1780 and may have died between 1840 and 1842 when an Ephraim Thompson married Isabella Jones.

Children:

  1. Annie, born c1800; died c1829, probably Howard County, Missouri; married James Holland, 27 November 1818, Howard County, Missouri.
  2. Elmore, born c1802; died before 13 September 1840, Howard County, Missouri; married Martha (Patsey) Smith, 25 February 1830, Boone County, Missouri.
  3. Sarah, born c1805; died after 1850, probably Howard County, Missouri; married Samuel W. Scott, 26 February 1821, Howard County, Missouri.
  4. Polly, born c1800-1810; died after her marriage date; married William Clarkston, 28 May 1828, Boone County, Missouri
  5. Hannah, born c1810; died after 28 August 1870, probably in Howard County, Missouri; married William Alexander, 10 January 1833, Boone County, Missouri
  6. Elias, born 1805-1810; died 23 April 1877, Howard County, Missouri; married Permelia Smith, c1835, but no record found. The 1850 census has Ann K. Smith, 72, living with the family.

There are likely at least two more children that belong to this family. I am hoping land deeds answer my remaining questions about Thompsons in Howard County and prove that both Sarah and Annie were children of Ephraim and Sally Thompson.