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John Holloway
Born 1769 Craven? Co. SC
Died 1844? Rapides? Parish LA

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Father
Mother
SPOUSE CHILDREN
?Sarah Ford

m. after 1792
Natchez Dist.
b. 1775?
SC?
d. by 1830?
?Rapides Parish LA
Thomas

b. 1793?
?Natchez Dist.
d. by 1850?
Mary Julia "Juliet"

b. 1796?
?Spanish Louisiana
d. by 1840?
Catahoula Parish LA
John Jr.

b. after 1796
?Spanish Louisiana
d. after 1830?
?Rapides Parish LA
female

b. 1800-10
LA

female

b. 1800-10
LA

female

b. 1800-10
LA

A. M.?

b. by 1810
Rapides Parish LA
d. after 1840?
?Rapides Parish LA
Lewis

b. 1813?
Rapides Parish LA
d. aft 1850
Gabriel Loving

b. after 1810
Rapides Parish LA
d. by 1850?
?Catahoula Parish LA
female

b. after 1810
Rapides Parish LA
d. young?
male

b. after 1810
Rapides Parish LA

male

b. after 1810
Rapides Parish LA

According to brother George's son Robert, John's parents moved the family about 1780 from the Carolinas to Natchez, then in the Louisiana French-Spanish territory, "in order to escape the Revolution". John was about age 11.
1777 Map of the Colonies, by J. Leopold Imbert showing the Carolinas and neighboring territory of "Louisiane" and the rivers and settlements there at the time of the Revolution. Map was reproduced and printed by the Museum of the American Revolution from a map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
In Oct 1781, father John Holloway was shot and scalped by Indians five leagues from the Fort of Natchez. At the time, he was apparently working as "an overseer" of the plantation of Joshua Howard, who was "absent from the district" at the time. Brother George was tied with a rope but escaped during the night, and by 1787, went to Burke Co NC to live with mother Elizabeth's brother, William White. The other six children including John remained in Natchez.
According to the Oct 24, 1781 Estate conveyance, John was twelve years old when his father was killed [McBee, Book A, p. 1].
By May of 1787 when John was about 18 years old, mother Elizabeth and stepfater John Stillee along with their three children and the slaves Bella, Dorinda, and Lucinda, had left the Natchez District when Carlos de Grand Pré, the Commandant of the Natchez District, authorized the settling of the "affairs of John Stilles, absconded" by having three disinterested persons examine the "books and accounts" of Stillee, and meet any debtors mentioned in the books along with George Fitzgerald, who would defend the "absent party" [Wells, p. 125].
The Stillee family relocated to the Tombigbee settlement (now in southern Alabama), and resided there until about 1796. That year the "population of the Tombigbee settlers was 287" [Elliott, p. 35 ref. Holmes, Jack D.L., "Notes on the Spanish Fort San Esteban de Tombecbe" in Alabama Review, XVIII, 286].
The Aug 7, 1788 inventory of the estate of a merchant named Richard Carpenter of Natchez lists outstanding debts from many individuals including:
James White,
"Cadey Raby", John's brother-in-law and assumed guardian,
Joseph Ford,
"Jno. Holloway" [himself or his deceased father killed seven years before],
and William Dewitt written as "Wm. Dewitt (dead)" [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book B, p. 112-114].
On Feb 14, 1789, [future] father-in law Joseph Ford was surety for John's brother-in-law, "Cady Raby", when Cader was a buyer at a public sale in Natchez of "sundry horses belonging to the partnership of Richard King and John Pickens, deceased" [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book D, p. 142].
The Census of the Natchez District in 1792, translated from the Spanish handwritten records, included the following households in the Second & Sandy Creek (SS) area:
"Juan (John) Holladay" [about age 23]; 0 arpents [land owned by Joshua Howard], 1 White person [himself], no Blacks [the slave Samuel had left with John's older brother George Holloway].
Tonio (Tony) Howard; 400 arpents [336 acres], 6 Whites , 5 Blacks. [translated differently as "Joshua" in the Head of Household Index].
Juan and Thomas Foard households [John may have married a Sarah Ford about this time]:
Juan (John) Foard; 800 arpents [672 acres], 6 Whites, 2 Blacks.
Tomas (Thomas) Foard; 0 arpents, 3 Whites, 0 Blacks.
All of these households were located in the "Second Y Sandy Creek" subdivision which became part of Franklin Co.
1895 Map of Natchez from the Ancestral Trackers website, shows the likely routes of the Second and Sandy Creeks in 1792.
Map showing Land Holdings in the Second Creek area in 1810 is an enlargement of part of the Adams Co. 1810 Land Holdings Map found on the website of the MS Achives and History. In the center of this map can be seen the land owned by Joshua Howard and other members of the Howard family. Brother John Howard (Jr.) tried to claim 165 acres next to D. Ferguson and R. Sessions on May 29, 1804, the same day that Joshua Howard tried to claim the 200 acres of land had been surveyed for him in 1777. The latter tract would be the land that father John Holloway was "improving" and where he was killed.
In 1791, "John Holloday" was in the "State of Georgia when James Stewart came in from the Creek Nation" according to the deposition on Jun 22, 1795. The Natchez court record, translated from Spanish, has "Sig. John Holliday, 22 Jun, 1795" [McBee, Book F, p. 288].
On Jul 13, 1792, John Holloway and brother-in-law Cadey Raby signed an agreement with Manuel Gayoso de Lemos (who became governor of the Natchez District) regarding travel outside of the District. In the document, Gayoso described John as living "in this District without destiny". Cader's son Cader Jr. named a son Gayoso Carney Raby in 1826. English Translation of the original document handwritten in Spanish.
Gayoso succeeded Grand-Pré in 1792 and changed the name of the mansion built by his predecessor to Concord. Postcard showing the mansion before it burned down in 1901.
In the mid-1790's, John and younger brother James, along with two White cousins, Reuben White and James T. White, sons of their deceased uncle James White (1736?-1783?), moved into a remote area west of the Mississippi River that became known as Holloway Prairie. This was where they obtained Spanish land grants and engaged in the cattle business. Many of the Anglo families of the area had come from Natchez. John was recorded in the mid 1790's as being in Post du Rapid, a Spanish post that became Rapides Parish, LA. Holloway Prairie was located between the present town of Deville and the parish seat, Alexandria, which was laid out in 1807. Presently, there is a small town named Holloway there.
By May of 1797 mother Elizabeth White Stillee and stepfater John Stillee had returned to the Natchez District when she sold the slave Bella, who had been with the Holloway family since her birth about 1771 in South Carolina. She was then about 26 years old and had a 2 ½ year old child named Rose. Both were sold to John Girault of Natchez for $600 [Wells, p. 144-5].
On Oct 30, 1798 John and brother James Holloway gave an oath of loyalty to the United States as the Mississippi Territory became a US Territory (Mississippi was not admitted to the Union of States until 1817).
The Adams Co. MS will of Joseph Ford, dated Nov 6, 1804, probate date unknown, names his wife Rebecca, children John (executor), Thomas, Joseph (Jr.), Robert, George, Esther Strawder, & Elizabeth, and grandchildren [of or named] "Elizabeth, & George Holliway". His son Robert Ford was a witness along with John Spires and Jacob Guice. If one of Joseph Ford's daughters did marry John Holloway, there would be Holloway grandchildren born by 1804, but it is not clear who Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Ford, married unless she was called Sarah.
In the 1816 Adams Co. MS Census, page 17, line 26, there was a household headed by a "John Holliday" with:
1 male over 21 [John, ?son of brother William],
3 males under 21,
1 female over 21 [wife?],
3 females under 21,
and 9 slaves [MDAH, 1816, Adams Co. Census, microfilm].
In the 1830 Adams Co. MS Census of taxables, the same "John Holliday" household counted in 1816 in Adams Co. had 8 free white males and 5 free white females, with 1 being taxable [MDAH, 1830 Adams Co. MS Census, microfilm page 13, line 6]. His household is listed next to Joseph Ford (Jr.), son of Joseph Ford, also the father of John's wife Sarah. This area is likely where John Holloway met or married his wife Sarah Ford before moving to Rapides Parish LA.
Rapides Parish was formed in 1807 by the Territory of Orleans government. (see present day map for location).
At present, Holloway is a community in Rapides Parish LA. Its center is located at the intersection of Hickory Grove Road, State Route 1207 and Route 28, about 14 miles NE of the parish seat of Alexandria, and 50 miles W of Natchez MS. Holloway Methodist Cemetery is located just off of Hickory Grove Road at the end of Slay Cemetery Road (see present day map for location). There is also a Hickory Grove Cemetery also known as Holloway Baptist Cemetery.
John and brother James belonged to the Louisiana Militia, and John Jr. may have served in the War of 1812.
Catahoula Parish was formed in 1808 and originally bordered Rapides Parish. (see present day map for location).
In or after 1813, John Hollaway filed a land claim to 600 "superficial arpents of Land, "on middle fork bayou creek in Rapides Co., Territory of Orleans [now Louisiana], bounded by land of James Hollaway. [Documents ... US Congress. 1815-24].
In the 1810 Census for Louisiana, "John Hollaway" of Rapides Parish had three minor male children and four minor females in his home as follows:
1 male under age 10 (?),
2 males between age 10-16 (Thomas, John Jr.),
1 male 26-45 (himself),
4 females under age 10,
and 1 female between age 26-45 (his wife born after 1765).
He was also listed as having 2 other free persons (except Indians not taxed), and 3 slaves. John and Thomas being born in the Natchez District, may be the two not taxed.
In the 1816 Franklin Co. MS Census, on page 9, there are 2 large Ford households [John's brothers-in-law]:
John Ford (line 2) and Thomas Ford (line 3).
Before 1820, son Thomas married Cecilia Jannot or Jeannot.
In the 1820 Census for Rapides Parish LA, page 136 (last line), John's household had eight males and three females:
4 males under age 10,
4 males aged 16-26 (John Jr., Thomas, son George?, ?),
1 male 45 or older (himself),
1 female 10-16 (dtr?),
1 female 16-26 (dtr?),
1 female 26-45 (wife ?Sarah Ford born 1775 or later),
and 5 slaves (John increased his number of slaves from three in 1810, to five by 1820) [1820 Rapides Parish Census, pp. 133, 136].
In the 1820 Rapides Parish Louisiana Census, page 133, line 15, near brother James's Lacroix relatives, there is a "Gabriel Loving" with 1 female child aged 10-16 and both adults at least age 45. This is the family that was in the 1800 Burke Co. NC Census but not in the 1820 Census there. Gabriel Loving was a brother-in-law of John's brother, George Holloway, as well as his neighbor in Burke Co. NC at least though 1800. There were no Lovings in the 1810 or 1830 Rapides Parish LA census or in the 1792 Natchez District Census. The "Gabral L. Holloway" found in the 1840 Catahoula Parish Census and born after 1810 was therefore likely a son of John named after this Gabriel Loving.
Daughter Mary Julia married Henry Harmon (1797?-1867?) in Rapides Parish likely before 1820. In 1820 Henry had just him and her in a household in Rapides Parish, both aged 16-26. By 1840, Henry Harmon aged 40-50, was in Catahoula Parish living with five females, 5 under age 10, and one aged 20-30 (wife Mary had died?).
In the 1830 Rapides Parish LA Census, page 92a, page 92b, line 12, John Holloway had four males and one young adult female, but his wife is gone.
1 male aged 60-70 (John),
2 males aged 10-15,
1 male aged 15-20 (son Lewis),
1 male 30-40 (probably John Jr.),
and one female aged 20-30,
and 3 female slaves.
It seems that at least three of the children under 10 in 1820, being without a mother, moved in with John's son Thomas.
John S. Ford, who executed his father's will in 1804, was one party and John's nephew George Holloway was the other party in a Franklin Co. MS deed transaction dated Apr 5, 1844 involving a 22 year old slave named Aleck and a promissory note to be paid to George (before he died). On Dec 21, 1846, the executor of George's will, Hiram Cassidy, acknowledged full payment of the note [McBee, p. 21].
In the 1840 Rapides Parish LA Census, on the 18th line, page 199a, there was a household of "A M Hollowell", aged 30-40, possibly a son of John. His household also had: 1 male child and 2 female children all under age 5, and a "free colored female" aged 35-55 [usgwarchives.net website].
In the 1840 Catahoula Parish census, there is a single male household of "George Holoway", aged 40-50, possibly a nephew, son of John's brother William Holloway. His household was next to a family headed by "S. R. Ford" aged 30-40, with one female aged 20-30, a male 20-30, and 2 children under age 5. A Samuel R. Ford appeared in land cases from 1838 to 1841 in the parish [USGenWeb, First Settlers of Catahoula Pairsh...]. Elsewhere in the same census is a "Gabral L. Holloway" aged 20-30 with a female aged 15-20 and one child under 5 [usgwarchives.net website].
In 1850, there is a Lewis Holloway (aged 37) household and, next to it, a Thomas Holloway household, still in the Holloway Prairie area of Rapides Parish; probably John's son Lewis and grandson Thomas Jr. (age 29), respectively.
Son Lewis is listed as a farmer in Rapides Parish LA, aged 37, in the 1850 U.S. Census dated Nov 15 of that year, page 1, page 2. In his household also were:
Susanna (wife?), aged 40; and children:
Alexandra, aged 13;
Thomas, aged 12;
Lewis, Jr. aged 10;
George, aged 7;
and Jeannot, male, aged 4;
Also in Lewis' home were Alexander Lamontagne, aged 22, and Anthony Lamontagne, aged 21.
Alexander Lamontagne married a Sarah Holloway by 1854 when they had daughters Jane and Caroline born in Rapides Parish. Sarah could be a grandaughter of John, not one of John's daughters, since she was head of a household, aged 34 in the 1860 Census. Son Thomas had a daughter Sarah but she was still at home in 1860. Alexander died "in New Orleans" on Aug 18, 1864 aged about 36 [1850 Census] and was buried in the Chalmette National Cemetery which is next to the site of the War of 1812 battlefield, but has 4 Civil War soldiers buried there [genealogy.com post, Oct 14, 2001].
On Aug 18, 1864 began the 3-day Battle of Globe Tavern at the railroad near Petersbug VA began in which 211 Confederates and 251 Union soldiers were killed. Alexander Lamontagne may have been away from home in 1860 because of the Civil War which started about 6 months later [photograph by Matthew Brady between 1860-64, wikipedia.org website].
The family of daughter Mary Julia is listed under "Henry Harmon" age 53, planter, born in "Penn." and head of a household of 6 members in the 1850 Catahoula Parish LA Census, having moved there before 1840. Mary Julia is not listed and the youngest child Thomas was age 6, so she probaby died between 1844 and 1850. The age of the oldest child in the household, Elizabeth [named for grandmother Elizabeth White Holloway] was given as 19 so she and Henry were married by 1830 [familysearch,org, p. 37].
SOURCES:
Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census.
Aymond, Greg, Holloway Family of Holloway Prairie, Rapides Parish LA GenWeb, website, Dec 05, 1999.
Elliott, Jack D. Jr., The Fort of Natchez and the Colonial Origins of Mississippi, rev. 2013 of article in Journal of Miss. Hist., 1990.
Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
"John Holloway, 1851", File H-3, on p. 208 of "The MS Cains", website.
John Stillee Bible.
MS Dept. of Arch. & Hist. (MDAH), 1816 Adams Co. MS Census, Territorial Census 1801-1816, website, microfilm.
MDAH, 1830 Adams Co. MS Census, State Census Returns 1818-1880, website, microfilm.
MDAH, 1816 Franklin Co. Census in "Territorial Censuses", website.
McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 10, 14, 16-17, 21, 112-114, 141-2, 218, Book F, pp. 287-288.
U.S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1830, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 91-92.
U.S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1810, microfilm pp. 281, 398.
U.S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1820, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 136.
U.S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1840, usgwarchives.net, p. 199a.
U.S. Census, Catahoula Parish LA, 1840, familysearch.org, p. 37.
U.S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, Nov 15, 1850 page 1, page 2.
U.S. Census, Catahoula Parish LA, 1840.
USGenWeb, Early Southwest Miss. Territory, "Natchez District 1792 Spanish Census Index", website.
Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982.
Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, Bowie MD, 1992, pp. 52, 101, 125, 144-5, 151.
White, Gifford, "James White and John White", Wm Wiseman & the Davenports, Pioneers Of Old Burke County, North Carolina, v.2 by M.L.Vineyard & E.M.Wiseman, Franklin NC,1997, p. 111.
White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982.
Unknown author, "...to John ..." [illegible], correspondence detailing discovery of baptismal records of Stillee children in Cathedral Archives, no date but possibly mid 1900's.