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Catherine Lacroix
Born 1782? Avoyelles Post Louisiana Terr.
Died 1849? Rapides Parish LA?

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Father

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
James Holloway m. 1803? ?Natchez MS Terr. b. 1779? Burke Co. NC d. 1827? ?Rapides Parish LA	Mary Anne b. May 18, 1804 Orleans Territory d. Nov 26, 1872 Elmer, Rapides Parish LA	Cecilia b. before 1810? Orleans Territory after 1850	son b. 1804-1810 Rapides Parish, Orleans Territory d. after 1820
	Nancy b. 1810 Rapides Parish LA d. after Aug 1850	Selita Elvina b. Jan 8, 1812 Rapides Parish LA d. Jul 5, 1880 Tilden, McMullen Co. TX	Elizabeth (Eliza) b. 1816 Hineston, Rapides Parish LA d. 1851? LA
	John Stephen b. 1819 Rapides Parish LA d. 1891 TX	Mary Jane b. Apr 1823 Rapides Parish LA d. Oct 25, 1919 Rapides Parish LA
According to brother-in-law George's son Robert, the Holloways moved in 1781 from western North Carolina to Natchez, then in the Spanish territory, "in order to escape the Revolution".
Most likely, husband James was brought as a baby with his family to the pioneer Cumberland Settlement (in what is now central TN) over land with the Amos Eaton party of men, women and children. They arrived a week after the leading party of men, boys and animals led by James Robertson.
In Oct 1781, 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. Brother George was tied with a rope but escaped during the night, and around 1786, moved to Burke Co NC to live with his uncle William White, and grandfather James Taylor White. The other six children, including James remained in Natchez. In May 1782, some of Elizabeth's siblings and their familes arrived by flatboat at Natchez.
According to the Oct 24, 1781 Conveyance, future husband James was two years old when his father was killed.
The names John and James Holloway appear in several 1790's Spanish Colonial documents and militia lists. On Oct 30, 1798 John and James gave an oath of loyalty to the United States as the Natchez District became part of a US Territory (Mississippi was not admitted to the Union of States until 1817).
In the mid-1790's, James and older brother John, along with two White cousins, Reuben and James, sons of their deceased uncle James White (1736?-1783?), moved into what 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 came there from Natchez. Brother 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.
James Holloway married Catherine LaCroix. "It appears likely, from age ranges in later Census records, that all of John and James Holloway's children were born in Rapides Parish, beginning in the mid-1790's. James Holloway and Catherine LaCroix had the following children: Mary; Nancy; Selita; Eliza; Elizabeth; Jane; and Stephen. A son Stephen married Polly Martin, and moved his family to St. Landry Parish and on into Texas, the remaining male Holloway children are probably descendants of his brother John" [McDonald, p. 301].
About 1803, James married Catherine Lacroix, whose family had settled in Avoyelles by 1785. The earliest census shows a Lacroix household headed by a 44 year old male, a woman, 4 children and 2 slaves on a medium sized (10,000 ft) tobacco farm.
Avoyelles was settled by native Americans many centuries ago, and later by Canadians. It is now a Parish in central Louisiana (see present day map for location).
Rapides Parish was formed in 1807 by the Territory of Orleans government. (see present day map for location).
In the 1810 Census for Louisiana, "James Hollaway" had in his household: 1 male under age 10 (unknown), 1 male between age 26-45 (himself), 3 females under age 10 (Mary Anne, Cecilia, Nancy), and 1 female between age 26-45 (Catherine born by 1785). No other free persons or slaves were in the household, but the next year James inherited the slave Lucinda and her two sons from his mother.
In 1811, James' mother, Elizabeth Stilley of St. Helena Parish in the Territory of Orleans, granted to son James the negro woman, Lucinda, "Lucey" and her two sons Jeffrey and Isaac, as his inheritance [McBee, Deed Book B, p. 67] James turned 21 in 1800.
James and brother John belonged to the Louisiana State Militia, and John Jr. served in the War of 1812.
In or after 1813, a John Hollaway [brother] 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 1820 Census for Rapides Parish, on the first line of page 135, there is a "James Holloway" household with: 1 male aged under 10 [John Stephen], 1 male aged 10-16 (unknown), 2 males aged 26-45 [himself and ?] 3 females aged under 10 (Elizabeth and Nancy and ?), 1 female 10-16 [Cecilia], 1 female aged 16-26 [Mary Anne], 1 female aged 26-45 [wife Catherine], 1 female slave aged 45 and up [Lucinda], 2 male slaves under 14 [Lucinda's sons Jeffrey, Isaac], and 1 female slave under 14.
In 1821, daughter Mary Anne married Michael Paul (1800-1870), who was the son of Jacob Paul (1770-1830) and Marie Jeanne LaPrairie (1772-1808), daughter of Louis LaPrairie (1735?-1789?). Jacob Paul's sister Mary Paul married James T. White, son of James "Tiago" White, brother of Elizabeth White.
Daughter Mary Anne and husband Michael Paul are buried in St. Peter (Elmer Catholic) Cemetery in Rapides Parish LA. Her grave marker spells her family name as "Holliway". Photo of his grave marker.
In the 1830 Census for Rapides Parish, page 94a, page 94b, there are two adjacent households, "Michael Paul" and "Katy Holloway". The Paul household on line 18 counted: 1 male aged 50-60 [father Jacob?], 1 male aged 30-40 [Michael], 1 male 20-30 [possibly a brother of Michael], 4 children aged 5-20, and 1 female aged 20-30 [wife Mary Anne Paul daughter of James Holloway]. The "Katy Holloway" household on line 19 must be James' widow Catherine, the mother of Mary Anne Paul. It counted: 1 male aged 10-15 [son John Stephen], 1 male aged 20-30,[?] 2 female aged 5-10 (Mary Jane and ?), 1 female 10-15 [Elizabeth], 1 female aged 20-30 [Cecilia], 1 female aged 30-40 [Catherine who may have been older], and 1 female slave aged 24-36 [possibly the girl in 1820 counted as under 14].
Son John Stephen Holloway married Mary Elizabeth ("Polly") Martin and they moved to St. Landry Parish and later to Texas.
Daughter Nancy married Jesse Hart (1804-1865?) by Jun 1835. They had children as late as Aug 1850.
Daughter Cecilia married three times. By 1835, she married John Richard Nugent Sr., born about 1812, and had at least five children. In the 1840 Census, there is a "Jno. Nugent" household with one adult female over 30 years old. 1840 Census page 211a, page 211b. She married John B Smith (1826- ) after 1850. In the Census of that year, John, aged 25, heads a household with 2 adults, including his mother Catherine B. Smith. Cecilia's last husband, with last name Chevallier, was born in 1818.
About 1837, daughter Elizabeth Holloway who died about 1851, married Herbert Crowder, born in Mecklenberg Co. VA. and died in Hineston, Rapides Parish LA. They had two children in the 1840 Census, and may have had 6 more children including John Crowder (1846-1931) who owned Crowder Cemetery in Vernon Parish LA.
About 1837, daughter Selita Elvina who died in 1880 in Texas, married Robert S. Martin, 1811-1885, and the family eventually moved to Tilden TX.
Daughter Mary Jane was first married about 1840 to James Thomas Mustain (1805-1846?) and had three children, including Thomas Jefferson Mustain who served in the Civil War. She was married to Silas Sessions (or Cessious) Marler (1827-1899) in 1848 and had 11 children. Some of their children may be buried in Marler Cemetery in Rapides Parish, SW of Alexandria. She is buried in Duell Cemetery South.
In the 1840 U.S. Census for Rapides Parish LA, Page 203a and Page 203b line 9, there was a 2-person household headed by "C. Holloway": a female aged 60-70 (widow Catherine), a female slave aged 10-24, one of the persons employed in agriculture. Nearby on line 7, the H. Crowder household had: 1 male aged 30-40 (Herbert Crowder); 1 female aged 20-30 (wife Elizabeth, daughter of James Holloway); 1 male child under 5 years old; 1 female child under 5 years old; 1 female slave 35-55 not employed in agriculture.
Catahoula Parish was formed in 1808 and originally bordered Rapides Parish. (see present day map for location).
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 is 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...].
Catherine's brother Michael Lacroix (1781-1840) is said to be buried in the Lacroix Cemetery in Pineville, Rapides Parish with his wife Rebecca Frazier Lacroix and children Olivia and Isaac. This small cemetery inside Camp Beauregard has only 3 marked graves and is inside and maintained by the National Guard.
In the 1840 U.S. Census for Rapides Parish LA, Page 209a and Page 209b line 4, there was a 9-person household headed by "Michael Paul": 1 male aged 30-40 (Michael); 1 female aged 30-40 (wife Mary Anne Holloway); and 7 children and no slaves.
At present, Holloway is a community in Rapides Parish LA. It's 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.
SOURCES: Aymond, Greg, Holloway Family of Holloway Prairie, Rapides Parish LA GenWeb, website, Dec 05, 1999. Census of Avoyelles Post, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, May 23, 1785, trans from French, publ. in La. Genealogical Register, Jun 1981, pp. 121-125, website. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1810, microfilm pp. 281, 398. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1820, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 135. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1830, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 94. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1840, S-K Publ., 2003, pp. 203, 211. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1850. Documents ... , US Congress, 1815-24] 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. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Holloway Succussion Records of St. Helena Parish, LA, Greenwood MS, May 1990, p. 19. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book B, p. 67, p. 399. McDonald, E. W., The LaCroix Descendants; 1611 - 1991; From France via Quebec to central Louisiana, private publ., Orlando FL, 1992, pp. 301. Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982. 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.