William W. Holman

Notes:

Also known as "Colonel Billy" and in later years affectionally called "Uncle Billy." Uncle Billy had only one child himself, but had more than fifty nieces and nephews, many following him about, depending on him, learning at his knee.

He arrived to Texas in 1834, acquiring a segment of Benjamin Lindsey's headright--two-thirds of a league and a labor (3,129 acres) for $2,200. The tract was three miles northwest of San Augustine. (Noble, page 112).

William W. Holman, along with his brother James, joined Captain Bailey Anderson, Jr.'s company, the Texas forces that had been camped around San Antonio since early October, 1835---reinforcements to the "Siege of Bexar." (Noble, page 113). William went with Ben Milam into San Antonio on December 5th, and served as attillery lieutenant and quartermaster during the bloody four day battle for San Antonio. He returned to San Augustine, but again enlisted in the militia, serving three months in Captain John M. Bradley's company. He later served as San Augustine's first Representative to the Congress of the Republic of Texas. During its initial session, the First Congress established two charters for institutions of higher education, one of which was the University of San Augustine. Holman was honored by being named one of the fifteen original trustees.

He was a devout horseman and a racing enthusiast throughout his life. He ran a notice in the 6 April 1846 issue of the Red-Lander about "Leviathan--the Celebrated Race Horse."

The records are vague, even conflicting, about Holman's marriages and children. THE NEW HANDBOOK OF TEXAS, Volume 3, states that he "....married Elizabeth Yearger about 1848 and had a son, William W. Holman, Jr. born in 1849. His wife died before 1860, and his son died prior to 1876." The census records tend to confirm this. However, no marriage license was ever issued to him in San Augustine County. Other records indicate he had been married earlier to Jacob Garrett's daughter, and one son, William was born to that union. (Noble, page 124)

Henson and Parmelee also show his wife as Elizaberth Yearger.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, San Augustine County, San Augustine District
Enumerated 10 OCt 1850
Stamped 353
311-311
W. W. Holman 39 M Farmer 30,000 KY
Eliza Holman 26 F Mi
Wm. Holman 1 M Tx
312-312
Otis M . Wheeler 37 M Farmer 50000 Mass
Elvira Wheeler 25 F Tenn
Otis Wheeler 5/12 Texas
John Polley 27 M Overseer Tx
John Kelly 26 M Laborer Ohio
Wm. Cartwright 4 M Tx

William married Eliza Yearger about 1848. Eliza was born about 1824 in Mississippi; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William Holman was born about 1849 in San Augustine County, Texas; and died.

Notes:

Isaac was a veteran of the War of 1812 where he earned the title of Colonel. An attorney by profession, he was attracted to politics. He was elected to the Kentucky legistlature in 1810 and again in 1816. In 1818, he moved his family to Lincoln County, Tennessee, where he immersed himself in public affairs, running for the Tennessee assembly in 1823, and later serving as state senator. A credit squeeze in Tennessee put the Holman family in a financial bind, and the family decided to move to Texas. Sons William W. and James S. made the trip first, arriving in San Augustine in October 1834. (Noble, page 111). Isaac arrived in December with his two younger sons. In March, 1835, his wife and daughters followed. The entire family became citizens of the Redlands. Isaac died only eight months after his arrival in San Augustine. (Harry Noble) In "The Cartwrights of San Augustine" it was written that the family brought 20 slaves with them to Texas. (Henson & Parmelee, p. 84)

Isaac married Anne Wigglesworth on 25 Dec 1800 in Kentucky. Anne was born on 14 Sep 1783; died on 22 Jul 1841 in San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in Holman Cemetery, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Henson and Parmelee, in their book "The Cartwrights of San Augustine," wrote that Anne, along with her teenage daughters, Amanda, America and Elvira, journeyed "from Lincoln County, Tennessee via Nashville, Natchez, and Natchitoches in only fifteen days, a remarkably short time, having connected with steamboats at all three places by mere minutes. In Natchitoches a drove of horses from Arkansas had just arrived and they bought three for only $180. The colonel had been Sandford, his youngest son, to Tennessee to escort his mothers and sisters, but he had unknowingly passed them on the river. From this brief account, it is clear that Anne Wigglesworth Homas was an unusually self-reliant woman, unafraid to travel alone over unfamiliar territory. She and her three teenage daughters were relatively safe on board the steamboats, but the journey from Natchitoches seems unusual. The ladies most have been accompanied by loyal servants who could hitch the horses to their vehicles and act as an escort past Fort Jesup and through the Sabine Bottom. (pp. 84-85). Aldophus Sterne in Nacogdoches noted that a number of pope suffered from fever and died during the month [of July 1841, when both John Cartwright and Anne Wigglesworth Holman died]. While no local people identified the sickness that summer, it may have been yellow fever. Two men who left Nacogdoches in September died of the dread disease as soon as they reached Vicksburg. (p. 117).

Notes:

Married:
Shown as marrying in Woodford County, Kentucky by some. Henson and Parmelee instead cite their marriage as taking place in Harrison County.