The Holmes family arrived in Philadelphia from Donegel Ireland in 1771
Nathaniel HOLMES was born 5 Jan. 1748 in Raphone Parish, County Donegal, Ireland. He, his wife Mary and his sons Robert, James, and Albert, along with two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth came from COUNTY DONEGEL to Philadelphia PA in 1771, they lived on the Forks of the Brandywine (a big Scott and Irish Presbyterian community) for 6 years then migrated to Iredell & Rowan County, NC during the Revolutionary War. James and Robert Holmes were both soldiers in the army.
A
Francis Homes, (Male) lived near them in NC and I think was probably
a brother to Nathaniel. James was a weaver. He stayed in NC after
their father's death, but Albert and Robert and their families moved
to Sumner co., TN in the part that became Macon Co.
James Holmes
was also a weaver, and records exist of a young boy that was
indentured to him to learn the craft. Weaving was a common trade
among Irish immigrants at that time.
ROBERT HOLMES-2, had landed in Philadelphia in 1771 when he was 23 years old, accompanied by his parents, NATHANIEL-1 and MARY__?__ HOLMES, and several brothers and sisters.
They were originally of Scots extraction, but had left Scotland sometime after the first decade of the seventeenth century and moved into Ulster in Northern Ireland, along with many of their countrymen.
Robert HOLMES, son of Nathaniel and Mary HOLMES, was born 5 Jan. 1748 in Raphone Parish, County Donegal, Ireland.
In March 1775 he volunteered and served in the Army for three months. In 1777 he moved to Rowan County, NC. In May of 1780 he volunteered again and served under General Griffith RUTHERFORD. Lt. Robert HOLMES was captured at Camden and put on a prison ship in Charleston Harbor. On New Years Day of 1781, all who had survived smallpox were moved to barracks in Charleston. He, with three men from VA, escaped by digging under the walls and waiting until the tide went out. They traveled by night, hiding in pine forests by day. A man gave them food and directed them to General MARION, who gave them food to last until they got home. Upon hearing that General RUTHERFORD had been exchanged, Robert again volunteered to serve under him. When CORNWALLIS surrendered, they went home "guarding as much salt as General RUTHERFORD's wagons could haul."
On 10 Oct. 1781 Robert was married to Marjory BELL, daughter of Thomas BELL. They lived in Rowan County, NC, a part of which became Iredell County. All their children were born in NC before they came to Sumner County,TN in 1806. Only six lived to maturity and only four were living when their mother died. Robert owned 191 acres on Trammel Creek in the northwestern corner of what is now Macon County, TN.
Son Thomas was born 10 Oct. 1796. In 1838 he was willed part of the farm which he evidently sold. He was living in Carroll County, TN in 1840 and 1850 with a wife Rebecca and a large family. Widow Rebecca was still there in 1860.
Daughter Elizabeth was born 22 Oct. 1788, married Thomas McCRACKEN, moved first to Williamson Co., TN, then in 1842 to Polk Co., MO where she died in 1870.
Daughter Margery was born 20 Feb. 1790, married Daniel HENDERSON in 1810, had a daughter Elizabeth, born in 1811, and died soon afterwards. Elizabeth was reared by HOLMES grandparents.
Son Robert was born 7 March 1792, married Polly TAVINOR in 1825 and was deceased, leaving heirs, when his mother died in 1841.
Daughter Nancy Agnes was born 4 Nov. 1801, married John G. ALEXANDER in 1825, moved first to Allen Co., KY then to Simpson Co., KY where she died about 1863.
Their youngest child Albert Garner HOLMES was born 25 April 1804, and married Milley TURNER. Robert received Revolutionary pension until his death on 24 Feb. 1838, at age 90. Margery died 30 April 1841. They were buried on the land which Robert willed to their son, Albert. The graves were reported seen in a cemetery in 1950. There were several graves with only field stones beside those marked graves of Albert and Milley. The farm was then owned by Paul DAVIS.
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Nathaniel and Robert Holmes History
Robert Holmes
Birth: 5 JAN 1747/48 in Ireland Death: 1838
Robert Holmes came to Pennsylvania from Ireland in 1771 with his father, Nathaniel Holmes, and his brothers. He married Marjorey Bell in 1781. They had 11 children, all born in North Carolina before their migration to Sumner County Tennessee. Their youngest is the person we are descendants from, Albert G. Holmes who was born on April 25, 1804 and died February 4, 1854. His other children are listed below.
PS: Apparently not all of Robert's children were born in North Carolina, a will shows that Robert left all of his property to two of his sons, Albert and Thomas, after providing for the needs of this wife, Marjorey. Albert G Holmes and his father, Robert Holmes signed a petition in 1837 for Sumner and Smith counties to give part of their land for the formation of the a new county (Macon) which eventually happened in 1842. The Holmes families occupied much of north eastern Sumner and western Macon counties for much of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Father: Nathaniel Holmes b: in Ireland Marriage 1 Marjorey Bell b: 1761 Married: 10 OCT 1781
Children Albert Garner Holmes b: 25 APR 1804 in Sumner County, TN, Thomas Holmes
Robert Holmes US ARMY REVOLUTIONARY WAR Birth Date: 5 Jan 1748 Death Date: 24 Feb 1838 Cemetery:Holmes Cemetery Cemetery Address:Lafayette, TN 37083
ROBERT HOLMES (NATHANIEL1) was born January 05, 1747/48 in Raphone Parish, County Donegal, Ireland, and died February 24, 1838 in Sumner Co, Tennessee. He married MARJARY BELL October 10, 1781 in Rowan County NC., daughter of THOMAS BELL and CATHERINE WILSON. She was born Bet. 1758 - 1771 in Rowan Co, NC., and died April 30, 1841 in Macon Co, Tennessee.
Children of ROBERT HOLMES and MARJARY BELL are:
1.NATHANIEL HOLMES, b. July 18, 1782, Rowan, Iredell, County NC; d. 1799. Notes for NATHANIEL HOLMES: Nathaniel died before 1799.
2.HANON HOLMES, b. October 22, 1784, Iredell, County NC; d. N. C as a very young child.
3.MAREY HOLMES, b. April 10, 1786, Rowan, Iredell, County NC.
4.ELIZABETH HOLMES, b. October 22, 1788, Rowan Co, NC.; d. November 12, 1870, Polk Co , MO. She married THOMAS MCCRACKEN 1805 in Sumner, Co Tennessee. See Thomas McCracken & Elizabeth Holmes.
5.MARGERY HOLMES, b. February 28, 1789, Rowan Co, NC.; d. 1815, North Carolina. She married DANIEL HENDERSON 1810. Child of MARGERY HOLMES and DANIEL HENDERSON is: ELIZABETH HENDERSON.
6.ROBERT HOLMES, b. March 07, 1791. married Polly Lavinor 18 Jul 1825
7.JAMES HOLMES, b. July 14, 1794.
8.THOMAS HOLMES, b. October 10, 1796, Iredell, County NC. He married REBECCA. Child of THOMAS HOLMES and REBECCA is: JONES HOLMES.
9.NATHANIEL "JUNIOR" HOLMES, b. April 05, 1799. Notes for NATHANIEL "JUNIOR" HOLMES: A second child to be named Nathaniel.
10.NANCY AGNESS HOLMES, b. November 04, 1801, Rowan, North Carolina. Married John C. Allen 24 Mar 1825
11.ROBERT HOLMES, b. December 25, 1802. Notes for ROBERT HOLMES: This Robert was the second child to be named so.
12.ALBERT GARNER HOLMES, b. April 25, 1804, Iredell Co NC; d. February 04, 1854, Macon Co. Tennessee, Holmes Cemetery, Macon Co. Tennessee. He married MILLY TURNER. *****
ROBERT HOLMES-2 was about 34 years old when he and MARJORY BELL married, but they didn’t waste any time starting a family. Nine months and eight days after the wedding, their first son, Nathaniel Holmes-3, was born. Genealogical research has shown that about 80% of the time this group would name a first son after the paternal grandfather. ROBERT adhered to this tradition, and named his first son, Nathaniel Holmes.
ROBERT and MARJORY lived on Little Dutchman Creek in the part of Rowan County that became Iredell County, and raised their children near both their families. His parents were dead by the end of the century and her father was also dead by 1800. ROBERT’s brother Albert Holmes-2, a blacksmith, sold his inherited lands and went to Sumner County, Tennessee, around 1797 or 1798. Deeds recorded in the Iredell County Court Minutes dated January 28, 1797, record that James Holmes-2 and Albert Holmes-2 sold to ROBERT HOLMES-2 200 acres and the deed was proven by David Beall. In another deed, ROBERT and James Holmes-2 sold to Albert Holmes-2 227 acres, also proven by David Beall. That same year, there was a transfer from Francis and Margaret Holmes to James Holmes, 71 acres, sworn to by Fergus Sloan. In 1787, James and Mary Holmes sold 320 acres of land to Robert Patton.
In 1794, the Court Minutes record that David Henry was to serve as overseer of the road in the “room of” Aenaes Campbell, and that John Dobbins, Jr., serve as overseer of the road from South Yadkin River to Scandling old field “in room of ROBERT HOLMES.” [Iredell County, Minutes Court of Pleas.]
That same year, James Holmes had an apprentice bound to him named Robert Fanning, and he was to teach the boy weaving and provide for him “agreeable to the law and to give him a saddle above what the law directs.” A few years before this, in 1790, Betsy Fanning, orphan of Thomas Fanning, had been bound to James Holmes and he was to give her five pounds currency over what the law allows when she was free. He also had bound to him, Patsy Fanning, “Orphan of Thomas Fanning, with the 5 pounds over and above what the law directs, after 10 years and 5 months.” [Iredell County, Minutes Court of Pleas.]
In 1794, Frances and Margaret Holmes sold 640 acres to Jacob Nichols, but the lands were not further identified as to location. [Iredell County, Minutes Court of Pleas.]
What prompted ROBERT and MARJORY to leave Iredell County, North Carolina, and follow Albert, we don’t know. Albert may have written letters home telling them what a wonderful place Tennessee was. General Rutherford, under whom ROBERT had fought several times, now lived in Sumner County, as well. Many North Carolina Revolutionary veterans had received land grants in Tennessee that prompted many of them to move. No record was found that ROBERT received a grant, but it is possible that records of it were overlooked. Some grants to Tennessee lands were recorded in Kentucky. It is possible, too, that he did not get a grant, but decided to go anyway and purchase land.
Many of the Augusta County, Virginia, Wilson families who had moved to North Carolina, also moved into Tennessee as early as 1780. Groups of these same families were continually moving to Tennessee well up into the 1820s.
After living in North Carolina nearly 30 years, ROBERT HOLMES picked up his family and moved to Tennessee about 1806, when he was over 50 years old. His brother, Albert, was still living in Tennessee as late as 1820. ROBERT’s brother, James, stayed in Iredell, North Carolina, where his descendants are found today. Some of ROBERT’s children were nearly grown at the time of the move, but all of the children apparently moved with the family. They settled in the part of Sumner County that eventually became Macon County, Tennessee.
Children of Robert-2 and Marjory Bell-2 Holmes
Taken from the Revolutionary Pension Record
Nathaniel Holmes-3, was born July 18, 1782, buy died as a child sometime before 1799. This child’s name was repeated in a later-born sibling. The oldest child, Nathaniel, was probably dead by the time the other son was named Nathaniel, “Junir” in 1799. That names were important to the family is underscored by the fact that when the children with important names died young, the names were reused for subsequent children.
Hanon Holmes-3, born October 22, 1784, died as a young child. If this child’s name was an heirloom family name we do not have the connection. This name was not reused.
Marey Holmes-3, born April 10, 1786, married John E. Davidson in Maury County, Tennessee, about 1810. She died before 1838. Probably named for her grandmother, MARY.
Elizabeth Holmes-3, was born October 22, 1788, married Thomas McCracken, and lived in Polk County, Missouri, in November of 1870 when she died. ROBERT had a sister by this name.
Marjery Holmes-3, born February 20, 1789, married Daniel Littleton Henderson in 1810 and died soon after, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth Holmes Henderson. Obviously, Marjery was named for her mother.
Robert Holmes-3, was born March 7, 1791. This child died as an infant and the name was repeated for a later child.
James Holmes-3, born July 14, 1794, died after 1825. ROBERT’s brother was named James.
Thomas Holmes-3, was born October 10, 1796. His wife’s name was Rebecca and he died in Carroll County, Tennessee. He was apparently named for his grandfather, THOMAS BELL.
“Nathaniel Holmes, Jr.,”-3, born April 5, 1799, the second child to be so-named. His wife was Jane “Ginnie” Steel. He died after 1838, and he still had young children at home. His sons were interviewed for the 1922 Confederate Veterans census.
“Nancy” Agnes Holmes-3, born November 4 [7?] 1801. [Nancy was a nickname for Agnes.] She married John G. Alexander and died about 1863 in Simpson County, Kentucky. MARJORY had a sister by this name.
Robert Holmes-3, born December 25, 1802, the second child to be named Robert. He married Polly Lavion and died before 1841. He had a bastard child [when he was a child age 12] with a woman named Polly Hicks. His father and brother posted bond for him.
ALBERT GARNER HOLMES-3, was born April 25, 1804. He is the author’s ancestor, and married MILLEY TURNER. He died February 4, 1854, in Macon County, Tennessee. This child was obviously named for his father’s brother, Albert Holmes-2. We do not know if there is any significance to the “Garner” part of his name.
Almost every relative had a child named for him or her. The use, and reuse, of “heirloom” names makes one wonder about those names we are unable to connect to one relative or another.
ROBERT’s
brother, James-2, after whom he named a son, would buy or inherit the
remainder of the family land in Iredell County. In 1790, he married
Ester McConnell, the daughter of Alexander McConnell, in Iredell. In
1816, he deeded the land for the Tabor Meeting House on Little
Dutchman’s Creek for a Presbyterian Church. His sons were:
Robert-3, Nathaniel-3, and a daughter, Ester-3, who survived him.
James-2 was also a Revolutionary veteran and received a pension. In
addition to farming, he was also a weaver and taught apprentices the
trade. Part of the lands of NATHANIEL
HOLMES-1 were still owned by his descendants into
the 1980s. James-2’s revolutionary pension stated that he was from
Raphoe Parish, County Donegel, Ireland. This is the single bit of
hard evidence on where the family originated in Ireland. [Heritage
of Iredell.]
ROBERT-2 and MARJORY BELL-2 HOLMES, the parents of ALBERT G. HOLMES-3, also lived to an unusually old age. They must have been very fortunate to have missed the diseases and accidents usual to those times. He died in 1838, about age 90. MARJORY lived until 1841. He had been receiving his pension from the Revolutionary War since 1832, when Congress revised the pension acts. ROBERT wrote his will in 1833, as follows:
Will of Robert Holmes-2
March 13, 1833. In ...the [name] of God Amen. I ROBERT HOLMES of Tennessee Sumner County do make ordain and declare this instrument which is written with my own hand there of subscribed with my name to be my last will and testament, revoking all others: that all my lawful debts is to be paid as soon as possible, 1ikewise the land that I live on at this time at my death is to be divided betwixt my two sons: Thomas Holmes and ALBERT G. HOLMES and E1ouis in the divide of the land to clean [clear?] his buildings. Striking w[here I] live East and west, the rest of the plantation is to be equally divided between my two sons only if God calls me out of this world before my wife Margery Holmes she is to get her 1iving....of the place. She is to have a mare of her own choosing, likewise two good milk cows of her own choosing, likewise her kitchen affairs also the household affairs such as bedding the like, the other property is to [be] sold and the money reserved for [the] wife as 1ong as she lives and at her death she is to divide the property among her children as she thinks proper if God spares her to live longer than me, this given under my hand and seal day and year above written as witness my hand and seal acknowledged before us by R. Holmes." Signed.
After the death of ROBERT, MARGERY lived with her daughter, Elizabeth-3, and her husband, Thomas McCracken, in Williamson County. Later Elizabeth moved to Polk County, Missouri. Elizabeth had 13 children. In a letter to the author, Theda Womack wrote that she believes ROBERT and MARJORY HOLMES may be buried on the “Mrs. Paul Davis” farm, which was their home at the times of their deaths. There is a small family graveyard there, which contains the graves of ALBERT and MILLEY HOLMES.
At the time of the 1840 census, ALBERT's brothers, Nathaniel Holmes, "Juner-3" and Robert Holmes, "Jr,"-3, were living in Stewart County. Robert Holmes, "Jr."-3 married Polly Tavenor on July 18, 1825, in Sumner County; Nathaniel Holmes, "Juner"-3, married Jane Steele, and two of his sons were R.C.-4 and James Holmes-4, and as Civil War veterans were interviewed in 1922; Agnes Holmes-3 married John G. Alexander in 1825 and moved to Allen County, then to Simpson County, Kentucky. She had 11 children and survived her father. Apparently both Robert Holmes, Jr.-3, and Nathaniel Holmes, Jr.-3, died before their parents.
ROBERT's widow, MARJORY BELL HOLMES, died April 30, 1841. In 1853, as executor of her estate, ALBERT petitioned the government for the remainder of ROBERT HOLMES' pension to be divided between the surviving children: himself, Thomas Holmes, Elizabeth McCracken, and Nancy Alexander. It was for $55 per year. He was also trying to get it increased retroactively to the Captain's rate, which had not been done, apparently, in ROBERT's lifetime. A court hearing was held at Layfaette Court, the county seat of Macon County, and a handwritten appeal was sent to the pension review board for the United States Government.
Petitions and letters were exchanged for years between ALBERT's lawyers and the pension board in Washington setting out the "reasons" for each side of the story. This exchange went on until well after ALBERT's death, and it was apparently never settled in the family's favor. There are 30 or 40 pages of the petitions. We are fortunate to have these petitions as they tell us a great deal about ROBERT's life and Revolutionary services.
Sumner County, Tennessee
ROBERT HOLMES’s pension says that he moved to Sumner in 1806. He lived near his brother, Albert, who “disappeared” from the records sometime after 1821. Albert-2 was still in Sumner County when ROBERT-2 got there and for several years afterwards. Several old acquaintances and friends, including General Griffith Rutherford, under whom ROBERT-2 had fought in the Revolution, also lived in Sumner. Albert-2 owned 200 acres of land on Bledsoe Creek and his taxes were mentioned in almost every yearly tax list up until 1821. He was not found on the 1820 census, however. No estate has been found in Sumner County, Tennessee, for Albert Holmes-2, so we presume that he moved away.
ROBERT and MARJORY’s friends, David and Margarete Henry, were also living in Sumner County. The Henry family had lived very near them in Iredell County and had attended their wedding. [Revolutionary pension of Robert Holmes.]
ROBERT bought a tract of land containing 213-1/3 acres in March, 1812, from John Sloan on Trammel Creek. [Sumner County Deed Book Volume 6, page 118.] Tax records show that he owned 191 ¼ acres. One of the Summer County history books mentions that ROBERT “was one of the first settlers in the ‘Wolf Hill’ Community in the extreme eastern part of the county. His neighbor was a man named Dance Brown.” ROBERT and Dance Brown are listed quite close together on the 1830 census. Today the “Wolf Hill” community, according to Theda Womack, is located in a different part of the county today. It is possible that the place referred to as “Wolf Hill” when ROBERT settled there is in a different location than the one today.
Several legal records and lawsuits mention the family in Sumner County. The first day of June, 1815, ROBERT HOLMES, Sr., and Daniel Henderson, his son-in-law, went to court to post bond for Robert Holmes, Jr.-3, who was accused of siring a bastard child of Polly Hicks. Robert, Jr.-3, had to appear again in August or the bonds would be forfeited. Since Robert, Jr.-3, had a certified birth date of December 25, 1802, he was only 12 years, 5 months, and 20 days old, when he was summoned to court. He must have been less than 12 years old when he sired Polly’s child. Precocious thing he was!
ROBERT’s daughter, Elizabeth-3, married Daniel Henderson in 1810 in Sumner County, but apparently died soon after. She left a daughter, Elizabeth Holmes Henderson, who was reared by ROBERT and MARJORY. This was most likely the same Daniel Henderson who posted young Robert’s bail in the bastardy case.
In 1816, ROBERT filed suit against John Henson and John Henderson, the executors of the estate of William Henderson, the [grand?] father of the child, for expenses in raising the child. He stated in his deposition that he
had the care and trouble of maintaining and cloathing said infant several years for which he has received no compensation, he further states that John Henderson and John Henson are the administrators of the estate of William Henderson deceased who is the father [sic] of his infant ward. He further states that at the date of sale of the estate of Wm Henderson dec he purchased to the amount of about $37.75 for which your petitioner gave two notes. He further aprises that not long since said administrators received a judgement against your petitioner for the amount of said two notes, before Robert McClary…. [Holmes vs Henson, #6175, dates 1816.]
There is no existant US census in Tennessee until 1820. By 1830, ROBERT-2 and his son, ALBERT-3, are the only men named Holmes in the Sumner County area.
On October 15, 1824, in Sumner County, ROBERT’s son, ALBERT GARNER HOLMES, married 13-year-old MILLEY TURNER-4. MILLEY had been born in the Trammel Creek Community of Sumner County on December 10, 1810.
MILLEY
was the daughter of YANCY
TURNER-3 and his wife, MARY
DILLON TURNER. MARY
DILLON TURNER was the daughter of ISAAC
DILLON and his wife, JEMIMA
BRITTON DILLON,
of Guilford County, North Carolina. Theda Womack,
of Gallatin, Tennessee, found the original connection to the TURNERS
and the DILLONS.
Since then, there have been several additional, and very interesting,
research findings on this branch of the family that lead back to the
Jamestown Colony.