Finding My Roots in the Unusual Families of the Holland Brothers in Early Caldwell County, Kentucky

Growing up in the industrial Midwest in the 1970’s so many of my friends could say they were of a  particular European ancestry. They knew that because their names were Cavatelli or Waznitski and their grandmothers made the best marinara or pierogis. My name is Holland and both of my grandmothers cooked “down home.” When my friends asked me what my European ethnicity was I answered boldly, “Kentucky!” and we all laughed. More recently, a few years after losing both my aged parents I became interested in where they came from—where I came from. Without any knowledge of genealogical research, I got online for some do-it-yourself, instant genealogy as is the current craze. Thus began the adventure.

Once I got online I found that despite some wild speculation here and there, most of my lines were fairly  well-documented for several generations with only a very few recent dead-ends. Of course the worst dead-end was the one from which I get my name, Holland.

I knew that I descended from Archibald E. Holland of Caldwell County, that he was born around 1835 and that he married Caroline Cash but I couldn’t get past him to his parents. I couldn’t find any record indicating who they were. After many months of searching I finally found this in the Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1849, on Google Books,

“Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That the names of William Johnston, Francis M. Washburn and Archibald E. Dobbins, infant children, of Caldwell county, be and they are hereby changed to William Holland, Frances M. Holland and Archibald E. Holland, they having been heretofore legitimated and made capable of inheriting from John Holland.

Approved February 13, 1849”

I was elated for now I knew that benevolent John Holland had obviously adopted three orphans and he changed their names to his, one of them was my ancestor Archibald. At least that was my thinking until I found this from the previous year concerning John Holland’s brother James,

“AN ACT for the benefit of the children of James Holland, of Caldwell county.
[in left margin]  Legitimating children 

Whereas, it is represented to the present General Assembly, that James Holland, of Caldwell county, has had five illegitimate children by a woman named Walston, living in said county, and that he is desirous to adopt and legitimate the same. Therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That Lawson Walston, Angelina Walston, John Walston, Alexander Walston and William Walston, shall assume, and be called by the names of Lawson Holland, Angelina Holland, John Holland, Alexander Holland and William Holland, that being the name of their father; and that they, and each of them, are hereby made the legitimate children of the said James Holland, their father, in the same manner as if they had been born in lawful wedlock.

Approved February 26, 1848”

The language in this Act on behalf of the children of James Holland made it very clear, these were not adoptions. It made me take a second look at the Act regarding my Archibald. Although its wording is much more brief, upon second glance the words “heretofore legitimated” now stood out. Now I knew that my ancestor Archibald E. Holland was born as Archibald E. Dobbins, the illegitimate son of John Holland and an unknown Ms. Dobbins.

On the one hand it was great that I had made these discoveries but on the other I was shocked and in disbelief. I had read on this very blog that “research long enough and you are bound to run into an illegitimate child in your family,” but these two Holland brothers were not the norm, they were a scandal. This looked more like Paducah than Princeton. Over a 17-year period, James Holland had five illegitimate children with one Ms. Penelope Walston. Over a ten year period, his brother John Holland had three illegitimate sons, each by a different mother. I thought such behavior by two brothers in early 19^th century Caldwell County would have resulted in their being run out of town on a rail or at least forced into shotgun marriages.

Yet there is no known record indicating that either Holland brother ever married or lived with the mothers of these children. Furthermore, to my surprise, there is no indication that any of these people were treated as pariahs. John & James Holland lived-out their lives in Caldwell County. James Holland never did marry Penelope but in 1856 he married someone else. Single-mother Penelope Walston was present in both the 1840 & 1850 censuses. Their children grew up and took spouses. Over time a few of the Walston/Hollands moved away into Illinois but some stayed put.  My Archibald’s father, John Holland, was a lifelong bachelor, at 73 years old in the 1880 census he wasn’t listed as divorced or widowed but as still “single.” His son Archibald married Caroline Cash and they raised a family. Both of his other sons, Francis Marion Washburn/Holland & William Johnston/Holland, also married.

But my search was not complete. Now that I had found the father of Archibald E. Dobbins/Holland, I still  needed to find his mother, “Ms. Dobbins.” In the 1840 census of Caldwell County there was a head-of-household named Catharine Dobbyns, alone but for one, male child, 5 thru 9 years old. This was promising but how could I know for sure that this male child, indicated by only a tally-mark, was my Archibald? Since those older censuses don’t name every member of the household they normally aren’t very helpful but this record was extraordinary.

When I first saw it I literally jumped to my feet. The immediate next door neighbor of Catharine Dobbyns on one side was head-of-household Penelope Walston and her five children. But that wasn’t all. On Catharine’s other side lived an Elizabeth Woods. I still don’t know much about her but I do know that she had Holland associations. Specifically, 20 years later in 1860 she lived in the household of Archibald’s father and lifelong bachelor, John Holland. Very curious. And as if all that wasn’t too coincidental, the name directly below these three women in 1840 was a young Wm. Gore. He was John Holland’s nephew and his full name was William Holland Gore. Because of these neighbors with known Holland associations I am certain that Catharine Dobbyns was my Archibald’s mother and that the tally-mark was Archibald.

                                [close-up, 1840 US Census, Caldwell County, KY, p. 44] Click on census
                                              for an enlarged view.

During my research I was able to go 2 generations beyond Archibald E. Holland, my original dead-end. I had come up with a family that looks like this:

1.1 WM. HOLLAND b. 1774 SC, d. 1843, m. Mrs. Elizabeth Holland (unk. maiden name), b. 1782,  VA.
         2.1 Elizabeth Mary Holland, b. 1800, KY, m. Mastin Gore, Sr.
         2.2 James Holland, b. 1804, KY, children with Ms. Penelope Walston, m. 

                Mrs. Mahala (Gray)  Fox

         2.3 JOHN HOLLAND, b. 1806, KY, with Ms. Catherine Dobbins
                  3.1 ARCHIBALD E. DOBBINS/HOLLAND, m. Caroline Cash

I had only a few bits of evidence holding this family structure together but that too would soon change. After my discoveries I contacted a distant cousin I had never known but had only recently met online to tell him the news. I learned that both he and others had been stopped at Archibald for a long time. Fortunately, he shared with me some old letters he had from the late Mrs. Madge (Whitford) Holland of Princeton and the late Scarlett Gale McDonald of Eddyville. Those two had frequent access to records in the local courthouse and had written about some of their finds. In their old correspondence they described records that substantiate my family as shown above. Things like “William died in 1843…land divided up between wife Elizabeth and sons, James & John” and that “James deeded his land back to his mother for 1.00 for her life.” That daughter Elizabeth [Holland] Gore died and her children’s guardianship documents “signed in 1843” included the signatures of her “brothers James and John Holland.” I am indebted to both of these early Holland researchers for their work.

What I found might disturb some of my “cousins” and it will get some tongues wagging. I’m not  ashamed of it and I’m obviously not hiding it.  After all, it is part of the public record. However, I’m still unsure of exactly what I’ve uncovered. I can speculate but I am left with many questions. I would especially like to learn more about the mothers, how their lives played-out and what became of them. Whatever the full meaning of these records actually was, it seems that the lives led by my ancestors and relatives were tolerated within the community.   

David Holland

Akron, OH

Anyone with questions or with knowledge to share may contact me at hollanddavid@msn.com 

SOURCES

John Holland’s Children

Acts of The General Assembly of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky: Passed at December Session, 1848.  Frankfort, KY. Publ. by A. G. HODGES & Co.—State Printers, 1849, p. 62. (Available on Google Books)

James Holland’s Children

Acts of The General Assembly of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky: Passed at December Session, 1847.  Frankfort, KY. Publ. by A. G. HODGES & Co.—State Printers, 1848, p. 304. (Available on Google Books)

Quote from:
Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, “Livingston County Bastardy Case 1812,” Jan. 2, 2008.

Published 3 Oct 2019, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/