Martha was born 10 Jan 1739/40 and baptized 17 Feb of the same year in York Co., VA [1]. She was the daughter of James Holloway and Elizabeth Hunt. She married James Parsons about 1758-1760 in York Co. Details of their marriage are currently unsourced, but they have numerous children recorded in the Charles Parish Birth and Baptism records.
She passed away before April 1797 likely in York Co. as she is not mentioned in the last will of James Parsons. Her grave is suspected to be the oldest marked grave at Weston Cemetery in Poquoson City as noted by a ceremonial marker placed by Boy Scouts at an unknown date.
Martha and James had the following children documented in the Charles Parish registry:
Mary, 1760 (m. Davis)
Elizabeth, 1765 (m. Holloway)
Dorothy, 1768
James, Jr. 1770
John, 1775
William, 1778
Anne, 1780
An additional son named Armiger was born in 1773, but his mother's name was given as Elizabeth[2].
James and Martha had additional children who have not been located in the registry but who are named in James' last will [3]:
Item after paying my debts I give to my children John, William, Armiger, Thomas, Martha, Dorothy and Ann Parsons, and Mary Davis & Elizabeth Holloway all my stocks of every kind...
Item I give unto my grandchildren Roe, Elizabeth and Martha Boutwell my negro woman Teneby with her increase to be equally divided among them when they arrive to the age of twenty one years or marriage...
The grandchildren appear to be the children of a deceased daughter who was likewise not recorded in the baptism records. Indications are that she was the Frances Parsons who married Edward Boutwell in 1778 [4]
Research Notes
Martha married James Parsons of York, Virginia, the son of Armiger Parsons. This James Parsons was not the contemporary Captain James Parsons from Hampshire/Hardy Co., Virginia.
↑ "Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1771-1989," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6D1T-9LFQ : 28 June 2022), Frances Parsons in entry for Edward Boutwell, 19 Jan 1778; citing Marriage, Virginia, United States, Circuit court clerk offices, Virginia.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31773004/martha-parsons: accessed 07 July 2023), memorial page for Martha Holloway Parsons (10 Jan 1739–1798), Find A Grave: Memorial #31773004, citing Weston Cemetery, Poquoson, Poquoson City, Virginia, USA; Maintained by Dawn Bilik (prev. Stewart) (contributor 46839075).
Profile Holloway-767 was created through the import of edd2a4e7-6f96-40c4-bc6e-fb0f4f3bcbd3.ged on Aug 20, 2012 by Michael Welborn.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Martha by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Martha: