The Holden Family of Chatham County, North Carolina, and Pendleton District, South Carolina

Location: Chatham, North Carolina, United States
Surname/tag: Holden

DNA and documentary evidence suggests that the Holden family of Pendleton District (later Pickens County), South Carolina, was closely related to the Holden family of Chatham County, North Carolina.

In 1810, there were seven Holden men listed as heads of households in Pendleton District, South Carolina. They were Dennis Holden, James Holden, John Holden, Joshua Holden, an older Richard Holden, a younger Richard Holden, and Solomon Holden. Descendants of the younger Richard Holden and James Holden have a near identical sixty-seven marker yDNA match.

Per the 1810 census, James Holden was born between 1765 and 1784. The younger Richard Holden was born 13 October 1777, per his family bible. Richard Holden moved to Georgia, and his family is well documented. James Holden eventually moved to Wayne County, Tennessee, where he swore in an affidavit in 1834 that he had known Revolutionary War veteran John Copeland when Copeland enlisted in Chatham County, North Carolina, in February of 1781.

James Holden’s son Joshua stated his is memoirs that he was born about 1800 in Montgomery County, North Carolina, but that his father’s family had lived in Pendleton District, South Carolina, for about nine years when he was a child. He also identified his paternal grandfather as also having been named James Holden.

On 11 November 1778, this elder James Holden entered 240 acres in Chatham County, North Carolina. The land was described as being “on Haw River in the fork, Beginning at a White Oak on the River, running West to Jeremiah Minters Line, thence North formerly run by Rich’d Holden deced. thence to the river & round to the first Station for comp’t.” This land was surveyed 27 of November 1778, and the chain carriers were Richard Minter and Richard Holden.^[1]

On 12 December 1780, James and Elizabeth Holden of Chatham County, North Carolina, sold Richard Holden of Chatham County, North Carolina, half of his land on the Haw River for £40.^[2] This is almost certainly the same Richard Holden who was the chain carrier two years earlier and the older Richard Holden who later appeared in Pendleton District, South Carolina, along with other members of this family.

James Holden seems to have been still living 1 October 1783 when he received payment for a claim of £9 related to the Revolutionary War.^[3] He died prior to 1790 when his widow Elizabeth was enumerated on the 1790 census of Chatham County, North Carolina, with a household consisting of one male over sixteen, one male under sixteen, and four females. She was still living in Chatham County, North Carolina, on 16 December 1802 when she, along with Joshua Holden of Pendleton District, South Carolina, sold the remaining 120 acres from the grant of 1778 to Joseph Minter for $475.00.^[4]

The “Rich’d Holden deced” mentioned in the grant of 1778 is probably the Richard Holden whose estate was administered in 1774. At the May 1774 term of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Chatham County, North Carolina, Mary Holden applied for letters of administration on the estate of Richard Holden, deceased. She gave bond in the amount of £100 with “Jesse Mann & Richard Holden Junr” as her securities.^[5] An inventory of his estate was taken on 5 August 1774 and recorded 9 August 1774.^[6]

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A probable breakdown of part of this family is as follows:

• Richard Holden was born about 1720 and married Mary. He died about 1774 in Chatham County, North Carolina.
  • James Holden was born about 1745. He married Elizabeth. He died between 1783 and 1790 in Chatham County, North Carolina.
    • Joshua Holden was born about 1762. He moved to Pendleton District, South Carolina, before 1802 and died after 1820.
    • James Holden was born about 1765. He married Biddy and died in Wayne County, Tennessee, before 1850.
    • Richard Holden was born 13 August 1777 in Chatham County, North Carolina. He married Sarah and died 6 August 1842 in Habersham County, Georgia.
    • (other children?)
  • Richard Holden, Jr., was born about 1750. He moved to Pendleton District, South Carolina, before 1790. He died in Pickens District, South Carolina between 1830 and 1840.
    • Richard Holden was born about 1797 in South Carolina. He married Jane Langston and moved to Texas.
    • (other children?)

Sources

1. ↑ “North Carolina, U. S., Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” images, Ancestry, James Holden, 1 July 1779, (accessed 23 October 2021); citing North Carolina Land Grants, Microfilm Publication, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. James Holden, 240 acres on the Haw River, Chatham County, North Carolina, Date of Entry: 11 November 1775, Date of Survey: 27 November 1778, Date Issued: 1 July 1779.
2. ↑ “Chatham County, North Carolina, Land Records, 1771-1902,” images, FamilySearch, James and Elizabeth Holden to Richard Holden, 12 December 1780, (accessed 23 October 2021); citing Chatham County, North Carolina, Deed Book B, page 413. 12 December 1780, James and Elizabeth Holden of Chatham County, North Carolina, to Richard Holden of Chatham County, North Carolina, £40, 120 acres on the Haw River. Witnesses: Morgan Minter and William Leopard.
3. ↑ “North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers,” images, FamilySearch, James Holden, 1 October 1783, (accessed 23 October 2021); citing North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 5-B, Hodges, James to Hollis, William, 1779-1792. “No. 4924 State of North Carolina Oct’r 1st 1783, Hillsborough Auditors Office, This is to Certify that James Holden Exhibited his Claim & was allowed Nine pounds. John Nichols, Alex Mebane. Specie £9.” (Note: This does not necessarily mean that he served in the Revolutionary War as it did not specify that it was for service.)
4. ↑ “Chatham County, North Carolina, Land Records, 1771-1902,” images, FamilySearch, Joshua Holding and Elizabeth Holding to Joseph Minter, 16 December 1802, (accessed 23 October 2021); citing Chatham County, North Carolina, Deed Book N, page 348. 16 December 1802, Joshua Holding of Pendleton District, South Carolina, and Elizabeth Holding of Chatham County, North Carolina, to Joseph Minter of Chatham County, North Carolina, $457.00, 120 acres on the Haw River. Witnesses: Joseph Johnston, Abner Hill Minter, and Elizabeth Minter.
5. ↑ Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Chatham County, North Carolina, 1774-1861,” images, FamilySearch, Court Minutes, May Term, 1774, (accessed 24 October 2021); citing Chatham County, North Carolina, Minute Book. 1774-1779, page 4. May Term 1774, “Administration on the Estate of Richard Holden Dec’d granted to Mary Holden she having given Bond with Jesse Mann & Richard Holden Junr in £100. Whereupon the adm’x was duly Qualified.”
6. ↑ “Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Chatham County, North Carolina, 1774-1861,” images, FamilySearch, Court Minutes, August Tem, 1774, (accessed 24 October 2021); citing Chatham County, North Carolina, Minute Book. 1774-1779, page 17. 9 August 1774, “An Inventory of the Estate of Richard Holding dec’d returned, and ordered to be recorded.”