My Quaker Holloways

Welcome back! I've recently spent time researching my Holloway direct-line ancestors, who were Quakers in America back to Colonial times.

My great-grandfather, Basil Russell Holloway, was a United Brethren Church minister and a farmer in Henry County and Huntington, Indiana. But he came from a long line of Quaker ancestors, stretching back into Ohio, Virginia, and New Jersey.

Quaker records are detailed, many are transcribed and digitized, and because Quakers recorded each time a person or family moved from one "meeting" to another, it can be easier to follow families across the country through time than with some other groups. 

Here's the line I've confirmed so far for the Holloways (in green, with other lines and spouses in blue):

From the East to Ohio

George Holloway was born in Burlington, New Jersey in the early 1700s. George and his wife, Ruth Wood, had a son named Asa Holloway, who married Abigail Wright and eventually moved to Virginia, participating in the Crooked Run, Hopewell and Southland Monthly Meetings. After Abigail's death, Asa married his second wife, Elizabeth Pool in 1796; after her passing he married Margaret Nichols in 1802. Asa and Margaret moved with Asa's two remaining minor children, Robert and Asa Holloway, to Belmont County, Ohio, joining the Concord Monthly Meeting in 1804, newly established by some of the first Quaker settlers in eastern Ohio. 

    Map created January 7, 2022 by me, using Google Earth Pro and the 

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (2010) found here: http://www.newberry.org/ahcbp

Robert Holloway (son of Asa and Abigail) married Rebecca Pickering and acquired land in neighboring Londonderry Township, Guernsey County in 1832. He bought 160 acres for $800 from Stephen and Ann Brock, who had originally patented the land in 1817. This earliest plat map for Londonderry Township (1855) shows Robert Holloway's parcel of land (below, in the upper right quadrant on the far right edge).

Earliest Plat Map for Londonderry Township, Guernsey County, Ohio. 1855. Made available by the Guernsey County Historical Society and accessed here: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gchistorymuseum/27472301205/in/album-72157666763699733/

Rebecca died on the same day her son Robert A. Holloway (Basil's grandfather) was born - June 30, 1836. After Robert Holloway (the elder)'s death in 1857, his son Robert A. lived with his older sister (Betsy Briggs) and her family on their nearby farm (according to the 1860 census). 

Fascinatingly, there is a town in Ohio named Holloway, of which I'd never heard before, despite having lived most of my life in Ohio. From what I can tell, the Holloways that lived there were likely related to my Holloway ancestors, but perhaps collaterally, rather than on my direct line.

From Ohio to Indiana

Robert A. Holloway moved to Indiana by 1862, where and when he married Elizabeth Hutson in Cadiz, Henry County. They were received into the Duck Creek Meeting in Henry County with their children in 1880, and it is noted that Robert A. remained a member until his death in 1887. Interestingly, I haven't yet found any records of this family participating in a Quaker meeting between 1862 and their receipt into the Duck Creek Meeting in 1880. 

Thomas Lynn Holloway died by suicide with carbolic acid at the age of 46 in 1912. His son Basil Russel Holloway (my great-grandfather) was 22 when he served as the informant on his father's death certificate.

Death certificate for Thomas Lynn Holloway, 1912. Indiana State Board of Health.

The question I want to investigate next is: who and when did one of my ancestors leave the Quaker community? Was it Basil himself? Or his parents or grandparents? There could be a number of triggers for such a change in religious belief and participation. Was it related to marriage? (I think Basil's wife, Nellie Williams' family were United Brethren or Methodist.) Was it related to the suicide of Thomas Lynn Holloway? Could part of the shift, or at least the explanation for the gap in Quaker records between 1862 and 1880 with Robert A. Holloway's family be related to the Civil War? These are questions that require more research.

Thanks again for reading! I encourage your comments and questions. Do you know more about the Holloways or the Society of Friends in 19th century Ohio and Indiana? Please share!