Robyn’s Family History
SURNAMES:
HOLT
SMITH
WATERS
PRATHER
SPRINGER
HARBOUR/
BRADLEY
OTHER
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HOMEPAGE
My grandfather, Luther Holt, was born October 10, 1921 in a tiny rural Tennessee town known as Hooker's Bend in Hardin County, TN. He was a handsome, strong-willed and somewhat excitable man. Luther was born into a sharecropping family and grew up farming, like the majority of southern blacks in that time and place. Later, his family would move a short distance away to Henderson, TN. There at Chester County Training School, he met the woman he would later marry, my grandmother Mattie Springer (pictured below left).
In the early 1940s, (after Luther returned from World War 2) my grandparents moved to the industrial city of Dayton, Ohio, for job opportunities during the famous Great Migration of Blacks in the early 1940s(this was actually the second major wave of blacks moving from the South to the North). There, they raised three daughters whom they doted upon and sent to college, all three graduating from Howard University. Luther had a long career at General Electric. After he retired, he was able to use that factory experience at the local Union--he would later rise to serve as President. Luther even received a letter of commendation from then president Richard Nixon for his efforts.
My brother and I have great memories of childhood summers spent with Luther in Dayton (our “Granddad”), riding in his boat, playing Uno on the front porch and playing with the pet chickens he purchased for us. He passed away in August, 1993 and is deeply missed by his family and friends. I wish he could have lived to see me start down this path of researching the family history--I think he would have enjoyed it.
Although Luther would go on to spend the bulk of his life in Dayton, family members and many fond memories were still in Tennessee and my mother remembers frequent trips back to visit various Aunts and Cousins. Luther had been raised primarily by his grandfather, Doss Harbour. But his biological father, Lawson Holt, had deep roots in Tennessee (photo at right).
Lawson Holt, born April 15,1895, was a strikingly attractive man, coffee colored with the Holt's trademark blue/grey eyes. Initially, I didn't know much about him, other than that he served overseas during World War I. He was in France for almost 2 years and when he left he had attained the rank of Corporal. But something went tragically wrong-Lawson died when he was only 44 years old in the VA hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama having been judged mentally unstable. Oral history says after the War, his mind never seemed “right” again.I always wonder what he experienced while in the War that so drastically changed him upon his return.
Lawson's father, John Wesley Holt ( born abt. 1850) and mother (born abt. 1861), Mary Garrett, had eight children and appeared on the 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 Hardin County, TN censuses (photos on left). Not much is known about Mary, except that she was of Cherokee Indian heritage and originally from Decatur County, TN.. Oral history says her father was a white Confederate officer.
From stories I have heard, as well as supporting records in Hardin County deed books and other resources, they were considered a very prosperous family in the insular Black community known as Hooker's Bend/Right, TN. John Wesley owned a country store, hundreds of acres of land, and at one point was even Postmaster at the local post office. He started a school, and a for a time, the area where they made their home was known as Holtsville.
The picture on the right shows all of John and Mary's children including one daughter-in-law: they are Ivie, Matelina, Roxie, Swanson, Oralee, Lawson, Freddie, Cora and Troy Holt. The youngest child in this photo, Aunt Freddie as she was lovingly called (in the lower right corner) only passed away a few years ago in Hardin County, TN at the age of 103. I had the great pleasure of meeting her. (Matelina Holt would later marry Abner Haley, the uncle of the Alex Haley of Roots fame).
What Am I Currently Researching On The Holts?
1) Where and when did Giles acquire the slave Malinda Holt?
Did he purchase her in Smith County, TN or Hardin County, TN? Was she born to another slave that already belonged to him? Did they travel with him from Virginia? I don’t know these answers yet. I checked his father Jesse's will, and I know that Giles was not directly willed any slaves. I recently checked Chancery Court Records & Giles did receive one slave from his father’s estate, but not a name that is familiar to me. I have checked Smith County deeds for any and all HOLT surname transactions and I find none regarding Giles and any slaves. My best guess at this point is that he gained these slaves from his first marriage to Elizabeth Carr. I am currently researching this possibility.
My search for my Holt ancestry continues. Please email me with comments, questions or tips!