John Holloway

Not much is known about John Holloway, who my husband's 4th great-grandfather. John was born sometime between 1800-1810, based on his stated age in the 1840 census of "30-under 40."  He apparently died sometime between 1842 and 1850.

John Holloway was the father of Martin Holloway. Martin' father is very frequently mistakenly identified as Isaac Holloway, who also had a son named Martin.

John could be the John Holaway in the Ashe County, NC, 1830 census, with two boys under 5, and one aged 5-9, as well as a man and woman aged 20-29, but I can't be certain.

He is the head of household in the Wilkes County, NC, 1840 census, with a houseful of boys, one small girl, a woman 30-40, and an older woman (and boy, would I like to know who SHE was!!)

Identifying the correct household in 1840 was a bit of a challenge, because John Holloway, by whatever spelling, was a common name locally. Spicer's District of Wilkes County, NC, contained 5 men named John Holloway or Holoway, all appearing within four pages. But only one household contained enough male children to match the names given in the 1841 school census (see below).

John Holloway's 1840 household included:

males under 5:  one

males 5-under 10:  three

males 10-under 15:  one
males 15-under 20:  two
male 30-under 40:  one [John Holloway]

female under 5:  one
female 30-under 40:  one
female 60-under 70:  one

I'm certain that this 1840 household is the "correct" John because Wilkes County, NC, took a School Census between 1840 and 1850 to establish the need for schools, and identified the head of household and children, by name, who were "over five and under twenty-one years of age". John's household was listed in 1841, documenting the names of his children and his neighbors.

It is the school census that ties the 1840 census of John's household to the 1850 census of his widow, and allows an identification of the correct 1840 household that lists the correct age range for John.

Wilkes County School District #60 returned a list on May 1st, 1841, that included John Holloway's household.  Male children included Daniel, Wells, James, John W., Martin and Alfred, with no girl children in the correct age range.

His neighbors in School District #60 included:

Daniel Hollaway, with male child Daniel, and females Mary and Jeanes
Waide Hampton Hollaway, with male child John
Jackson Hollaway, with male child John

The 1840 population census and the 1841 school census identify several of the same neighbors.




John Hollaway, 1840 census (click to enlarge) 

The childrens' names on the 1841 school census match very closely with the 1850 census enumeration of widow Delila Halloway, then living in Washington County, Virginia.




Delila Halloway, 1850 census   (click to enlarge)

John Holloway died sometime between 1842 and 1850, because his widow was head of household in the 1850 census.  The youngest child in the 1850 census was born around 1843.

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John was a common name amont the Holloways. There were five enumerated in Spicer's District, Wilkes County, NC in 1840. Of the four Holloway households in the 1841 school census return, three had children named John. There were also two children named Daniel, which is a less common name than John.

In the 1840 census, there were two men named John Holloway, Senior. One appears in the image above, aged 60-under 70, with two females 15-under 20 (click to enlarge), and the other was the first name on the next page, also aged 60-under 70, with a female 50-under 60.  Was "our" John the son of John? Possibly, but which one?? and the two John Holloway, Seniors, likely weren't brothers. So determining the father of "our" John Holloway is going to be a challenge.

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Census images were found at Ancestry.com. Wildcard searches for H*l*way were used to locate Holloway households by various spellings.

A Transcript of Wilkes County School Census 1840-1850 With Comprehensive Index of Names and Places, transcribed by George F. McNeil, privately published in 1993, provided school census information for District No. 60. A copy is held at Belk Library, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.