Fairfield County ScArchives Biographies.....Holmes, William 1747 - 1799 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/sc/scfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Paul Holmes paulhol@gmail.com March 25, 2022, 3:26 pm Source: references listed on biograpy Author: Paul Holmes William Holmes William Holmes, born in County Down, Ireland in 1747, was a cousin of Finley Holmes. William came with Finley through the port of Charleston shortly after the colonies had independence from Britain. William and Finley probably traveled together to the upstate districts of South Carolina, where William settled along the Little River in Fairfield District about 20 miles north of what would become Columbia, South Carolina. Records show that he purchased land there in 1795 on the Little River at Neckley's Creek (shown on Robert Mills' map of the Fairfield District, SC surveyed in 1820 - see https://www.carolana.com/SC/Maps/Mills_Atlas_Fairfield_District_1825.html). William was 20 years older than Finley. He had married in Ireland and his wife, Mary, and most (or all) of their children were born there. The family probably sailed over after William had established himself in the Fairfield District, South Carolina. In 1793, William Holmes was listed as one of the charter members of Old Brick Church (first called Little River Church and later, Ebenezer Church). He and his wife, Mary, had six children: Ann Holmes (b. ~1777, d. 1825), who married Adam Hawthorn (b. ~1778, d. 1827); Jane Holmes, Mary Holmes (b. 1782 in Ireland), who married Robert Martin (b. ~1770 in Fairfield County SC, d, 1860); Harry (or Henry) Holmes; William B. Holmes (~1785 in Fairfield County SC, d. after 1850); and Joseph Holmes (b.~1789 in Fairfield County SC), who married to Mary Ann Pearson Holmes - her father was Philip Peter Pearson, RS-SC (b. 1746, d. 1835) and her mother was Mary Butler Pearson (b. 1765, d. 1854). Both sons of William, William B. Holmes and Joseph Holmes, were Reverends in the Methodist Episcopal Church and, according to one source, "They were the sons of a pious Associate Reformed elder." William Holmes died in 1799 in Fairfield County, SC . His last will left all his property to his wife and children. An 1800 census of Fairfield County shows William's wife with two male children and one female child in the family. The children all resided in South Carolina. The children of the two reverend sons (William B. and Joseph), settled in South Carolina, Georgia, or Florida. References Beasley, I. (1973). As I remember them —. (Memoirs of the Holmes family - printed for family distribution). Chreitzberg, A. M. (1897). Early Methodism in the Carolinas. Nashville: Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. pp. 210-211. Property Indenture. (1795/1835). Fairfield County SC Deed ,1835, Book MM , Fairfield County, SC. p. 28. 1800 US Government Census, Fairfield County, SC - line 7 - "Mary Homes" (wife of William Holmes) Last Will and Testament of William Holmes, Fairfield County, SC. (1798). p. 51. Will Book #2. Recorded July 18, 1799, Apt. #4, File 117. 1850 US Government Census, Fairfield County, SC - Fairfield County SC - line 24 "William Holmes" (son of William Holmes). 1840 US Government Census, Fairfield County, SC - Fairfield County SC - Fairfield County SC - four lines from bottom "Homes [sic] Revd Wm" - shown next to Joseph Homes [sic], his brother. 1830 US Government Census, Fairfield County, SC - Fairfield County, SC, five lines from bottom "William Holmes" - shown next to Joseph Holmes , his brother. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/fairfield/bios/holmes21nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/scfiles/ File size: 4.0 Kb