Archibald Holtzclaw was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, November 11, 1764. His parents were Joseph Holtzclaw and Catherine (James).
Archibald grew to manhood on his father's plantation, Ash Lawn, in Fauquier County. It is rather amazing to try and imagine what those years must have been like. We know that his parents were very active in the Carter's Run Baptist Church, and that they attended services there. As was the custom of the times, the Holtzclaw family owned slaves. Archibald was a young boy during the revolution, and would have seen the soldiers as they marched through Fauquier County. He could have been present when his mother sold brandy to the members of the militia.
Note: Joseph Holtzclaw's plantation, Ash Lawn, remained in the family for 150 years. It was sold on the death of Charles Eli Holtzclaw, (son of Lucy Holtzclaw, Eli, Joseph, John, Jacob, etc.; and son of Robert R. Holtzclaw, Charles, Josiah, John, Jacob, etc.), the great-grandson of Joseph, in 1912,
Archibald married Miriam Hitt, January 3, 1786, in Fauquier County. Miriam was the daughter of Peter Hitt and Sarah (James) Hitt. The Hitt family were also members of Carter's Run Baptist Church.
Archibald's father died in late 1785 or early 1786. As the oldest child and son, I would imagine Archibald set up his new home near that of his mother, Catherine. Archibald probably oversaw the work on the plantation for several years, until his younger brothers, Eli and Stephen were able to assume some responsibilities themselves. Archibald and Miriam's first known child, a daughter Elizabeth, was born in Fauquier County in 1792. (Some sources believe that the family may have moved to Kentucky before the birth of Elizabeth in 1792.)
Archibald, Miriam and baby, Elizabeth moved to Fayette County, Kentucky in about 1795. The Holtzclaw family lived in Fayette County for thirty years, and Archibald is listed in the tax list for Fayette, County in 1800, and in the census for that county in 1810 and 1820. (The 1810 census lists the family of Absalom Adams as close neighbors of the Holtzclaw family. It was there they raised their family, and it was there that their first three children married. Archibald was a farmer, and must have been fairly prosperous as he, like his father before him, owned slaves. The family attended the Bryant's Particular Baptist Church.
Archibald and Miriam Holtzclaw were granted a letter of dismissal from their home church in Fayette County, in late September of 1825. This letter which was among Sarah Allison's possessions, reads as follow (including its original spelling and punctuation).
The particular Baptist Church of Jesus Christ at Bryant's Fayette County Kentucky, holding the doctrine of particular redemtion, personal Election, effectual calling, justification by the imputed rightousness of Jesus Christ, parden of sin by his atoneing blood. Believers baptised by immersion, the final persaverance of the saints, the reserrection of the dead, and Eternal judgement . . ) to any orderly Baptist Church, know ye that the barers hereof, our much beloved brother and sister [in Christ] Archabale Holtzclaw and Miram Holtzclaw are members in full fellowship with this Church and when joined to you are hereby dismissed from us . . ) done by order of the Church the 3 Saturday in September 1825.
/s/ Thomas P. Dudley, Moderator /s/ ______?________, Clerk [signature blurred]
It appears, Archibald, Miriam and their entire family, including their married sons and daughters, moved to Clay County, Missouri, in the fall of 1825.
Archibald Holtzclaw bought 320 acres of land in Section 21, Range 31, Township 51, in Clay County, Missouri, on November 26, 1825. (The farm was a few miles south of Liberty. The Southland Estates subdivision and the South Liberty Baptist Church now stand on part of it.) After their arrival they continued to live in their covered wagons until they had built log homes. Archibald, his son, Peter, and son-in-law John Capps appear in the 1826 tax list of Clay County, and it seems that they arrived together. Whether the other older children came at this time is unclear. Elizabeth (Holtzclaw) Mansfield seems to have been a resident of Clay County in 1828, but was certainly there when she remarried in 1830. Sarah (Holtzclaw) Adams we cannot be sure of until her second marriage to Abraham Groom in 1827. Catherine Holtzclaw disappears from the records after the 1810 census, and probably died in Kentucky between 1810-1820. Nancy and James presumably came with their parents.
Archibald Holtzclaw died shortly before December 13, 1828 (the date his estate was filed with the Clay County Probate), at sixty-four years of age. His estate, including the 320 acres and six slaves, was valued at over $5000.00, a substantial sum in those days. His son-in-law, John C. Lincoln, was appointed administrator of the estate.
Miriam did not remarry after Archibald's death, and she continued to live in Clay County. She died shortly before June 23, 1841 (date of probate for her estate in Clay County). After her death, Archibald and Miriam's "lunatic" son, James, lived with his brother and guardian, Peter, until his death in 1854.
The burial site for Archibald and Miriam Hitt Holtzclaw is not known.
Archibald Holtzclaw, Descendants HOLTZCLAW
Back to Joseph Holtzclaw (1764) and Miriam Hitt HOLTZCLAW
Back to Peter Hitt (1726) and Sarah James, Bio. and Desc. HITT
Sarah (Sally) Holtzclaw (1795) and John Adams, Bio. ADAMS
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