Joseph Holtzclaw was born in about 1735, in Prince William County, Virginia. He was the son of John Holtzclaw and Catherine (Russell) Thomas. Joseph grew up in Prince William County. He probably attended the school taught by his grandfather, Jacob. Jacob was also the "Reader" at the church during Joseph's youth. Joseph's father, John, died when Joseph was only seventeen years old. Joseph and his older brother, Henry, must have assumed the work on the farm after their father's death.Joseph married Catherine (Caty) James in Fauquier County, Virginia, in about 1761. Nothing is known at this time of the ancestry of Catherine.
During the French and Indian War (1761), Joseph served in Captain William Edmunds' Company of Fauguier County Militia. (Crozier's "Virginia Colonial Militia," p. 97).
Joseph and Caty had at least eight children.
As with all pioneer communities, many of the original settlers began to move away as the boundaries of the frontier expanded, but Joseph and Caty Holtzclaw remained in Fauquier County their entire lives. The old home of Jacob Holtzclaw in the Germantown tract seems not to have been kept in the family, but Joseph Holtzclaw's plantation remained in the family for 150 years. It was called "Ashlawn", in Fauquier County, and was only sold on the death of Charles Eli Holtzclaw, great-grandson of Joseph in 1912. As shown in the inventory of his estate, Joseph was fairly well off. Among his personal property were several slaves.
In religion, the Holtzclaw's were originally German Reformed (Presbyterian), but at a very early date many of them were converted to the Baptist faith. Joseph and his family were members of Carter's Run Baptist Church in Fauquier County. In 1771, Joseph was a delegate to the first Separate Baptist Association ever held in Virginia (Semple "History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia," p. 69 ff.).
Caty Holtzclaw was paid on September 4, 1780, for supplies (brandy) furnished to the Fauquier County Militia during the Revolution (Public Service Claims, Fauquier Co., Va. in the Department of Archives, State Library, Richmond, Va.). Descendants of Caty Holtzclaw are eligible for patriotic societies of the revolutionary period for her patriotic service during the revolution, provided they can secure the necessary documents of proof in their own lineages.
Joseph died at the age of fifty at his home in Fauquier County. Caty, his wife, was appointed administratrix of Joseph Holtzclaw, decd., at the March Court, 1786 in Fauquier County. (Fauguier Co. Minute Book 1784-6, p. 331). At the October Court, Caty was appointed guardian of the orphans, Archibald, Betsy, Stephen, Eli, Aggy, Franky and Sally Holtzclaw (Minute Book 1786-88, p. 106). There was apparently, however another child, Cathy Holtzclaw (probably posthumous), to whose marriage May 25, 1801 to Joseph Lawler, Caty Holtzclaw, the mother, gave her consent (Fauguier Co. Marriage Bonds II, p. 238).
Although Caty was a widow with at least seven children at home, she apparently did not remarry. Her oldest son and our ancestor, Archibald, had married Miriam Hitt in January of 1786. It is very probable that Archibald took over many responsibilities of the plantation, and overseeing the work of the slaves.
Caty Holtzclaw died in about 1810, the last year she appears in the tax-lists of Fauquier County.
Joseph Holtzclaw, Desc. HOLTZCLAW
Back to Johann Holtzclaw 1709-1752 and Catherine Russell Thomas HOLTZCLAW
Archibald Holtzclaw (1764) and Miriam Hitt, Bio. HOLTZCLAW
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