John (Joseph) Holladay "The Ranger"

John (Joseph) Holladay, known in family material as “The Ranger,” was associated with Spotsylvania County, Virginia, where he was described as a farmer and as having served with the Virginia Rangers. He is reported to have lived on a plantation on East Northeast Creek, later called Bellefonte, and to have died on 4 November 1742.

John (Joseph) Holladay, called “The Ranger” in the supplied family material, was reportedly born on 20 April 1676. The GEDCOM record gives his birthplace as Jamestown, James City County, in the Colony of Virginia, while another entry in the same record states that his parentage and birthplace were not documented. Other family material instead gives an English birth and christening, but these details conflict with the GEDCOM entry and are not established here.

Family accounts state that John Holladay located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, in 1702 and served as captain of the Virginia Rangers there. The GEDCOM record describes his occupation as farmer and notes service in the Virginia Rangers. A 1723 residence entry places a John Holladay in the Stafford County rental rolls, although the supplied record does not provide enough detail to independently resolve all identity and residence claims.

He was associated with a plantation on East Northeast Creek in the southwestern part of Spotsylvania County. A historical account states that he lived, died, and was buried there, and identifies the property as Bellefonte, a name said to have come from a spring near the dwelling. The same account says that an earlier, unprobated will dated 9 April 1735 named his wife and children, though the excerpt does not preserve the wife’s name.

John Holladay made a will dated 4 November 1742. A published transcription reports that it was proved on 7 December 1742 in Spotsylvania County and names sons William, John, Daniel, Joseph, and Benjamin; daughters Elizabeth, wife of Pattison Pulliam; Winifred, wife of Thomas Pulliam; Sarah, wife of James Rollings Jr.; and Susanna. It further identifies Joseph and Benjamin Holladay and Thomas Pulliam as executors. The GEDCOM record gives John’s death as 4 November 1742 at East Creek, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and records burial in November 1742 in Virginia. It also includes a burial-place entry for Lewiston, Spotsylvania County; the supplied material does not reconcile this with the account of burial on the Bellefonte plantation.

Later references to “the house of John Holladay” in Spotsylvania County should not automatically be attributed to John (Joseph) Holladay. The cited historical discussion notes that a 1780 act directing the county court to meet at the house of John Holladay was issued decades after his death and may have concerned a later member of the Holladay family.

Historical context

Service with the Virginia Rangers, as reported in the family material, places John Holladay in the colonial Virginia setting of local defense and frontier administration. The supplied historical account also preserves the later importance of the Holladay name in Spotsylvania County: an Act of the Virginia Assembly dated May 1780 directed the county court to meet at the house of John Holladay while a new courthouse was being completed. Because John (Joseph) Holladay had died in 1742, that later court-house reference cannot be treated as evidence that the court met at his own home without further documentation.

Sources & research

GEDCOM source @S12@: “Record for CaptThomas Alexander Halliday,” linked to the individual record.
Ancestry link cited in GEDCOM and notes: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=132155092902&indiv=try
Holladay Season blog: “From Holy Day to Holladay,” http://holladayseason.blogspot.com/2008/10/from-holy-day-to-holladay.html
Spotsylvania County will citation: Spots. Co. A, 346; will dated 4 Nov 1742 and proved 7 Dec 1742.
Virginia Assembly citation: Hen. X, 228; Act of May 1780 concerning sessions of the Spotsylvania County Court.
Historical excerpt headed “CAPTAIN JOHN HOLLADAY, of Spotsylvania county, Va.”, including discussion of the 1735 unprobated will, Bellefonte, and the 1742 will transcription.