Dissenters John and Joseph Holt

 In 1753, John and Joseph Holt along with seventeen other individuals purchased one acre of land lying in the southeast portion of Louisa County from Arthur Slayden. Those involved in the purchase as well as the land itself are described within the below Louisa County deed. Access to the property was detailed as "a road from the said land into the adjacent road commonly called the Three Chopt Road". Two other purchasers mentioned in the deed were Elisha and William White (brothers in law to John and Joseph Holt). 

Louisa County VA DB A page 514

This deed is such a great record which tells us so much in regards to the society of friends that John and Joseph Holt kept which included several known dissenters and participants in the spreading of the Virginian evangelical movement. In Rodger M. Payne's New Light in Hanover County: Evangelical Dissent in Piedmont Virginia, 1740-1755 , Payne described the role of a few of the individuals mentioned in the deed including:

Tucker Woodson - an elder in the Hanover Presbytery and owner of the land where the Woodson meeting house stood

Joseph Shelton - In 1748 Rev. Samuel Davies received permission to preach at Joseph Shelton's meeting house on Owens Creek in Louisa County.

William and David Shelton - Brothers of Joseph Shelton and leaders in the evangelical movement.

Payne also stated that the purpose of this 1753 deed was to establish the Providence Meetinghouse, today known as Providence Presbyterian Church. 

Most surprising to this researcher is Payne's statement that John Holt served as an elder in the Hanover Presbytery along with Samuel Morris, Tucker Woodson, Joseph Shelton and David Shelton!

Although the above 1753 Louisa County deed involves both John and Joseph Holt, we still don't know their relationship. But wait....there's more!

copyright©2024 Deborah Thurman Parks