For the last several posts I have been focusing on the family of my Great Granduncle to some degree, George Washington Solomon. First, there was that of his daughter, Florence, who had seemed to have been merged into one, along with her husbands other wife, also named Florence.
Then there was his other daughter, Sophronia Sophia Bronnie Bessie, etc., whose constant changing of names, both first and last, made her difficult to trace.
Lastly, I had to tell the tale of the wife of the above Sophronia's son, who had married a notorious gangster can served time in prison before she had married him.
But the ladies of the family were not the only ones with an interesting story.
Oldest son, James Benjamin Solomon was only 1 out of 2 of the families 10 children who was actually named in the 1880 census. There were several children named, with no more records of, and the same amount of children who were living and should have been named, but were not.
The family had originated in Stanly County, NC and had migrated south to Rockingham in pursuit of work in the Cotton Mills there. There is where Jimmy had been born.
On October 29, 1892, at the age of 19, James Benjamin fell in love, or at least he thought he did. He married Miss Ida Jane Crouch, age 17, daughter of Christopher Columbus and Sarah Elizabeth Garrett Crouch of Mt. Gilead. The marriage was brief and fruitless and ended in divorce after a few short years. Divorce was much more common back then than many people think.
Ida would go on to marry Sephas Edgar Tudor in Richmond County in 1900, and become the mother of 5 children. She would died young in 1911 at the age of 36.
Jim Solomon would find love before her. On April 30, 1898, Jim, now 25, would marry Sarah Catherine Lee Gardner. Sarah was the daughter of Silas and Catherine Laton Lee and was 23. She had been born in Duplin County, North Carolina. For reasons unknown, at ten years prior, at just 13 years old, Sarah had married Benjamin Garder, a much older man. This marriage was also unfruitful and 5 years into the marriage, her husband had taken with fever and died, leaving her a widow at just 18.
Sarah's father, Silas Lee, had moved from Duplin County to the town of Stewartsville in Scotland County, a neighbor of Richmond County, and bordering the North / South Carolina line, just north of Bennettsville. That is most likely how Jim met Sarah. The 1900 census finds Jim and Sarah living in Stewartsville, with Jim working as a farm laborer for a Mr. McKinnon. They didn't call Scotland County Scotland County for nothing. They've been married for two years and Sarah is noted as having had zero children with zero deceased. They've yet to start a family.
Shortly afterwards, the young couple must have moved to Stanly County, NC, as the records of their oldest son, William Crawfored Solomon, born on April 30, 1901, indicate that he was born there. By 1905, however, the family had returned to Jim's hometown of Rockingham, in Richmond County, as that is where their second son, Luther James Solomon, was born.
| Name: | Webster Solomon |
|---|---|
| Birth Date: | 2 May 1908 |
| Death Date: | 1 Oct 1909 |
| Cemetery: | Scottish Cemetery |
| Burial or Cremation Place: | Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina, United States of America |
| Has Bio?: | N |
| URL: | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54393870/webster-solomon |
Their third son, named Webster, was born on May 2, 1908. Tragedy would strike as this little one would live only a year. Webster would pass away on October 1, 1909, at only 17 months old. He was buried with his Great Grandmother, Tabitha Marks Solomon at the old Scottish Cemetery outside of Rockingham, where many of his relatives were or would be, buried.
| Name: | James B Salomon[James B Solomon] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in 1910: | 36 | |||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1874[1874] | |||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Home in 1910: | Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||
| Street: | Short Dow Street | |||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 61 | |||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | |||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | |||||||||||||||
| Spouse's Name: | Sarah C Salomon | |||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Native Tongue: | English | |||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Slubber | |||||||||||||||
| Industry: | Cotton Mill | |||||||||||||||
| Employer, Employee or Other: | Wage Earner | |||||||||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented: | Rent | |||||||||||||||
| Farm or House: | House | |||||||||||||||
| Able to read: | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Years Married: | 12 | |||||||||||||||
| Out of Work: | N | |||||||||||||||
| Number of Weeks Out of Work: | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
In 1910, the family of 4 is living in the Pee Dee Mill Village and James is working as a 'Slubber' at a Cotton Mill. The couple have been married for 12 years and are renting their home, most likely a mill house similar to the ones pictured below. Sarah said she had given birth to 3 children, with 2 living, the third having been Webster. They are living on a road called 'Short Dow Street' and Jim's brother Billy Solomon and his family are just a few doors down.
By this time, Cotton Mills had sprung up all over North Carolina and many families had left the farm to live in and near citiies to work in them. The mills would build little cottages, complete with stores and other amenities to accommodate their employees and this is how the mill villages were created.
The life of a Cotton Mill family was tedious at best, the hours were long, the work was dirty and hard. Not much lent it a betterment of farm work. Everything was usually close. Merchants, barbers and fraternal organizations would spring up near the villages to take care of the workers needs, often offereing credit to tie them in. Churches would organize and build within walking distance. Schools would be built to accommodate the younger children, as most of the older ones would end up working at the mill themselves to help support the family. Recreational facilities would also form to occupy the little free time of the workers, and allow them a little release, if not relaxation. Baseball teams would form and play other towns or village teams. YMCA's would be built. Kids would be kids and look for any kind of mischief to get into, sometimes with tragic results.
| Name: | James Solomon | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 49 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1871 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1920: | Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Street: | Upper Street | |||||||||||||||||||||
| House Number: | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence Date: | 1920 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse's Name: | Sarah Solomon | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Laborer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Industry: | Cotton Mill | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Employment Field: | Wage or Salary | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented: | Rented | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | No | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
This is where we find the Solomon family in 1920. Three more children, Ruth, Silas, and Melvin have joined the family. William Crawford, the oldest son, is married and on his own, and Luther is working with his father in the mill at 15. Sarah is a housewife with a 6 month old Melvin to care for. The spacing in the children is curious. While Ruth and Silas are only a year apart, Luther is 7 years older and Melvin, 7 years younger. Sarah gave birth to her last child at 44 years old. There may have been lost children in those large gaps. The families on the mill hills usually did not have the large families known to farm families, as there was not room or money to support them. Four to six was an average number, with many far less, especially as they moved well into the 20th century.
 |
| Mill News. The Great Southern Weekly for Textile Workers. Devoted to the Textile Industries. 82 p., ill. Charlotte, N. C. Mill News Print. Co. 1920. |
Sometime in or around 1924, or early 1925, a Holiness Minister named John A. Holmes showed up in Rockingham, NC. He made the acquaintance of the Solomons and asked that his young son, John A. Holmes, Jr. be allowed to board with them while he attended school. Apparently, sometime during this era, too, the Preacher Holmes had developed a legal issue with a woman from the Great Falls Mill Village, as she swore out a warrant for his arrest.
Jim Solomon was 52 years old in June of 1925. He supposedly had an ulcerated stomach and had to watch what he ate. On Saturday, June 20th, he had a supper consisting of fish, and the next morning, a breakfast of cucumbers and milk.
Almost immediately, he crumpled over in pain and became unable to get ready for church. A doctor was summoned and he was examined, being given morphine and other medications. The next day, the doctor was called again, yet hours later he passed away, on Monday, June 23rd.
James Benjamin Solomon was buried at the old Scottish Cemetery outside of Rockingham with his Grandmother, Tabitha, his father George, and his son Webster. But things didn't sit well within the family. His two younger brothers, George S. and William T., had the terrible feeling that something was rotten in PeeDee Village. His older boys, Crawford and Luther, were suspicious as well. They didn't like that wordy 'Preacher' being all over the place, in the middle of everything, and most especially, being all too 'comforting' to their mother.
Less than two months later, Sarah Catherine Lee Gardner Solomon took a train to Bennettsville, where she married Mr. John Archie Holmes. Sarah had received about $289 in life insurance from J.B. Solomon's policy. She had paid about $120 for his funeral expenses. Afterwards, it was revealed she had also paid $150 to the woman at Great Falls Mill Village to keep the Preacher out of legal trouble and get her to drop the charges.
This was too much of a coincidence for the surviving Solomon brothers. The coroner had ruled Jim's death as Ptomaine poisoning with an underlying cause of Chronic Gastritis. George and Billy contacted the Coronor, and hired an attorny, J. Chesley Sedberry, to have the body exhumed and a toxicology report done. There was some disagreement as to who would pay for the service.
At first, it appeared that nothing would be done and that the original findings would stand. They had succeeded in having the body exhumed. Not being embalmed, the condition of Jim Solomon's remains were not in good shape, even after only two months.
The "Preacher"
Sarah paid the funeral expenses for J. B. Solomons burial of $120, with most of the remainder, she covered the legal fee of the "Reverend" Holmes for whatever trouble he had gotten into with the woman from Great Falls. The police met him and arrested him at the train station, but after the woman was paid $150, she dropped the charges.
The marriage, which came just 3 weeks after Jim's death, was highly suspicous, but on its' own, was proof of nothing.
So, who was this interloper, this so called "Preacher" and the breifly widowed Sarah's new hubby? They hadn't left many clues. The most pervasive ones were that he had a young son that had boarded with the Solomons while attending school and that he, in 1925, was around 50 years old.
John A. Holmes was a fairly common name in the Carolinas and around. The newspapers yielded a few more clues.
After reading of the case of J. B. Solomon passing away and the curious events following, a man in Toccoa, Georgia named L. B. Craft wrote a letter to the Editor of ' The Charlotte Observer', correcting the fact that John Archie Holmes, as it were, was not a Holiness Preacher. Afterwards, he was referred to as an "Exhorter" and not a minister.
To find out more about J. A. Holmes, I needed to know who L. B. Craft was and how he knew him.
Luther Blake Craft hailed from Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia and unlike J. A. Holmes, was an actual ordained minister. He also lived a very long time.
At some point in the early 1920's, he had made the association of John A. Holmes, and apparently his impression of him was not a good one.
| Name | L Blake Craft |
|---|---|
| Birth Year | 1903 |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Age in 1930 | 27 |
| Birthplace | Georgia |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Relation to Head of House | Head |
| Home in 1930 | Alpharetta, Milton, Georgia, USA |
| Map of Home | Alpharetta,Milton,Georgia |
| Street Address | North Main Street |
| Dwelling Number | 5 |
| Family Number | 6 |
| Home Owned or Rented | Rented |
| Home Value | 10 |
| Radio Set | No |
| Lives on Farm | No |
| Age at First Marriage | 22 |
| Attended School | No |
| Able to Read and Write | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace | Georgia |
| Mother's Birthplace | Georgia |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Industry | Church |
| Class of Worker | Wage or salary worker |
| Employment | Yes |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
There was not a great deal more that I could discover about the connection, but the location of Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia was an important one in determining if I had the right J. A. Holmes.
Another helpful hint at determining who John A. Holmes was also came from the newspaper. In February of 1922, the Rockingham Post-Dispatach reported that J. A. Holmes had moved from Chester, South Carolina, to North Davidson Street in Charlotte, NC.
I started looking for J. A. Holmes in Chester County. I found the birth certificate of a baby boy, born in Chester County, SC whose father's name was John Archie Holmes, 40, born in Johnston County, NC and whose mother was Nellie Campbell, born in Chatham County, NC.
After that, I found the marriage license in Alamance County, NC, of John Archie Holmes, 37, of Durham, son of Eli Holmes, deceased, and Mary M. Holmes, living, of Harnett County, NC and Nellie Campbell, 18, of Guilford County, NC, daughter of 'Meador' Campbell, of Alamance County and Jennie Campbell, deceased.
These folks moved around like worms in hot ashes.
With this information, I was able to nail down who John Archie Holmes actually was. His father was Eli Holmes (1849-1898), son of John H. Holmes and wife Sarah Gates Holmes of Johnston County, NC. His father was killed in the Civil War and Eli grew up in Johnston County and is buried in Harnett County.
His mother, who lived a much longer life, was Mary Margaret "Ciss" Whittington Holmes Byrd. She was born in Harnett County, and died in Durham. Ciss was the daughter of Bryant Whittington and Anne Marie Ennis Hidges Whittington.
 |
| Mary M. Whittington Holmes Byrd |
John Archie Holmes was the firstborn of Eli and Mary Margarets 9 children.
1879 John Archie Holmes
1880 Joseph Edgar Holmes
1882 Suwannie "Tart" Holmes
1884 Annie Pearl Holmes
1888 Aaron Carlton Holmes
1889 Minnie F. Holmes
1892 Ethel Mahalie Holmes
1895 William Moses Holmes
1897 Mary Bertha Holmes
Doing the math, when Eli died, Ciss was left with 10 children ranging in age from 19 to 1 years old. Being the oldest, one would think Archie was probably the most needed to help support the family and that all of the older children must have had to pitch in.
| Name: | Archie J Holms[Archie H Holma] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | Jul 1879 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1900: | Averasboro, Harnett, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheet Number: | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: | 334 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 348 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Single | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Name: | Mary Holms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Farm Laborer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Months Not Employed: | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can Read: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can Speak English: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| House Owned or Rented: | Rent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Farm or House: | H | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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So, the above is how we find the fatherless family in 1900, living in Averasboro, Harnett County, NC. Archie is the head of the house and supporting his mother and the six youngest siblings. His grandfather, J. H. Holmes, is listed on the next page, so they may very well had support from the Holmes family as well. The second son, Joseph, and oldest daughter, Suwhannie, were already out of the home.
 |
| Averasboro Cemetery and Musuem |
Averasboro is an historic town in Harnett County, where a Civil War battle took place. A musuem and cemetery remain at the place. It was the closest place to a home Archie would ever know.
Joseph Edgar Holmes, who was only a year younger than Archie, became an actual, ordained Minister. He may have been Archie's inspiration for his later incarnation as the 'Exhorter".
 |
| Rev. Joseph Edgar Holmes |
So, a some point between 1900 and 1910, the family moved to Durham. Or at least, the mother did, the widow Mary Margaret with her four youngest children and Aaron's wife, Laura. Laura was labeled a daughter, but Aaron Carlton Holmes, a married Street Car Conductor in this census, had married Laura Dunnagan in 1909, and this was his wife, Laura, in the census.
| Name: | Mary Hames[Mary Homes] | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in 1910: | 53 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1857[1857] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1910: | Durham Ward 2, Durham, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Street: | Eva Street | |||||||||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 604 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Female | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Widowed | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Tongue: | English | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented: | Rent | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Farm or House: | House | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to read: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Aaron was living in Wolf Pit, in Richmond County, NC in 1920, and this may have been the link that had brought Archie Holmes to Rockingham.
| Name: | Aron C Holmes | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 31 | |||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1889 | |||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Home in 1920: | Wolf Pit, Richmond, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Street: | Front Street | |||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| Residence Date: | 1920 | |||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | |||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | |||||||||||||||
| Spouse's Name: | Laurah Holmes | |||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English: | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Weaver | |||||||||||||||
| Industry: | Cotton Mill | |||||||||||||||
| Employment Field: | Wage or Salary | |||||||||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented: | Rented | |||||||||||||||
| Able to read: | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Oldest daughter, Swannie, married Joseph Bright Tart in 1904, and had one son, Edgar, the next year. She was widowed soon after, and never remarried. She also lived in Richmond County, NC for a spell.
 |
CLIPPED FROM The News and ObserverRaleigh, North Carolina 01 Dec 1955, Thu • Page 31 |
Several of John Archie's siblings died young, of T. B., after marrying and starting families. One of those was youngest brother, William Moses Holmes, who died in 1933 at 40 years old. While I can't find a photo of Archie, there is the one of his oldest younger brother, Rev. Joseph Holmes, above, and this one, below, of Moses. He may have resembled them.
So, J. A. Holmes had married Nellie Campbell, of Chatham County, in May of 1909 in Alamance County, NC. So where were they in 1910? They were working, nearby each other, but living apart.
| Name: | John A Holmes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in 1910: | 32 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1878[1878] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1910: | Morehead, Guilford, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Street: | First Street | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Boarder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Tongue: | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Weaver | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Industry: | Cotton Mill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Employer, Employee or Other: | Wage Earner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to read: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years Married: | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Out of Work: | N | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Weeks Out of Work: | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here we find Archie, 32, living in the Morehead area of Greensboro, in Guilford County, working as a Weaver in a Cotton Mill. He is boarding with a Bergman family in House 192 on First Street, in the Pomono Mill Village. The transcription above is incorrect, in that John and Ida Morgan were also Boarders of the Bergmans. He is not labled 'head'. Ida is just two houses down in Number 194, boarding with a McIntyre family, aged 19, married 1 year and no children born. I wonder what the story was behind them living in separate boarding houses. It must have been cheaper to live together.
Pomona Mill Village was built around the Pomona Mill which in 1897, was a community outside of Greensboro, a separate town, It was typical of the Cotton Mills and villages that grew around them in the late 1800's, early 1900's, throughout the south. It was demolished in 2010.
John Archie and Nellie eventually found the time to live together, and below, we find them working in a cotton mill in Bessemer City in Gaston County, NC. This is the sem year his brother, Aaron was livingin Wolf Pit, Richmond County.
| Name: | John A Holmes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1873 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1920: | Bessemer City, Gaston, North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Street: | Georgia Avenue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| House Number: | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence Date: | 1920 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Head | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse's Name: | Nellie Holmes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Weaver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Industry: | Cotton Mill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Employment Field: | Wage or Salary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home Owned or Rented: | Rented | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to read: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Write: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
On May 24, 1909, John Archie Holmes, of Durham, 37, son of Eli Holmes, deceased and Mary M Holmes, living, of Harnett County, NC, married Nellie Campbell of Guilford County, aged 18, daughter of Meador Campbell, living, of Alamance County, and Jenny Campbell, deceased. In 1910, they were living separate in Pomona, just outside of Greensboro and in 1920, they were living in Bessemer City and had 5 living children.
Things rapidly went downhill after that. The couple went to Danville, Virginia to obtain a divorce. Possibly because divorces were easier to obtain there, just like many North Carolina couples went to South Carolina to get married.
The divorce was granted in January of 1922 and the marriage lasted 13 years. Archie had returned to Durham, where he lived when he married Nellie and she returned to Greensboro, where she had lived when she married him. The reason for divorce was abandonment and adultery. 1922 was the same year that it was noted in the Rockingham, Richmond County.NC newspaper on February 23, that John A. Holmes had moved from Chester SC to 1211 N. Davidson Street in Charlotte, NC.
What about Nellie? She jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
On March 29, 1926, four years after the divorce, she married Jesse Lee Turpin, a divorced man from Pittsylvania, Virginia. Jesse had been married to a woman named Lena Martin and had two children.
Lena divorced Jesse in 1923 under claims of Cruel treatment, abandonment and adultery. And in 1926, he married Nellie Campbell Holmes.
Back in North Carolina, John Archie Holmes and his new wie, Sarah, were on trial.
And despite Sarah's "kindly face", they were found guilty.
Thepair were sentenced to a minimumof 15 adn a maximum of 20 years in prison. Bial had been set at $50,000 and it was siad the pair could not raise a dollar. Sarah's family had turned their backs on her.
The following clips are all from the above article.
The facts in the case were all circumstantial, but fell so solidly into place, the jury came to a guilty verdict.
Was Sarah a gullible old woman, who had fallen under the spell and mystical words of the "Exhorter", or false prophet, who had hidden his many sinsbehind a veil of religion, having abandoned his own wife and children, committed adultry, and whatever unknown tresspass he had committed to the woman from Great Falls village?
In the end, the toxicology report, that had found high concentrations of copper and arsenic in his stomach, corresponding with the clothing dye called "Paris Green" found at the home.
1930
Sarah Lee Solomon Holmes , still married, is found in the State Penitentiary in Raleigh, NC
| Name: | Sarah Holmes |
|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1877 |
| Gender: | Female |
| Race: | White |
| Age in 1930: | 53 |
| Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Relation to Head of House: | Prisoner |
| Home in 1930: | Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, USA |
| Map of Home: | |
| Street Address: | West Morgan Street Continued from 4-B |
| Ward of City: | 5 |
| Institution: | N. C State Penitentiary |
| House Number: | 835 |
| Age at First Marriage: | 21 |
| Attended School: | No |
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English: | Yes |
Her younger children were taken in by their older siblings,.
| Name: | Melvin Solomon | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1919 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Age in 1930: | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Single | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Brother-in-law | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1930: | Wolf Pit, Richmond, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Map of Home: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Street Address: | 5th Avenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 138 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 139 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 141 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Attended School: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English: | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
This is Melvin, the youngest, living with his married sister, Ruth Solomon Carter.
| Name: | J A Holmes |
|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1878 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | White |
| Age in 1930: | 52 |
| Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Relation to Head of House: | Prisoner |
| Home in 1930: | Mattamuskeet, Hyde, North Carolina, USA |
| Map of Home: | |
| Institution: | North Carolina State Prison Camp |
| Dwelling Number: | 10 |
| Family Number: | 10 |
| Age at First Marriage: | 28 |
| Attended School: | No |
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Able to Speak English: | Yes |
| Occupation: | Laborer |
| Industry: | Prison Farm |
| Class of Worker: | Wage or salary worker |
John A. Holmes was not sent to Raleigh near his wife, instead, he was sent east, closer to where he grew up and was found at the prison farm in Mattamuskeet, Hyde County, NC.
 |
| A typical southern prison farm view from the marshallproject.org |
But what of the children he left behind?
| Name: | Nellie Turpin | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1893 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Female | ||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | ||||||||||||||||||
| Age in 1930: | 37 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Married | ||||||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Wife | ||||||||||||||||||
| Homemaker?: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1930: | Danville, Danville (Independent City), Virginia, USA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map of Home: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Street Address: | Howeland Circle | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ward of City: | 4th | ||||||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 222 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 244 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 274 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Age at First Marriage: | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attended School: | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| Able to Speak English: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Nellie Campbell, John Archie's ex-wife, was living in Danville, Virginia, where she had obtained her divorce, with her new husband, Jesse Turpin. Living with her was her oldest daughter, Ruby Holmes and her youngest daughter, Margaret Holmes. Also living with the couple was Jesse's son Lynwood, one of his two children with his frist wife, Lena.
| Name: | Janette Holmes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1914 | ||||||
| Gender: | Female | ||||||
| Race: | White | ||||||
| Age in 1930: | 16 | ||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||
| Marital Status: | Single | ||||||
| Home in 1930: | Toccoa, Stephens, Georgia, USA | ||||||
| Map of Home: | |||||||
| Institution: | Toccoa Orphanage | ||||||
| House Number: | 127 | ||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 479 | ||||||
| Family Number: | 512 | ||||||
| Attended School: | Yes | ||||||
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes | ||||||
| Father's Birthplace: | United States | ||||||
| Mother's Birthplace: | United States | ||||||
| |||||||
The middle daughter of Archie and Nellie Holmes, Jeanette, was working as a matron at the Orphanage in Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia. Why so far away? If you will recall, the one rebukative Letter to the Editor written by Rev. Luther Blake Craft. Sometime after the 1922 divorce, John A. Holmes had taken his children, or atleast the middle three, and placed them in the Toccoa City Orphange. As she aged, Janette was given a job there.
She would remain in Toccoa and marry Henry Ervin Kessler and have two daughters. After 1940, they moved to Cobb County, Georgia, where she passed away in 2000.
| Name: | James Holmes[James Holmer] |
|---|---|
| Birth Year: | abt 1916 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | White |
| Age in 1930: | 14 |
| Birthplace: | North Carolina |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Relation to Head of House: | Inmate |
| Home in 1930: | Big Smith, Stephens, Georgia, USA |
| Map of Home: | |
| Street Address: | On Toccoa and Fairview School Road |
| Institution: | Toccos Orphenage lines 51-73 |
| Lives on Farm: | Yes |
| Attended School: | Yes |
| Able to Read and Write: | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace: | United States |
| Mother's Birthplace: | United States |
| Able to Speak English: | Yes |
| Occupation: | Inmate |
| Industry: | Farm Labor |
| Class of Worker: | Unpaid worker, member of the family |
Her younger brother, James Carson Holmes, was also a resiedent of the Toccoa Orphange, listed as farm labor, with 'inmate' just meaning a child who lived there.
James did not stay in Stephens County, unlike his sister. He must have joined his mother in Danville, Virginia, because he married there, on May 14, 1933 at age 17. They made their home in Durham at the time.
The marriage did not last long, as his wife remarried 5 years later, and in 1940, James used his sister Ruby Richardson as his contact for his WWII draft card.
Nellie Campbell Holmes Turpin, John Archie's first wife and the mother of his children, remained in Danville, Virginia unitl at least 1935, after which she moved in with her youngest daughter, Margaret, in Burlington, Alamance County, NC. She passed away in 1966, and her obituary gave a great deal of information on the diaspora of the family.
It's noted that she has been widowed twice, and that she had lived with her daughter, Mrs. Cole, in Burlington It mentioned Ruby (Mrs. W. S.) Richardson in Greensboro and Jeanette (Mrs. Ervin) Kesler of Atlanta, Georgia. Her two sons were both living in Maryland, John Jr. in Bladenburg and James in Chevy Chase.
| Name: | Sara Solomon | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 68 | |||||||||||||||
| Estimated Birth Year: | abt 1872 | |||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Female | |||||||||||||||
| Race: | White | |||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Widowed | |||||||||||||||
| Relation to Head of House: | Mother | |||||||||||||||
| Home in 1940: | North-West and South Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Map of Home in 1940: | ||||||||||||||||
| Street: | Hannah Pickett 1 | |||||||||||||||
| House Number: | 51 | |||||||||||||||
| Inferred Residence in 1935: | North-West and South Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| Residence in 1935: | North-West and South Rockingham | |||||||||||||||
| Sheet Number: | 1B | |||||||||||||||
| Attended School or College: | No | |||||||||||||||
| Highest Grade Completed: | Elementary school, 7th grade | |||||||||||||||
| Weeks Worked in 1939: | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Income: | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Income Other Sources: | No | |||||||||||||||
| Neighbors: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Sarah Catherine Lee Gardner Solomon Holmes was free by 1940. She must have gained some forgiveness from at least one of her children. She was 68, and living with her son Simon and his young family. She had returned to the name Solomon, so must have divorced John Holmes. She gave her marital staus as widowed. It's possible that she had convinced them of her innocence.
| Name: | Sarah C Solomon |
|---|---|
| Birth Date: | 1 Apr 1875 |
| Death Date: | 25 Dec 1944 |
| Cemetery: | Mizpah Cemetery |
| Burial or Cremation Place: | Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina, United States of America |
| Has Bio?: | N |
| Children: | Ruth Carter |
| URL: | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62702532/sarah-c-solomon |
Sarah died on Christmas day, 1944, at the age of 72. She was solemnly laid to rest at the Mizpah Cemetery about three miles outside of Rockingham, without fanfare, without obituary, without epitaph. Only name and dates marking her existence upon the earth.
 |
| Mispah Cemetery, from Find-A-Grave |
What happened inside the head of this middle-aged woman to make her want to do away with a hard-working husband, for the misleading words of a smooth-talking grifter, only to spend her last , best days in prison?
I lose John Archie Holmes after he goes to Prison. Did he die on the prison farm or live another decade or more somewhere else? All I know is that the obituary of his first wife, Nellie, refers to him as "late" in 1966. His children wrote him off entirely, it seems. His descendants only know that he had abandoned his family and no more. I discovered that I know more about him than they do. He's not mentioned in any of his childrens obituaries.
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