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Russell Holman>Mary Young Holman
EARLY LIFE
Very little is know about Russell Holman’s early life. He was born in Warwick MA on Aug. 14, 1812 to the son of Daniel Holman, brother of Revolutionary War Col. Jonathan Holman.
Warwick MA had experienced a major revival during and after the revolution that also involved something of a scandal (See God, Love and Lust: The Tale of Four Revolutionary Families in Warwick, MA By Jillaine S. Smith) and thus Russell Holman was born in the wake of much religious fervor in the midst of Mr. Madison’s War of 1812.
Russell Holman Graduated from Brown University in 1838, and went to Green County KY as a “publishing agent.” He was ordained in 1840 at Pittman Creek Church.
Family oral history maintains that Holman was a missionary to the Creek Indians on the Trail of Tears, and that there is a translated Creek bible written by Holman in the Library of Congress. This is definitely a possibility, however it is much more likely that he may have been with the Cherokees on their trail of tears, as he was in Green County, KY just a few counties away from the Cherokees main march when they passed, and there is evidence that he was in MO just a few months later. Two Baptist Ministers, Jesse Bushyhead a converted Cherokee and Evan Jones, a missionary also lead approximately 2,000 Cherokees in 1838 along the same route, and notes indicate that a number Baptists and Baptist ministers came to see them when they arrived in Nashville in November of 1838; the Baptist Cherokees took the opportunity to preach on the success and importance of missions and to ask for aid. In any case, Russell Holman spent intermittent periods ministering to the Cherokee for the rest of his life.
Green County is not far from the 1839 Cherokee Trail of Tears Route.
It seems that Holman was raised in a predominantly Baptist community and attended Brown, the primary seat of Baptist education at the time; the only written note that gives reason for Holman’s move to Kentucky is that he was sent as a “publishing agent.” The primary issue concerning the Baptists at the time of his move was the aforementioned trip of the trail of tears, and it seems very plausible that Holman was sent by the Baptists to report on the affairs of the trail of tears. Jesse Bushyhead also completed the first full translation of the bible into Cherokee during the trail of tears, and if Holman was on the journey, his later demonstrated natural talent for editing and writing would surely have been of great use in this endeavor.
In any case, within a year of the completion of the Trail of Tears, Holman was ordained as a minister at the Pittman Creek Church in 1840. This was likely done by Rev. T J Fisher who was also born in 1812. Rev. Fisher had preached at Pitman Creek Church from time to time, was widely known for his religious zeal and was one of the most prominent Baptists in central Kentucky at the time.
BAPTIST SERVICE
After his ordination in Kentucky, in 1842, the Triennial Baptist Convention directed Holman to travel to New Orleans and start a church there because a previous attempt had recently failed. He made the journey to New Orleans along with Rev. T J Fisher, and they had great success in establishing a new congregation there.
After accomplishing his work in New Orleans, in 1845 Russell Holman was called to Marion, Alabama where he was appointed to be the first corresponding secretary for the Home Mission Board (the precursor to the North American Mission Board) and served there for several years.
During this time, Russell Holman apparently worked alongside and established a friendship with Basil Manly, a very prominent landowner and slave mission leader who was also president of the University of Alabama and a leading founder of the Southern Baptist Convention. Many years later, correspondence between Russell Holman Willis and Charles Manly in Lexington VA (regarding John Milton Willis’ death) would prove the families remained for at least three generations.
In 1851 Russell Holman retired from the board due to health concerns, and returned to lighter work as a pastor. He had some activities with the New Orleans Baptist Church between ’51-’56, and is on the 1852 list of Faculty of Howard University in Marion AL in the Baptist Register. It is said that he took up teaching Mathematics at Howard, and preached regularly at churches in the surrounding area. There, he worked alongside then professor and later Howard President Dr. Henry Talbird who had also performed Holman’s wedding, and the two maintained a friendship that would last for the rest of their lives. Holman is mentioned as a preacher in the journal of Marion resident James Mallory numerous time between 1852 to just before the war.
Holman officially returned to the Domestic Mission Board in 1856.
There are Federal records of Holman securing some funding for the Pottawatomie mission in Kansas, and much correspondence with the mission there reflects his efforts in attempting to secure its financing. Unfortunately, as the Civil War drew near, funding became even more sparse and the mission failed. The Pottawatomie Indians left Kansas for the Oklahoma reservation in 1861.
Holman is mentioned here in a narrative of a missionary to the Cherokees by man named James Solver- who happened to name his son Russel Holman Solver after a visit from Russell Holman to the Cherokee mission in Tahlequah, OK during the summer of 1857.
MARRIAGE
It appears that in his academic career, primarily at Howard University, he worked alongside a few members of the Tarrant family, was married by Dr. Henry Talbird to Martha Lucinda Tarrant on 20 April 1849 , Perry County, Alabama. Martha was purportedly born to Thomas Tarrant (1772-1825) and Malinda Nash (1787-1840) in South Carolina and went by “Louie” but much genealogy research including many letters to the US Government by Mrs. A Willis Robertson has been unable to produce solid evidence of her lineage. Mrs. Robertson was told growing up that James Tarrant, Thomas’ father came from France with Lafayette and fought in the American Revolution. It has been very difficult to prove how Louie was related to the Tarrant family of Alabama, but Holman worked along side John Frederick Van Zandt Tarrant and Judge Rev. Leonard Tarrant at the university as well.
CIVIL WAR
From Feb. 1862- Dec. 1863 Holman served as chaplain of the 41st Alabama reg. until he resigned again sighting health reasons. Click here to see his Confederate papers and hand written letter (p.4) of resignation. There is also a letter from a soldier in the 41st who mentions Holman (William Holman- he gets the name wrong) preaching to the men. There is mention of Holman evangelizing to Confederate soldiers throughout the war in some summaries of his life, but this author has found no primary evidence of such activities to date. The Captain of the 41st Alabama was Dr. Henry Talbird, and he later became a Colonel in the Confederate Army. Holman left service as a chaplain due to ill health soon after the bloody defeat at the battle of Chattanooga, (the 41st participating in Longstreet’s dismal Knoxville campaign) and the 41st continued to see much action during the war, loosing more than half its men in combat, and creating a small legend in the Col. Henry Talbird.
SALINE, MO
From 1867 until 1870, he served occasionally in Chillicothe, IL (where many of his 1st cousins had become prominent community members), as well as in KY and MO as a missionary and pastor to the Indians of the plains. One source claims he had a stroke in 1870 and moved to Saline County, MO in that year. Holman preached regularly at the Bethel and Rehoboth churches, one half mile north of Slater in Saline Co. while there. He also helped raise fund funds for the Columbus Female Institute where John Frederick Van Zandt Tarrant, presumable a relative of Holman’s wife Louie was president from 1869-1875.
Saline Progress, March 24, 1876
There is an audio recording of an oral history originating from Mary Holman, his daughter, by one of her descendants, Lewis Meriweather Walker recanting an honorary pow-wow held by the Creek Indians on Holman’s lawn in Saline County MO; this may have been a result of Holman marching on the trail of tears, but may also have been a result for the many decades of services he spent as a missionary to the Indians of the plains. The same source mentioned earlier (p.246) states that a second stroke gave way to paralysis in 1876. Holman passed away at his home in 1879 and he is buried in the city of Marshall, Saline county, MO
Russell Holman’s property in Saline County, MO
This is the foundation of his home on Google Maps…
More Links/Sources on Holman:
From Southern Baptist Missionary Journal