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Caswell County Genealogy
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 1899 - 1998 (99 years)
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| Name |
Holt, James Thomas [1, 2, 3] |
| Birth |
14 Jan 1899 |
Caswell County, North Carolina  [4] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Reference Number |
15309 |
| Death |
5 May 1998 |
Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina [4] |
| Person ID |
I15013 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
| Father |
Holt, Calvin Lea, b. 28 Feb 1867, Milton Township, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 2 Dec 1954, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age 87 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Dodson, Lucy Jane, b. Abt 1873, Virginia d. Bef 1910, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age ~ 36 years) |
| Relationship |
Stepchild |
| Marriage |
12 Dec 1889 [4] |
| Reference Number |
135462 |
| Family ID |
F7180 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- James Thomas Holt (1899-1998)
(click on photograph for larger image)
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History of the Poteat One-Room School (Caswell County, North Carolina.
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In 1920 he served as Business Manager for the Milton High School Life newspaper (Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina).
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1910 US Census
Name: James T Holt
Age in 1910: 11
Estimated birth year: abt 1899
Birthplace: North Carolina
Home in 1910: Milton, Caswell, North Carolina
Race: White
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Son
Mother's Birth Place: Virginia
Father's Birth Place: North Carolina
1920 US Census
Name: James Thomas Holt
Age: 20 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1900
Birthplace: North Carolina
Race: White
Home in 1920: Dan River, Caswell, North Carolina
Sex: Male
Marital status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Son
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Mother's Birth Place: North Carolina
Father's Birth Place: North Carolina
Image: 1021
Name: Holt, James Thomas
City: Blanche
County: Caswell
State: NC
Year: 1926
Class: Senior
School: Duke University
He was living in Julian, North Carolina, at the time of his father's death. Source: Obituary of Calvin Lee Holt
Julian--James Thomas Holt, 99, of 6247 Nat Rd., died Tuesday, May 5, 1998, at Moses Cone Hospital, in Greensboro, following a brief illness. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 7, 1998, at Pleasant Union United Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. Harry Andrews and the Rev. Greg Freeman. Burial will be in the church cemetery. A Caswell County native, Mr. Holt came to Guilford County in 1926 and began teaching at Nathanael Greene School. During a tenure of 38 years, he taught mathematics and history in Guilford, Forsyth, Rockingham Counties, retiring in 1964 from Rankin High School in Greensboro. A dedicated teacher, Mr. Holt was loved by his many students and was always interested in their lives. He was a graduate of Trinity Park Preparatory School and Duke University, where he was on the varsity cross country track and wrestling teams. A devoted member of Pleasant Union United Methodist Church, Mr. Holt served in many ways, particularly as a Sunday school teacher. He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Dortha Causey Holt.
Survivors include his son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Leonidas C. Holt and Linda B. Holt of Greensboro; daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Larry E. Avery of Greensboro; half-sister, Juanita Cook of Greensboro; and grandson, James Alton Holt of Julian.
The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice at Greensboro, 2500 Summit Ave., Greensboro, N.C. 27405. Loflin Funeral Home in Ramseur is in charge of arrangements.
Source: Undated clipping from unknown newspaper furnished by Kenneth G. Holt, 7008 Albany Avenue, North Beach MD 20714-9604
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Dr. Leonidas Holt wrote and delivered the eulogy below to honor his father, James Thomas Holt, at his funeral:
As I write this for Dad, I write it for every dad, for "Dad" and "Mom" are two of the dearest words in our language. I want to relate a little perspective on the life of the man we memorialize today. He was born January 14, 1899, to humble parents, Calvin Lea Holt and Lucy (Dodson) Holt, in Caswell County. He was their fourth child. This was during the administration of William McKinley. Childhood diseases, diphtheria, whooping cough, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and smallpox meant that reaching adulthood was questionable at best. No man had ever flown and the automobile was a rare motorized buggy. No public school system existed.
As time went along, more children were born to this couple. Calvin Lea struggled to exact a living from the soil in a county still economically devastated by the Civil War. The children joined the struggle at an early age. Though economically poor, the family was rich in love, camaraderie and religious faith. They knew how to work and how to have fun. They played various musical instruments (Dad was banjo and mandolin). These jam sessions were often joined into by neighboring families. The Wright brothers flew a powered airplane. Automobiles became more frequent.
Along in this time an event happened that so profoundly affected Dad's life that he could never talk about it. His mother, Lucy Dodson Holt, died following childbirth. "Papa Lea," as Granddaddy Holt was know, kept the family together. Aunt Mable, the oldest daughter, became the "Mom."
Dad spent a lot of time with his paternal grandparents, Henry and Sallie Powell Holt. Henry was a veteran of the Civil War. Their stories of this period of time doubtless started Dad's interest in history. 1914 found the family in another economic crisis. A severe drought devastated crops. So the three oldest boys, Mason, Greg, and Dad, went to work at a sawmill to help support the family. For several years, off and on, Dad worked in various sawmill camps. Here his education really began. Once he told us about becoming camp cook. "What did you cook?" Linda asked. "Beans and fatback!" Dad answered. "We got beans in 100 pound bags. When one ran out, we got some other kind of beans for variety."
His sawmill experiences led Dad to decide he wanted something other than a sawmill career. He moved to Milton to enter Milton Academy, the only high school in Caswell County. Completing this, he went on to Trinity Park Preparatory School in Durham. Completing this, he entered Trinity College. All during this time, he did various jobs to help pay for school. With family encouragement, especially from eldest brother Mason, he graduated in the second class of Duke University in 1926. While at Duke, he lettered in both track and wrestling. I asked Dad how in the world he ever got into wrestling. He said the track season was about over and one of the coaches also coached wrestling and invited him to watch a practice. Dad did watch, decided he was as tough as any of them, and joined the team. During his career he was pinned only once and that was at the U.S. Naval Academy in the third overtime.
In 1926, following college, he applied to the school board of Nathanael Greene School for a high school teaching position. He was hired. He and Mr. R. W. Utley (then school principal) boarded across the road from the school in the home of Aunt Blanch Bowman. While teaching here, his eyes fell on a young lady, Dortha Elizabeth Causey, whom he married in this church in 1932. She was his spouse for 57 years until her death in 1989. Dad's teaching career spanned 38 years until his retirement in 1964. The stories of pranks and jokes are endless. I know that he loved all his students and truly wished them well in life. One of his greatest joys was seeing them succeed.
After retirement he worked on the farm. He enjoyed his cows, tended his garden, and loved to share his produce with neighbors and friends.
The things that Dad gave us to carry on in our lives was a quiet demeanor, a sense of total honesty and fairness, and most of all a total devotion to our Christian faith. These were the solid rocks that were the foundation of his life. He loved life and his fellowman. He never wavered from knowing who he was and he never would compromise his principles for personal gain. He believed a man's word was his bond.
So please bear with us as we shed our tears. Time stooped his body, dimmed his sight, dminished his hearing. But nothing could ever diminish his spirit or squash his optimism. These memories will be with us forever.
Dad, you will always be my hero!
Source: Kenneth G. Holt, 7008 Albany Avenue, North Beach, Maryland 20714-9604
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| Sources |
- Details: 1920 US Federal Census.
- Details: 1910 US Federal Census.
- Details: Obituary of Henry Gregory Holt (1895-1984), News & Advance (Lynchburg, Virginia) March 1984.
- Details: Research of Mrs. Jayne Davis Szaz in the CCHA Files.
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