James Thomas Holt

Notes:

James Thomas Holt (1899-1998)

title="Calvin Lea Holt Children by CCHA, on Flickr"> src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2355/2315102765_671e8e75
66_m.jpg" width="240" height="164" alt="Calvin Lea Holt
Children" />

(click on photograph for larger
image)
_______________

href="http://ncccha.blogspot.com/2011/06/poteat-one-room-sch
ool-yanceyville.html">History of the Poteat One-Room School
(Caswell County, North Carolina.

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 thhis, 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

!NAME:Details: Obituary of Henry Gregory Holt (1895-1984),
News & Advance (Lynchburg, Virginia) March 1984.,
Details: Obituary of Henry Gregory Holt (1895-1984),
News & Advance (Lynchburg, Virginia) March 1984.

!NAME:U.S. Census: 1910, U.S. Census: 1910

!NAME:U.S. Census 1920: North Carolina, Caswell county, Dan
River, U.S. Census 1920: North Carolina, Caswell county,
Dan River

!BIRTH:Details: Research of Mrs. Jayne Davis Szaz in the
CCHA Files., Details: Research of Mrs. Jayne Davis Szaz in
the CCHA Files.

!DEATH:Details: Research of Mrs. Jayne Davis Szaz in the
CCHA Files., Details: Research of Mrs. Jayne Davis Szaz in
the CCHA Files.