Holland ancestor at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865

Leroy Thomas Holland

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “at the Courthouse.”

When I first started researching my Holland line, my mother gave me a sheet of paper with her handwritten notes about several key ancestors in that line. One of the ancestors in her notes was my 2nd great grandfather, Leroy Thomas Holland. This is what she wrote:

Leeroy Thomas Holland, volunteered and served 4 years in Confederate Army of Virginia 1860 to 1864 and was in nearly all of the battles fought in that part of the confederacy. He was registered in the Army under “Company L” Second South Carolina Rifles, Jenkins Brigade. He was with General Lee when he surrendered at Appomattox Court House Virginia April 9, 1865.

I’ve already blogged Leroy’s life story in two separate posts: 52 Ancestors - #8: Leroy Thomas Holland and Leroy Thomas Holland Death Notice. If you read those posts, you’ll see that the dates Leroy served during the Civil War are wrong in her notes—he actually served from 1862 to 1865. He also spent a lot of time in the hospital so probably missed some of the battles. But he did in fact serve in the Jenkins Brigade and was at Appomattox Court House, Virginia when General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. On April 10, Leroy was issued a parole pass. According to the National Park Service on its web page The Appomattox Campaign, “A parole pass was an important piece of paper. Any confederate soldier who had this pass could use it as proof that they were not a deserter. The pass was also used by paroled soldiers to obtain food and transportation.”

Parole pass (click to enlarge)

Leroy’s parole pass reads:

PAROLED PRISONER’S PASS.
Appomattox Court House, Va.,
April 10th, 1865.
The BEARER, Private L. T. Holland, of Co. L 2nd Regt. of S.C. Rifles, a Paroled Prisoner of the Army of Northern Virginia, has permission to go to his home, and there remain undisturbed.
It was signed by Col. Robert E. Bowen of the 2nd South Carolina Rifles.

Leroy appears on parole list H of an “alphabetical listing of soldiers that were paroled at Appomattox Court House.”

In looking through a box of genealogy related papers last weekend, I came across this pass and knew it had to be my post for the “at the Courthouse” theme since I hadn’t included it in my previous posts about Leroy. The pass would have been important to Leroy and clearly places him at the court house that day.

Reference

• National Park Service, Appomattox Court House, National Historical Park Virginia, The Appomattox Campaign; https://www.nps.gov/apco/appomattox-campaign.htm; Paroling the Army of Northern Virginia, https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/historyculture/paroling-the-army-of-northern-virginia.htm.