This legal record is a deed documenting the transfer of property ownership—80 acres described as the north half of land lot number 184 in the Tenth District and Third Section of Whitfield County, Georgia—from Amanda Holland to W. R. Hammontree. Amanda (Hall) Holland was the second wife of my 2nd great-grandfather, Leroy Thomas Holland, who passed away on May 4, 1892, in Beaverdale, Whitfield County, Georgia. Leroy purchased the land after moving from Anderson County, South Carolina, to Whitfield County around January 1891. I descend through Leroy’s first wife, Amanda Elizabeth Scott.
This deed corroborates what Leroy and Amanda’s son, Aaron Hall Holland, shared in a 1964 letter to my grandfather detailing Hall/Holland family history. I included some of what he wrote in a sketch about Amanda that I wrote in 2015. You can read that here. Essentially, Aaron mentioned that in 1894, the Holland family (Amanda and her sons Aaron, Lawrence, and Joseph) were ordered off land owned by their friend George Brownlee in Whitfield County, where they had lived since moving from Anderson. Following this, Amanda moved the family to 80 acres of land Leroy had purchased adjacent to Brownlee’s land. Amanda worked hard to make the land viable for them, but after much encouragement and an offer from her brother she could not refuse, she sold the 80 acres and moved to Alief, Harris County, Texas. Aaron believed she sold the land for $100, but it appears it was $150. She was already in Texas when she signed the deed over to Hammontree on December 6, 1899. This deed ensures that Hammontree legally owned the specified property in Whitfield County and that Amanda Holland transferred all her rights to him.
Amanda Holland, Deed to Wm. R. Hammontree.
N. 1/2 N. Lot No. 184 10th & 3rd.
State of Texas, County of Harris.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:
That I, Amanda Holland, of the County of Harris and State of Texas, in consideration of the sum of one hundred fifty ($150.00) dollars cash in hand paid by W. R. Hammontree, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged have granted, sold, and conveyed, and by these presents do grant, sell and convey unto the said W. R. Hammontree of the County of Whitfield and State of Georgia, all that certain tract of land, viz: The North half of land lot number one hundred and eighty-four (184) of land in the Tenth District and Third Section containing eighty (80) acres, more or less.
Said land being situated in the County of Whitfield and State of Georgia.
To have and to hold the above described premises together with all and singular the rights and appurtenances thereto in anywise belonging unto the said W. R. Hammontree, his heirs and assigns forever. And I do hereby bind myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators to warrant and forever defend all and singular the said premises unto the said W. R. Hammontree, his heirs and assigns against every other person whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof.
Witness my hand at Alief, Texas this 6th day of December A.D. 1899.
(R. S. 50) Amanda Holland.
State of Texas, County of Harris.
Before me A. M. Smith, Notary Public in and for Harris County, Texas, on this day personally appeared Amanda Holland known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged to me that she executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal at office this 6th day of December 1899.
(Seal) A. M. Smith, Notary Public, Harris County, Texas.
Filed, recorded, and certified for June 20th, 1902.
Clerk.
This was the second time I found a record that corroborates the family history Aaron Holland shared with my grandfather in 1964. In 2016, I wrote about two news articles I found in the Anderson Intelligencer. The first article described how Amanda and her boys survived the historic 1900 Galveston hurricane. The second article detailed a fire in Whitfield County that destroyed their livelihood when their corn, cotton seed, and fodder were lost in a fire on George Brownlee’s land. You can read about both articles here.
Reference
- An Appeal to the Charitable. Beaverdale, Whitefield [sic] Co., GA, The Anderson Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, December 20, 1893.
- Former Resident Dies in Texas, The Anderson Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, January 3, 1915.
- History of Aaron Hall and Clementina Ann (Norris) Hall, letter written by Aaron Hall Holland to Samuel Jackson Holland, May 15, 1964.
- Mr. Lee Holland, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, May 12, 1892.
- Sad Letter from Texas, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, September 19, 1900.
- Whitfield County, Georgia, Land Records March 1901–December 1903, image 198, FamilySearch.
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