-by Ed Stout

When asked our nationality many of us say we are of German descent, apparently for no better reason than as a matter of habit. When considering the line of Springfield Fulbrights, for example, it is quite evident that old Uncle Billy was certainly totally German )) but he did marry an English woman, Ruth Hollingsworth. Their children, it seems, could just as well have claimed English descent, rather than German. One of their sons, Wilson, married a Hooker and the Hookers were of English descent. Wilson�s son, Leander, married a woman of Scotch and Welsh descent. Leander�s son, Rufus, was therefor 1/8^th German, and he married a woman of Polish and English descent. Their daughter, the writer�s mother, could hardly have been more than 1/16^th German, and she married a man of generally English descent, yet somehow many years ago, I was permanently labeled as of German descent! This sort of mixed heritage really makes Americans out of all of us, not Germans or Englishmen or whatever.

Since so many of us descend from Ruth Hollingsworth Fulbright, it may be of general interest to explore that family line and to recall some of their early history. The Hollingsworth family name extends back to the time of the Crusades. The name is shown in English land records, dated in 1289, more than seven hundred years ago.

In the early 1600�s the English were already in deep trouble with the Irish, even as is the case today. In northern Ireland, an area of six or seven counties known as �Ulster�, and more recently called �Northern Ireland�, was for centuries dominated by the families of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel. Ulster has been a religious center since at least the 5^th century when Saint Patrick is said to have settled there displacing the snakes. It is the seat of both the Roman Catholic and the Church of Ireland archbishops, which perhaps accounts in a large part for some of the problems generated during the passage of time. Here, as well as elsewhere, preaching the doctrine of brotherly love has yet to result in the peaceful coexistence of the brothers.

The two Earls, together with other Irish tribal chiefs, unsuccessfully rebelled against England starting in1594, then, in 1607 gave up the effort and fled to Rome. King James of England, gleefully taking advantage of their hurried departure, claimed the flight to be treasonous and confiscated their lands, thereby acquiring millions of Irish acres. In order to protect this vast area, the King then issued patents for huge blocks of land to certain Gentlemen, Clergymen and otherwise titled Englishmen. About an equal number of Scotch and British families were so enriched, all were required to go to their new estates, taking with them a number of armed men, and to settle on their land building fortifications and homes, and to maintain allegiance to the King of England.

Periodic inspections of the tenants and of their arms were undertaken, resulting in muster rolls. One of these pioneers was William Brownlow, and by 1619 his colony, known as the City of Lurgan, had grown to a population of 42 English families. A Muster Roll, taken in 1631, clearly shows the fifth entry in a list of 24 Englishmen as "Henery Hollinwort", listed as one of the men of Richard Cope who then held an interest in some 2000 acres.

Henry Hollingsworth was among the many members of the Lurgan Quaker Meeting who lived in Seagoe Parish, County Armagh, Ireland. He apparently came from Calverly, in West Riding of Yorkshire, which is a parish about five miles northwest of the city of Leeds and about twenty-five miles north of Mottram. The exact place of birth of Henry is yet unproven, as is the place of his death. He was born about 1600, and possibly as late as 1610. Henry is thought to be the first of this name to have lived in Ireland, and his son Valentine is known to be the progenitor of the American Quaker branch of our Hollingsworth family.

Henry is believed to have lived in Seagoe Parish from sometime during the 1620's. On 9 April 1632 he signed an 'Article� relating to some of his property, which is believed to have conveyed a water right. He was otherwise noted as deceased prior to 27 Oct. 1675, in an agreement signed on that date, regarding the same land. He had held the land until at least the time of the outbreak of the Rebellion which began in 1641 and lead to the great Civil War period which resulted, in 1660, with King Charles II�s restoration to the throne.

Henry almost certainly was among the thousands of Englishmen killed in that great rebellion which was understandably precipitated by the Catholic native Irish, and involved County Armagh. It is now known as the Irish Rebellion of 23 October 1641. It is believed that more than 25,000 Protestants were killed by the sword, by gun, rope, drowning and other equally unpleasant methods during the first three or four years of the rebellion. A deposition describes how Richard, Walter and Anthony Cope and 'others of gentle birth�, on 24 Oct. 1641 which was the second day of the rebellion, were brought to join prisoners being held under strong guard in rooms at the Castle of Carrick. Since Henry was one of the armed men of Richard Cope, he would have been called in Cope�s defense, and it is believed that Henry failed to survive the encounter, as he was not named among the prisoners. A deposition taken soon afterward states that on 26 June 1643 about 400 Protestants were murdered by drowning at the Bridge of Portadown. This bridge is about a mile and a half from the location of Henry�s home. Another deposition states that, "Almost all the Protestants in the county were murdered, one in a hundred hardly escaped with life." Today, some 355 years later, the struggle in Northern Ireland still makes history; the rebellion appears to persist to this very day.

Valentine Hollingsworth, Henry�s son, was born in August of 1632. One of the Copes, mentioned above, sold part of his share of land to a Michael Harrison, who in turn, on 22 Aug. 1664, sold to Valentine Hollingsworth, a Yoeman, 120 Irish acres, about 240 acres as we now measure them. It is believed that Valentine had leased the lands prior to purchase as his oldest daughter was born there, before the date of the deed. Much later Valentine sold this property prior to the family departing for America. Valentine Hollingsworth, Yoeman and humble Quaker, held his farm outright as his own property and not under a lifetime or a year�s lease from a head-landlord, which was then a very unusual circumstance.

A Dictionary of English Law, by Clifford Walsh, Editor, written in 1959, defines �yeoman� as a "name for a man of a small estate of land; a farmer; a gentleman farmer; also a 40-shilling freeholder not advanced to the rank of a 'gentleman�. Yoeman were qualified to serve on juries and to vote for knights of the Shire, holding free land worth to 40 shillings a year. They held the rank next after 'gentlemen� in precedence. The same authority defines a 'gentleman� as a person above yeomen 'whereby noblemen are truly called gentlemen. A man of independent means and of no occupation, who is not entitled to be called 'Esquire�."

Valentine Hollingsworth, Yoeman, exactly fit the description given above. He was not a serf, a pauper, nor a mere tenant farmer. He was a moderately wealthy farmer, literate, and with some knowledge of law, else he never could have held the various offices he later held in America. Valentine became a prominent leader of the Lurgan Monthly Meeting; he had espoused the teachings of George Fox while still a young man. The marvelous records kept by the Quakers which are the source of most of the information about this family.

Valentine was first married on 7 June 1655 to Ann Wray. She was born in the same County in about 1628 and died on 1 Apr. 1671, after the couple had four children. She was buried in the Friend�s Cemetery about two miles northeast of their farm home. Valentine remarried, while still in Lurgan, on June 12^th 1672 to Ann Calvert, the daughter of an English couple living in a nearby town in the same County. Lurgan is about 30 miles southwest of Belfast. This second couple had four more children before coming to America.

Valentine migrated from Ireland as the head of a large group that included all of his immediate family except his two oldest children, who then followed later. The group departed from Belfast in the vessel 'Antelope� of that port with Edward Cooke as Master, and landed at New Castle, on the Delaware River, on the 10 December 1682. He thereby became the first ancestor in America of our Ruth Hollingsworth, as he was her great-great-grandfather. The Hollingsworth families were among those who were on hand to greet William Penn upon his arrival on the "Welcome" at Chester, Pennsylvania, about a month later. Penn himself had been instrumental in their decision to migrate with his promises of religious freedom, made to them while living in Ireland, as was the case with many others of the followers of George Fox. The family first stayed, together with their servant, John Musgrave, at the house of Robert Wade in the town of Chester, which was probably a 'public� house, before moving into a home of their own.

Valentine soon became the leader of the first Quaker colony in Delaware at what is now Newark, where he held 986 acres of land. The first meetings of the Kennett (Newark) Quakers were held in his home and the original name, Newark, was evidently taken from the name given to his survey of land on Shelpot Creek. He was a good Quaker, as were most of his family members for the following three generations, and he was a good citizen of his new homeland. Valentine was elected an Assemblyman of the first Pennsylvania Council and Assembly, which met on 12 March 1683 for the purpose of forming a government that would be fair and just. The session adjourned on 3 April 1683 with Penn�s Great Charter passed and signed, and he was one of the 61 men who signed the Charter. He was a Justice of the Peace more than four years, then in 1687 he returned to the Assembly as an Assemblyman from New Castle County, taking an active part with his counsel and good advice often sought. Again in 1689 he was in the Assembly under Governor Blackwell, then returned in 1695, one of six members from the county. He attended his sixth session in 1700 at the age of 68, then felt it time to retire to his home in Newark.

Valentine died after 1710, the last reference to him in the Newark Meeting is dated in June of that year, it is also the last entry recorded for the Meeting House. It appears there was no one left at the House, then closed, to record his death which is believed to have occurred in 1711. His second wife had preceded him in death, on 17 Nov. 1697, and had been buried in Newark, and he joined her there. There is now a Hollingsworth Memorial at the Newark Burial Ground that was established in 1936, in their honor. Nearly all of the older families of northern Delaware can trace their ancestry to this great man. In later years his large family spread to the south, and into Indiana, and members are found throughout the entire country today.

A deposition given by Samuel, a son of Valentine Hollingsworth, made before the Mayor of Philadelphia, June 4, 1735 as printed in McFarlan-Stern Genealogy says that -- "In 1682, Valentine Hollingsworth and his family, accompanied by his son-in-law, Thomas Connaway, and by John Musgrave, an indented servant, sailed from Belfast for the Delaware and, settled on a large plantation of nearly a thousand acres on Shelpot Creek in Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County, about five miles northeast of the present city of Wilmington. He was prominently identified with the affairs of Friends, the early meetings being held at his house. In 1687, he gave "unto ffriends for a burying place half an Acre of land for yt purpose." A meeting house was afterward built on this plot and the meeting known as Newark, from the name of the plantation, which in the original survey was called "New Worke." Valentine Hollingsworth was appointed a Justice of the Peace for New Castle County, in 1685, and represented the county in the Assembly in 1682-3, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1695, and 1700. He died subsequent to 1710, and his wife Ann died 8 Mo. 17, 1697. They were interred in Friends� ground at Newark."

Samuel Hollingsworth, the first son of Valentine and Anne (Calvert) Hollingsworth, was the great-grandfather of our Ruth. He was born in Ireland on 27 Mar. 1673, and came to Delaware with his parents in 1682, living in New Castle County until his marriage. In 1701 he married Hannah Harland (Harlan) in the Kennett Meeting. Her grandfather, Peter Harland, is also found listed in the Muster Rolls of County Armagh, of 1631. The new couple moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, where they remained the balance of their lives. He was Justice of the Peace for Chester County in 1729 and again appointed in 1738. He served in the Provincial Assembly as an Assemblyman from New Castle County for one session from 1725 to 1728 and his name often appears in the old books of the courts of that time. During the Pennsylvania-Maryland Boundary case, which finally ended with Mason�s and Dixon�s famous line, he appeared in 1740, at age 67, in lengthy testimony. He died in September of 1748 in Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. This couple had five children. The third was a son, also named Samuel.

Samuel Hollingsworth, grandson of Valentine and Anne (Calvert) Hollingsworth and grandfather of our Ruth, was born in about 1707. He married on 13 Nov. 1736 to Barbury Shewin in the Kennett Meeting, Newark, and she survived him. Both were of Chester County and he was shown as a yeoman. Samuel and Barbury had two sons and both were born in New Castle County, Delaware. He died between 2 Oct. and 11 Nov. 1751, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His will provided that his sons were to be apprenticed to learn the carpenters trade. Barbury then remarried, on 9 May 1754 at Old Swedes Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware, to Phillip Phillips. For this she was disowned by the Quakers on 5 July 1759, there was no issue. Phillips died in about 1764 and listed his stepsons, Samuel and Jacob, as his next of kin in his will.

Samuel Hollingsworth, great-grandson of Valentine and the father of Ruth, was born about in 1740 in New Castle County, Delaware and he died in 1810 in Haywood County, North Carolina. He married Elizabeth, probably in Baltimore. They lived in what was then Guilford County and later became Randolph County, North Carolina, after arrival there from Pennsylvania following the Revolutionary War. They settled near his brother Jacob, who was in Guilford by 1772. Samuel, and his brother, were together in what became Randolph County in 1779, and both moved to Burke County (to an area believed to have later become part of Haywood County) about 1788, and were listed there in the 1790 census. He apparently was an active business man, listed in many records, among them the Burke County land records where he was shown as having been issued, on 28 Oct. 1782, a grant of land, "300 acres both sides Mountain Creek including improvement on which he lives. Entered 28 Aug. 1778." Its description indicates it adjoins the road that leads to Ramsour�s Mill and to Sherrill�s Ford upon the Catawba River placing it in close proximity to land acquired by the Fulbrights several years earlier. He signed a petition dated 19 Oct. 1779 in Burke County that asked to "add a certain part of the said County of Burke to the said County of Lincoln" as that court House was closer and therefore more convenient. He also is listed as a First Lieutenant, Volunteer Troop of Horse, Franklin County, Georgia Regiment of Militia on 18 Nov. 1793.

Sam remained in what was then Buncombe County and later became part of Haywood County and he continued to be shown in many public records. In one he won a suit against son Abraham over a debt in July 1803. He was made Constable of Buncombe County in January of 1808, and was appointed Constable of the new County of Haywood for a year on 28 March 1809. He died there in 1810, and his widow, by then known as �old Mrs. Hollingsworth� was still living in Haywood County in 1814. His will left his estate, during her life, to the widow, then the land to his youngest son, Enoch, and the personal property to be divided between his two daughters �Marget� and Ruth. There were very many carpenter tools in his estate inventory, showing a trade familiarity.

Ruth Hollingsworth (28 Sep. 1791-30 Apr. 1874) was born near Waynesville in what is now Haywood County and in 1808 married William Wilson Fulbright (8 Jan. 1785-22 Sep. 1843). William was born in Lincoln County, North Carolina, and his parents moved to what is presently Haywood County in 1797, where he grew to manhood. He served in the War of 1812 as a Private in Captain Edwin Lee Gingles� Company of Infantry, 7th Regiment of North Carolina State Troops, from 1 Feb. 1814 until 31 July 1814. He spent time in Fort Hawkins and at a camp near Coosa being paid at the extravagant rate of $8.00 per month which, with travel and subsistence allowances, amounted to a grand total of $51.67 for six months of service.

William and Rutha, also known as 'Aunt Ruthy� to the early residents of Springfield, farmed in North Carolina until about 1816. They then migrated, with their first four children, as part of a family group lead by his father to what is now Washington County, Missouri by wagon train, only a few years after the Territory of Missouri was organized. There three additional children were born and then, after the birth of son Wilson, William and the other Fulbright families moved to Tennessee, first to Henry County and then to Madison County. William and his brother, John, first appear on the Madison County tax rolls in 1825. They, and other Fulbrights, were listed in 1826 and none were listed after 1828, at which time William had been listed as having 228 acres of land where they operated the large plantation and two more children were born.

In late 1829 they again packed up the wagons with their possessions and accompanied by about 30 slaves, and once again joined by his brother John�s family, among others, the group made the long overland journey back to Missouri. They arrived on the Gasconade River, at brother Martin�s farm in October of 1829, about nine years after Missouri became a state. Leaving everything in Martin�s care, the men went on to the present site of Springfield, Missouri where they located their future homes and made contracts with the Kickapoo Prairie Indians for land to cultivate, then returned to the river for their slaves and other possessions in order to establish themselves. By mid February of 1830, along what was then Fulbright Road and later renamed College Street and near Jones Spring, the family had built their home, the first log cabin in what is now the city of Springfield.

William was both the architect and contractor when he built the first church in Springfield in the spring of 1832, an 18x 20 foot structure called the Kickapoo Meeting House for the total sum of $18.00. Although built for a Methodist Congregation the building was used by preachers of different denominations. The Court House was also used at that time as a place of worship. Joel H. Hayden (Haden) organized the Christian Church in the city; he had preached in the Court House and in the public square before the above church was constructed.

The family prospered, becoming one of the wealthiest families in the area, having property then valued at about $100,000 at the time of his death. The 1834 Assessor�s Book of Greene County lists him as the owner of 19 slaves valued at $4500., 12 horses valued at $300., 85 cattle valued at $700., 13 jacks (mules) at $360., one half of a town lot in Block 5, lot 23 at $250., 2 watches, clocks at $1500., and extensive farm land, possessing more property than any other man in the county. His estate was administered by sons Ephraim and Henry, much of the land and the slaves were rented out to the widow and her sons until distributed to the heirs, who were also the most active buyers of items of the estate when sold on 2 Jan. 1844. The final estate distribution was made on 1 Jan. 1846 at which time the real estate consisted of more than 1000 acres of land.

"Aunt Ruthy" carried on and was well known as a kind and generous lady with an amiable disposition. She was a true Southerner and a dedicated Secessionist, and her place at Fulbright Springs was a rallying point and the scene of much organizing and drilling in early 1861 as the Civil War approached, leading to a time of great trouble for her and the entire family.

Both William and Ruth were members of the Christian Church, and intensely devoted to their religion. Both were buried in the original family plot near the location of their home. In 1894 all of the bodies buried there were disinterred and moved to the Hazelwood Cemetery and placed in a sixteen grave plot with a large central monument. Major Weaver, then the oldest living member of the local Fulbright family, directed the removal and reburial. The original simple stone from the grave of Ruthy inscribed with, "A loving wife a mother dear. A faithful friend lies buried here.", was also moved and in 1995 was still to be found near the new monument. The plot is filled with their children, Rhoda, John, Alexander, Eli, David, Wilson, Samuel, William and Elkanah along with some of the wives and some grandchildren. Ruth))a great and worthy ancestor.

Quite naturally many of the Hollingsworth names who migrated to America were not Quakers. Also, many of the descendants of Valentine left that faith. Many, too, were 'read out� of the Meeting or disowned when they married out of the faith; others were disowned because they bore arms in the Revolutionary War, in the War of 1812, the Indian Wars, or otherwise. Members of the family fought in the wars of the Union and the Confederate States for more than 180 years. Had Ruth been a Quaker she, too, certainly would have been read out of the meeting because of her activities during the Civil War.

Much of the Hollingsworth information offered has been found in the voluminous works of the now deceased Harry Hollingsworth, C.G., R.G., a well-known authority on this outstanding family. Other information has been gleaned from several volumes of published Quaker Meeting House Records such as Immigration of Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania, quotations from Hollingsworth Genealogical Memoranda, by William B. Hollingsworth; McFarlan-Stern Genealogy; and History of Chester County.