Lavinia Bailey (c. 1763 - c. 1797) and
William Holdridge (1763-1803)

2. LAVINIA LEVEICEY BAILEY, daughter of William1 Bailey and Ann[1], was born about 1763, and died between 1791 and 1797, in Laurens County, South Carolina, married (1) WILLIAM HOLCOMBE, son of Grimes Holcombe and Elizabeth Busbee[2], and (2) WILLIAM4 HOLDRIDGE, son of William3 Houlditch and Unknown, born 2 March 1763 in probably, South Carolina,[3] and died between 6 August and 19 October, 1803 in Laurens County, South Carolina[4].

Lavinia moved with her parents to the Ninety Six District of South Carolina, in about 1767 when William Bailey claimed land there.[5] The land was on both sides of the Little River of the Saluda. Lavinia and her brothers William, James and Zachary played there with childhood friends, among them the future husband of Lavinia, William Zones Holcombe.[6]

William's brother, Rev. Henry Holcombe, described their youth on the banks of the river in his collection of letters, The First Fruits:

I was raised, as you, and all the companions of my early life, well know, not only in great ignorance of divine revelation, but under the influence of those who very generally exhibited the reverse of improving examples. I do not recollect that during my first twenty years I ever heard serious conversation on religious topics, or saw family worship performed more than in two or three instances. We had not known, in those days, a religion in any branch of our family, inconsistent with a cheerful glass, a correspondent song, a game of cards, a horse-race, or the decision of a controversy, though respecting manhood alone, by strength of arms.

William Holcombe served as a Sergeant in the militia during the Revolution, under Col. Robert Anderson. This William Holcombe died before 23rd October 1786 when the claims for service were filed by his widow, Lovina Houlditch, administrator of his estate. The claims were sworn before Levi Casey, then J.P. of Newberry County of the Ninety Six District, indicating she lived in Newberry County.[7]

"To Messers Bouquart and Mitchell, Commissioners of the Treasury: Gentlemen, please to deliver to Thomas McCracken the indents due to William Holcum and this shall be your sufficient Receipt. From yours to serve." Lovina Houlditch, (her X mark) Adm. [Sworn before] Levi Casey J.P., 23rd day of October 1786

Lovina's note to Commissioners

"Received full satisfaction for the within indent P 76 for Levinia Houlditch, Administrator", signed by Thomas McCracken.

After the death of William Holcombe, Lavinia married William Houlditch. He also served in the Revolution, first serving militia duty in the area of Ninety Six District as a private under Col. Anderson before the reduction of Charlestown,[8] which occurred in 1780. Then he served ten months in 1781 in the State troops under the command of General Thos Sumpter, in the company Commanded by Capt. William Smith.[9]

William Holdridge is enumerated in the 1790 US Census, Laurens County, South Carolina. Names of family members are not included in the early census, but if we place known children of William Houlditch and the five children of Lavinia Bailey from her first marriage to William Holcombe in the categories, the family composition matches that in the census. One free white male 16 and over [William], five males under 16 [Grimes Holcombe, Philemon Holcombe, Thomas Holcombe, James Holdridge, George Holdridge], four females [wife Lavinia, daughter Lavinia, Unknown Holcombe, Unknown Holcombe].[10]

Lavinia's father, William1 Bailey, named her in his 1787 will, but called her Leveicey[11]. She was referred to as Lavinia V. Bailey in a Holcombe family book[12]. She was clearly Lovina and Lavinia Houlditch in William Holcombe's Revolutionary pay records. There are several possible explanations for these differences. My copy of William Bailey's will is a transcription, and there could be errors in that. Her full name could have been Lavinia Leveicy Bailey, and since Vicey is a short form of Leveicy, her middle initial became V. in the family history. The letter in William Holcombe's Revolutionary pay record was signed with Lavinia's mark, which appears as two V's, so could have been misread by an earlier researcher as a middle initial. At any rate, from the available records, Lavinia and Leuvicey are clearly the same person, a daughter of William Bailey and the wife of William Holcombe and William Houlditch.

Lavinia Houlditch died before 1803, for William Holdridge named James, Lavina, George Washington, William, Mary, Lucy, and Zachariah in his will in 1803, but no wife. He named guardians for the five minor children, George Washington, William, Mary, Lucy, and Zachariah. [13]

Children of Lavinia Bailey and William Holcombe:

  1. Grimes Holcombe, b. between 1775 and 1786; d. about 1845, in Greenville Co., SC; m. Delilah[14]; children John D., Mahala, Philip H., Rachel, Andrew J., Frances M., Ellen M.
  2. Philemon Holcombe, b. between 1775 and 1786; d. before 1860, in Cusseta, Chattahoochee Co., GA; m. about 1832, Carolina Fields Dickens , in Columbus, Muskogee Co., GA; children John D., George Bailey, Hosea Philip, Martha F.
  3. Thomas Holcombe, b. between 1775 and 1786
  4. Daughter Holcombe, b. between 1775 and 1786
  5. Daughter Holcombe, b. between 1775 and 1786

Children of Lavinia Bailey and William Holdridge:

  1. James5 HOLDRIDGE
  2. Levina Holdridge, b., probably in Laurens County, 10 April 1787
  3. William Holdridge, b., probably in Laurens County, 15 April 1789; d. in Sumter County, Alabama, ca. 1839; m., probably in Laurens County, ca. 1813, Frances Berton; children Isaiah Berton, Joseph W., Mary, Susan, Frances, Clary, Adalaide
  4. George Washington Holdridge, b. in Laurens County, 15 February 1792; d. 22 July 1862 in Tardeyville, Pontotoc County, Mississippi; m. Jane Finley 29 May 1817, probably in Laurens County; children William H. T., John F., Margaret Caroline, Sidney Franklin, Mary E., Jane L., Emma Elizabeth, Laura F., Susanna Dorothy
  5. Mary Holdridge, b. in Laurens County, 5 April 1793; d. in McCalla, Jefferson Co., Alabama, 1871; m. John Hall, probably in Laurens County, about 1808; children David, William, Zachariah, John, George, Benjamin, James, Robert, Rutherford, Hezekiah, Dellphia Dorinda
  6. Lucy Holdridge, b. in Laurens County, 19 November 1796; d. in Buncombe County, North Carolina; m. Enoch Ducker; children William H. Ducker, James Ducker, Mary E. Ducker, Henry Milton Ducker, Lavinia Ducker, John Hogan Ducker, Sarah I. Ducker, Hezekiah S. Ducker
  1. Frances Terry Ingmire, compiler, Laurens County South Carolina Will Book A-C, 1777-1809 Vol. I (St. Louis, Missouri: no publisher, no date), 25. Recorded and proven date not available. Original will not in files of Probate Judge.
  2. Hannah E. McPherson, The Holcombes Nation Builders (Washington, D.C.: Publisher not given, 1947), 765
  3. Brent Holcombe, "Holditch Bailey Bible Record," South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. XVI (Spring 1988)
  4. William Houlditch will (proven October 19, 1803), Laurens County Will Book C-1, page 74
  5. Plat: William Bayley; Surveyor General's Office, Colonial plat books (copy series) 1731- 1775; South Carolina Department of Archives and History; online at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/; series S213184, vol. 10, p. 20, item 1
  6. Henry Holcombe, D.D., The First Fruits in A Series of Letters (Philadelphia: Ann Cochran, 1812), 17. This journal was written by the brother of William Holcombe.
  7. William Holcombe, pay receipt (sergeant in the SC militia); Accounts Audited of Claims Out of the Revolution in South Carolina; file #3680; South Carolina Archives Microcopy no. 8; (Scholarly Resources Inc.: Columbia, SC, 1976). There are only three pages, and the indent is not in the file, but reference is made to Book T, No. 76, for £ 3.18.6 3/4 sterling.
  8. William Holdridge, pay indent (private in the SC militia); Accounts Audited of Claims Out of the Revolution in South Carolina; file #3685; South Carolina Archives Microcopy no. 8; (Scholarly Resources Inc.: Columbia, SC, 1976)
  9. William Holdridge, pay indent (private in the SC State Troops, Captain Wm Smith's company, Thomas's regiment, Gen. Sumter's brigade); Accounts Audited of Claims Out of the Revolution in South Carolina; file #3685; South Carolina Archives Microcopy no. 8; (Scholarly Resources Inc.: Columbia, SC, 1976)
  10. William Holdridge household, 1790 U.S. Census, Laurens County, South Carolina, page 74
  11. Frances Terry Ingmire, compiler, Laurens County South Carolina Will Book A-C, 1777-1809 Vol. I (St. Louis, Missouri: no publisher, no date), 25. Recorded and proven date not available. Original will not in files of Probate Judge.
  12. Hannah E. McPherson, The Holcombes Nation Builders (Washington, D.C.: Publisher not given, 1947), 765
  13. William Houlditch will (proven October 19, 1803), Laurens County Will Book C-1, page 74. No wife was named in the will and guardians were named for the minor children.
  14. Hannah E. McPherson, The Holcombes Nation Builders (Washington, D.C.: Publisher not given, 1947), 765