We received a query via email concerning the ancestry of Charlie Holland and Nettie Holbrook. Charlie Holland was born 23 Jan 1918 and died 26 April 1988. He lived on the Jim Arnett Branch at the time of his passing. Charlie’s wife, Nettie Holbrook Holland was born 3 Nov 1916 and died 7 Oct 1989; both Charlie and Nettie are buried on the Roark Cemetery at Bradley, KY, across from Birch Branch. Charlie’s parents were listed as Willie Holland and Martha Smith. His wife Nettie was the daughter of Milt Holbrook and Eliza McKenzie.

Incidentally, this information came from our 1979-1998 Obituary book taken from The Salyersville Independent newspaper. We were fortunate in having a group of Magoffin County High School Beta Club students who transcribed the information from the newspapers of that time period which were then printed in book form. It has been an invaluable help in our research.

We worked on the Holland family first. We find that Willie Holland was born about 1874 and died in 1931. His wife was Martha Smith b. 1893 d. 1923 and also buried on the Roark Cemetery.

Willie and wife Martha Holland were the only ones of that surname in the 1910 Magoffin County census. Willie was age 35 and had been twice married. It was Martha’s first marriage; they had been married about 2 years. She was age 16 and they had one child Jessie J. Holland age 3 months.

By 1920 in their Ivyton, KY household five additional children had been born. In addition to Jesse Holland listed as age 9; the other children were Mary Holland age 7; Charley Holland age 6, Kelly Holland age 4 ½; Bertha Holland age 2 and 3 months; and James Holland age 9 months.

In 1918 Will Holland at age 44 registered for the draft at Ivyton, KY. His physical description was short in height, medium build, brown eyes and black hair.

The family is listed in the 1930 Ivyton, Magoffin Co. KY census. Willie was age 54; his wife Martha was deceased; having died between 1912 and 1930. The children in his household were (1) Jesse Holland age 18, (2) Charlie Holland age 14, (3) Kellie Holland age 14, (4) Bertha Holland age 12, (5) James Holland age 10 and (6) Ida Holland age 8.

Son Jesse Holland married Mollie Manual and two of their children were Cletus Holland, a Veteran, b. 1936 Brainard, KY; and Geneva Holland who married James B. Prater.

By 1940 Willie’s son, Charlie Holland at age 27, lived on Middle Creek of Floyd County, KY with his wife Nettie age 24 and their children Dorsie Mae age 4 and James Oliver Holland age 2.

From our Volume Two book of Magoffin County marriages we found that Charlie’s sister Ida Belle Holland married in 1940 to Frank Bailey, son of Bennie Bailey and Goldia May. Her brother Kellie Holland married in 1939 to Carrie Bailey, a sister to Frank Bailey.

We remember a special visitor to Magoffin County for the 1991 Minix year,

Cread Holland, son of Kellie Holland and Carrie Bailey. He was born and raised in Royalton, received his education at Morehead State University and worked with the USO during Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s. We have an article on Cread in Volume 1 of our Life Along the Licking River book series and also in Vol. 3 of our Veteran’s series.

We had just finished our first quarterly Journal of 2015 and in that issue we found additional info on the family of Nettie Holbrook Holland. Elizabeth Holbrook Faust had sent some material on her Holbrook ancestor which was supplemented by info and pictures from Judy Wireman Salyer who lives on Puncheon Creek here in Magoffin County, KY.

Charlie Milton Holbrook (usually known as "Milt") was born 2 Nov 1885 and died 7 Feb 1971. His second wife was Eliza McKenzie b. 1898 in Floyd Co. KY and died 18 Feb 1958. They were married 7 Oct 1915 in Magoffin Co. KY. Both are buried in the Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Floyd County.

Milt was age 14 in the household of his parents Green Holbrook and Isabelle "Belle" Blevins in the 1900 Magoffin County census. By 1910 in the Atkinson precinct of Magoffin County, 24 year-old Milt Holbrook was listed as a widower with a two-year old son Theodore Roosevelt Holbrook. His first wife’s name is unknown at this time; she may have been a Prater. Theodore was born in 1908 and died in 1980.

When Milton Holbrook registered for the draft in 1918 he gave his age as 34 and his residence as Gapville, KY. His occupation was fireman on engine at Purity Cannel Coal Company in Prestonsburg, KY.

The family appears in the 1920 Atkinson Precinct, Magoffin Co. KY census; lived on Rough & Tough of Floyd County in 1930 and on Middle Creek in Floyd County in 1940.

A son Sollie Holbrook was born in 1913 and died in 1993. His mother’s name is also unknown. Sollie married Zella Prater, dau of Jim Prater and Lula Prater.

The children of Milt and Eliza (McKenzie) Holbrook were (1) Nettie Holbrook b. 1917; (2) Ollie Holbrook b. 1921; (3) Maxie Holbrook b. 1923 d. 2001 m. Therman Hackworth; (4) Roxie Holbrook b. 1926; (5) Johnnie D. Holbrook b. 1929; (6) Annie Ethel Holbrook b. 1931; Dolly Magalene Holbrook b. 1935; and Martin Junior Holbrook b. 1937. It is believed they also had two children Arthur Glen Holbrook and Nancy Catherine Holbrook who died very young in the 1930s.

We are still searching for Eliza’s parentage. Her husband Milt’s grandparents were "Preacher" Benjamin Holbrook (1832-1897) and Rhoda Spradlin; also Solomon Blevins and Eliza Quinley. Preacher Ben was a son of Randolph Holbrook and Zelphia Adams. Rhoda was a daughter of Jesse Spradlin and Sally Stone.