It is believed that the first Thomas Holmes, progenitor of this family, was born in England circa 1630 and did marry a woman by the name of Elizabeth. They had four children: Thomas Holmes, Jr., Thomas Holmes, III, Josiah Holmes and John Garrison Holmes.

We are concerned primarily with the marriages of John Garrison Holmes and that of his son Benjamin, for they were both Lycoming (later Sullivan) County residents. John Garrison Holmes wed Mary Knott, the granddaughter of John[1], the founding Little. This was the first of the Holmes-Little-Weisner marriages.

Subsequent marriages, as you will learn, firmly established a tie between the Holmes, Little and Weisner families. To learn more about the Benoni Weisner family please refer to the links at the bottom of the main page.

The last known union within these families occurred when Benjamin Holmes married Agnes Nancy Wisner, the daughter of Benoni Weisner and Agnes Hooper. How then are these families connected?

When Shrewsbury was in its infancy (1800-1813), and still a part of Lycoming County, Theophilus Little[1] and John Garrison Homes were residents of record in this township. Benoni Weisner and his family were early residents of Lycoming, having settled there before 1790. The children from these three families married multiple times within the same families. Their common ancestor (through marriage) was Isabel Little Knott, daughter of John Little[2], and the mother of Mary Knott Holmes.

The John Garrison Holmes and Mary Knott union was the first of the Holmes-Little Weisner marriages. The second wedding was that of Theophilus Little[2], the son of Theophilus Little and Maria Polhemus, to Elizabeth Holmes, the daughter of John Garrison Holmes. The third union joined John Wisner, son of Benoni Weisner, with Margaret Little. The fourth wedding in 1815 was that of Benjamin Jackson Little, son of John Little[4], to Sarah Wisner. The fifth union between these families joined Isabell Holmes, daughter of John Garrison Holmes, and Nathan Allen Little, the son of Content Allen and Tobias Little, the youngest son of Theophilus Little[1] and Maria Polhemus. (John, Agnes and Sarah Wisner were siblings; Margaret and Benjamin Jackson Little were siblings; and Isabell, Elizabeth and Benjamin Holmes were siblings.) The last known Holmes-Little- Weisner union in Lycoming County occurred about 1825, when Benjamin Holmes, son of John Garrison Homes, wed Agnes Nancy Wisner, the daughter of Benoni Weisner and Agnes Hooper. Therefore, Mary Knott, Benjamin Jackson Little, Margaret Little, Isabell Holmes, Elizabeth Holmes and Benjamin Holmes were cousins by virtue of having the same ancestor, the above named Isabel Little Knott. Coincidentally these six unions gave Isabel fifty-two known grandchildren.

Let us begin with a triple-chart of the grandparents to better explain these relationships before going to the Holmes Family and Holmes-Wisner Family charts.

Holmes Family Chart

1-Thomas Holmes
...+Elizabeth ?
......2-Thomas Holmes, Jr.
.........+Hannah Newell
......2-Thomas Holmes, III
.........+Hannah Woodford
.......2-Josiah Holmes
.........+Hannah Dennis
.......2-John Garrison Holmes
.........+Mary Knott, grand daughter of John Little[2]
...........3-David Holmes b:1782
...........3-Isabel Holmes b:1784
.............+Nathan Allen Little
...........3-Elizabeth Holmes b:1786
.............+Theophilus Little[2]
...........3-Susannah b:1788
...........3-Benjamin Holmes b:1793 NJ d:1849 PA
.............+Agnes Nancy Wisner b:1795 PA
...............4-Thomas Holmes, IV b:1826
.................+Margaret Phillips b:1830
...................5,6,7,8---refer to Agnes Nancy Wisner
...............4-Mary Holmes b:1828 d:1914
.................+Benjamn Corson b:1826 d:1900
...................5,6,7,8--refer to Agnes Nancy Wisner
...............4-Virginia Holmes b:1830
...............4-William Dickenson Holmes b:1831
...............4-Jane Louise Holmes b:1835
...............4-Eliza Holmes b:1840
...............4-Susannah Holmes b:1842 d:1935
............3-Peter Holmes b:1795
............3-Lydia Holmes b:1797
............3-Louisa Holmes b:1799
............3-unknown
............3-unknown
............3-unknown
............3-unknown

Holmes-Wisner Family Chart

Agnes Nancy Wisner, the daughter of Benoni Weisner and Agnes Hooper married Benjamin Holmes, the son of John Garrison Holmes and Mary Knott. Mary was the daughter of Isabel Little, the oldest daughter of John Little[2], and David Knott. It is believed that this is the last of the Holmes-Little-Weisner unions as we have found no further evidence to date.

Agnes Nancy Wisner b:1795
+Benjamin Holmes b:1793 d:1849
..2-Thomas Holmes b:1826
....+Margaret Phillips b:1830 d:1918
..... 3-George Holmes b:1853 d:1922
....... +Emma Bauer b:1858 d:1937
......3-Sarah Holmes b:1855 d:1863
......3-Charles Holmes b:1857 d:1863
......3-Henry Holmes b:1859 d:1942
......3-Cyrus Lincoln Holmes b:1861 d:1946
.........+Isabella Phillips b:1869 d:1916
............4-Hazel Althea Holmes b:1893 d:1968
.............+Torrence B Houseknecht b:1893 d:1971
.................5-Houseknecht b:ca 1900
...................+? Wheal
......................6-Irene Ellen Wheal b:1954 d:1954
......................6-? Wheal
.......................+? Pistritto
......................6-? Wheal
................5-Houseknecht
..................+? Jones
.....................6-? Jones
......................+? Mann
.........................7-? Jones
.......... 4-Earnest McKinley Holmes b:1901 d:1973
.............+Aola Parsons d:1956
...........4-Elva Blanche Holmes b:1909 d:1978
.............+Charles Hill b:1906 d:1993
...............5-? Hill
.................+Ackerman
...................6-? Hill
.....................+Felix
.......................7-? Hill
...................6-? Hill
................... +O'Kefe
......3-Miriam Holmes b:1863 d:1940
........+Amos W Snyder b:1860 d:1938
......3-Thomas Alter Holmes b:1865 d:1949
........+Anna Eldora Kepner b:1869 d:1927
......3-Mary Jane Holmes b:1867 d:1946
........+? Bartlow
......3-Lillian Holmes b:1869 d:1952
........+Gilbert Vanbuskirk
......3-Martha Holmes b:1871 d:1947
........+James Miller d:1949
......3-Harriet Hattie Holmes b:1871 d:1961
........+Harvey S Bartlow b:1869 d:1958
......3-Peter Holmes b:1873 d:1941
..2-Mary Holmes b:1828 d:1914
....+Benjamin Corson b:1826 d:1900
......3-Harvey Corson b:1850 d:1921
........+Hannah H Hill b:1851 d:1928
..........4-Mary Elizabeth Corson b:1879 d:1903
.............+Joseph Whitmire
..........4-Otto Romaine Corson b:1883 d:1957
......3-William Oscar Corson b:1858 d:1917
......3-Roland Peter Corson b:1860 d:1923
........+Margaret Emma Artley b:1861 d:1912
..........4-Bessie Etta Corson b:1882 d:1956
............+? Leatherman
..........4-Verna Corson b:1882 d:1956
............+Clarence Leist
..........4-Merle Dimner Corson b:1889 d:1910
............+Jessie Bickle
..........4-Jennie Lucille Corson b:1891 d:1972
............+? Bloomingdale
..........4-Donald D Corson b:1892 d:1968
............+Leta Leer
..........4-George Artley Corson b:1893 d:1982
........... +Mary Bickle
..........4-Mary Susan Corson b:1895 d:1976
............+? Clements[1]
............+? Bickle[2]
..........4-Claude Elmer Corson b:1901 d:1970
............+? Harrington
..........4-Carl Woodward Corson b:1905 d:1938
............+? Keyser
..........4-Adeline Hazel Corson b:1905 d:1989
............+? Hanson
.......3-Evaline Corson b:1863 d:1882
.......3-Adeline Corson b:1863
.........+? Fullmer
.......3-Rosa Corson b:1865
.........+William Edward Williams b:1853 d:1927
...........4-Francis Williams b:1880
.............+Nellie Tobin
...............5-? Williams
...........4-Bertha Williams b:1884
.............+Lee Michael
.............. 5-? Michael
...........4-Dora Williams b:1887
............ +Bert Ritter
...............5-? Ritter
.................+? Shipman
...................6-? Ritter
...............5-? Ritter
.................+? Harding
...................6-? Harding
...............5-? Ritter
.................+? Sones
...................6-? Sones
......3-George R Schoch Corson b:1867 d:1924
........+Edith Fisher Harkins b:1868 d:1940
..........4-Esther Corson b:1898
..........4-Roland Stewart Corson b:1905 d:1975
............+Evelyn Bomboy
......3-Mary E Corson b:1869
...2-Virginia Holmes b:1830
...2-William Dickson Holmes b:1831
...2-Jane Louise Holmes b:1835
...2-Eliza Holmes b:1840
...2-Susannah Holmes b:1842 d:1935

Submitters: J.Phillips, a Weisner-Shaner descendant, and Charles Kehler, a Little-Bennett descendant.