Robert Holman

Following the Land

This is how we are ultimately going to tie Robert Holman to Joseph, Aaron, and finally to Thomas. First, to understand the layout, between 1674 and 1702, New Jersey was split diagonally into two separate proprietary colonies, each running under its own distinct government. East Jersey was largely influenced by Scottish, Dutch, and Puritan settlers with its capital at Perth Amboy. West Jersey was heavily settled by Quakers seeking religious freedom and was governed from Burlington. We're going to focus on the East Jersey area.

This all starts when Daniel Estell (not a relative) was granted a land warrant in Middletown in June 1688. We have the official survey of his 50-acre tract at Weykick (Middletown) and his meadow at Coneskunk, laid out by East Jersey Surveyor General George Keith and recorded on January 18, 1689. In the Colonial Land Surveys and Warrants, it is described as "Item a trackt of Land at Weykick beginning at a white oake by the Cold Spring... bounded north by John Crawford, Easterly by Thomas Whitlock, westerly by the Path, South by Land unsurveyed, containing with allowance for barrens & Swamps fiftie Acres." Mere weeks after this official survey was entered into the Proprietors' book, Daniel Estell turned around and sold this exact 50-acre Weykick tract to Robert Holman on February 4, 1689, for the sum of £5. The Holman family held and lived on this property for five years. During this time, Robert established himself in the community alongside neighbors like Gershom Mott and James Dorset.

In July 1690, Robert Holman made a significant financial move: he lent William Oliver the sum of £16 — a considerable amount at the time — secured against a tract of Oliver's land in Monmouth County. The legal document recording this transaction is structured as a conditional deed: Oliver conveyed the land to Holman outright, but with the explicit condition that Oliver had to pay him the £16 back by November 1, 1691. If he did, the deed would be void and the land would revert to Oliver. If he did not pay, Holman would keep the land permanently.

Robert obtains land from William Oliver

By this document, I have transferred, granted, bargained, and sold, and by this document do transfer, grant, bargain, and sell to the said Robert Holman, his heirs, and assigns forever, all that tract of land lying and being in Monmouth County and the Province of East Jersey. The land begins at the Monmouth River and runs up to the southernmost brook, extending a distance of nine chains; from there it runs west for thirty chains; then southeast for twenty-eight chains; then east-north-east for thirty-four chains; and then north, or approximately so, to the place where it first began. It is bounded on the east by the land of Robert Holman and on the south by the land of Bartholomew Applegate... Together with all the pasturage, timber, and advantages belonging or in any way appertaining to the property (excepting a specific piece of meadow land stretching from the river to the pond)... and all rights, title, interest, claims, and demands whatsoever that I, William Oliver, my heirs or assigns have or may have to the property, as fully and completely for all intents and purposes as the property was granted and confirmed to me by a deed from David Jenkins... To have and to hold the legal ownership of this land and all its associated privileges and profits for the sole use and benefit of Robert Holman, his heirs, and assigns forever. Provided always, and on the strict condition, that the said William Oliver shall pay, or cause to be paid, to Robert Holman, his heirs, executors, or administrators, the full and exact sum of sixteen pounds in lawful currency, on or before the first day of November in the year 1691... In witness of this agreement, the parties to this document have mutually signed and sealed it, dated the second day of July in the year of our Lord 1690. Signed: William Oliver [Seal]

Who was Robert Holman's wife?

The short answer:  I have no idea and not much hope of finding out more than her first name. Let's start by looking at the 1709 will, who names his wife, Sarah, and sons Joseph, Thomas, Robert and Daniel.

While this will is our only proof of Robert's wife's name, online trees often incorrectly claim her last name was Perrine and that she was the daughter of French Huguenot Daniel Perrin. This is mathematically impossible for a few reasons:

• Daniel Perrin didn't marry his second wife, Elizabeth, until about 1687 (after his first wife, Maria Thorel, passed away). This means their daughter, Sarah Perrine, couldn't have been born before 1688–1690.
• Robert Holman's son, Joseph, had to be born much earlier — between 1680 and 1686. We can deduce this by working backward from the birth of Joseph's grandson, Daniel, in 1746. Daniel's father, Francis, was likely born by 1722 to be having kids in 1746. Since colonial wills listed siblings chronologically, and Francis is listed as the fifth son, his four older brothers (plus any sisters or infants who didn't survive) push the birth of Joseph's first child back to around 1705.
• Sarah Perrine was simply too young to be Robert Holman's wife. It's highly probable that researchers saw legitimate Perrine/Holman marriages in later generations and accidentally copy-pasted the relationship onto the wrong ancestors.
• Sarah Perrine, who was from Staten Island, is believed to have first married Willem Stilwell. This is supported by the baptismal record of twins in 1719 on a Staten Island church. Note that her father Daniel and mother Elizabeth are sponsors.