Immig. Ancestor
Sources:N.J. 4 Vol 3 p 301-311
N.E. Reg. Vol 64 p 237-8, 284
R.I. Pub. B Vol 3 p 174, 243
N.E. Reg. Vol 67 p 21
OBADIAH HOLMES:
Chad Brown Memorial, p. 150, by William Bradford Brown
Odadiah Holmes was born in Preston, Lancashire, England in England in 1607 of parents who, to use his own words, "were faithful in their generation and of good report among men, and brought up their children tenderly and honorably." Three of their sons were educated at the University of Oxford. It is known that he had a brother Robert, and sisters who lived in the parish of Manchester.
He married Katherine________ about 1636 and soon after emigrated to New England. He was in Salem, Massachusetts in 1639 where he had two acres granted, being one of the "glassmen" or manufacturers of glass. His daughter Martha and sons Obadiah and Samuel were baptized in Salem between 1640 and 1644. He removed to Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1646 and from thence, about 1650 were to New Port, Rhode Island.
This last removal was in consequence of a change of his religious views, he having left the congregational church and joined the Baptist. With eight others after many conflicts, he separated from the church of the Rev. Samuel Newman in Rehoboth. They were re-baptized and formed a new organization of which Mr. Holmes was chosen pastor.
In R.I. he purchased and settled upon a tract of land formerly belpnging to the Hutchinsons, in the eastern part of the township of Newport, now Middletown. The farm consisted originally of 400 acres and included the third beach. It is not now in possession of his descendants, having been sold in recent years. This farm reached hts highest state of cultivation in the time of John Holmes, third grandson of Obadiah and son of Jonathan. He was the last male of the Holmes family on the Island and died at an advanced age in Newport.
On 1651 occurred the event which was given immortality to the name of Obadiah Holmes, as the first Martyr to religious liberty in the colony. In July of that year he, in company with John Crandall and John Clark, arrived in Lynn, Massachusetts on a visit to Wm. Witter, an aged member of the church in Newport. The following Sunday, as Mr. Clarke was preaching to an assembly in the house, he was arrested with his companions, and the next day all were sent to prison in Boston.
Mr. Clarke was tried for the crime of preaching the gospel and administering the sacrament while under sentence of excommunication, of disclaiming against the sprinkling of infants and similar charges. Jul 31 sentence was passed; Mr. Holmes was fined 30 pounds, Mr. Clarke 20 and Mr. Crandall 5.
In default of the fine they were to be publickly whipped. Elder Clarke's fine was paid by his friends and Elder Crandall was released on bail, but Elder Holmes preferred to submit to punishment rather than to acknowledge that he was in the wrong. He was kept in prison until September when he received infliction of 35 stripes.
EARLY HOLMES AND KEIRSTEAD FAMILIES IN AMERICA:
Robert Hulme (Holmes) of Reddich, Parish of Manchester, Lancashire, Eng., had several sons whom he sent to Oxford College to be "Properly reared." At his death he was buried in Stocport 14 Jan 1604, as "Ould Robert Hulme of Reddich." His will, dated 11 Aug 1602, left his lands to his oldest son Robert and to his widow, Alice. Obadiah was the second son mentioned in his will. He married Katherine Hyde on 20 Nov 1630 at Collegiate Church in Manchester. Their first child, John died in infancy and was buried 7 Jun 1633. Late in 1633-34 a son, Jonathan was born to them and in 1638 the three sailed for America from Preston, in Lancashire. At least eight more children were born to them in America.
Rev. Obadiah had been rather wild in his youth, but in later years he tried to make aments. He was a Presbyterian when he came to America, but was converted to the Baptist faith.
A bit on the character and physical ability of Rev. Obadiah might not be amiss at this point. One time when he was attending a religious gathering in or near Boston he became involved in a rather heated discussion with some others and was thrown into jail as he had no license to preach in Mass. In the morning there were plenty of witnesses to appear against Him. One claimed he was "seen praying standing up with his hat on." the magistrate quickly fine him 30 pounds Sterling or 30 lashes. Odadiah refused to pay, though well able to do so, saying he would not betray his Lord for thirty pounds of silver. So he was given the 30 lashes with a tree corded whip, wielded with all the strength of the man doing the whipping. When it was over Obadiah smiled at his torturers and said, "You have whipped me with roses," which so infuriated them they cast him into jail, which he later said was "the filthyest place I had ever been in and held all summer." For many days he was only able to sleep on his knees and elbows. In speaking of his ordeal he said, "I had such a Spiritual Manifestation of Gods presence as the like therof I never had, nor can I with fleshley tongue express and the outward pain was so removed from me that, indeed I am not able to declare it to you; it was so easy to me that I could well bear it; yea, in a manner, felt it not, though it was grievous." Further reports state his trousers & shoes were filled with blood.
Lydia Holmes, probably their seventh child, married Capt. John Bowne, son of Wm. and Ann Bowne. They settled at Gravesend, L.I. A daughter of this married Richard Salter. Their daughter Hannah Salter married Mordecai Lincoln, whose son "Virginia John" Lincoln was great-grandfather of Abraham Lincoln, who became President of the United States,
Mary Holmes, youngest daughter of Rev. Obadiah, born about 1648, married John Brown, son of Rev. Chad Brown, and early preacher in Rhode Island. One of their grandsons later gave a huge gift of Chinese Jade to the then R.I. College, which later renamed the school Brown University in his honor.
As far as we know the first Kierstead to marry a Holmes was Dr. Jacob Kierstead, son of Dr. Hans Kierstead, Sr. and Sarah Roeloffson. Dr. Jacob married Anna, a granddaughter of Rev. Obadiah Holmes. Their grandson Samuel Holmes migrated to New Brunswick with six sons in 1783. They made new homes in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
This one Kierstead family, whose reputed lineage reached back to William Prince of Orange, separated themselves from their kinsmen and followed the Holmes family to a new and unsettled coundty. A portion of the reason may be found in the following facts:
Two of Samuel Kierstead's sons were Isaiah & Benjamin. They settled near each other in New Brunswick. Bejamin's son was John. Isaiah's first and only daughter was Mary. Mary married George Holmes and they had ten children.
In 1790 Rev. Obadiah Holmes descendants estimated 5 thousand. In 1876 the number was estimated at 50 thousand.
Joseph Jencks came from England at about the same time as the Rev. Chad Brown. He invented a new type of grain scythe for which he was granted the first patent issued to a colonist by the British government. He also had a brass foundry and an iron foundry. He made the first dies for coining the first Pine Tree Shillings. He invented and made the first fire engine in America. His son, Joseph, came from England with him, married Martha, daughter of Rev. John Brown and Mary (Holmes) Brown. He later became governor of Rhode Island.
