This small family cemetery is in Clinton, Laurens County, South Carolina. Hwy 56 cut through the cemetery, which is partially on private property.
Please help us to restore and protect this place! Holland Cemetery Fundraiser.
Your support for Sacred Site Research and Restoration would be greatly appreciated!
Thomas Rutledge Holland, Sr. and Jane Adair Holland were my 5th great-grandparents.
Update March 2024
Thomas Holland
Revolutionary War Veteran
February 12, 1762 – October 3, 1815
Marker erected by John Bryan, son-in-law:
Sacred to the memory of
Thomas Holland born
Feb 12, 1762 and departed
this life Oct 3, 1815
Erected by John Bryan
Thomas Holland served in 1782 as a Private in the South Carolina Militia.
Jane (Adair) Holland
May 30, 1765 – Aug 25, 1830
Marker erected by John Bryan, son-in-law
Sacred
to the memory of
Jane Holland
Who was born May 20, 1765
and departed this life Aug 25, 1830
Erected by John Bryan
A new discovery as of December 2022! Stone found, and rehidden. Near Jane.
Asenath Copeland
Daughter of Thomas and Jane Holland
She died Feb 1,
1823, aged
28 years.
New find as of January 2023 – this is the oldest verifiable stone here that I have been able to uncover and identify. The proximity to Thomas and Jane, and the first initial “F” leads me to conclude this is baby Forcipa Holland, Thomas and Jane’s daughter.
F. H.
Forcipa Holland b 1810 d 1811
John Fryer
Feb 13, 1775 – Sept 24, 1820
Headstone inscription contributed by Lowell Browne:
SACRED
To the Memory of
JOHN FRYER
who was born
February 13th, 1775
and died
September 24th, 1820
Aged 45 years 7 months
and 11 days
William M Fryer
Sacred
To the Memory of
Wm M Fryer,
who was born
March 8th, 1815
and died
Jany 28th, 1818
Aged 2 years
10 months
and 20 days
Rediscovered February 2024 – William’s Footstone
Sacred to the Memory of
Margaret McClintock
daughter of John and Ann Fryer
Feb 18, 1817 – Oct. 4, 1841
Uncovered February 2024
Uncovered March, 2024
McClintock
Infant daughter of Robert and M.C. McClintock
Rediscovered January 2023. Footstone for Elizabeth Adair.
Elizabeth Adair
daughter of James and Delilah (Holland) Adair
June 17, 1810 = Oct. 17, 1823
Rediscovered February 2024 – Elizabeth’s Headstone
Rediscovered December 2022
I was able to get close enough to see the end stone, and it is clearly TGP. Unfortunately, access is denied on this section as it is private property, and I could not get close enough to the large stone, or see the opposite side to check the epitaph. I am assuming one of the inaccessible stones to either side of Thomas is his wife, Elizabeth.
Thomas Green Potter
died Feb 12, 1852 – aged about 77
Rediscovered January 2023
– the front of Thomas G. Potter’s stone did not disappoint!
SACRED
to the memory of
THOMAS G. POTTER
who died on the
12th Feb A.D. 1852
aged about 77 years.
Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord, for they cease
from their labors and their
works do follow them.
Remember old and young as you pass by–
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so you wilst be
Prepare for death, and follow me.”
Rediscovered March 2024
Elizabeth Potter
daughter of William Holland, and wife of Thomas G. Potter
died Sept. 24, 1841 aged 52 years, 8 months, 14 days
This information per burying Grounds, Graveyards and Cemeteries / Laurens County, SC Volume One, Laurens District Chapter SCGS:
Greenberry Copeland
October 22, 1822 – Sept. 21, 1835
There are additionally at least 14 unreadable markers.
It is possible that the unreadable/unmarked graves include:
William Holland
Ann Weyman
Abraham Holland
Asenath Spires
Zoah/Zoar Chapel
High on a hill in Clinton is the small Holland Family Cemetery. Tradition says that this was the site of Zoar Chapel. This church was mentioned by Bishop Frances Asbury in his journal. We find this entry in Volume II of Asbury’s Journals, on page 212. It is dated Wednesday, November 6, 1799. It reads “We came to Zoar Chapel; a new, unfinished building, the morning was rainy, yet two or three dozen people attended; we lodged at William Holland’s”
Spartanburg County also has a Zoah Chapel, which they say is the one Bishop Asbury visited. However, William Holland is known to have lived in Laurens County near the site of the Holland Family Cemetery. In 1813, he was a trustee for Rehobeth Methodist Church, which was located nearby, when it was deeded land. He is buried at the Holland Cemetery.
No deeds have been found for Zoar Chapel.
From The Scrapbook: A Compilation of Historical Facts About Places and Events of Laurens County South Carolina: Published by Laurens County Historical Society 1982
ABRAHAM HOLLAND FAMILY by: C. Bryan Holland
“I am of the line of Abraham’s son, Thomas Holland, Sr. (1762-1815). He married Jane Adair, daughter of Joseph Adair, Jr. and Sarah Dillard. Thomas and Jane were the parents of five daughters and one son, Thomas R. Jr. Thomas and Jane Holland are buried in Old Zoar Chapel Cemetery on the hill south of Duncan’s Creek.
The marble tablet placed by Musgrove Mills and Henry Laurens chapters DAR, in 1926, on the front wall of Duncan’s Creek Presbyterian Church lists names of sixteen men who served in the Revolutionary War. Included in this list: Joseph Adair, Sr., Joseph Adair, Jr., James Adair, John Copeland, and Thomas Holland.”
Timeline
These stones have been identified and documented:
1811 – Forcipa Holland daughter of Thomas and Jane
1815 – Thomas Holland husband of Jane, father of Forcipa and Asenath
1818 – William Fryer son of John, brother of Margaret and Richard
1820 – John Fryer son of Richard Fryer and Rachel Holland
1821 – Richard Fryer son of John, brother of Margaret and William
1822 – William Holland brother of Thomas; grandfather of Elizabeth
1823 – Elizabeth Adair daughter of James & Delilah (Holland) Adair
1823 – Asenath (Holland) Copeland daughter of Thomas and Jane
1830 – Jane Holland wife of Thomas, mother of Forcipa and Asenath
Baby McClintlock child of John and Margaret McClintlock
1841 – Margaret (Fryer) McClintlock daughter of John Fryer, mother of baby
1852 – Thomas Potter husband of Elizabeth Holland
These individuals below are likely in this cemetery, with unmarked/yet to be discovered stones
1800 – Abraham Holland Thomas’ father
1802 – Asenath Spires Holland Thomas’ mother
1822 – William Holland brother of Thomas; father of Elizabeth
1835 – Greenberry Copeland son of John and Aseneth Holland Copeland
1844 – Elizabeth Holland Potter, daughter of William, wife of Thomas
January 2023
It was such a moment to walk where my ancestors did, over 200 years ago.
Unknown markers are everywhere in the leaves.
Those that can’t be positively identified will still never be forgotten. This is a sacred place.
