Adventures in History and GenealogyAdair and Holland FamiliesHolland Cemetery

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.

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video courtesy of Sacred Site Research and Restoration

Thomas Rutledge Holland, Sr. and Jane Adair Holland were my 5th great-grandparents.

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

photo by Greg Gaines / Sacred Site Research and Restoration

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 both
March 8th, 1815
and died
Jany 28th, 1818
Aged 2 years
10 months
and 20 days

Sacred to the Memory of
Margaret McClintlock
daughter of John and Ann Fryer
Feb 18, 1817 – Oct. 4, 1841

McClintlock
Infant daughter of Robert and M.C. McClintlock

New identification, January 2023. Footstone for Elizabeth Adair.

Elizabeth Adair
daughter of James and Delilah (Holland) Adair
June 17, 1810 = Oct. 17, 1822

New identification, 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

Below, from 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.”

Elizabeth Potter
daughter of William Holland and wife of Thomas G. Potter
died Sept. 24, 1841 aged 52 years, 8 months, 14 days

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 Zoah 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 Zoah 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 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 Zoah Chapel.

Another reference to the Chapel, with a similar spelling – perhaps it was Zoar?

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.”