Jonathan Holmes (speaker)

Jonathan Holmes
1st Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
In office
October 1696 – October 1698
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJoseph Jenckes Jr.
Personal details
Born(1653-06-23)23 June 1653
Stockport, Lancashire, England
Died10 October 1713(1713-10-10) (aged 60)
Newport, Rhode Island, British America
Spouse
Sarah Borden
​
​
(m. 1664; died 1705)​
Parent(s)Obadiah Holmes
Catharine Hyde

Captain Jonathan Holmes (23 June 1633 – 10 October 1713) was a colonial farmer and politician in Rhode Island.

Early life

Holmes was born in Stockport, Lancashire, England on 23 June 1633.[1] He was a son of the Rev. Obadiah Holmes (1610–1682) and Catharine (née Hyde) Holmes (c. 1610–c. 1682), who were married in Manchester in 1630. Among his siblings were Lydia Holmes, who married Capt. John Bowne (great-grandparents of Capt. Abraham Lincoln, himself grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln).[2]

As a baby, he sailed with his parents from Preston on the River Ribble in Lancashire to Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[3]

Career

His father was one of the twelve patentees named in the original April 8, 1665 patent from the Duke of York for the Monmouth Tract embracing Monmouth County and parts of Middlesex and Ocean Counties in Eastern New Jersey.[1]

In 1685, Holmes returned to the family home in Newport, Rhode Island. He was a member of the House of Deputies of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and served as the first Speaker of the House.[4]

Personal life

On 17 April 1664, Holmes was married to Sarah Borden (1644–c. 1705) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She was a daughter of Richard Borden and Joan (née Fowle) Borden. Together, they were the parents of:[2]

  • Obadiah Holmes (1666–1745), who married Alice Ashton, a daughter of Rev. James Ashton and Deliverance (née Throckmorton) Ashton.[2]
  • Jonathan Holmes (1682–1766), who married Deliverance Ashton, sister to Obadiah's wife. After her death, he married Rebecca Throckmorton.[5]
  • Samuel Holmes (1676–c. 1769)[2]
  • Martha Holmes (1675–1729), who married Philip Tillinghast.[6]

After his death in Newport, Rhode Island on 10 October 1713, he was buried in the family cemetery in Middletown.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Beekman, George (1901). Early Dutch Settlers of Monmouth County, NJ. p. 126. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e Holmes, James Taylor (1915). The American Family of Rev. Obadiah Holmes. Stoneman Press. p. 52. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ^ Holmes 1915, p. 12.
  4. ^ Manual with Rules and Orders for the Use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. Providence Press Company. 1873. p. 106. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. ^ Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1898). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 204. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  6. ^ Weeks, Lyman Horace (1898). Prominent Families of New York: Being an Account in Biographical Form of Individuals and Families Distinguished as Representatives of the Social, Professional and Civic Life of New York City. Historical Company. p. 511. Retrieved 21 December 2023.