to OUR ANCESTORS REMEMBERED! written by their descendants. THE HOLT FAMILY Written by Dan HOLT. Copyright 2000 Very early in the morning Mrs. HOLT busily prepared for the journey back home to visit with her family. The trip from Denison, Texas to Wynnewood, Indian Territory (about 75 miles) would take almost three days in the horse drawn buckboard wagon. She, her infant son of only one week, and her brother, who had just arrived from Wynnewood the day before, would leave at the first light of dawn for what she believed to be a simple and short visit home. Mr. HOLT and the three older children (two boys and a girl) stayed behind to care for the farm. Because of long time bad feelings between Mr. HOLT and his in-laws, he didn't care to visit with them, and probably wasn't welcome anyway. Mrs. HOLT prepared breakfast for her husband that morning, loaded her things into the buckboard wagon, kissed her husband goodbye, and left for Indian Territory with her brother and infant son. Later that same morning, Mr. HOLT was found dead, face down in his plate of bacon and eggs. While Mrs. HOLT was saying goodbye to her family that fateful morning, no one noticed when her brother slipped back into the house. He stirred poison into the coffee that had been prepared earlier for Mr. HOLT's breakfast, then returned, still unnoticed, to the group waiting outside. After, he, his sister, and nephew had left for Wynnewood that morning; Mr. HOLT went back into the house to his waiting breakfast and coffee. The three did not stop until after they had crossed the Red River into Indian Territory. In 1887, the year of the murder, the Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction in Indian Territory, so they couldn't bring the suspect back for trial. Federal Marshals sometimes entered the territory in pursuit of hardened criminals, but this was only a family dispute. Therefore, no one was ever brought to trial. Mrs. HOLT's family convinced her not to return to Texas for her other three children, who were placed in a Dallas orphan's home. If she returned, they argued, she would probably be charged with the murder of her husband. Even if she had the older children with her, it would be financially impossible for a widow to raise four small children, and near impossible to get another husband to take on the responsibility of four children. Mrs. HOLT did remarry however, but this time to a man her brothers approved of. She died a few years later, in 1892, and was buried at Wynnewood I. T. without seeing the three children she had left behind just five short years earlier. Layton HOLT, born July 6, 1887, in Montage County, Texas, was separated from, and never knew his sister and brothers. At the age of one week, his father was murdered. His mother died when he was only five years old. How could things be worse? Well, the only family he knew around Wynnewood were some aunts and uncles, I don't know how many, but they were a mean, cruel bunch; one of them had murdered Layton's father. He also had a stepfather who was a long time friend of this bunch, and was just as mean. There were some half-sisters and brothers, again I don't know how many. I do know later, Layton encouraged Luther and Cynthia (MADDEN) GIDDENS, a half-sister, to move to the Amber community where the farmland was very rich and fertile. His stepfather was cruel to him, and beat him on many occasions. Layton was not allowed to attend school. While his half-sisters and brothers went to school, Layton was forced to stay home and work. To his death Layton never learned to read or write. One cold winter day while helping to harness the team, his stepfather talked Layton into sticking his tongue to the cold steel of the wagon tongue. Now if you've never tried this please don't, the moist tongue freezes instantly to frozen steel. He then jerked young Layton loose, pealing the skin off his tongue, and laughed at him for being so dumb. At the age of twelve, Layton left his stepfather's home. Orphaned and alone Layton found a true friend in Sam GARVIN, a Pauls Valley banker and rancher. Sam took Layton into his home, and gave him a job as a ranch hand. During his years with Mr. and Mrs. GARVIN, Layton lived in a happy home, and learned about farming and ranching, a trade that would help him all through life. For a short time he used these ranching skills, taught to him by Mr. GARVIN, at Red River Station, where the Chisholm Trail crossed the Red River. In those days, before flood prevention dams, upstream rains could cause flash floods where otherwise dry conditions existed. With the roar of rushing water as the only warning, a wall of water, sometimes as high as a horse and rider, would crash down the river wiping out anything or anyone in it's path. Complete herds have been lost in those flash floods. By constantly listening, upstream, for that distinct sound of rushing water, Layton was able to warn the drovers, just in time, of the coming wall of water. By dividing the herd into small groups, that could completely cross the river in a short amount of time, he and the drovers were able to get the entire herd across safely. Later, as a farmer in the fertile Washita River Valley, he raised the finest farm animals in the area, especially Dog and Kate, a pair of iron-gray mules. A stud and mare team weighing about fifteen hundred pounds each that could out work and out pull any team around. One rainy day the Ninnekah school bus slid off the road into the bar-ditch. Several farmers tried with tractors, and teams, but couldn't budge the bus. Layton hitched Dog and Kate to the bus and pulled it out with ease. When someone ordered an extra heavy tombstone to be brought into the Ninnekah cemetery, no one would even attempt to haul it in except Layton, and Dog and Kate. In Layton HOLT's funeral book I found this account of his life. Written by his wife, Ava (COLE) HOLT, it tells the story much better than I ever could. "Daddy was a man of very high standing and was loved by all that knew him. His parents died when he was a very small boy leaving him an orphan at the age of twelve. In 1909, at Pauls Valley, he was married to Ava COLE, and came to Chickasha in 1912, where he was employed at the Chickasha Milling Co. Since 1914, he made his home on a farm. At the time of his death he was located on a farm five miles south and two and one-half miles west of Chickasha. He was a member of the Ninnekah Baptist Church at Ninnekah. To this happy couple there were born five children: Willie, Loletta, Velma, Reford and Alton. His life was devoted to his wife and children. August 8, 1932, daddy was suddenly taken ill with a convulsion. Every care was given, but all was in vain; nothing seemed to be of any help to his recovery. November 21, he was moved to the St. Anthony Hospital, in a private room 104. There he was operated on for brain abscess. Life was given to him for two weeks after the operation. Miss Ellen M. SALMON was his private nurse. Three days before he died he was taken with a chill and was operated on for Spinal Meningitis. God saw fit to break this happy home and he took our darling daddy from us December 11, 1932, at 9:15 P.M." After farming in the Ninnekah community for eighteen years, Layton became ill in the summer of 1932, and for the first time was not able to harvest his crop. One of the great things about a small community is the way neighbors help neighbors in times of need. The MORRIS family, farming close by, came over and put up his crop for him. For the next few years, after Layton's death, they planted and harvested the crops for Ava HOLT and her family. When Earl MORRIS finished telling me about how his family helped, he laughed and said "I had to do it, because, Velma wasn't old enough to get married yet, and I didn't want her to move away." He and Velma were married about two years later, and are now living on a farm two miles west of Ninnekah, Oklahoma. I never knew my grandfather, Layton Holt, except through these few stories told to me by my father, Reford HOLT, and partially confirmed by my Uncles Earl MORRIS and L. R. "Buster" MONCREIF and Aunt Willie PARKS. There is no way of knowing how much was lost by waiting two generations to write this story. Aunt Willie remembered a slightly different version of the murder of Layton's father. Because the activity on the Chisholm Trail began to decline about, 1884, three years before Layton's birth, I question the accuracy of the Red River Station story. However, it is one of the stories told to me by my father. If only I could have crawled up in granddad's lap and listened to him tell these stories himself. Submitted by Sandi CARTER, Dan HOLT's Third cousin These graphics were done by an artist and are the property of the artist. They are not for the taking. If you wish to use them on your web pages, click on the above graphic to view her web pages of beautiful art and then you must contact the artist - Carla if you wish to use any them. I would appreciate if you would keep in mind, while visiting this web site and others, that the information found within each page is not to be copied in any manner, or used for profit or public use. The information on this page is the property of the writter/submitter. This page last updated on February 2005 - Copyright Jacque Hopkins, 1996-2005