Regina Jay was the youngest daughter of Bridget and Mack Jay. She was 19 when she married Dave Holt in 1891.

At the time of the 1910 Census, they were living in Sauda 6 she was 37 and Dave was 41. Dave's is recorded as Mulatto. Regina and the children are listed as Black.  The children are all two years apart in age.  James is the oldest and Dave Jr at age 4 is the youngest.   He owned a sawmill and cotton gin and was able to provide for his family. Regina died at the approximate age of 41. After her death, Dave remarried a woman by the name of Sallie. 

Children

of

Regina  Jay (1872-1913) & Dave Holt

James Holt -b 1892
No children.

Willie Holt (1893-1958)

Willie was born in Saluda. He served in World War I in the Army police force and is buried at 
Arlington Cemetery. After the war, he made his living working ing in lumber yards and mill
pulps in North and South Carolina. "Roadrunner" is how daughter Peggy described her father. He traveled by motorcycle and his nickname was Scout. Willie had 16 children with five different mothers.

His first set of kids (Bertha, Willie Jr, Lavern, Helen Robinson, and Thelma) were born in Saluda. 

The second set (Little Ruby and David) was raised by Aunt Ruby.

Wilhelmina and Raleigh lived in Baltimore. There was Clara and then at the age of 50 Willie settled down with Ethel. There were six children in the last set: Willie Lee Holt, Hampton Holt, Leona (Peggy) Holt Wilson, Gloria (deceased), Betty Gail, and Sherri.

Willie Lee died in 2008. He is survived by two children, Hamara and Jamal, and a granddaughter Raven.

Hampton served in the US Army and retired after twenty years. He then worked for and later retired from the US Department of Labor. He has two children, Hamp Jr. and Michael.

Peggy is a retired bank manager with a degree in Accounting. She has no children.

Gloria is survived by two children Joy and Jua and two grandchildren. 

Betty Gail had two sons and a daughter. Her son Derrick owns a restaurant in Tampa, FL.
Sherri is retired from the Board of Education in Waldorf, MD, she has four children: Kia, La Tasha, Rodney, and Natasha.

'

Hampton Holt-b. 1895 & Rubye Williams

Hampton was 22 and single when he was drafted into service during World War I. He later married Ruby Williams and had one daughter Buena Vista.

Buena Vista Holt married James Wright and had 3 children: Mercedes, Dawn (deceased), and Michael. Mercedes' daughter Linda Johnson lives in Detroit and is an attorney for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Leona Holt (1898-1991) & Sherman Holt

Leona Holt attended Benedict College for two years. Leona was a beautiful and graceful woman who played the piano and sang classical music. After her mother died she left school and married Sherman Watson at the age of 17. Leona and Sherman were very responsible members of the community and devoted parents to three sons Spann, Roy, and Hughitt.

After paying $1.50 for a subscription to the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, Sherman used the 
newspaper to teach his young sons to read.

The family fled SC after the infamous 1926 lynching of three members of the Lowman family in nearby Aiken SC. Leona and Sherman settled into the working-class town of Lodi, New Jersey.
Sherman gave the boys two weeks to get used to city living, indoor toilets, hot and cold running water, and electric lights before enrolling them in school. They were readily accepted into the community even though they were the only Blacks among mostly Italians and other ethnic groups.

According to Spann, "We led a charmed life. Even the police chief stopped by our home to make sure that we felt welcome."

As the boys entered adolescence, Leona decided that the boys needed to be around more Blacks so that they would not lose their Black identity, so they moved to Hackensack, NJ. While Hackensack was an integrated community with nicer homes, the family endured various incidents of discrimination.

Spann Watson (1916-2010) & Leona 

Spann is remembered for his class and courage. He refused to obey segregation laws in the military so he helped change them.

Spann was one of the original Tuskegee Airman and a member of the famed 99th Fighter Squadron. His picture hangs with other Airmen in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. He received several significant awards and recognitions. He was one of the Tuskegee Airman honored by President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1998. He was also a VIP attendee at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. His trip from his NJ home to the inaugural was filmed and reported on by the New York Times. Spann developed an early interest in aviation.

At the age of 9, he attended an air show and recognized one of the circling airplanes as Charles Lindberg's Spirit of Saint Louis. The announcer laughed and didn't be- believe him, but once the plane landed, little Spann was proven right. This helped fuel his passion for aviation and his desire to prove himself.

After a 23-year military career, Spann joined the Federal Aviation Administration as an equal 
opportunity specialist. He was responsible for more than 35 youngsters winning appointments to the three major service academies. He also helped hundreds of mi- minorities gain employment, including 483 airline flight attendants and first-time pilots.

Spann was very involved with the family. He attended most of the family reunions and was always good-natured and shared lots of interesting stories.

Spann was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. He and Edna were married for 66 years. They instilled the value of military service in their children.   Commander Marlowe Watson retired as a Navy Lt Col, Orrin Watson, who died tragically in a house fire in 2018 was an Airforce Captain, and Wegman Watson, was also a Navy officer. He was also survived by daughters Cynthia Hopson, and Dianne Capers. 

Roy Watson 

Leona & Spann's youngest son was also an aviator. He owned his own airplane and was a member of the New York Civil Air Patrol. Roy taught his two daughters to fly, but only one ever did a solo flight. 

His oldest daughter Patricia was considered a genius. She left high school at 13 or 14 and graduated from the University of Chicago receiving her Master's degree at 18 or 19.

Ruby Griffin (1900-1982)

Ruby worked as a teacher in South Carolina before moving to Washington, DC with her husband Brooks Griffin. While she had no children of her own, she raised her brother Willie's children David and Little Ruby. She helped many relatives and friends from South Carolina who moved to D.C. She ran an unofficial boarding house at her home at 329 Virginia Ave SE, which gave many people a place to stay. They repaid her after they found employment.

Beulah West (1902-1963)

Beulah married Clifford West at a young age and did not finish her formal education. However, she loved learning and would look up unfamiliar words and write definitions in her notebook. She stressed education to her children as the road to independence and success. Beulah frequently told her children "Get an education, be somebody, make something of yourself!"

Clifford left SC and after a brief stay in Washington, DC he settled in Detroit. Like so many others, he wanted to work in the automotive industry. But after working there for one
day, he knew that type of work was not for him. He quit and he never went back.

Clifford met a home builder who taught him landscaping and he went on to start his own landscaping business. He advised his children,"You will never get rich working for a living, you may live well, but you'll never get rich."

Children: Georgene Otis, Wendell West, Veronica Ford, Raymond West, Van West, Pocahontas White, Beverly Lucas, Wilhelmina Williams, and Lorraine West.

Georjene Otis
Georejean had four children Hamilton, Sherry Otis, Bobby Otis, Debra Otis, and Mark Otis.

Grandchildren: Ebony, Hamilton, Whitney, and Kelsey. 

Wendell West

Wendell joined the Navy during World War II and was stationed at Port Chicago, in California. He quickly realized the danger faced by the sailors, all of whom were Black, loading ammunition onto the ships so he requested and was granted a transfer. The next day while in route to his new assignment at Mare Island,in the Pacific, it was announced that 320 men had been killed in the biggest explosion in the country's history. It became known as the Port Chicago Disaster.

Wendell and his first wife Ruth had two children Mark and Wayne. Following the death of his second wife, Naomi, Wendell moved to California to be with his son, Mark.  Grandchild Kiamba

Veronica Ford

Veronica and Raymond Ford had four children: Melvin, Daryl, Raymond, and Sandra.  

Grandchildren include Dior Ford, Daryl Ford Jr, Donovan Ford, Charisee, Sharon, and Renee.

Raymond West

Raymond married Gaynell. His children included Lucretia, Kevin, Helen, and Kenneth and 
Grandchildren Elisa, Latoya, Lamar, and Ivan (deceased).

Van West

Van and Dalethiea had two children, Quentin and Lashanda, and a grandchild Dalethiea.

Pocahontas White

Pocahontas is retired after a long career with the IRS. Her children include Norman, Patrice White Johnson, Anthony, and Andre White. 

Grandchildren Michael, Darby, Amyre, Amber, Ashley, Kyle, and Brooke Hoke.

Beverly Lucas
Beverly is a retired school teacher and married to Anthony Lucas, an actor in plays produced in local theater. They have two children Carmen Sluther and Raymond Lucas. 

Wilhelmina Williams
Wilhelmina has been a devoted stay-at-home married to Fred Williams. Their children are Andrina Fitzhugh, Kimberly, and Monica Williams. Grandchildren Ronald and Cory Fitzhugh, Ciara, and Cherish.

Lorraine West

Lorraine was a  Detroit Public School System teacher. Her career also included two 
years teaching school in Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa. She is active with the Daniel-Jay Detroit chapter and helps preserve the Holt family history.

Her son Franklin Williams frequently accompanies her to family reunions. 

Bertha Plummer -b.1904

Bertha was the youngest daughter and two years older than her brother David. She married Wiley Plummer. They did not have children.

David Kalaboose Holt b.1906

David was the youngest child of Regina and Dave Holt. David followed his heart as well as his dreams when he courted - then wed Wilhelmina Wiggins. They lived in  Hamtramck, outside of Detroit. They had two children Linwood and Doris Murray.

Detroit was the Motor City Capitol of The U.S.A. where people migrated from all across the country because of plentiful jobs in the automotive industry. David displayed a keen business wit and soon rose through the ranks of Dodge Main Assembly Plant and was elected as Chief Steward. He earned the respect of his peers and the men that he represented as he exhibited true leadership abilities.

David took great pride in his race,, lobbying for an equal America, and participated in 
civil marches. He would go out of his way to patronize "colored" businesses and even started his own business "Royal Cleanser". He employed a great number of young men within the community.

His legacy is one of spiritual love because he loved the Lord with all of his heart and would tell 
his children, then grandchildren, and anyone who would listen about Jesus Christ. The first song each of them would learn was "Jesus Loves Me". He loved his family dearly, second only to Christ Himself.

Linwood & Armenthia Holt

Married Armenthia Louise Polk in 1947. They had six children. Tommy Earls, Cynthia, Linwood Jr, David Eddie, Lynn Eileen, and Wilhelmina (Tunny).

Doris Murray

Doris married Mervin Murray and had five children Darlene, Mervin, Curtis, Keith, and Winston. She is remembered as a beautiful and pleasant person.