Vital Information
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | John William "Will" Holt |
| Born | ~1864, Indiana |
| Died | 10 Feb 1938 |
| Father | Calvin Rogers Holt (1818-1866) |
| Mother | Julia Ann Miller Holt (1840-1901) |
| Stepfather | Eliphaz Holt (1824-1897) |
| Spouse | Clara Effie Kennedy Holt (m. 20 Oct 1889) |
| Half-brother | Noah Caswell Holt (1869-1935) |
| Burial | Wilmot Cemetery |
Biography
John William Holt was born around 1864 in Indiana to Julia Ann Miller and Calvin Rogers Holt; following his father Calvin's death in 1866, his mother remarried Eliphaz Holt, making him stepbrother to Noah Caswell Holt. He settled in Richland Township, Cowley County, Kansas, where he farmed 80 or more acres near the community of Wilmot and raised 12 children with his wife Clara Effie Kennedy. In Gale Fulghum's memoir "The Best of Times," John and Clara served as caregivers for Gale from roughly 1926 to 1928, and Gale referred to them as "Grandfather Holt" and "Grandma Holt," though they were actually his great-uncle and great-aunt. His farm near Wilmot served as a gathering point for the extended Holt family during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.