The following is a narrative by a descendant ……
THE NOAH NEWSOM FAMILY OF ROBINSON CREEK, KENTUCKY, 1775-1950 researched and written by a descendant, Fern Rosik Glasgow
Matilda Baldwin listed “Virginia” as her place of birth in the 1870 Pike County, KY census. She was a Cherokee Indian – some say full-blooded, some say half-breed. She was born in 1846. Her parents were Soloman and Sarah Elliot Baldwin. Martha Baldwin, born in 1850, was probably her sister, and Andy Baldwin was her younger brother. According to the 1870 Pike Co. census, Martha Baldwin, with her one-year old son, Alexander, was in the household of Jarvey Newsom, son of Frederick (Fed) Newsom. Andy Baldwin visited the Newsoms and Holts while they were living in Iowa.
In Floyd County, KY, on April 14, 1860, when she was fourteen years old, Matilda married Lackey Newsom, Jarvey Newsom’s brother. Lackey and Matilda lived on Robinson Creek on part of the land which Frederick Newsom had inherited from his father, Harrison Newsom, who had come to Kentucky from North Carolina in early 1816.
Lackey and Matilda’s first son, John Wesley Newsom, was born Sept. 12, 1861. The Civil War had begun in April of that year and Lackey, with his brothers, Robert and Davenport, enlisted in the Union Army (39th KY Infantry, co. K). Lackey was gone well over a year when Matilda gave birth in April, 1863 to a daughter named Mahala, called “Haley.” Haley’s father was Cobb Hall. Lackey forgave Matilda, and in June, 1864 she found herself pregnant again with Lackey’s child.
In March of 1865, Lackey was stationed at a camp near the Mason-Dixon line. On the morning of March 1st he arose and went outside to wash up before breakfast. He was shot and instantly killed by one of his own side, a Yankee, who mistook him for a spy. He was killed just eight days before his second son, Noah Webster Newsom, was born. Lackey is buried in the Newsom Cemetery on the upper end of Little Robinson Creek. He and his brothers, Robert (Big Rob) and Davenport (Port), have 39th KY Infantry, Co. K markers on their graves.
Matilda married Henry Holt about 1866. Matilda and Henry lived on a fork, called Straight Fork, on the Bear Fork of Robinson Creek not far from Fed Newsom. It was very rough terrain when they lived and their log cabin stood on just a little flat place.
Henry Holt was a puzzle. He claimed to have served nine months in the 5th Tenn. Cavalry, Co. B, but no record of a “Henry Holt” in either the Confederate or Union units has been found. His grandson, Charles Little, describes him thusly: “Some say that Henry Holt wasn’t a Holt at all, but had just taken that name when he came out of the ranks of the Yankee Army–seeking a safe place in those Kentucky hills to hide out from the government. The Authorities wanted to prosecute him for his part as a bushwacker in the Civil War.
Henry was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian from Tennessee. He blew in here to hide from the law. Henry was an industrious cuss–went up on Bear Fork and carved out a farm. He planted a big orchard, set out beehives, and had all kinds of vegetables and fruits. He was known for his Ginseng patch that he harvested and sold.”
The Henry Holts had nine children up there on Bear Fork in addition to the three that Matilda had brought into the marriage. The Holt children were Mary (1867), Evan (1869), Andrew (1872), Darkis (1874), Perion (1875), Silas (1877), Reeney (1878), Liza (1880), and Francis (1882). The 1900 census lists a granddaughter, Rhoda Caudill, age ten, living with them.
Matilda died of a heart attack in 1908 at the home of her son, Andy Holt. She was churning butter and talking to her daughter-in-law, Eliza Jane Holt, at the time. She was 62 years old.
Henry Holt died in 1913 at age 77. He had remarried to Rilda Adams on Dec. 4, 1909 in Floyd Co., KY, and they had one child, Martha, born in 1911 when Henry was 75 years old. Matilda and Henry and some of their children are buried in the Indian Cemetery on Bear Fork. Three of Noah Newsom’s children are buried there, also. Indians were not allowed to bury their dead in the white folks’ cemetery. People were always digging in the Indian cemetery to find Indian artifacts. The cemetery is still there, though overgrown.
Henry Holt’s stepsons thought he was mean to them. By 1870 John W. was living with his grandfather, Fed Newsom, over in Floyd County. In 1873, when he was eight years old, Noah went to live with the Tom May family, who lived at Jones Chapel on Robinson Creek. Tom and his wife, Mary, raised Noah and gave him a good education. They had several children of their own.
Some time after Noah and Mary Elizabeth Moore were married, they lived on Bear Fork just over a steep hill from the Henry Holts. Although Matilda (called Granny Holt), was on good terms with the Noah Newsoms, visited them and helped out when the babies were born (she was a midwife of a sort). Henry was not allowed on the place. Henry visited them once when Henry’s grandson, Landon Holt, who lived with Henry, ran away from home and Henry and Matilda came looking for him. They lived as neighbors for perhaps twelve years and the children were all good friends.
Noah’s daughters thought that Noah hated Henry because Henry was a “Rebel.” But evidently Henry was not a Rebel, but a bushwacker hiding from the Union Army. Noah himself was probably sympathetic with the Rebel cause, having named his first-born “John Calhoun Breckenridge Newsom” in honor of John Cabel Breckenridge, who became a United States Senator from Kentucky in 1861 but was expelled for joining the Confederacy.
Matilda Baldwin-Young Bride
In the 1860 District 1, Pike County Census, Matilda Baldwin (14) was already married to Jackey Newsome (22) . They lived next door to Jackey’s parents, Frederick and Anzy Newsome and his brothers and sisters Jervy, Jackson, Mallisa, Euney, Margaret, David, Noah and Nancy. Next to them lived Jackey’s brother Robert (21) and his wife Feeny (16). A Devon (42) and Marinda Newsome (35) lived next door to Robert but I don’t know the relationship. Frederick Newsome owned his farm but young Jackey and Robert were still farm laborers.
The Memoirs of Miram Rosik…
It has been rumored that Matilda Baldwin was Indian (Cherokee) My nephew, Paul (Book’s boy) has a picture of her, and she looks pure Indian. It wasn’t long before my Grandmother, Matilda Baldwin Newsom, was married again, this time to a Rebel (much to the Newsom family’s chagrin) by the name of Henry Holt. Matilda and Henry had eight children (my father’s half-sisters and brothers). The first was Mary Holt, who was born on my father’s birthday, just two years after he (Noah) was born. The other children were Ivan, Andy (who later spent a lot of time with us in Iowa), Darkie, Silas, Perin, Reeney, and Liza. Later, Haley and Mary, who were half-sisters (Matilda’s second and fourth born) married brothers, the Littles (Rich Little and Marion Little).
Matilda and Henry lived nearby on another fork, probably called the Straight Fork. I remember visiting them one time; Andy and Mae and I went way across the hills. We took some kind of meat with us. They had a lot of apple trees and we brought apples home. It was very rough terrain where Matilda and Henry lived and their log cabin stood on just a little flat place. Haley was called “Hale.”
Footnote:
The Two Husbands of Matilda Baldwin: A Kentucky Mystery
Research by Barrett Lee Holt
(Based on family memoirs by Fern Rosik Glasgow and new census analysis)
Part 1: Friendly Fire and a Civil War Widow
My great-great-grandmother was Matilda Baldwin. She was born around 1846 and family oral history tells us she was of Cherokee descent. At the young age of 14, she married her first husband, Lackey Newsom, in April 1860 in Floyd County, KY.
The tragedy of this branch of the family occurred in March 1865. Lackey was serving in the Union Army (39th KY Infantry) and was stationed near the Mason-Dixon line. On the morning of March 1st, he went outside to wash up before breakfast and was shot and instantly killed by a soldier from his own side who mistook him for a spy. He was killed just eight days before his second son, Noah Webster Newsom, was born.
Part 2: The Mystery of Henry Holt (Rebel, Bushwhacker, or Alias?)
About a year after her first husband was killed, Matilda married my great-great-grandfather, Henry Holt, around 1866. Henry Holt remains a massive puzzle in our family tree. Family legend says Henry claimed to serve in the 5th Tennessee Cavalry, but no record exists. His grandson, Charles Little, believed Henry “wasn’t a Holt at all” but had taken the name to hide from the government, possibly to avoid prosecution for being a bushwhacker. Other memoirs suggest he might have originally been a Collins (nephew of a Jim Collins) and had “dark skin,” pointing to a potential Melungeon connection.
Part 3: A House Divided
Matilda and Henry Holt had nine children together, plus Matilda’s three previous children, totaling 12 children. They lived on Straight Fork in rough terrain.
Tension remained high between the families. Henry’s stepson, Noah Newsom, was raised by another family and later lived on the opposite side of a steep hill from Henry. While Matilda (Granny Holt) visited the Newsoms often, Henry was not allowed on the property, likely due to lingering Civil War animosity. Despite this, the families were neighbors for twelve years.
🔍 Research Notes
For fellow researchers, here is my analysis of the documents vs. the oral history.
1. The “Age” & Identity Mystery Solved
Family legend says Henry died in 1913 at age 77, placing his birth in 1836. However, census records tell a different story that explains his missing military records:
1850 Census (Hancock Co., TN): Henry is listed as 2 years old in the household of Mary Holt.
1860 Census (Claiborne Co., TN): Henry is listed as 12 years old in the household of “Hendrick Holt”.
1870 Census (Pike Co., KY): Henry is 20 years old, living with Matilda (age 23).
1900 Census (Pike Co., KY): Henry claims to be 54 (born Oct 1845).
Conclusion: Henry was likely born in 1848, making him only 13-17 years old during the Civil War. He wasn’t a veteran hiding his service; he was a teenager likely fleeing the violence in Tennessee. He progressively “aged himself up” throughout his life.
2. The Melungeon / Collins Connection
The 1850 discovery of Henry in Hancock County, TN is significant because that area (Newman’s Ridge) is the historical center of the Melungeon community. This aligns with family descriptions of his dark complexion and the rumor that he was actually a Collins.
3. Verification of Memoirs
The Fern Rosik Glasgow memoir stated a granddaughter, Rhoda Caudill, lived with Henry and Matilda. The 1900 Census confirms Rhoda Caudill (age 10) was indeed living in their household.
A deeper dive into Henry Holt will be in a separate post ………
🗣️ Questions for the Group
The Collins Link: Has anyone researching the Collins/Melungeon lines in Hancock County, TN, or Pike County, KY, ever “lost” a Henry Collins who fits this description?
Mary Holt (1850): Does anyone have information on the Mary Holt family of Hancock County, TN?
The Cemetery: Does anyone have ancestors buried in the Indian Cemetery on Bear Fork? I am trying to document who else is buried there to establish family connections.