Warren County became in the antebellum era one of the richest counties in the state. The completion of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad through Warren County in 1840 and the expansion of the slavery-based tobacco-growing plantation economy generated new wealth in the region, and planters and merchants created a market for larger houses and public buildings than the previous generations had built. Although these artisans’ reasons for moving to Warrenton are not documented, probably they recognized Warrenton and Warren County as a promising area for builders. Rice ( Woodson and Rice) Holt and Rice had been associated in Virginia. Other Prince Edward County artisans also moved to Warrenton about this time, including the bricklayers Francis Woodson and Edward T.
In the early 1840s, and definitely by 1845, Jacob Holt moved with his family to Warrenton, North Carolina, where he established a workshop and contracting business. No Prince Edward County buildings have been firmly documented as his work one plantation house, Rotherwood, is similar to his later work and has some documentary evidence to support a possible Holt connection. He also began to acquire property and to employ slaves, and in 1840 was recorded in the census with the second largest non-agricultural work force in the county, with 19 young white men and 29 male slaves listed for him in Prince Edward County. Jacob Holt later named one of his sons William Howard Kenneth Holt, suggesting a connection.ĭuring his twenties, Jacob Holt established himself as a solid citizen in the community, joining the Baptist church in 1837, marrying Aurelia Ann Phillips (1822-1895), a fellow Baptist, in 1838, and starting their large family. Howard, a leading builder in Prince Edward County who was sometimes associated with the noted brick builder Dabney Cosby, who also lived for a time in the county. The Holt boys’ training in building has not been documented, but they may have been apprenticed to carpenter William A. Their father, David, died within three years, leaving only a collection of carpenter’s tools. 1814-1890), and their two older sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, were placed in the guardianship of their uncle, John McGehee.
After his mother’s death in 1822, young Jacob, his brother Thomas J. Both sides of the family had lived in Virginia for many years, and were established Baptists. He was named for his grandfather, Jacob McGehee. Holt was the oldest son of Elizabeth McGehee Holt and David Holt, a carpenter. I have concluded to put the bill at $1150, you will please let me know whether wish to have the bill changed to less work & plane.”īorn in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Jacob W. Baskerville of Virginia), accompanying an estimate for a project: “The bill is made to have the work done in a manner & style that will suit you, but can be done for less money if done in a plainer manner. He summed up his approach in a letter of June 29, 1860, to a client (W. Throughout his long career, Holt displayed a flexible and pragmatic approach to building, planning and constructing buildings to suit the tastes and budgets of his clients as well as the capacities of his large workshop. Holt, An American Builder,” for a fuller account). Local memoirs and family traditions depict his career and the operation of his shop in unusual detail (see Bishir, “ Jacob W. In addition to the more than twenty buildings documented as his work, stylistic evidence and family traditions also attribute as many as seventy more to Holt and his shop. Drawing upon popular architectural books, he developed a distinctive style that encompassed Greek Revival and Italianate features adapted to local preferences and the capabilities of his workshop.
His work covered several counties in North Carolina and Virginia. Holt (March 30, 1811-September 21, 1880) was a Virginia-born carpenter, builder, and contractor who moved to Warrenton, North Carolina, and established one of the state’s largest antebellum building firms.
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