John Fred HOLDER Family
submitted by
Stan Collum

My Holder family came to the United States in about 1880 from Germany. John Fred Holder was born February 2, 1859 near Stuttgart, Germany and his wife Wilhelmina Bauer Holder was born February 20, 1856. They were married in Kircheim, Germany prior to coming to the United States. They first made their home in Missouri, probably near Westin, Platte County. Their first child was Carrie Holder. She was born in 1881 in Missouri. Other children born in Missouri was Fred in 1882, John in 1886 (my Grandfather), Katie in 1888, Leta in 1891, George 1892 and Nellie in 1894. David was born in Oklahoma in 1896, Cora was born in 1899 in Oklahoma and Esther in 1902 in Oklahoma. The family lived in the Altona township in the far South west part of the County.

My Grandfather, as a young boy, only spoke German in the home. He attended school through the fourth grade, but this was probably in Missouri. There are family stories about the Holder children going to the river and trading blankets for turtles with the Indians. I'm not sure who had the blankets or who had the turtles! Family lore is that the father, John Fred Holder was very mean to his children. My Grandfather left home at the age of 14 in about 1900. He either remained in, or returned to Kingfisher however. He married Myrtle Ivy Smith in Kingfisher February 12, 1908. His older brother Fred Holder had married Myrtle Ivy Smith's older sister Margaret Lee Smith in Kingfisher in about 1902. Fred Holder and Margaret Lee Smith may have had several children born in Kingfisher. Robert Henry Holder in 1903, Katie Holder in 1905, Lola Holder in 1908 and Helen Holder in 1909. John Thomas Holder and Myrtle Ivy Smith Holder had a baby named Leta McElvain Holder born in August 1909.

The two Holder boys who married Smith sisters moved in 1909 to Roy, Harding County, New Mexico with their Smith wives and the Smith family. They lived in New Mexico until about 1920 then moved to Texas, around Abilene. Fred Holder's family ended up in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. John Thomas Holder's family lived in and near Abilene, then to Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma.

The Holder's who remained in Kingfisher stayed until about 1920. Then they moved to California. John Fred Holder died in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California in 1948. Wilhelmina died in Santa Clara California in 1950.

It is likely that most of the Holder children married in Kingfisher. Carrie, born in 1881 would have been 15 when the family moved to Kingfisher. She married a Rudolph Wilson, probably in Kingfisher. No other information about Carrie or Rudolph is known. Katie Holder married Pete Weber (Webber) in Kingfisher in 1910. No other family information is known. Leta Holder married a J. E. Hudson probably in Kingfisher. She died in Fresno, California in 1950. George married a Myrtle ? and he died in Santa Cruz
California in 1972. Nellie Holder married Arthur Frazier, probably in Kingfisher. Nellie died in Shreveport in 1986. David Holder married Clara ?, probably in Kingfisher. He died in a plane crash in about 1955. Cora Holder married L..J. Jones probably in Kingfisher. She died in Shreveport in 1994. Esther married Clint Nelson. Possibly in Kingfisher. She died in Shreveport in 1992.

Back

This page was last updated on March 22, 2004.