Arthur Holt and Roxcillana Elliott (son of 5, daughter of 6)

[Jen's paternal GGGrandparents]
[Marylou Holt > William Holt > son of 5, daughter of 6]

Arthur Holt
BIRTH: 24 Apr 1882, Minot,Androscoggin,Maine
DEATH: 17 Apr 1951

Roxcillana Elliott
BIRTH:29 Apr 1892, Woodstock,, Maine
DEATH: 23 Aug 1939

Arthur Holt

Arthur Holt was born to Oliver Holt (1849-1897) and Nellie Hall (1861-1882) in 1882, farmers in Minot/Mechanic Falls.  Nellie was Oliver's second wife, who died soon after Arthur was born (perhaps in childbirth.)  Subsequently, on 29 December 1882, Oliver went back and remarried his first wife, Julia Duran (1852-1931).  Oliver would have been raised by his stepmother and her two older children, Frederick and Eva.  During the remarriage to his first wife, Oliver and Julia had four more kids.

Oliver and Julia (first marriage)
1J. Frederick Amos Holt (1872) m 1892 Emma Irene Rosamond Herrick (1872-??), 1904, lived on Spring St with 6 kids
2J. Eva Marie Holt (1874) m 1896 George Aaron Hanscom (1872-1928)

Oliver and Nellie
1N. Edwin Clarence Holt (1880-??) m1. 1901 Gertrude Emma Elwell (1878-1902) m2. 1904 Bertha Maud Larrabee (1888-??)
2N. Arthur Holt (1882-1951) m. 1906 Roxcillanna Elliott (1892-1939)

Oliver and Julia (second time)
3J. Lucy Holt (1885-1924) m 1904 Wallace Irwin Corbett (1885-1942)
4J. Grace Holt (1888-1958) m 1907 Millard Dustin Martin (1878-??)
5J. George O Holt (1890-??) m 1916 Edith Maude Strout (1888-1928)
6J. Ernest Holt (1892-1958) m 1918 Hazel W Chaplin (1894-bef1940)


Roxcillanna Elliott

Roxcillanna Elliott (1892-1939) was the daughter of Elias E Elliott (1851-1896) and Emma Melissa Parsons (1871-1925), named after her grandmother Elliott.  Her father died when she was just 4 years old, and her mother remarried to George Larrabee (1853-aft1910).  She was raised in Naples and Harrison Maine, where George rented a house and worked as a farm laborer.

Sibling Group for Roxcillana
1.Roxcillana Elliott (1892-1939) m 1906 Arthur Holt (1882-1951)
2. Charles Franklin Elliott (1895-??) m 1926 Leola M Hatch (1909-??)

Life Together

In 1906, Roxcillana was 14 years old, and Arthur was 24.  They were married in Mechanic Falls on 2 December, 1906.  Nine months later, they had a boy, William E Elliott on 6 September 1907 in Lewiston, Maine.

As of 1910, Arthur is working as a blacker at the shoe shop.  A decade later, they still have one child, William E, and Arthur is working as a dyer at the woolen mill.

 Lewiston was an industrial center in Maine.  There were many mills and children often went to work with their parents.

Child off to work, from here.

Discussion of Technology of Textile Production, by Jamie H Eves.

"In order to maximize profits, textile mills often sought to control as many steps of the manufacturing process as possible. This strategy is known as vertical integration. The American Thread Company (which purchased the Willimantic Linen Company in 1898) owned a township in northern Maine – also named Willimantic – where it harvested paper birch for spools, which it manufactured in sawmills in Milo and Lakeview, Maine. It also had its own print shop, where it printed its own labels and boxes. And it had a machine shop, where skilled machinists crafted replacement parts for the various machines."

Pressure Dyeing vats, c. 1950, from here.

When he registered for the draft at Westbrook in 1918, Arthur lived at  13 Cross Street, Bridgeton, ME.  He was still a dye room worker, and was of medium height, medium build, light blue eyes, and brown hair.

Bridgeton was a mill town, too.

from ATHM.

 They refrain from having children for about a decade, it seems, and then between 1920 and 1930 have several children all in a row.  In 1930, the Holts are living with family, the Robert L and Martha A (Spinner) Brackley family on 24 Colonial Ave, Portland, with Roxie listed as "sister"  (Still working on that one).  Arthur and his son William (now 23), work in street construction as painters (perhaps painting stripes and other markings on the roadways?)

1. William Elliott (1907-1989) m 1930 Terena Elizabeth Griffin (1915-1997)
2. Evelyn M (1924-??)  (uncertain marriage? m 1943 Forney m 1947 Brown)
3. Frederick A (1926-living) (uncertain marriage?  Sawyer('45), Smith('64), Allan('54) ??)
4. Emma (1932-living) m John A Gasper (1930-2001)
5. Dorothy ( 1933-2014) m. Charles R York (1929-1994)

Congress Street, Portland Maine, c. 1930, from here.

Roxcillana died in 1939.

In 1940, Arthur is living in Portland, a widower, taking care of his 4 younger children.  He is still working as a painter for the city.  They live in an apartment on 113 Washington Street.   William E had already married Terena Griffin (1915-1997) as of 1930, and had moved to 82 Myrtle Street, Portland.  In 1940, William was still working as a painter in the Portland Public Works department (making $1061 in 1939).

Arthur died in 1951.