William Johnson Holt

     William Johnson Holt was born circa 1764; info taken from age given at time of death. He was the son of Moses Holt and Desire Hall. William Johnson Holt married Ruah Stevens. William Johnson Holt married Elizabeth Cuyler on 13 July 1818 at Trinity Church, Newark, Essex Co, New Jersey; They were married by Lewis P. Bayard. In 1830, when he testified he had married them for Elizabeth's pension application, he was the rector at St Michael's Church in Genesee, ivingston Co, New York.¹ William Johnson Holt died on 19 November 1826 at Christ Church (Anglican), Montreal, Montreal Co, Quebec.¹
     William Johnson Holt was an ensign with Ferguson's Rangers, which formed part of Burgoyne's army at the time he surrendered. Land records show for a time following the War, he settled in Arlington like his father. He appears in notarial records in the St Armand area in the early 1800's. W.J. Holt held a very lucrative office of Inspector of Pot and Pearl Ashes in Montreal, where he accumulated considerable property. He received half-pay for nearly 50 years. On 15 Mar 1792, William S. Holt, a half-pay Ensign, resident of William Henry, petitioned for 800 acres of land for his wife and five children on Lake Memphramagog. The proposed distribution on 30 Aug 1802 was written as: William Johnson Holt, Ruah, Charlotte, Maria, William Henry, Charles Adolphus, George Johnson, John Steven, Edward Edwin, and William Agnew; Esther Powell, late the widow Holt, Guy Soloman Holt and George Garth Holt, totally 2,150 acres of land.