Mary (Rue) Holman (1747-1820), daughter of Samuel Rue and Aaltje Van Sandt, first
marriage in 1763 was to John Burgin. John died in 1767. Mary's second marriage in 1770 was
to her cousin, Edward Holman III (1741-1819). Edward was a weaver at the time, a common
profession of men during the colonial period since the weaving apparatus was so heavy to carry
around. Edward was born in Kent County, Maryland in 1741. With Edward, Mary had six
children, Rachel (1774-1852), Elizabeth ((1775-1832), Edward (1777-1839), Mary Holman
(1780-1818), Nancy (1785-1822), and Cornelius (1789-1862). Upon the death of Mary Rue's
father, Samuel, Edward and Mary Rue became legal guardians of Samuel's young son, Richard.
The Holman families of Edward and his brother Henry, along with Edward's adopted
brother-in-law, Richard, moved to Kentucky in the year 1776. Early in the spring of that year
they descended down the Ohio River and settled briefly at the mouth of the Kentucky River, a
territory located in an area of savage wilderness. Edward volunteered for General George
Rodgers Clark's Campaign against the Fort of Vincennes in February 1779. Prior to that,
Edward defended the Fort of Harrodsburg, Kentucky against an Indian siege in 1777 under the
command of General Clark. On November 17, 1779 Edward received a settlement from a war
grant of 400 acres of land which was located in Woodford County, Kentucky. Edward and Mary
Rue stayed there the remainder of their life. Edward died in 1819 at the age of 78 and Mary Rue
died in 1820 at the age of 73.
Richard's life underwent many harrowing experiences. He was captured by the Indians,
survived the tortures of running through two gauntlets, traded to the British to serve as a slave,
and finally after three and a half years of captivity, was released through the efforts of General
George Rodgers Clark.
Issues over land and slaves colored the Rue's and Holman's lives in Kentucky. By the
1780's there were more than 70,000 settlers in Kentucky, all jostling for land. Edward and his
brothers Henry and George, along with Richard Rue and other settlers of Boonesboro petitioned
the Virginia government to resolve their complaints, being that they suffered for obtaining the
land during the Indian Wars. They also felt cheated that new settlers put them at competing
disadvantage by using slaves versus their free labor.