A Holtzclaw Portrait
"The Geneology of the Holtzclaw Family" written by B.C. Holtzclaw p. 48-54
...It may be of some interest to form a sort of generalized Holtclaw portrait, and see how closely we ourselves resemble it, for not all Holtzclaw descendents, of course, have "Holtzclaw" traits...I have always been told that I was very much like my grandfather, H. M. Holtclaw, and he certainly resembled his own father, being blond, blue-eyed, tow-headed, with a tendency to a prominent nose, and inclined to baldness....
The typical Holtzclaw is inclined to be rather careful of life and health, to be cautious in what he does, and to admire prudence rather than heroic rashness, which is is likely to call foolhardiness. He loves food and drink, and is apt to take a little nip of something stronger now and then. Although a few of the tribe have quaffed the rosy too deeply, the typical Holtzclaw is likely to be quite temperate and to have somewhat of a contempt for drunkenness. He is apt, too, to have a rather high standard morally in questions of sex.
In money matters, he is rather economical, sometimes thrifty, and tends toward an exaggerated honesty. He has little inclination to speculation and gambling, is not usually a moneymaker, but likes to hold onto his property. However, his love of property is likely to be considereably tempered by a love of ease and the ability to be content with little...Usually Holtzclaws are not clever with their hands, nor mechanically inclined. It is easy to see we are descended from the schoolmaster, and not one of the master mechanics of the Germanna Colony. Holtzclaws love ease, but they do not usually have very intense desires for luxuries, and on the whole tend to like a simple life, and agree with the ancient Cynics that it is better to have the desserts of a few, than to satisfy the wantings of a great many.
The typical Holtzclaw likes security, but above everything he is passionately fond of person independence. My grandfather once mremarked that no Holtzclaw would ever be rich, because of his extreme love of independence which would prevent him from cooperating well with others. Wthere this be true or not, ti is certain that this is the form that self-assertiveness has taken in our branch of the family. The Holtclaws are not pugnacious, but they love, perhaps too much, the feeling of personal freedom, which causes them at times to be imploitic and show disregard for the feelings and opinions of others. This lack of respect for public opinion is coupled with a most emphatic antipathy to all forms of ostentation and braggadocio. so intense is this hatred of all forms of display that the typical Holtclaw thend not only to be unduly critical of the littlevanitites of others, but also, in his desire to avoid it, to make himself out a less worthy fellow than he is. There is thus in him a little Socratic irony, which while minimizing his own value, takes a slightly malicious delight in pricking the bubles of other people's vanity, and more than that, secretrly laughts at other people for accepting him at his own low valuation. This, in itself, is a form of vanity, and the author does not approve of it, though he has to confess that he finds this trait now and then cropping up in himself.
Holtzlcaws have a extreme respect for other people's right, but they are usually slow to forgive when an injury has been done them--another trait not particularly admirable. However, they generally take out their grudge in simply remembing and do not usually like to take the trouble actively to require an ill turn, a trait which I suppose is just as well, if we are the bear grudges at all. Holtzclaws do not do much evil to their fellow man, but they remember it, when done to themselves or others. They are secretly a somewhat shy and reserved folk, and tend to be a little suspicious of other people. They are not, however, a really unfriendly not, and their independence and scorn of public opinion is a sort of topsy-turvy bluster to hide their shyness. When some person is tripped up by his own misdeeds, they are apt to appear somewhat unsympahtethic, and to say, "Good! He got what was coming to him." On the other hand, when genuine trouble comes to their notice, they can be most sympathetic, charitable, and loyal. Though not usually a "hail fellow, well met" --he could screcely be with the above traits -- the typical Holtzclaw is sometimes very good company, for he has a deep fund of genuine fun in him and is at time quite witty. In fact, with all his shyness, he is really rather a jolly person at heart. People in Chattanooga still tell of the witty things that my great-uncle Jess A Holtzclaw, did and said, and I have heard that this is also a characteristic of other branches of the family.
The typical Holtzclaw usually has very strong opinions on various subjects, is somewhat obstinate, and enjoys a good argument, in which sometimes there is more heat than light. He is not tremendously ambitious, and is apt not to devote himself very seriously to the task of building a reputation. He is a great lover of his family, and is usually devoted and faithful in family life, is fond of his home and fond of staying in it, and is a little to dotingly fond of his children. He is not a great joiner of clubs and other organizations, but is a great believer in education. He usually has a deep feeling of patriotism, and in time of stress is likely to be 100%-or even 200%-American. This does not prevent him, however, from the feeling that the voice of the poeple is usually wrong and from taking the unpopular side of public issues.
The Holtzclaws pride themselves on being well-read and well-informed, but are not particularly artistic. I wish I could say that they have inherited the piety of our common ancestor; and of course, many of them have. My great-grandfather, John G. Holtzclaw, was the subject of a profound religious experience, in which I have heard my father say, he was as it were a great light around him, somewhat like a conversion of the apostle Paul. He was a Decon in the Baptist Church all his life, as many other Holtzclaws have been throrough-going christians. However, I do not think that deep piety is characteristic of the typical Holtzclaw, who is likely to be somewhat critical of the church and not a very good church man. On the other hand, though is never a reformer, the teypical Holtzclaw tends to be somewhat a moral enthusisast and to have a deep attachment for certain abstract moral and social principles. On the whole the typical Holtzclaw is intelligent. He usually has both "book sense" and "common sense." He is not generally blessed with the great practical shewdness nor inventive skill, however, and his intelligence tends toward the orderly, logical type rather than the brilliantly inventive.
Please accept the above sketch of the...typical Holzclaw for what it is worth...It may be of interest to decendants to hear what one thinks such a creature would be, and to see how many of the above traits are exemplified in themselves or their immediate kin...for we all have other strains of inheritance in us.
© copyright 2004 -- Last revised on 4 August, 2004
