James Thomas Holt
Honey Grove, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Aug. 21, 1841 - Sept. 4, 1919) A native Virginian, James Thomas ("Tank") Holt came to Fannin County with his parents in 1849. After serving in the Confederate cavalry during the Civil War (1861-65), he started a freighting operation. He invested his profits in such ventures as ranching, the Honey Grove Cotton Oil Mill, and Planters National Bank. He built Honey Grove's first public water system and owned a store and hotel in Mineral Wells. Married to Margaret Elizabeth Self (1843-1928), he had four children.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Thomas "Tank" Holt came to Fannin County as a boy in 1849 and, after riding with the Confederate cavalry in the Civil War, turned a freighting business into a diversified fortune. He invested in ranching, a cotton oil mill, and a national bank, and even built Honey Grove's first public water system. His career traces the arc of a frontier veteran becoming a pillar of a growing Gilded Age Texas town.
Why it matters
Holt's rise embodies how Civil War veterans rebuilt Southern communities through enterprise and infrastructure in the decades after the war.
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Related people
- · James Thomas Holt
- · Margaret Elizabeth Self
Themes & tags
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