Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841-1935)

Hon. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841 -- 1935), Justice of U.S. Supreme Court father: Oliver Wendell Holmes MD (1809 -- 1894), physician, writer father: Rev. Abiel Holmes (1763 -- 1837), Pastor brother: Liberty Holmes (1776 -- ) wife: Susannah Quarterman (1784 -- 1805) brother: Rev. Robert Quarterman (1787 -- 1849), Pastor son: Edward William Quarterman (1808 -- 1863) son: Thomas Shepard Quarterman (1848 -- 1926) son: David Sinclair Quarterman (1875 -- 1960) son: David Sinclair Quarterman Jr. son: John Sinclair Quarterman

As you can see there is no known direct blood relation. However, the Holmes family was of the same general group of Puritans in Mass. as the Ways and others of the Midway group.

Justice Holmes' grandfather Rev. Abiel Holmes was pastor of Midway Congregational Church from 1785 to 1791; then he was pastor in Cambridge, Mass., for 40 years. That latter period, 1791-1831, overlapped with the period, 1823-1849, that Rev. Robert Quarterman was pastor at Midway. Hm, that leads to an interesting question. I wonder if the Cambridge church preserved any correspondence between them?

The Holmes family, which mostly resided in Woodstock Connecticut, is also part of the Connecticut connection. As late as the Justice's father's generation there was active communication between the Midway people and some descendants of the other branch of the Dorchester Mass. church that had moved to Windsor, Conn.

In the book is a newspaper writeup that David Leon found of the wreck of the schooner Sally that was going from Newport, Georgia to New York City. Among those who died that day, 13 April 1801, were Lathrop Holmes, brother of Abiel and Liberty.
—jsq