Gallery — The Hollands of Oysterrocks

Documents & Records

The primary sources behind the family history — wills, freedom papers, census pages, and school and land records, gathered over years of research.

Handwritten legal document from the 1820s

A handwritten record from the freedom era

One of the handwritten legal documents the family has preserved from the 1820s, part of the paper trail around Cyrus Holland's freedom.

1860 federal census schedule

A page from the census of free inhabitants of Sussex County, Delaware, with Holland family entries highlighted.

Survey map of the Holland Estate

A hand-drawn survey from the Delaware State Archives showing the "Holland Estate" alongside neighboring properties near Beaver Dam Gut.

Kent County Public Schools report

A monthly and annual report card for Jeremiah Holland, 8th grade, signed by his parent or guardian, Mary A. Holland.

Old scrapbook page with a United States Medicine Co. ledger clipping

Family scrapbook page

A weathered ledger clipping from the "United States Medicine Co.," preserved in the family scrapbook alongside other keepsakes.

Key People and Places

A family summary and hand-marked map of seven sites in Lewes tied to the Holland story — see the full breakdown on the Family Tree page.

Portraits & Family

Faces from the family archive, and the written history itself.

"The Holland Family History"

The title page of Wendell Holland's written account of the family's history.

Dedication page

Dedicated to "all those Hollands who have amassed the taste of time over the last 200 years," and to the author's father — "Ole Black."

Sepia portrait of a Holland family elder

A family elder

A sepia-toned portrait from the Holland family photo archive.

Bernice Holland Moore

An antique portrait, hand-labeled with her name — possibly Bernice Holland, born 1945, daughter of Jeremiah William Holland (see the Family Tree page). One of many photographs the family has carefully preserved and identified.

Gatherings & Historic Sites

Moments from Holland family reunions and history tours around Lewes and Sussex County.

Family group photo on a dirt road by the marsh

Family gathering, roadside

The extended family gathered along the marsh during a Holland family history tour.

Family group at a white church with a steeple

Visiting a family church

The family gathered outside a historic church steeple as part of the history tour.

Lewes Historical Society exhibit

"Lewes' History Through the Lens of One African American Family" — an exhibit banner featuring the extended family chart for Louis Edward Riley Jr., great-great-grandson of Cyrus Holland (see the Family Tree page).

Family group listening to a talk near trees

A history talk on the land

Family members gathered to hear the history of a site visited during the Next Gen Holland Family history tour.

Two weathered Holland family gravestones

Family cemetery

Weathered headstones marking Holland family graves, tucked among the trees.

Group walking past Shipcarpenter Square street sign in Lewes

Touring historic Lewes

The family walking through Lewes' historic district, past Shipcarpenter Square, during a history tour stop.

Land & Waters

The land at Oysterrocks and the waters of the Broadkill River and Delaware Bay that shaped the family's story.

Sunset over the marsh

The Delaware wetlands the Holland family has worked and called home for generations.

The gate at Oysterrocks

The entrance to the family's Oysterrocks farmland — the property that gave the road, and the family's oyster-trade history, its name.

Wetlands at Oysterrocks

Open wetlands near the Broadkill River, the kind of ground the family's watermen once worked for oysters, clams, and fish.