Welcome to the website of the Descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, Senior Society (DVHSS). Valentine and his family came to America in December 1682 as part of William Penn's Quakers. They arrived in New Castle, part of the Pennsylvania colony (in today's Delaware) and were soon thereafter granted a nearly 1,000 acre plot of land in what is today Wilmington, DE. There Valentine and his family put down roots, and over the coming centuries his descendants have spread out all over America.
DVHSS was formed in 1993 for historical, educational, preservational, and genealogical research purposes, which would assist the descendants and other researchers with factual records of their lines with their geographical progression. Since that date the Society membership has expanded as the Society has engaged in the following activities:
- Publication of an extensive quarterly journal
- Preservation of family historical information and artifacts
- Support for Hollingsworth historical sites
- Research and documentation of family genealogy
- Maintains a family tree database with over 59K direct descendants of Valentine
- Member assistance with genealogy research
- DNA Testing
- Documentation of Family Military Service History
- Annual Society reunions
The Society publishes a quarterly journal, Hollingsworth Heritage, that presents informative articles on all of the Society's varied activities, along with news updates, quarterly columns from the Society President, Genealogist and Newsletter Editor, as well as articles covering family history and genealogy.
The annual reunions are multi-day events held at different locations across the country with historical Hollingsworth significance. The reunions are an excellent opportunity to get to know your Hollingsworth cousins and to explore your Hollingsworth lineage from other Society members from your family line.
Membership in the Society is open to all descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, related Hollingsworth family lines, and anyone interested in Hollingsworth family history and genealogy. Society membership is drawn from all across the the United States and Canada, reflecting the journeys of our Hollingsworth ancestors as they spread out across North America from the original colonies.
This website has areas that are fully open to the public and sections that are only open to Society members. Access to current and prior issues of the Hollingsworth Heritage, genealogy databases, DNA Testing Results, Forum, Media Gallery, and the Military History database are only available to Society members