Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

by Glenn N. Holliman

More on Loudelle Holliman Ferrell, (1914 - 1998)
the Fourth Child of Ulyss and Pearl Holliman

In this 1929 photo below, young and lovely Loudelle, embraces her 68 year old maternal grandmother, Lula Caine. Grandma Caine, as she was known to most of us, was born in 1861 and died in 1957. Her father, Manassas Hocutt, succumbed in 1863 of injuries from the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and is buried in an unmarked grave. At the same battle, and escaping uninjured, was Loudelle's paternal grandfather, John Thomas Holliman. (Note, earlier in a post, I had mislabeled this photograph as Vena Holliman Daly; Bishop Holliman corrected the error for me.)

Below, Loudelle, age 17, strikes a coquetish pose in the winter of 1931.  I don't know who the little boy is in the right corner nor the location of the photo.  Notice Loudelle's moderate heels and white socks.  Her son, Charles Halford Ferrell, told me in November 2010 when I scanned this picture that his mother, Loudelle, had once been Miss Birmingham!  I am still startled that Pearl or Ulyss Holliman, conservative, evangelical Christians, allowed such!  Perhaps the event is not so amazing at it seems.  My father, Bishop Holliman, remembers the contest as more of Methodist event, sort of young person of the year celebration in Birmingham.  I like Charles Halford's story better!

What Loudelle did not know in 1931 was that in a few years, she would meet a young Methodist minister, The Rev. Charles Ferrell.  Below in 1928 Charles, right in the tie and apron, worked in an A & P grocery store, probably helping to pay his way through Birmingham-Southern College.  Notice the type of store.  The super markets in which Charles's brother-in-law, Euhal Holliman, would make his career had not yet developed in America.  The pot bellied stove provided heat in the winter.  It must have been stifling hot in Alabama summers.

More later on this amazing couple....

Note: The information and opinions expressed in these family biographies are those of the writer alone. Comments, corrections and additions are most welcome. The purpose of these articles is to capture a period and family in American history and to pass this legacy along to future generations who share the common bond of family.