Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part XI
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

From the web, a site entitled Storm Lifecycle - SOURCE: Wikipedia, 1936 Atlantic hurricane 

"A tropical storm was first observed over the southern Bahamas on July 27. It tracked to the west-northwest, and made landfall a short distance south of Everglades City, Florida with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). After crossing the state, it intensified over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and became a hurricane on July 30. The hurricane continued to strengthen, and hit the western Florida Panhandle with peak winds of 90 mph (145 km/h) on July 31. It weakened rapidly over land, and dissipated over western Alabama on August 1." 

The story written by H. Bishop Holliman continues with the Robert Daly, Sr. and Ulyss and Melton Holliman cars carrying a frantic family, now terribly worried by a growing storm of water and wind and a 90 mile an hour hurricane as described in history above. - GNH

"Mama (Pearl Holliman, 1887 - 1955)), Daddy (Ulyss Holliman, 1884 - 1965)), Ralph (Holliman, 1924), Hoyt (Hughes, Ida Hughes Holliman's brother) and Vivian (Hoyt's wife) were in Daddy's car, a 1933 four door Chevrolet with Hoyt driving and leading the way.  Right behind them drove Melton (1908 - 1958) with Ida (1910 - 1991) and Earl, and then came Robert (Daly, 1903 - 1959), Vena (Holliman Daly, 1910 - 1990), Mary (Daly Herrin, 1931), Virginia (Holliman Cornelius, 1922 - 2011) and me (Bishop Holliman, 1919), going we knew not where!

Just a few miles down the beach highway, Daddy's car came to a complete stop!  I guess all the excitement had caused it to flood out, as we say.  Any way, it would not go any father.  What do do on a dark and stormy night, marooned on the side of the gulf, trying to reach higher, safer and dryer ground?

We did the only we could do.  All those in Daddy's car piled into Robert's car with our party.  That meant six adults, two teen-agers and a five year old.  And off we went, leaving Daddy's car by itself, there next to the Gulf, at the mercy of the wind, the rain and ocean waves.

Left, Mary Daly Herrin, five years old in 1936, attempts to shield herself from either the sun or rain in Panama City, Florida.


I don't know how it was decided where we would go and when we would stop, or who decided when.  At last, through, we reached DeFuniak Springs, which was inland and northwest of Panama City. Maybe the wind had died down and we felt we had reached a safe haven.




Both cars parked by an all-night honky-tonk, and they let us use the rest room and park up against the building.  It must have been close to midnight by this time, and there seemed to be no let-up in the wind and rain.  I guess some of us dozed a little, but I am not sure.  It seemed the honky-tonk had a lot of customers and men came and went throughout the night, the weather be-damned.  I was only 16 but I have often wondered just what kind of place that was."
Above, a 2011 Florida road map showing in yellow Panama City and to the north, in yellow, Defuniak, Florida.  The Hollimans drove from Panama City to Defuniak to ride out the storm.  Unfortunately, they were driving north on the same path as the hurricane.  If forecasts had been better in those days, they would have driven east to escape the brunt of the blast.

Next Riding Out the Storm....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part X
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

Off the Beach!


We resume our story told by Bishop Holliman as the Daly-Hollimans huddled, crowded, in their automobiles attempting to ride out the gathering storm of 1936 in Panama City, Florida.

In the photograph taken on another date, Robert W. Daly, Sr., leader of the Daly-Holliman vacations to Florida in the 1930s, walks the beach with his only daughter, Mary Daly Herrin.  They look smartly dressed for beach-combing!

"Immediately, there was a tap on the car window and a man in uniform told us to leave the beach area at once, to drive inland, that the hurricane was ready to strike in full force, that we had to leave now!  He spoke with great authority so we did not meander.  Robert turned the car around and we headed out, lining up behind Daddy's car (Ulyss Holliman) and Melton's (Holliman), and away we all went!!  


We headed inland as the man told us to do.


Ida Holliman, Melton Holliman's wife, perches on the Chevrolet coupe that drove part of the family off the beach in 1936.


Mama (Pearl Caine Holliman), Daddy, Ralph (Holliman, the younger brother), and Hoyt and Vivian Bryant were in Daddy's car, a 1933 four door Chevrolet with Holyt driving and leading the way.  Right behind them drove Melton in a Chevrolet coupe, with Ida and Earl, and then came Robert, Vena (Holliman Daly), Mary, Virginia (Holliman Cornelius)  and me, going we knew not where!


Just a few miles down the beach high way Daddy's car came to a complete stop!  I guess all the excitement had caused it to flood out, as we say.  Any way, it would not go any farther.  What to do on a dark and stormy night, marooned on the side of the Gulf, trying to reach higher, safer and dryer ground?  We did the only thing we could do.  All those in Daddy's car piled into Robert's car with our party.  That meant six adults, two teen-agers and a five year old.  And off we went, leaving Daddy's car by itself, there next to the Gulf, at the mercy of the wind, the rain and ocean waves."

The 1933 Chevrolet of Ulyss Holliman stalled in the storm. Below is an advertisement for a two door version.  Note the price and that the models are formally dressed, somewhat as were Robert and Mary Daly in the above photograph!

Next the road house of the refugees!

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part IX
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

The Hurricane Approaches...

"Our place at Panama City was on the same street, a few cabins up from where all the others were staying.  The highway ran between our place and the beach, a very convenient location.  One day all of us were deep-sea fishing and some of us got sick.  I don't remember catching many fish, but what I do remember is the hurricane that came up a few days later.  It was a defining moment of our 1936 trip to Florida and an event we would remember and talk about the rest of our lives.

Young Bishop Holliman on vacation in Florida, wearing a white tie?

Before the hurricane came ashore, Bishop and other families members fished along the Panama City inlets.  

We read in the paper that a strong storm was approaching the Gulf Coast that summer of 1936, but we did not pay much attention to the warning.  Remember, we did not have ready access to a radio so the paper was all we had to rely on.  The morning of the storm dawned cloudy and very windy.  We were not able to stay on the beach due to the stinging sand of Panama City that was whipped up by the raging wind.  It went on like that all day, so we sat and waited for nightfall, hoping things would be better tomorrow.

The Holliman Clan and Company remained in their cabin a few doors closer to the beach and across the street from us  About 8 o'clock that night we thought we felt the house shake, so Robert Daly, Sr. herded us out to this car, and we sat, thinking the wind would let up soon.  I don't know why we felt the car would be a safer place than the house.  But about 9 o'clock we noticed a big stir in the house down the street and we wondered what was going on.  We soon found out."


Next the escape from the beach!

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Passing of Virginia Holliman Cornelius, 1922 – 2011

by Glenn N. Holliman, a nephew

On November 3, 2011, after a long decline, my Aunt Virginia left this life in  Austin, Texas.  In the blog last summer (see older articles section), with the help of her daughters, Carol and Susan, we were able to share part of her story with the larger family.  Her daughters had written and published a thoughtful biography of her on her 80^th birthday in 2002, which they kindly let me reproduce.

Since the spring of 2011 with the writings of my father, Bishop Holliman, numerous cousins and family memorabilia and photographs, I have been preparing and posting articles on a generation of a Southern family that was deeply affected by the Great Depression and World War II.  


Recently, I was able to visit and spend time with my surviving uncle, Ralph Holliman, now of Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Later  in this space, I will be sharing some of his story with his great nieces and nephews who have been born long after World War II and who will experience most of their lives in the 21^st Century.

                                           Virginia Holliman Cornelius, above, in 1964.

With the death of Virginia, my last aunt has passed away on my Father’s side of the family.  Three girls were born to Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman, each unique and beautiful in different ways.  Vena Holliman Daly Buckheit (1910 - 1990) married in 1928 to Robert Daly, Sr., a banker and fabulous mentor to Bishop, Virginia and Ralph Holliman during their growing up in Irondale, Alabama.  Vena was full of grace and poise, dignified and soft spoken and a lovely Southern lady who brought charm and calm to the family.

Above left Vena Holliman Daly Bucheit (1910 – 1990), Bishop Holliman (1919) and Loudelle Ferrell (1914 – 1996) at the 1970 Irondale, Alabama reunion.

Loudelle Holliman Ferrell (1914 – 1996), quiet, graceful, dignified, thoughtful, she married an up and coming Methodist minister, Charles H. Ferrell, in 1935.  A graduate of Birmingham-Southern and Yale Divinity School, this well-educated man served as another strong role model for the three youngest Holliman children of that generation.  By 1935, the two older brothers, Melton (1908 – 1958) and Euhal Holliman (1912 – 1989), had already married and left the parental home.

              Above center is Virginia and to the left is her future husband, Walter Cornelius behind the type writer at Shades Cahaba High School.  Third from the right may be Ralph Holliman, Virginia's younger brother.


At Shades Cahaba High School, Class of 1941, Virginia seems to have won every award and held every office possible.  When one reviews The Owl, the school yearbook, she leaps out of many pages, sitting center in almost all the group photos, obviously the leader, the poised, already accomplished person readying to come of age in a world still dominated by the male gender. 

In early winter of 1942, Virginia and Walter married at the home of Robert and Vena Daly in Irondale, Alabama.  War interrupted that marriage, with Walter in 1943 entering the Army Air Corp and after training in the U.S., was stationed in Saipan.  He was there as a ground crew person when the B-29 aircraft took off from nearby Tinian Island and dropped the atomic bombs that effectively ended the Pacific War.

Virginia and Walter at one of his training stations in the United States before assignment to the Pacific.

During the War, Virginia took ‘temporary’ employment at her brother-in-law Robert Daly’s bank in Woodlawn, Alabama and remained in banking while giving birth in 1945 to Nancy Carol Cornelius Morton and in 1951 to Susan Cornelius Williams.  


After the War using the G.I. Bill, Walter became an accomplished lawyer. Walter also was a talented guitar player and often led his own band. The couple would raise their daughters to maturity, before the war time marriage ended in divorce in the early 1970s. Walter died in 2006.

A rare, heavy snow in Birmingham in 1964 with Virginia, Walter and Carol Cornelius.

For Virginia, the employment opportunity of banking during World War II became a career, a pioneering enterprise for a woman of her generation.  She broke many ‘glass ceilings’ in a male-dominated profession, and served as a role model for the females in her extended family and no doubt, a mentor for many in financial services.  For this she was recognized in publications and by her peers. 

           Three lovely ladies, above, Carol, Susan and their mother, Virginia on a 1990s cruise. 

On November 20, 2011, members of her family gathered in Dallas, Texas to honor Virginia’s life and accomplishments.  In spite of her tremendous career, I suspect she would say that her greatest accomplishments were the daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren that gathered with other family members to celebrate a life well-lived.

For the record, I insert the Birmingham News obituary published November 7 and 8, 2011.

CORNELIUS, VIRGINIA H. Virginia H. Cornelius, of Birmingham, AL, passed from this life and into the presence of her Lord and Savior on 11/3/2011 at the age of 89. She was born in Irondale, AL, on 2/28/1922. Virginia graduated from Shades Cahaba High School and attended Samford University and LSU. She retired as Sr. VP of AmSouth Bank (now Regions Bank) and was the first woman to hold this position. Virginia is still remembered as the "First Lady of AmSouth". Her civic activities included: President Homewood Chamber of Commerce and Secretary for the Board of Trustees at Samford University. Virginia was published in the book, "You Too Can Be an Executive". Boo Boo, as her grandchildren called her, loved life and until she went into that "long goodbye of Alzheimer's", spent time with her family and friends, traveling, visiting, and babysitting her grandchildren. Virginia was preceded in death by her grandson, Eric Blomstran and five brothers and sisters. She will be remembered as a wonderful Christian woman who never hid her light and always strived to be the best in everything that she undertook. Virginia was and will continue to be a tremendous inspiration to all of us who had the wonderful privilege of knowing and loving her. She is survived her daughters, Carol C. Morton of San Antonio, TX, and Susan Williams of Cedar Park, TX, two brothers, 6 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Virginia resided in San Antonio, TX, at the time of her death. The memorial service for her will be conducted at: Fellowship Bible Church, 9330 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, TX, at 4:00 p.m., November 20, 2011. RSVP to: (512) 626-3559. In lieu of flowers, a tax deductible donation in memory of Virginia Cornelius may be made to one of the following: Barabbas Ministries, P.O. Box 461531, San Antonio, TX 78246-1531 or Fellowship Bible Church, 9330 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, TX 75231.

As one of nineteen first cousins of the seven children of Ulyss and Pearl Holliman, I marvel at the lives of my aunts and uncles.  They were for our times “The Greatest Generation”.  GNH

Comments, opinions and content are by the writer solely who welcomes critique and feedback from family members. 

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part VIII
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

The Summer of 1936 and the Great Storm....

Above along a pier in Clearwater, Florida, 1936, left to right, Virginia Holliman Cornelius, Mary Daly Herrin, Vena Holliman Daly and Bishop Holliman.


"I don't recall now how our 1936 trip came about.  Stewart  Button had taken a church in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier in the year, but Virginia and I were still available.  Ralph, I guess, was still considered too young to go.  I would enter my last year of high school that fall, so this would be my last hurrah.  That year we went further south, all the way to Clearwater, Florida and points in between.  Robert had now acquired a new 1936 black two-door Plymouth, so now we would be travelling in style.

Below a restored 1936 four door Plymouth touring car.


In Clearwater, we did not find the beach as white and sandy as those at Fort Walton and Panama City, so that took some of the shine off our stay there.  Instead of a 'tourist cabin', we found a fully furnished home used mainly in the winter by a wealthy owner, so that made our stay more enjoyable.  It was a few blocks from the beach and backed up to the bay.  I have no idea what the rent was, but I am sure more than we had paid at Fort Walton.  One day we drove down to Sarasota and over to St. Petersburg, and another time Robert rented a small boat and he and I went out into the bay to fish and got caught in a squall that came up quickly.  We had left Vena, Mary and Virginia home to worry about us.

It had been planned early on that Mama, Daddy and Ralph would drive down to Panama City Beach during our two week stay.  Soon Melton and Ida Holliman decided to join them, along with Ida's nephew, Earl Burton.  Also, accompanying Mama, Daddy and Ralph would be Hoyt and Vivian Bryant, close family friends of Melton's age, who had lived next door in years past.  After a week at Clearwater, we decided we would join them, so we drove up to Panama City, found a cabin where they were and settled down, we thought, for a fun time with friends and family.  On the way, we stopped at a resort similar to Silver Springs called Waukulla Springs and took a boat ride."

Next the hurricane comes....