Letters from Home....
In the autumn of 1942 H. Bishop Holliman, as yet was the only male in the Ulyss S. Holliman family of Irondale, Alabama in the service, received numerous letters from home. The correspondence from family reveal much about domestic life during World War II and the increasing sacrifices and worry. In them we learn of Irondale friends, hasty marriages and the increasing demands on the home front.
What follows are exerts from correspondence to Bishop, now aboard the USS Butler, from Pearl Caine Holliman (1887-1955), mother of seven children - Melton, Vena, Euhal, Loudelle, Bishop, Virginia and Ralph. Her sincere faith must have been echoed by millions of other mothers during the war. Bottom right, are Charles Ferrell, Pearl Holliman, Ralph Holliman, Loudelle Holliman Ferrell and Ulyss Holliman at Key West, Florida, February 1942 visiting Bishop at his Navy base.
Below in 1982, Euhal sporting the dark glasses, and his two younger brothers, Ralph and Bishop, pose at the family reunion at E.C. and Mary Daly Herrin's home in Irondale.
In a later letter, Pearl wrote: "Ralph is gone to see his girl tonite. I am getting worried he goes too often to see one girl. I just know he won't go back to school and he is too young. Looks like every one is crazy any more." Ralph Holliman (b 1924) was seeing Motie Chism, his high school sweet heart. They married in March 1943 just before Ralph was called to the U.S. Army. This war time marriage lasted until Motie's passing in 2003, 60 years later!
His mother wrote this letter just seven months after the war time marriage of Ralph's sister, Virginia Holliman, to Walter Cornelius, January 1942.
That girl Ralph went to see stands behind him at the 1982 Irondale reunion, and in the foreground enjoying the day, is their older daughter, Pam Holliman. Background right in green is Mary Daly Herrin.
Other news during the later summer and autumn concerned friends and family. Some information I have paraphrased. Pearl's words are in red.
- "Cecil Bunt was sick." The Bunts lived down the street from the Hollimans of 2300 3rd Avenue North. Below right, January 2013, 93 years old, Bishop Holliman hugs Joyce Bunt Trammel at an Irondale, Alabama historical meeting. Back right is childhood friend, James Pugh, also originally of Irondale in the 1920s and 30s.
- Mr. Luker tried to get work at the shops of the Birmingham Electric Company but could not due to T.B. of the spine. Pearl's husband, Ulyss Holliman, worked at the street car shops of Birmingham Electric and was trying to get his friend a job.
- Euhal's twins were ill at one point, and Euhal himself was hospitalized for a week due to hip issue. The twins were Jerry and Terry Holliman, born 1940, lived in Gadsden, Alabama with their sister Anne and parents, Edna and Euhal. Terry now lives in Arizona; Jerry died of a heart attack in 2003 in Alaska. The hip problem inhibited Euhal's ability to walk. This ailment, plus being the father of 4 children in his 30s, probably led to Euhal's deferment from service during the war.
- Both Charles Halford and the new baby, John Melton Ferrell, had health issues which worried Loudelle and Charles. Both John, b. 1942, and Charles Halford,
b. 1936, have lived into their 70s and are in remarkably good health,
not withstanding a poor diagnosis by a Jacksonville, Alabama physician
in their childhood. The photograph was taken in 1944 of Carolyn, John and Charles Ferrell.- B.J. Cook took his new bride to Silver Springs, Florida, and Lee and Ivaline Cook visited their home town of Fayette, Alabama. The Cooks were nieces and nephews of Pearl, children of her sister, Maude Caine Cook, who died in 1940. Lee Cook was the widower of Maude Caine Cook. For a time in the 1920s and 30s, the Cook's lived in the house behind the Hollimans in Irondale.
- Mary Daly (Herrin) led her class in the selling of War Bond stamps - $16 worth! Below, Mary, center, is flanked by Jean and Joyce Bunt (whose 2013 picture is above) on the steps at 2300 3rd Avenue North, Irondale in November 1942. Mary and Joyce Bunt still live in Irondale.
- Pearl, who had qualms about her daughter's marriage to Walter Cornelius, was irritated that Walter enrolled in Birmingham-Southern College, somehow avoiding the draft, and allowing his wife to support them! In 1943, Walter did join the Army and in time, Pearl hung his picture in uniform in a prominent spot on her wall of family photographs! Below, Virginia and Walter probably at his training base in Yuma, Arizona before he shipped to the Pacific.
It was a time when life seemed to speed up, when young men, and often their brides, were taken "to far away places with strange sounding names". The roles of women were changing and the older generation, traditional in faith and culture, had challenges adjusting.
Next more on World War II and the impact on this Alabama family....
