How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 25

by Glenn N. Holliman


More Letters and News of the Home Front....


World War II finally ended the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Unemployment fell to record levels ending a decade of public assistance and public work programs.  By the fall of 1942, only 1.5 million out of a labor force of 54 million were unemployed, and many of these moving to other jobs or waiting to enter the armed services.  

The letters written by the Hollimans, an Irondale, Alabama family reflect the growing stresses and changes brought on by war time demands and the emerging role of women.  Men were being drafted, and more and more women took jobs men had held or went to work in war plants.  Older values and customs came under stress and anxieties and issues were often discussed in the home front letters. 

Stores remained opened later to deal with women shoppers, now workers, who could not visit stores during day time hours.  Pearl Caine Holliman (1887-1955), left, wrote to her son in the Navy, Bishop Holliman, that "The Dalys (her daughter, Vena, granddaughter Mary Daly Herrin  and son-in-law, Robert Daly, Sr.) and Ralph (Holliman, her youngest son) have gone shopping tonight.  You know the stores stay open till 9 o'clock (in Birmingham)."

Husband Ulyss S. Holliman (1884-1965), above, "has to work 6 days a week now and 9 hours per day.  He says they have more wrecked street cars than they have had since he has been with the B'ham  Electric Company."

One of the millions of women who went to work was Virginia Holliman Cornelius (1922-2011), Pearl's youngest daughter, a brilliant graduate of Shades-Cahaba High School, president of her 1940 class and yearbook editor.  She married Walter Cornelius (1922-2007) in late January 1942, and soon took a job in her brother-in-law's (Robert W. Daly, Sr.) Woodlawn, Alabama bank, taking the place of a drafted man. 

Robert Daly, Sr. at his death in 1959 was branch manager and assistant vice president of the First National Bank of Birmingham, later AmSouth.  Many years later, Robert's grandson, E. Clayton Herrin, would serve also as an assistant vice president and branch manager of the same bank and occupied the same office as that of his grandfather.

Below the new 1951 bank office of Robert's, which would in later decades be Clayton's!

Reflecting the scarcity of workers and ease of finding new employment, was a letter Pearl wrote in the fall of 1942. 

"Virginia has been offered a new job at the airport, more money.  She may take it.  Guess she will have to.  She won't be able to keep every thing going with what she makes at the bank."

Below an amazing picture from the 1940 Shades Cahaba yearbook.  Virginia sits in the center as yearbook editor and business manager, Walter Cornelius is on the left of her, a bit scrunched in this posed picture.  This photograph is almost a metaphor of their 30 years marriage, both career professionals. Virginia, the banker, was always a bit further ahead professionally than Walter, a lawyer.  She supported the family during his college and law school days, which perturbed more traditional members of the Holliman family.

 

Virginia wrote Bishop the following that same autumn.  "I had an offer to work at Eastern Air Lines for $100 a month.  But there would be some night work.  They gave me a $10 raise to stay at the bank with more the first of the year.  So I will stay here as transportation to and from the airport at night (would cost money so ) probably would make out as well."   

Virginia would stay in banking and after traveling with her husband to his training bases in 1944, returned to Irondale, re-entered banking and stayed with it until retirement in 1990.  She broke some glass ceilings along the way becoming the first woman senior vice president of AmSouth.

The oldest child, Melton Pearson Holliman (1908-1958), a pharmacy supply salesman, was anxious to get into the war, even though he was 34 years old and married.  Below are exerts from his fall 1942 letters reflecting his conflicting thoughts on the draft and entering the service.  (He would enter the U.S. Army, age 35, in August 1943.)

"I received a letter from my draft board yesterday wanting to know if my dependents or job had changed.  Guess I'll be in before long.  I'll be glad of it."

"I wrote my boss today that unless something happened I intended to enlist in the Navy November 15th.  I'll be glad when it is done as this uncertainty is bad on one's nerves."

"I suppose you have heard they are taking 18 and 19 year old boys now.  Say they don't want old men.  So...I suppose that means I won't get in until spring 1943.  I hope they don't consider me old."

As with his mother, Pearl, Melton was not pleased that his new brother-in-law stayed out of the Army and went to college while his wife, Virgina, worked.  One can detect differing attitudes of the role of wives and their husbands in Melton's scathing letter in October 1942. 

"I suppose you have heard about Virginia's husband going back to college and she is continuing work to pay his way through.  I have only utter contempt for anyone who would do this.  And the least I can say will be for the best."

The draft hung over all, especially for young 18 year old Ralph, who continued working in the fall of 1942, and calling on his girl friend, Motie Chism.   Another brother-in-law of Ralph's, The Rev. Charles Ferrell, pastor of the Jacksonville, Alabama Methodist Church penned these words to Bishop that stressful fall of 1942.

"Ralph spent the day with his girl friend.  From all accounts he has it pretty bad.  He doesn't believe it would do any good to go to school.  Of course, you can't tell him anything."  

Ralph's mother, Pearl, observed:  "Well, I guess Dad and I will soon be in this big old house by our selves.  It want be long before Ralph will be gone, and if he had started to school last fall it would not have helped him any for every one that was in his class that was in school, left last Saturday (for the service).  I know the Lord is able to take care of him just as He is taking care of you."

Below a 1984 picture of Motie, Ralph, Mary Daly Herrin and Bishop Holliman.

"Ralph goes to see his girl 3 or 4 times a week.  Ralph had Motie over here, first time I had seen her."  As noted in this space before, however young Ralph and Motie might have been, their 1943 marriage lasted sixty years until her death in 2003. 

Below, Charles and Loudelle Ferrell
 

Charles Ferrell's wife, Loudelle Holliman (1914-1998), by then the mother of three children, and a pastor's wife, did her bit to increase home food production.  She wrote: "We are getting eggs enough for our family now.  Day before yesterday we got 7; yesterday 5.  It surely is sweet music to hear those hens cackling.  I never would have thought I would ever enjoy such as that so much.  We also have 21 little ones that we are 'rearing' to eat." 

Housing was a premium during the War.  Widows such as Lula Hocutt Caine of Irondale, Pearl's mother (1861-1957) took in boarders and the behaviors of some renters left a lot to be desired.  Pearl reported in several letters: 

"Grandma is doing fine, except the renters have been on a spree.  Had a fight last nite, and broke out some of the windows."

"Mother is having a time with her roomers.  In fact they liked to killed each other this a.m., about 3 a.m. and called me.  Had to bring mother up here about 4:30 am.  They had him arrested last wed. nit, but he was out on bond.  They will have to go to court next week. Think we will get him out this time if he don't tear the house down.  I think the very devil has turned loose in him so that place will be to clean up and get new rents.  Mother said she wished Bishop was home to stay with her."

"I don't know what we will do with them.  Let them stay I guess.  Some of these times, they will kill one or both."   

Below Lula Hocutt Caine, born Fayette County, Alabama and whose father died in January 1863 as a result of the Battle of Stones River, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  In this 1950 picture, she was 89 years old. 

Grandma Caine, as she was known to the family, needed the renter income.  William Lee Caine, born in 1862 died in 1938, worked as a guard for the railroad and evidently left no pension, and that in an era before Social Security.  The 1940 Census reported she earned no income although her son, Floyd Caine, age 54 in 1942 lived with her, at least for a while. Often relatives had to help financially. 

Pearl Caine Holliman usually closed her letters to her sons with a benediction.  Below are her words of faith, with a closing on movie and radio star of the time - Bob Hope! 

"May the Lord bless and keep you.  Write as often as you can.  Good nite and God bless you.  love Mother H.  PS Bob Hope is own (on)."

  Next, the first year of the war ends with a surprise visit home....

How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 24

by Glenn N. Holliman

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.

 Above at the Bishop Holliman home in Tennessee are the twins - Jerry and Terry flanked by their grand parents, Pearl and Ulyss.  Becky Holliman Payne, b. 1950 is in pigtails and this writer, Glenn, b. 1946 stands left in front of his grandfather.

- 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....

From the Files of Rhodes Burns Holliman, Part 1

 by Glenn N. Holliman

From the Files of Rhodes Burns Holliman, 1928-2014....

This past April 29, my second cousin, Dr. Rhodes Burns Holliman died in Dublin, Virginia.  To the left is a recent picture of Rhodes and his surviving wife, Phyllis Anne.

Rhodes was an avid collector of family materials, building on the pioneering work of his father, Cecil Rhodes Holliman (1901-1986) of Birmingham, Alabama.  Cecil was a first cousin to my father, H. Bishop Holliman, b. 1919.

At Rhodes passing, his family graciously has entrusted me with the pleasant task of reviewing and scanning the genealogy and pictures that date from the 1910s to the present.

While examining materials today, I came upon a lovely photograph of my Aunt Vena Holliman Daly (1909-1990), mother of my first cousins, Mary Daly Herrin and Dr. Robert W. Daly, Jr.

 This photograph is not in the files of family pictures I have been collecting from my many cousins. I am wondering if this is an heretofore undiscovered photograph of Vena, taken perhaps near the date of her marriage to Robert W. Daly, Sr. in 1928?  Her name is recorded on the photograph.

As other pertinent materials emerge from the boxes of materials saved by Rhodes, I shall be posting them at this site as well as at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ .

Some of you have been following a central archives that several distant cousins and I established a year or so ago at MyFamily.com.   Unfortunately, Ancestry.com, the parent company, is retiring that site.  Below is an announcement, I posted on the site which I reproduce below.  Many of the files I have collected deal with the Holliman, Blakeney, Baker and other associated families that made Fayette County, Alabama their homes in the 1830s.

 "All, as this MyFamily site disappears on Sept. 30th, I have copied all FILES to my computer. A list of these files, about 200, can be found at the PAGES section of http:hollimanfamilyhistor­y.blogspot.com /. These represent thousands of pages of genealogical materials and manuscripts.

For the time being this is the best I can do until an appropriate archive site comes along. I am happy to email by Zip file these records, and encourage you and others to have a look at the catalogue (alphabetical order by families and records) from time to time. There are many records of Holliman and associated families.

My thanks to the families of the late Cecil R. Holliman, his son, Rhodes B. Holliman and Walt O. Holliman for the use of their files to scan, save and share via the Internet, systems not available to their generations. Also others such as Maxine Wright and Joe Parker have shared with me.

As time goes on, I shall be Zipping all my records to the core group that is also archiving them, and I especially welcome younger genealogists to copy, save and distribute these files. My estate has the password(s) to my computer files, and they will be available when I am no longer in this DNA format!

I think we all have a responsibility to save and share, especially with the age of personal computers and the Internet. If you have something stored in your attic, for family's sake, scan and share. I am happy to help if you need assistance.

How fortunate we are to have Jeanette Holiman Stewart continuing to create and add to an 18,000 name family tree file. Make sure you stay connected to this massive tree after MyFamily closes. The tree lives on at Ancestry.com.

And Tina Peddie continues to maintain communications through her Facebook and designated email site. We are a fortunate as an extended family to live in these times and to have access to a growing body of genealogical information!

Now back to scanning! Glenn N. Holliman, 7th great grandson of Christopher Holyman (1618-1691)"

Next week, Back to World War II....

How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 23

by Glenn N. Holliman

 The Allies Respond....

 Between May and September 1942, 14 German U-Boats prowled Gulf of Mexico waters sinking 58 ships of over 300,000 tons. - Alabama, The History of a Deep South State, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2004.  In the South Pacific the battles of the Solomon Islands continued with a fearful toil of the U.S. Navy.

Below, the USS Enterprise, the last U.S. carrier afloat in the eastern Solomons, takes punishment, but does not sink in the fall of 1942.
 
But the tide of war was changing....

"Between the 4th and 22nd November, 1942, the face of the war changed its entire expression.  On the 4th, (General Bernard) Montgomery won the battle of El Alamein.  On the 8th, American and British forces landed in French North Africa.  On the 22nd, the Russians closed the pincers behind the German 6th Army in Stalingrad." - Volume II of the Dairies & Letters of Harold Nicolson, Atheum, New York, 1967.

For Bishop Holliman, radio seaman from Irondale, Alabama, the war was heating up.  After 40 mm machine gun practice in Rhode Island, his destroyer, the USS Butler, began sea trials, sailing out of Philadelphia and into the North Atlantic of the New England coast.  It was October and November, and the sea was rough.  And so was the shakedown cruise.  

Below, the Butler, all of 1,000 tons in size, sailing from her commissioning port of Philadelphia in 1942.

Below, a letter to Bishop's sister, Loudelle Holliman Ferrell, and his brother-in-law, Charles.  Recently, the Rev. Charles Ferrell had taken an appointment at the United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Alabama as the senior pastor.   Bishop describes the fatigue and intensive training necessary to prepare the crew and ship for war duty, but does not forget niece and nephews.  

Notice his reference to the second front, the Allied invasion under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower of North Africa. Also, the sinking of a U-boat by another destroyer on post with the Butler.

"If you see a sub, don't report it.  Maybe it will sink us."

Below, the Charles Ferrell's and 'a new nephew', John Melton Ferrell, named after his uncle, Melton Pearson Ferrell (1908-1958).  Left to right, Charles Halford, Charles, Carolyn, John and Loudelle.  Loudelle and Charles wrote often to her brothers, Bishop, Ralph and Melton Holliman, during the war.

 Next post, more stories and photographs of an Alabama family at war....

Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!).
For additional information on Hollimans, check out http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ .