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

By 1937, Charles Halford Ferrell had entered the family.  The stroller was typical of the time - all metal with hard rubber wheels.  Plastic had not yet become a developed product in America. Charles is in fashion for the times - white shoes.

A year later, Carolyn Ferrell Tatum entered this life.  Here she is carried as a baby by her grandmother, Pearl Holliman.  The Robert Daly, Sr. house is in the background.  Pearl was 51 years old in 1938.

This is a 1953 school photo of John Melton Ferrell, born 1942.  He was the last of three children by Charles and Loudelle.  

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.


Plan now to attend the Holliman and Associated Families Genealogical Round Table at the Fayette County, Alabama Civic Center, 10 am to 3 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011. For information and reservations for lunch, contact Glenda Norris at gnorris@bcbsal.org or Glenn Holliman at Glennhistory@gmail.com.  Sessions to include Tracing the Holymans from England to Alabama, Holliman Farm Sites in Fayette County and sharing of information on Associated Families.  All invited!

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

Here is the first picture I have of Charles and Loudelle together at a Methodist youth conference in 1934.

They are not yet standing together.  Charles is fourth from the right, and Loudelle is third from the left.

What a difference a year makes.  Here is Loudelle on her wedding day in her wedding dress, sitting smartly on the edge of a convertible.  Does any one know the model (the car that is)?

Above is the happy couple and their newspaper announcement.  Click on the photo and it will enlarge.

Next their three children.....


Plan now to attend the Holliman and Associated Families Genealogical Round Table at the Fayette County, Alabama Civic Center, 10 am to 3 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011. For information and reservations for lunch, contact Glenda Norris at gnorris@bcbsal.org or Glenn Holliman at Glennhistory@gmail.com.  Sessions to include Tracing the Holymans from England to Alabama, Holliman Farm Sites in Fayette County and sharing of information on Associated Families.  All invited!

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

Charles Ferrell matriculated at Yale Divinity School in New Haven.  Here is the young man, about to be ordained a Methodist Church minister in 1932.  Graduate students in the Depression dressed in suit and tie for class.  No back pack in sight for this scholar.  

The thirties were progressing.  Here in what I believe to be 1934 are Loudelle and Ida Holliman embracing in front of Robert and Vena Holliman Daly's house which had just been built adjacent to Pearl and Ulyss's on 3rd Avenue in Irondale, Alabama.  Ida Hughes had married Melton Holliman in 1932.  Hem lines were a bit longer for women in the early 1930s compared to the early 1940s or middle 1920s.

More of the family next post....


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.


Plan now to attend the Holliman and Associated Families Genealogical Round Table at the Fayette County, Alabama Civic Center, 10 am to 3 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011. For information and reservations for lunch, contact Glenda Norris at gnorris@bcbsal.org or Glenn Holliman at Glennhistory@gmail.com.  Sessions to include Tracing the Holymans from England to Alabama, Holliman Farm Sites in Fayette County and sharing of information on Associated Families.  All invited!

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.

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

The Holliman children were growing up by 1928.  Melton had gone to work in his Uncle Floyd Caine's drug store, and Vena became Mrs. Robert Daly that year.  Charles H. Ferrell, Loudelle's older son, made this photo below available to me.  Vena is on the left and Loudelle, now all of 14 and looking very grown up, is wearing a fashionable hat of the 1920s.  The young ladies are in short skirts as a revolution in fashion occurred after World War I. Hem lines rose!

 Both are standing in front of the then new home at 2300 3rd Avenue, Irondale.  One can see the wooden steps in the background.  It was a winter's day.  No sidewalk yet on the street nor paved roads.  The sidewalks and water system would go in the 1930s and 40s as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration program.  That's right....the seven Holliman brothers and sisters grew up in a house without running water and in door facilities.  Not until the late 1930s was an indoor bathroom installed.  Oh yes, the good ole days!

Below is another photo of Loudelle, second from left with the penetrating eyes.  The other girls are believed to be friends and not relations.  Notice the fascinating hair styles of 1930.  Compare Loudelle's eyes with the February 22, 2011 post of Pearl Holliman.  One can see a startling resemblance when Loudelle was Pearl's age.

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.

More Loudelle and family next post....


Plan now to attend the Holliman and Associated Families Genealogical Round Table at the Fayette County, Alabama Civic Center, 10 am to 3 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011. For information and reservations for lunch, contact Glenda Norris at gnorris@bcbsal.org or Glenn Holliman at Glennhistory@gmail.com.  Sessions to include Tracing the Holymans from England to Alabama, Holliman Farm Sites in Fayette County and sharing of information on Associated Families.  All invited!

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 1917, Ulyss moved his family to E.F. Montgomery's planned subdivision on the hill overlooking the Southern and L & N railroad yards in Irondale, Alabama.  The Hollimans first lived in a house on 2nd Avenue, just a few blocks from the center of town.  

This picture was made in 1920 a few months after Bishop Holliman's birth.  In the back are Vena and holding baby Bishop (b 1919) is Melton.  The children in front are Euhal left, and partially obscured, Loudelle. Around this time, Ulyss realized he needed a bigger house for the five children, so he purchased a lot from the Bishop family at 2300 3rd Avenue.

Below is a truly amazing photo from 1924 on the Cahawba River.  Let's see, the youngster in the foreground is my father, Bishop.  Behind his is Euhal, Loudelle, and Melton.  In the right foreground is their father, Ulyss S. Holliman, my grandfather.

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.  My thanks to Charles H. Ferrell for the loan of many of the pictures.


Next posting, more on Loudelle and the new house....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

by Glenn N. Holliman

Euhal Arlington Holliman (1912 - 1989),
the Third Child of Ulyss and Pearl Holliman

The Ulyss and Pearl Holliman family moved to Irondale from Fayette, Alabama in 1917, and Ulyss settled in to his new job at the Birmingham Electric Company.  The above photograph is from 1924.  Left to right: Vena, Euhal holding Virginia, Bishop in front with the stick, and Melton holding the youngest, his brother Ralph Holliman. Vena is dressed formally (age 15) and both Euhal (age 10) and Melton (age 16) are wearing the style of the time, knickers.  (This style of boy's pants is frozen in time today as the uniform of baseball players.)  Note Euhal, Melton and Bishop (only 4) are all wearing caps or hats.

Melton was born in 1908, and before the Great Depression in 1927, he obtained a position in his Uncle Floyd Caine's drug store.  Euhal came of age right in the middle of the Depression, and jobs were scarce.  He went to work for a local grocery store, and spent his career in the food business.

He met a pretty young lady named Edna Westbrook (below) and in 1936 they married.  Six children were eventually born of this union which lasted 54 years!

Edna Westbrook Holliman (1916 - 1992),  a native of Cherokee County, Alabama, married Euhal July 9, 1936.  Edna is the daughter of Annie Josie Naugher Westbrook and Thomas Edward Westbrook.  Daughter Tommie Holliman Allen believes they met in East Lake, Alabama, when Edna's sister's boyfriend, later Tommie's uncle, introduced them. Edna was 18 when this picture was taken.

                                             This is young handsome Euhal, probably about 1935.

 A hard worker all his life, he was a leader in the Irondale Lion's Club,  his labor union and in retirement, the Irondale Auxiliary Police. Super market chains appeared in America after World War II, and wages were low and benefits few.  A leader in the labor union movement, Euhal helped organize and lead grocery workers to better compensation and working conditions during his career at chains Jitney Jungle, Piggly Wiggly, Kroger and Brunos as produce manager, before retiring in 1972.

     Euhal, center right, in the white coat  at a national union convention in California in 1956.

Like his three  brothers, he took his physical for the Army in World War II, but due to age and having four children to support, he was not called up.  The family lived in Gadsden, Alabama in the 1940s until the middle 1950s.  In 1956, they  moved to the Ulyss and Pearl Holliman home in Irondale, living there for the rest of Euhal and Edna's lives.


Next Posting, the Children of Euhal and Edna....


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 .My thanks to Tommie Holliman Allen and Bishop Holliman for the pictures.