From my Sister's Attic, Part 1

by Glenn N. Holliman

The First of a Number of Photographs from an Attic - 

Three Generations in 1952

First row, left to right, Glenn, Pam and Becky Holliman.  Second row, Motie, Ulyss, Pearl and Gerry Holliman.  Back row, Ralph holding Kathy.

Recently my two sisters, Rebecca L. Holliman Payne and Alice Holliman Murphy found the above photograph in one of my late father's scrapbooks.  Bishop and Ralph, two sons,  of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman posed with their parents, wives and children at Bishop and Gerry Stansbery Holliman's house in Trussville, Alabama. The time may have been early spring on a Sunday afternoon judging by the formality of the clothing.

Both Ralph and Bishop, my father, World War II veterans, took advantage of the G.I. Bill for college education and by 1952 were launched on careers in business and government.  Both would do well, and unlike so many in the 21st Century stayed with one company (Ralph - American Bakeries and Bishop - the Social Security Administration) their entire working careers. Both men moved their families many times as promotions and more responsibilities came.  

The families enjoyed the incredible economic post-war boom that pushed the American standard of living to record heights.

The four children pictured above all attended college and graduate school in the 1960s and 70s and developed careers in education, social services, publications and church.  The girls, unlike their mothers and their grandmother, worked outside of the home as did the majority of women in the latter part of the 20th Century.

Presaging his son's experiences, Ulyss moved his family for economic reasons during World War I from Fayette, Alabama to Birmingham.  Raised on a farm, Ulyss married Pearl in 1906, farmed and later worked in a lumber yard.  By 1914 with four children to feed (Melton, Vena, Euhal and Loudelle), Ulyss move his family to Irondale and found employment with the Birmingham Electric Company repairing street cars.  Three more children were born: Bishop 1919, Virignia 1922 and Ralph 1924.  Ulyss retired in 1949 and died in 1965. 

When Ulyss was born in 1884, there were no automobiles, telephones, electricity, radio, television or airplanes.  When he passed away men circled the earth in spacecraft and computers were crunching numbers.  Never in human history had there been so much technological change as during the life time of my grandfather.

More on Trussville, a suburb of Birmingham

The Bishop and Gerry Holliman house in Trussville, Alabama, built 1937, purchased by in 1950 was sold in 1952 when my father's new employment in the Social Security system resulted in a transfer to Johnson City, Tennessee.  The address is 207 Oak Street and the neighborhood is today a National Historical District. The house sold in 1952 for $8,000.

The City of Trussville web site records that 287 residential units were built between 1936 and 1938 as part of the New Deal federal programs to provide housing, employment and stimulate the economy still suffering from the Great Depression.  The 615 acre suburban development was constructed on land unsuitable for farming, the former 'Slag Heap Village' taking its unpleasant name from the metal waste from a former iron furnace.  

"The homes were sturdily built with indoor plumbing, running water, electricity and amenities rare at the time in much of Alabama" records the city web site.  Parks, paved streets and sidewalks were the norm.  "Trussville children in the 50s enjoyed an uncomplicated, small-town life. Children entertained themselves by walking up and down the street playing on the Mall, and swimming in the Cahaba.  Most of families has only one car or no vehicle, but a bus went daily into Birmingham in the morning and came back that afternoon."

Trussville incorporated in 1947, absorbing both the Cahaba Village (the development) and 'Old Trussville.  The next year, the government deeded all park property to the town. 

A Visit Between Two Storms

by Glenn N. Holliman

On March 3, 2020 a vicious late-winter tornado touched down in Nashville, Tennessee, hop-scotched along I-40 east and destroyed homes in the suburbs of Cookeville, Tennessee.  There 18 persons died in just a few minutes of horror.

Fortunately my sister Becky Holliman Payne and her family who live in that Cumberland Plateau community escaped the violence and quickly joined hundreds of others in providing relief to those afflicted.  A long scheduled trip to visit cousins and our old home places in Alabama had been planned with my sister, Alice Holliman Murphy and me.  We  were to fly from our domiciles in Texas and Pennsylvania respectively to Nashville on March 5th and then drive south.

As the Nashville airport was open and professional first responders were busy at work, we decided to go ahead with our plans.  We met that afternoon of the 5th, and the three of us drove  to Florence, Alabama.

Little did we know that one storm was behind us and another, more dangerous, approaching!

The next morning, we spent much of the day with our first cousin, Bob Daly, son of Robert W. Sr. and Vena Holliman Daly at his home north of Florence.  His home is really a nature conservancy where for decades Bob has nurtured his 40 acres as a wildlife park.

Pictured are Alice, Becky and Bob.

A  Ph.D. in biology and botany from Auburn, Bob taught for decades at the University of North Alabama and also conducted hundreds of environmental studies for governmental and corporate agencies.  It is not an exaggeration to say that Bob is one of the most knowledgeable persons living concerning the flora, fauna and animal life of the Tennessee River Valley.

His home, which he shares with his wife, Joy, his high school sweetheart from Irondale, Alabama, reflects Bob's taste in outdoor life.  The home feels like a comfortable forest lodge with wooden paneling, chandeliers of antlers and walls festooned with scenes of wildlife and southern history.

Below the Daly 'lodge' in the woods of North Alabama.

Bob bands hummingbirds, captured in a special trap filled with sugar water on a back porch.  Generally he attracts up to 400 of these tiny birds each migration season!  The ladies are watching a video on his computer of dozens of these beautiful creatures feeding.

Outside on the grounds, two cousins, now seniors in life, reminisce on how we used to hunt arrow heads along Alabama river bottoms and scorpions under the scrub oak trees on the Daly farm in Irondale, oh say 60 years ago or so!

Below are photographs I have saved (and hundreds and hundreds more of family) from the various  albums.  Here is a quick trip down memory lane of Bob and family in the 1940s and 50s.  The initial picture is of Bob in the sailor's hat, one year old me and my mother, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman (1923-2015), on the front lawn at 2300 N. 3rd Avenue in Irondale, our grandparents house.

The one below is damaged, but shows Bob on the left,  Pam Holliman in the center, Ralph and Motie Holliman's first born.  Three year old me on the right. The year is 1949.   Again photographed at Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman's Irondale home.  Judging from the way Pam and I are dressed, this must have been a Sunday in the summer.

Below, Bob, Becky and Glenn at Daytona Beach, Florida in 1955. Grandmother Holliman had died in May 1955, and the Dalys and  Bishop Hollimans took Ulyss Holliman on vacation.  I remember a day of fishing with my grandfather, father and Bob. Below we are digging for sand fleas.

Finally, Bob with his father, Robert W. Daly, Sr. (1901-1959) and his mother, Vena (1909-1990).  The family loved to visit Florida and fish.  These experiences no doubt helped develop Bob's life long interest in biology.

After the better part of the day with Bob, and significantly increasing our knowledge of nature's mysteries,  my sisters and I bid goodbye to our very knowledgeable first cousin, and drove on to Gadsden, Alabama where we lived from 1960 to 1964.  More on our trip in the next blog. - GNH 

Ralph Holliman's 90th Birthday

by Glenn N. Holliman

Friends and Family gather to Celebrate a Milestone....July 2014

The youngest of the seven children of Ulyss (1884-1965) and Pearl Caine Holliman (1888-1955) observed his 90th birthday surrounded by friends and family in Gulf Shores, Alabama recently.  Speaking emotionally to over 70 guests at a birthday luncheon, Ralph Holliman, retired corporate executive, father of two and grandfather of one, said "he could not believe he was 90", and "must be the luckiest man alive".  

Ralph grew up in Irondale, Alabama and served in the European theater during World War II.  For sixty years, he was married to the late Motie Chism Holliman (1925-2003).  Below after their wedding in 1943 in front of the Robert W. Daly, Sr. home on 3rd Avenue North, Irondale.   Ralph entered the U.S. Army shortly after the marriage, and did not return home until 1945.  

Below, left to right: Ralph with his lovely wife of seven years, Laura; daughter Pam Holliman, grand daughter Rachel Harbour and front son-in-law Tim Donald, (not shown) Kathy Holliman's husband.  Ninety candles blazed on the cake while the caterer (background) stood by with a fire extinguisher!

Known for his wry and understated sense of humor,

Ralph boldly sported a 'Happy Birthday' cake chapeau

during much of the event!

           

Ralph and his first wife, Motie, were blessed with two talented daughters and grand daughter.

Kathy (left) is a professional writer and Pam (right) a seminary professor.  Kathy's daughter, Rachel, edits art history publications for a Boston publisher.







Relatives in attendance on a glorious summer day were seated left to right: Pam Holliman, Ralph Holliman, Laura Holliman, Kathy Holliman and Rachel Harbour.  Back rows: Terri Heyduk, Jean Holliman, Wally Allen (back row), Tommie Holliman Allen (partially obscured by the candles!), Chuck Morton, Carol Cornelius Morton, Nancy Ferrell, Charles H. Ferrell, Glenn Holliman and Tim Donald.

Bishop Holliman, Ralph's 94 year old brother, had planned to attend but had complications that prohibited his visitation from Indiana.  The two brothers survive from siblings of seven - Melton (1908-1958), Vena (1909-1990), Euhal (1912-1986), Loudell (1914-1999) and Virginia (1922-2011).  Below, Ralph and Bishop Holliman in the 1980s.

Next posting, back to World War II and its impact on the Holliman family of Alabama....

 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/ . 

My Grandmother's Wall Photographs, Part 9

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Last Section....

Below is the last portion of my grandmother's, Pearl Caine Holliman, collage of photographs of family she put together in the late 1940s.  Grandmother Holliman died in 1955 of heart disease suffered at her home, 2300 3rd Avenue N., Irondale, Alabama.

 

Our identification of the framed photographs continues....

 

41. Euhal and Edna Holliman.  Euhal was the third child born to Ulyss and Pearl in 1912. 

42. Patti Holliman Hairston, daughter of Melton and Ida Hughes Holliman.

43. Ralph Holliman and his mother and father, Pearl and Ulyss, on a 1940 trip to western North Carolina. Ralph as the last of seven children, b 1924, to Pearl and Ulyss.

44. Melton and Loudelle Holliman, taken approximately 1915 in Fayette, Alabama. In 1917, Ulyss would move the family to Irondale for economic reasons.

45. Pam Holliman, first born of two daughters born to Ralph and Motie Holliman.

46. Nancy Carol Cornelius Morton, daughter of Virginia and Walter Cornelius (1922-2006)

47. Left to right – Loudelle, Vena, Euhal and Melton Holliman, perhaps 1915.

48. Virginia and Ralph Holliman, sister and brother, perhaps 1926.

49. Patti Holliman Hairston, left, with unknown girl.

50. Pam Holliman, today a professor of religion at a Chicago seminary.

51. Virginia Holliman Cornelius and Ralph Holliman were posed in 1928, dressed up for a traveling photographer, at the time of Vena Holliman and Robert W. Daly, Sr.’s wedding in Irondale, Alabama. Ralph, age 4, perhaps to his chagrin, was the flower boy.

52. Bishop Holliman and his oldest brother Melton met in New Orleans in the winter of 1942. Bishop was in the Navy, the only child yet in service in World War II. Ida and Melton had moved to Mobile, Alabama from Birmingham around 1940.

53. The photo is blurred but left to right are Jean, Anne, Jerry and Terry Holliman with their father, Euhal, behind them. This was made perhaps in 1946.

54. Ulyss and Bishop pose in Key West, Florida in early February 1942. Loudelle, Charles, Ralph, Pearl and Ulyss drove from Irondale to Key West, Florida (a long, long trip in that era) to visit Bishop during this critical time in World War II. They had no idea when (or if) they might see him again.

55. Taken in the late 1920s in Fayette, Alabama are John Thomas (1844-1930) and Martha Jane Walker Holliman (1846-1931). Interesting as the parents of Ulyss Holliman, this photo might be first, but Grandmother Holliman put it last. According to Rhodes Holliman, a Holliman family historian and a great grandson, Martha Jane had personality challenges. John Thomas seems to have suffered Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from his terrible experiences in the Civil War.  He farmed all his life and died in poverty with no savings and before Social Security and Medicare. Their sons had to financially support them in their old age.

Martha Jane’s father, Samuel Walker, went off to fight for the Confederacy in 1862 when she was 16 years old. This great, great grandfather of my generation (we have no picture of him) was at the Battles of Gettysburg, the Crater, Petersburg and Lee’s last retreat. Pearl’s grandmother who is pictured at the beginning of this frame lost her father, Manasses Hocutt, after he died in 1863 from wounds at the Battle of Stone’s River, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 

One can argue that the Holliman family did not recover from the Civil War until the advent of the generation of the children of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman – Melton, Vena, Euhal, Loudelle, Bishop, Virginia and Ralph.

 

For over 65 years Bishop Holliman (back to camera), son of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman, and his niece, Mary Daly Herrin, have studied and identified their many relatives and loved ones in the collage.  Above in January 2013 in Mary's Irondale home, the two did so together one more time.

 

 

Next week, photographs from Bishop Holliman's talk to the Irondale Historical Society on his memories of growing up in the 1920s and 30s.

 

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 desablai@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!).

 

Let's save the past for the future! If you have photographs, letters, memorabilia or research you wish to share, please contact me directly at glennhistory@gmail.com. Several of us have an on-going program of scanning and preserving Holyman and related family records. Don't just let your aunt or uncle's genealogical work languish unread and deteriorating in an attic.Write us please and tell us of your items.Thanks to the Internet, we are able to scan, upload to the web (with your permission) and return the materials to you. - GNH

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Seventh Child of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman, 
William Ralph Holliman, Part IX

by Glenn N. Holliman

Ralph and Motie Holliman were blessed with two talented and gifted daughters.  Pam has a doctorate in religious studies and today teaches at a seminary in Chicago.  Her career track has included professional counseling and director of not-for-profits.  Below in the 1990s, Ralph, Motie and Virginia Holliman Cornelius.

Left in the middle 2000s, Ralph, Kathy, Pam and Kathy's daughter, Rachel Harbour.

To the right are Kathy, Rachel and Kathy's husband, Tim Donald.  Rachel and Tim live in Philadelphia where both are writers and publishers for medical and scientific publications.  Earlier in her career, Kathy taught school and wrote for the Bangor, Maine Daily News.  

Below, Ralph visits with Pam in her Chicago seminary office in 2010.

Motie passed away in 2003 after 60 years of marriage.  In 2007, Ralph was fortunate to meet a widow, Laura Stanley, who has brightened his life in countless ways.  

This ends our biographies of the seven children of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman. In future postings, we shall dig deeper into the history and culture in which the family lived.

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Seventh Child of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman

William Ralph Holliman, 1924, Part VI
by Glenn N. Holliman


Success in Corporate America


There were three war time marriages in the Ulyss and Pearl Holliman family – Virginia and Walter Cornelius in January 1942, Ralph and Motie Chism in February 1943 and Bishop and Geraldine Stansbery in June 1945. 

Below, two new sister-in-laws, Motie and Gerry Holliman, Bishop’s wife, in Irondale, Alabama in front of the Holliman home at 2300 3^rd Avenue,  February 1945.

With the war over, Ralph took the G.I. Bill and returned to Birmingham-Southern College.  Motie and Ralph joined in the production of Baby Boomers when in 1947, their first child, Pamela Holliman was born. Katherine, a second daughter, entered the world in 1951.  With his family growing, Ralph took a job as a clerk with the local branch of the American Bakery Company in Birmingham.  It was a fateful choice as Ralph’s skills were appreciated, and he began a career of 37 years with the same company.

It is tempting to see something of Ralph’s career in William H. Whyte’s best selling book The Organizational Man, a 1950s treatise on corporate America and the men (yes, mainly men at that time although his sister, Virginia Holliman Cornelius, was a pioneering exception) who ran America’s businesses.  With each promotion and increase in responsibilities, heads of households had to move their families from branch office to branch plant and so forth. 

During their marriage Motie and Ralph moved 17 times, and Pam attended seven schools by the 7^th grade!  The cities tumbled by: New Orleans, Jacksonville, Birmingham, Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Atlanta, Dallas and finally Chicago which became their home for 22 years. In 1993, Motie and Ralph moved to their retirement home in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where Ralph lives to this day.

The U.S. economy was rapidly expanding, along with a population demanding televisions, appliances, air conditioning, bigger and newer automobiles and houses.  The consumer age was born, and the GDP of America kept going up, up and up.

Ralph Holliman in the company attire of his generation – white shirt and tie.  No computer on his desk in this early 1950s photograph.  Letters were done by dictation, generally to the female secretary. Direct dial telephones spread rapidly in the 1950s, and one no longer had to wait for an operator.  Hard to believe in the 21^st Century, but families and businesses often had to share a party-line, that is one could pick up the telephone and hear a conversation of others on the ‘line’.  And the phone would not be available until that person had finished their call!

Next - the 1950s....