An Alabama Family in World War II, Part 37

by Glenn N. Holliman

A Letter from Robert W. Daly, Sr.

These exerts are from an October 2, 1943 letter which my Uncle Robert wrote in his humorous fashion to my father of the birth of  Robert W. Daly, Jr. on Sunday, October 3, 7:55 pm.  Robert (1901-1959) was a bank manager in Woodlawn, Alabama.  My Aunt Vena, cousin Mary and Robert lived on 3rd Avenue North, Irondale, next door to his father and mother-in-law, Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman, my grandparents. 

TO: H.B. Holliman, USS Bulter, Fleet Post Office, New York, New York
FROM: Bankers Boulevard, Irondale, Alabama

We are not looking for the baby before around the 15th of this month, but yesterday Vena broke water ...so we have been holding our breath every since, expecting any minute for the pains to start and then my pain starts trying to get her over to St. Vincent's before it is born on the road with me delivering with one hand and driving with the other one.  I do not know what the feet will be doing while all this is going on, driving I guess.

I may have to take over there any minute, so if it happens, before Monday a.m. I will add it on to this letter.  We have Martha Jane, Barbara Ann, and other names picked out but still can't decide on one, also Betty Daly.

Vena and daughter Mary
Daly Herrin, ca 1936

Vena insists if it is a boy that it be Robert William Daly Jr.; she says this is a refined name.  How's that for a break?  Can you believe it could come from your sister after living with the old boy for 15 years and still speaking to me.  Vena has been getting along pretty well except for losing some sleep. She has not been sick but a few times.

PS - Monday, October 4, 1943

Well, she started to hurt around 4 a.m. Sunday morning, so we got up and dressed and fixed a light breakfast.  She got easy, so I went back and lay down and slept until seven thirty.  About 4 pm she had two or three hard pains, and I called the doctor...so we started for St. Vincent's, all the way over I thought it would be born in the car, but finally we got there after some speeding.  The nurse told me when she examined her that I would not have to wait long, probably 2 hours.

                                                                       Robert William Daly with his curly black hair.

In a few minutes I saw the nurse rush up to the phone and I listened in to her conversation and she told the doctor to come on over at once the baby was about to be born.  Finally the doctor got there and went into deliver the baby.  In about 20 minutes I heard them patting the baby on the back or somewhere to help bring it to or get the throat clear....After about five minutes the nurse came by and told your Mother and myself it was a boy and it was fine.  After a little bit they brought Vena out and let us see the baby; it was wrinkled and looked old like all new born babies do when they first come out.  You know how your hands look some time when you wash them too much and they draw up after painting or something.  It weighted six pounds and five ounces and was perfect in other respects, no hair.  

We left her about 11 pm and came home, and this morning Vena was doing fine and not hurt but very little.  The baby has come out something wonderful over night and has a smooth complexion, Holliman features, Holliman nose, black curly hair which came out overnight, blue eyes. He seems to be perfect in every respect.  He is a very pretty baby, in fact about as pretty as I ever saw to be so young.  I think he will be an asset to the Holliman generation with a mixture of Daly and Holliman.  This should make him a very bright lad with two distinguished bloods mixed in one pot.  

The Daly family - Vena, Bob, Mary and Robert, Christmas 1943, Irondale, Alabama

Vena will probably be home in about five days if all goes well.  As you know she insisted on naming it Robt Wm Daly, Jr in honor of the old man.  I was not so hot on this, but she was the one to do all the suffering so let her have her way.  

If I have left out any details which you would like to know, just drop me a line and I will into details.  this may not be in detail enough for you.

Robert

My Uncle Robert included many additional details in this letter so his last sentence is a sample of his understated but every present Irish humor.  In time Robert ceased referring to his son as 'it" and nicknamed him affectionately as 'Bud'.  The 'bright lad' referred to in the letter became a Ph.D. in biological sciences and a college professor, thus fulfilling his proud father's prophecy! - GNH

An Alabama Family in World War II, Part 36

by Glenn N. Holliman

News from the Home Front, as Summer turns to Autumn, 1943

Bishop Holliman's destroyer left the Battle of Sicily and the Mediterranean and arrived in New York City in the late summer of 1943.  Brothers Melton and Ralph were in the Army - Melton as a medic in training at Ft. Bradley, Texas and Ralph, a clerk assigned to Reno, Nevada.

Their Mother, Pearl Caine Holliman sent Melton a newsy letter proclaiming that Ed Fortenberry, the Irondale, Alabama grocer, was ready to adopt Melton and Ida's new vivacious daughter, Patsy, if ever they wanted to give her away!  "She seems to win everyone's heart wherever she goes."

 Left, Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman in Irondale with their grand daughter, Patsy (Patti), daughter of Melton and Ida Hughes Holliman.  

Pearl wrote "We had a bond rally in Irondale last night and us women had to go door to door to sell bonds." A week later she wrote Melton, of which I publish a part of the letter (see below).  This is my grandmother's own handwriting.

In the 4th line, she writes that Motie, Ralph's young wife, has returned from visiting him and now has a job in Birmingham, but if Ralph stays long in Reno, she is going to join him.

In the 8th line Pearl refers to Vena Holliman Daly's pregnancy, one in which she often had been sick.  The child, Bob, will be born safely in October 1943 and was named after his father, Robert William Daly, Sr.


Right, Vena, Ulyss, Pearl and Mary, daughter of Robert and Vena Holliman Daly in 1942.

In the 11th line, Bishop has been reassigned from the USS Butler to the USS Barker, but goes for more radio direction training in Maine before shipping out again into the North Atlantic.

His Mother is worried he will be sent back to Italy, where 'they are having some slauter (sic) over there.'  Here Pearl writes, as she did in most letters, of her deep Christian faith, a faith that through prayer all her boys would come home safely from the war.

Toward the end of this letter, Pearl expressed her concern that her sister, Vista Caine (1898-1986), had a new boy friend (Vista smoked, drank, was twice divorced and generally enjoyed life).  Pearl's strict religious beliefs and Vista's life style created stress between the two sisters throughout their lives.  Their Mother, Lula Hocutt Caine (1861-1957) had a more live and let live approach to life!         

                                                                                                                                       

Above, Fred Gumpp, Vista, Bishop and Gerry Holliman in 1974 at Vista's home in Indiana.  She married that 'rich man', Fred, and settled down to 40 years of marriage!

Next post, more letters from the home front in Alabama!

How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 29

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Allies Punch Back, and more Hollimans join the Fight

By the winter of 1943, the Axis tide  crested and began a slow retreat to eventual defeat.  The Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal in the South Pacific, a German army surrendered in Stalingrad (left photograph) and after a setback at Kasserine, the U.S. and British armies continued their punishment of  two German and Italian armies in North Africa.

In the States, more and more young men were called to the colors to man the tanks, airplanes and ships emerging from assembly lines.  Two of these serviceman that late winter and early spring were from the Holliman family of Irondale, Alabama  - W. Ralph Holliman (b 1924) and his brother-in-law, Walter Cornelius (1922-2006), husband of Virginia Holliman (1922-2011). 

Right, ca 1927, Irondale, Alabama, Pearl C. Holliman holds her youngest of four sons on her lap, Ralph.  To her left are Virginia, the later wife of Walter Cornelius, and Bishop Holliman, far left.  By the spring of 1943,  Ralph and Walter joined Bishop in the Armed Forces.  Pearl was thirty-nine years old when this picture was made. This photograph is courtesy of Susan Cornelius Williams, Virginia's younger daughter.

Pearl Caine Holliman (1888-1955) wrote in January 1943 from 2300 3rd Street, North, Irondale to my father, Bishop Holliman, at his Navy radio training base in Casco Bay, Maine:



 "Well, I guess Dad and I will soon be in this big old house by ourselves.  It won't be long before Ralph (the youngest son) will be gone.  Every one that was in his class left last Saturday.  I know the Lord is able to take care of him, just like He has with you...."

In this letter and several others, my grandmother admonished my father to answer the letters of a girl in Philadelphia whom he had met and dated in the fall of 1942.  

 "I think you have treated  her rather bad, for I think they was nice to you and you should have showed your appreciation more than he have.  I do not know what to do, the girl thinks you have gone so please write her something.  You may go back there sometime, and what will she think about me?"

Left, the girl who finally caught Bishop Holliman!

That girl was my future mother, Geraldine S. Stansbery, an East Tennessee transplant living with her family in Philadelphia.  Short story is my father eventually did write 'Gerry' and in June 1945, their war romance blossomed into marriage.  By 1956, the couple had three children, and eventually eight grandchildren!

Below, the engagement photograph of Walter and Virginia Holliman Cornelius.  Walter would serve in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II and be stationed in Saipan in the Pacific.  Photo courtesy of Susan Cornelius Williams

 

Another marriage in the family....Later that winter, Pearl wrote that her youngest son, Ralph, would be leaving for Ft. McClellan, Alabama on March 26, 1943.  Born in 1924, and at age 19, he and his high school sweetheart, Motie Chism (1925-2003), tied the knot, a few weeks before Ralph shipped out.  That war time marriage lasted until Motie's death in 2003.  

Below in the 1980s, Gerry, Ralph and Motie Holliman.

Ralph wrote the week before his Army induction in March 1943 to his brother, Bishop: 

"I have been expecting it before now.  It will be pretty hard leaving everybody (his bride of two weeks), but I'm no better than anybody else.  I'm willing to go, and I am going to do the best that I can.  Motie and Mama are taking it pretty good so far but I dread the next few days.  If you don't mind, drop them an encouraging note."

A few weeks later, now in the Army, Ralph wrote again with a bit of dry humor that the family knows and loves:   

"When I left home, I left everyone crying.  They'll get over it thought.  I think I kissed everyone goodbye except the dog.  He might have been in the bunch too!"

In addition to a war time marriage that spring, Pearl's oldest daughter, Vena Holliman Daly (1909-1990), was expecting her second child.  Her husband, Robert W. Daly (1901-1959), wrote to Bishop: 

"Vena is about two months pregnant and under the care of Dr.  Nufield, the baby specialist.  She has been pretty sick at times, but he believes he can stop this. We could not hardly think of Mary not having an older brother or sister later in life when we were old or gone." 

Vena Holliman Daly (1909-1990) taken around 1926, a school girl who favored her mother.

The baby born in October 1943 was Robert W. Daly, Jr., now a retired biology professor from the University of North Alabama and father of three children, John, Suzanne and Iris, and numerous grandchildren.   

Below, Bob Daly, ca 1946 in Irondale. Photo courtesy of Susan Cornelius Williams.  Also decades later in November 2013 at the home of this blog writer, Bob, wearing more clothes on a cold autumn evening in Pennsylvania, pays a visit, while yours truly pets a black cat. 

Next Posting, more of the Ulyss and Pearl Caine Family during World War II....
 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!).

There is also a massive Ancestry.com Holyman and Associated Families Tree available for review.  For an invitation to this collection of over 20,000 individuals, please write glennhistory@gmail.com.  

Also one will find additional Holliman history at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ .

I also have a collection of associated family manuscripts and research collected by the late Walt Holliman, Cecil Holliman and Rhodes Holliman.  Happy to send these materials by email and to insure their research is available.  The surnames: Alexander, Baldwin, Barham, Bass, Beall, Blakeney,  Baker, Bond, Bostick, Brewer, Bryan, Bryant, Bullock, Calvert, Carter, Champion, Chew,Cofer, Cole, Crafford, Crockett, Curtis, Dale, Daniel, Davidson, Davies, De Mallpas, Douglas, Duckett, Edwards, Edgerton, Emerson, Fitzhugh, Fowlehurst, Fox, Gains, Garrison, Gonson, Graves, Gray, Guyton, Guins, Hall, Hamby, Hawkins,Hendrix, Hill, Hogg, Holliman, Holt, Howard, Jackson, Jones, Judkins, Love, Lucas, Maget, Mansfield, Manwaring, McBee, McComas, McCurdy, McNewsome, Nicholson, Norsworthy, Noyall, O'dell, Oliver, Pearce, Peerce, Pettigrew, Petway, Pitman, Plow, Plyler, Porten, Prather, Petite, Ridgely, Riggan, Roberts, Smith, Spencer, Sprigg, Standley, Stanyard, Swan, Strother, Thompson, Thornton, Thrope, Trelawney, Turpin, Underhill, Underwood, Wallace, Walters, Weedon, Whitherspoon, Whitten,Williams,Wilmot,Wilson, Whitaker and Yerby.  These are mainly Alabama families and their ancestors from the Carolinas and Virginia. Materials vary from one page to 200. - GNH at glennhistory@gmail.com.

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....

My Grandmother's Wall Photographs, Part 6

by Glenn N. Holliman

We continue our tour of my grandmother's, Pearl Caine Holliman, collage of photographs in the late 1940s.  Until her death in May 1955, this collection hung on her wall in Irondale, Alabama.  Today it hangs in the home of Mary and E.C. Herrin.  We begin again with #17.

17.  In 1944, the family of Robert W. Daly, Sr. posed on the steps of the Ulyss family home at  2300 N. 3^rd Street.  Left to right, Robert W. Daly, Jr. (b 1943), Mary Daly Herrin (b 1931), Vena and Robert Daly.  Their home is in the background.  Even before he and Vena married in 1928, Robert Daly, Sr. had become a beloved mentor to the 'second generation' of the children of Ulyss and Pearl Holliman - Bishop, Virginia and Ralph Holliman.  His benevolent influence on the whole Holliman family of that generation is incalculable.

18.  A snapshot of Ralph Holliman evidently taken while in high school at Shades Cahaba.

 As with his sister, Virginia, two years older, Ralph graduated with honors.  However,

 the lack of family financial resources and the all-consuming World War II delayed his

 entry to Birmingham-Southern College until 1945.  Ralph went to work, considered

 his military options and courted Motie Chisom, his high school sweetheart.  They

 married in winter 1943, and a month later the draft swept him into the U.S. Army.

19.   Glenn Holliman (b 1946) in the stroller with his young mother, Gerry Stansbery Holliman (b 1923) beside him in 1947.  This war time marriage resulted in two other children besides Glenn.  Rebecca Louise Holliman Payne was born in 1950 and Alice Lynn Holliman Murphy in 1956. 

20.  Melton, wife Ida Hughes Holliman (1905 – 1995) and Pati, probably taken in February 1944 during a short leave Melton had before being shipped to England and France.  Drafted at age 35 into the U.S. Army, the 3rd son of Uylss and Pearl to go to war, Melton already had been married for 12 years.  Pati had entered their lives only three months before he put on his uniform in August 1943. 

21.     Mary Daly Herrin was the first born of the 19 first cousins of this generation.  To her aunt and uncles - Virginia, Bishop and Ralph - whom she was close to in age, she was more a kid sister than a niece. 

22.  Mary Daly Herrin in 1940, Irondale, Alabama, would marry E.C. Herrin in 1951.  This generous couple by the late 1960s made their Irondale homes the gathering place for her aunts, uncles, cousins and all their children during the many family gatherings into the early 2000s.  Today, their daughter, Linda Herrin Bradley and her husband, Al, continue this tradition by opening their Alabama beach home to family and many cousins.

More of the pictures next posting....