Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part XV
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

"So, thus ended my third Golden Summer with the Robert Dalys and my sister, Virginia Holliman Cornelius.  By next summer, 1937, I had finished Shades Cahaba and was hoping to enter Birmingham Southern College that Fall, also trying to pick up odd jobs.  I had reached the age where I would have to start paying my way, and that realization posed all sorts of problems for me.  My days of romping on the beach were over and done with!!"

Above are eight of the thirteen family members who were caught in the 1936 hurricane.  This photo was taken in 1936 in the yard between the Dalys and Hollimans in Irondale, Alabama, a natural photo spot to catch the afternoon sun.  

The youngster with the long tie on the front row is Ralph Holliman, about 12 years old.  The young girl is Mary Herrin, born 1931, with her grandmother’s hands resting on her shoulders.  Her grandmother is Pearl Caine Holliman, age approximately 49 in this photo and not wearing glasses at that time. 

Back row left to right are Ida Hughes Holliman, her husband Melton Holliman, Virginia Holliman, probably 14 in this photo, Ulyss Holliman and Robert Daly, Sr. just behind his wife, Vena Holliman Daly.  Perhaps Bishop Holliman took the photo.

As an aside, notice how young Pearl Caine Holliman appears in this picture.  In just a few years, she will age noticeably with the advent of World War II and three sons going to war. - GNH

 "However, Vena, Robert, Mary and Virginia went to Miami the next summer, and Mr. Stewart Button returned to Irondale and went with them.  Upon their return, I went to Knoxville with Mr. B. staying with a church family there, and we climbed Mt. LeConte in the Smokies.  Virginia may have gone with them again in 1938 or 1939…I am not sure.  My youngest brother, Ralph, went with them in whatever year it was Virginia did not go, even though he has forgotten it!"

In the surf in Florida – left to right – Stewart Button, unidentified, Robert Daly, Mary Daly Herrin, Ralph Holliman and Vena Holliman Daly.

In 1937 Robert Daly, Sr. took the below photo in Miami, Florida of a Pan Am passenger transport, a flying boat which made regular runs to Havana, Cuba and Latin America.  This was a massive aircraft for its day, a Sikorsky S-42, all aluminium capable of 150 mph carrying 32 passengers. Range was an amazing 3,000 miles (very lightly loaded), and it still took five days to carry passengers with luggage from Miami to Buenos Aires!  - GNH

Next, more family memories by Bishop Holliman....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part VIII
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

The Summer of 1936 and the Great Storm....

Above along a pier in Clearwater, Florida, 1936, left to right, Virginia Holliman Cornelius, Mary Daly Herrin, Vena Holliman Daly and Bishop Holliman.


"I don't recall now how our 1936 trip came about.  Stewart  Button had taken a church in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier in the year, but Virginia and I were still available.  Ralph, I guess, was still considered too young to go.  I would enter my last year of high school that fall, so this would be my last hurrah.  That year we went further south, all the way to Clearwater, Florida and points in between.  Robert had now acquired a new 1936 black two-door Plymouth, so now we would be travelling in style.

Below a restored 1936 four door Plymouth touring car.


In Clearwater, we did not find the beach as white and sandy as those at Fort Walton and Panama City, so that took some of the shine off our stay there.  Instead of a 'tourist cabin', we found a fully furnished home used mainly in the winter by a wealthy owner, so that made our stay more enjoyable.  It was a few blocks from the beach and backed up to the bay.  I have no idea what the rent was, but I am sure more than we had paid at Fort Walton.  One day we drove down to Sarasota and over to St. Petersburg, and another time Robert rented a small boat and he and I went out into the bay to fish and got caught in a squall that came up quickly.  We had left Vena, Mary and Virginia home to worry about us.

It had been planned early on that Mama, Daddy and Ralph would drive down to Panama City Beach during our two week stay.  Soon Melton and Ida Holliman decided to join them, along with Ida's nephew, Earl Burton.  Also, accompanying Mama, Daddy and Ralph would be Hoyt and Vivian Bryant, close family friends of Melton's age, who had lived next door in years past.  After a week at Clearwater, we decided we would join them, so we drove up to Panama City, found a cabin where they were and settled down, we thought, for a fun time with friends and family.  On the way, we stopped at a resort similar to Silver Springs called Waukulla Springs and took a boat ride."

Next the hurricane comes....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part VI
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

The Summer of 1934 continued...


"Vena and Robert Daly did all the cooking, cleaning and whatever else had to be done.  Looking back now from this distance, you have to wonder how they could have endured such a life style, even just for two weeks.  Imagine, sharing the bath with a non relative, cooking for all of us all the time, hot humid weather and no attractions other than the beach and the fishing pier!  I don't know how they did it but they did!



Above, Fort Waldon Beach, Florida in the late 1930s or early 1940s when a boardwalk and pier were the attractions, plus of course a beautiful beach and the Gulf of Mexico.


As far as I know, we all got along fine.  Virginia and I did as we were told, and I never heard a cross word between Vena, Robert and Mr. Button.  We had a nice little cabin (in the terminology of the times).  I don't recall the number of bedrooms or other amenities and I have no idea how much it cost - very little, I am sure by today's standards.  After our first night's rest, Mary said she slept on a log.  We thought that was funny and I wrote home and told them about it!

                           The luxury cabin of the Daly's and Hollimans in the middle 1930s!

Most of our time at Fort Walton was spent in fishing, and I guess we went in the surf everyday also.  The bridge across the bay to the beach was our fishing perch, and we caught more fish than I thought were in the ocean.  Fish of all kinds - one afternoon Robert reeled in a stingray, something we had never heard of and we learned it was very poisonous.  All of us were captivated by our catch each day, and Robert arranged to 'pickle' some of them in formaldehyde in jars and bring them back home to show off his piscatorial ability.  He drove over to Pensacola to get the pickle juice and bottles.  For many years after, his pickled fish were stored in his garage up on the Irondale hill.  They were still there when I went into the Navy in November 1941.

                   Mary Daly Herrin and her baby sitter and Virginia Holliman Cornelius in Florida.

Such was our first trip to Florida - 1934.  We arrived home on a Saturday afternoon, having been gone about 13 days.  I remember being startled by how much the grass and the garden had grown during our absence.  I am sure we all went to church the next day because we would have wanted to tell everyone we had been to Florida, how many fish we caught, and to show off our tans!  We made several pictures - that are still in existence of our beach escapade of 1934.  One of Robert fishing in the surf I thought was so good I sent it to the Birmingham News, but they never saw fit to print it."

A fine day's worth of Florida fishing - Robert Daly and Stewart Button

Another Golden Summer in the next post....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part V
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

Below, Virginia Holliman Cornelius, Mary Daly Herrin, Vena Holliman Daly, Robert W. Daly, Sr. and H. Bishop Holliman at Fort Walden, Florida, 1934. Stewart Button must have taken the picture.

"I have never known why Vena and Robert felt it appropriate to take me along on their trip to Florida in 1934, the first of my 'three Golden Summers'.  I can understand why they took Virginia along - Mary was just three years old, so Virginia was needed to baby sit her.  But there was no earthly reason why they let me tag along, except out of the goodness of their hearts.  Also, Mr. Button was included in this, the first of their many escapades to Florida.  I don't recall any conversations that led up to the decision to take me with them.

Almost 5 million Model A Fords were built between 1927 and 1931.  As Henry Ford said, one could have it in any color one wanted, as long as it was black! This is a plush model.  The 1934 Daly car was more prosaic! GNH

We left Irondale, Alabama on a Monday morning in July at about 3 am, riding in the Model A Ford.  I have always remembered how exciting it was to be awakened that early and to head off to Florida, the first time I was to be out of Alabama and to view the ocean.  So six of us - three adults, two young teenagers and one three year old - were stacked in the two door car.  Our suit cases were slung over the hood on each side and may have even been tied to the fender opposite the driver's side.  Remember...there was no such thing as air conditioning, no radio and no trunk to store luggage.  Only two-lane roads, no fancy rest stops and very few eating places along the way.  By today's standards it was murder!  But we did not know any better.   We were headed to Florida, and besides, gas was no more than 20 cents a gallon.

Our first stop was in Clanton, Alabama where we had breakfast at the Dixie Cafe on the main street.  The cost was $2.50 for the six of us....ham and eggs and all the trimmings.  I guess Robert paid for Mr. Button's share.  Virginia and I had no money at all.  I thought the price of our meal was astronomical, and I recall writing back home and telling Mama and Daddy how much we had already spent.  We stopped in Dothan, Alabama to visit a Daly cousin, and we may have had lunch there.

I remember Virginia and I always wanting to visit places we had read about in our Alabama geography and history books, but the adults did not cotton to that idea so we never stopped.  Our goal was to reach Panama City.  We may have spent the night at a 'tourist court', reaching the ocean the next day; I am not sure now.

Young Robert Daly and wife, Vena, enjoy the beach in Florida.  Their kindness opened up a larger view of the world to younger brothers and sister.  

Whatever the day was, I remember how 'awed' I was when I first cast my eyes on the huge body of water that was Panama City Bay.  I guess I had seen Lake Purdy, but it was not like that at all!  The next day, I was even more 'awed', when we reached the beach at Fort Walton, Florida, a fairly new resort west toward Pensacola.  There we settled for the next twelve days in a one-bath cabin, an oil cook stove, no radio.  Air conditioning had not been heard of nor television.  There were no near-by eating places, no movie houses nor other entertainment.  But we were in Florida, and the beach was a couple of miles away, over the bridge that connected the town to the beach, and we thought it was pretty nice."

Next posting, more amazing adventures of a small town American family in the 1930s....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Golden Summers of the 1930s, Part III
by H. Bishop Holliman 2011

"In the summer of 1933 many of FDR's programs were being developed and there was lots of news about the new President and what was happening in Washington. That summer I spent reading the 8th grade history book because I had been double-promoted from the 7th grade to the 9th. Mr. Millsap, the principal, had told me to study that book over the summer, so I did. In September 1933, I entered the 9th grade.

Below in Irondale, Alabama in 1934 are left, Ida Hughes Holliman, wife of Melton, and Loudelle Holliman. In 1935, Loudelle would marry an up and coming young Methodist minister, Charles Ferrell.

Loudelle was working at F.W. Woolworth Ten Cent Store on 3rd Avenue and 19th Street in Birmingham. She worked six days a week and made, I think, seven dollars a week! Her car fare was 14 cents day. I don't know what she did for lunch. Euhal was working in Hill's grocery store in East Lake, but I do not know how much he was paid.

Right, a restored 1926 Packard with rumble seat the type in which Euhal Holliman enjoyed riding when Robert and Vena Holliman Daly took him for a long vacation ride!

By that summer, Robert Daly had sold his Packard Roadster and bought a Model A Ford from Cecil Bunt, who lived on the same street up on the hill. I never did know why he sold the Packard, or felt the need to move down to a lower level. That was not for me to know. The two-door Ford was probably a 1931 model.

 Also in 1933, there came into Robert and Vena's life, and also into our family's lives, The Rev. Stewart Button, the new Presbyterian preacher in Irondale, one who was to impact our lives for many years.

Below, Irondale neighbor, Charles Pugh, Bishop Holliman and Stewart Button in front of the Holliman home at 2300 3rd Avenue, ca 1939.

Mr. Button, or 'Button' as Robert Daly called him, was a native of Ireland and had come to the States in the late 1920s, attended Maryville College in Tennessee, a Presbyterian institute. A well educated man, he was about the same age as Robert but as yet unmarried. Robert and Vena took him under their wings, and from then on Mr. Button was like one of the family.

 He was in and out of their house constantly, socialized with them and shared many hours of pleasant conversations. Maybe it was the Irish connection that tied them together. Anyway, he became a big part of their lives as long as they lived. Also, he had a great influence on my life as well."

Next, a Return again to the 1930s....

Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman and their Descendants

by Glenn N. Holliman

Homer Bishop Holliman, 1919
the Fifth Child of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman

With the marriage of The Rev. Charles Ferrell to Loudelle Holliman in 1935, Bishop gained another strong influence on his life.  Charles encouraged Bishop to enter Birmingham-Southern College after graduation from Shades-Cahaba High School in 1937.  With some assistance from Robert Daly and acquiring a youth position job with the North Alabama Methodist Conference (thanks to Charles and Loudelle), Bishop was able to attend this liberal arts school, and after the interruption of war, graduated in 1946 on the G.I. Bill.

During his service with the Conference, Bishop met many young Methodist pastors, one being Paul Nelson Propst (see above) and had the occasion to attend and help conduct youth meetings in Montevalla, Alabama and Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.  In North Carolina, Bishop met another Methodist, a young lady from Greenville, South Carolina, who would in 1990 become his second wife, Anne McLaughlin.

Above is a photo taken in front of the Holliman home in 1939 on 3rd Avenue in Irondale.  Bishop (center) had just returned from a trip to East Tennessee and Western North Carolina with his boyhood friend, Charles Pugh (left) also of Irondale. The man on the right is Stewart Button, a Presbyterian minister and a great friend of the Dalys.  Button, as he was known, could hold his own humor-wise with his fellow Orange Irishman, Robert Daly, Sr. Note the streets in Irondale were not paved until World War II.

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 .


Next, the War comes to the Family....