A Gathering of Hollimans, Part III

by Glenn N. Holliman

This is the third in a series of articles concerning the October 14/15, 2011 family seminar held in Fayette, Alabama, the ancestral location of many Hollimans living today.

At the Georgia-Pacific Railroad Depot in Fayette stands a historical sign.  The Depot is now a visitor’s center and museum where in the 1880s the rail road reached Fayette.  In 1917, this writer's grandfather and grandmother rode this train with their four children to start life over in Irondale, Alabama, a blue collar suburb of Birmingham.  There Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman increased their family by three more children (one my father b. 1919 H. Bishop Holliman).  Their movement during World War I foreshadowed the disapra that the Holliman families and tens of millions of American families would experience from the middle to the end of the 20th Century.


On October 15, 2011, seminar and round table discussions were held at the Fayetteville Civic Center.  Some of those attending were below left to right, David Jennings and his uncle Bill Holliman, both of Picken’s County, Alabama.  Later, after consulting the papers of the late Walt O. Holliman, it was determined they are descendants of Charles Holliman (1795 – 1841 ca), one of the three brothers who immigrated to west Alabama in 1836 from South Carolina.  Bill is a retired college music professor.

Above, same photo on the right, from the Selma, Alabama area were Jimmy and Kathleen Holliman.  Jimmy is a descendant also of Charles Holliman, and is a professor with the University of Auburn Agricultural Extension Service. 

Keeping notes at the meeting was Jeanette Holiman Stewart of Texas, below.  Jeanette has entered over 10,000 Holliman names in her database!  Behind Jeanette, left, is Frank Holliman who still retains some of the original land settled by the pioneering Holliman families in Fayette County.

  Below, Joe Parker flanked on his left by Lynn Holliman delivers a point during the discussions.   Joe provided information on the Holliman lines from Christopher Sr. (1618 – 1691) to the present.  His knowledge of the various Holliman branches through their Southern migrations is encyclopedic in scope.

 At the meeting, we remembered many Holliman pioneers, both living and deceased who could not be present.  Undoubtedly this is only a partial list, and I apologize for not having information to include all.  Additions to this Holliman (and all its spellings) Hall of Fame are welcome.


Recognized were Maxine Wright of Arkansas and Dr. Rhodes Holliman of Virginia.  Both descend from James Grantson Holliman and have accomplished through the decades a mountain of research.  Dr. Sidney Arthur Holleman’s 2003 publication of his branch of the family (Texas) was praised also.  Ron Holliman of Dothan, Alabama, a descendant of James Grantson and John Thomas Holliman, also has compiled significant records but due to business and family could not be with us.

Among those whose earthly  journeys are over and recognized as contributing significantly to our knowledge of this American family are Cecil Rhodes Holliman, Glenda Norris’s grandfather, Walt O. Holliman, also late of Alabama, whose research has been preserved by his children, and Dr. Charles Holliman, late of North Carolina whose work lives on the writings of others. 

Above Glenn Holliman and Tina Peddie in February 2011 near her home in California.  In addition to being an accomplished genealogist, Tina conducts searches for adopted children seeking biological parents.

Tina Peddie’s establishment of the Hollyman Internet chat room in 1999 has been instrumental in the sharing of family information and networking of various Holliman researchers.  Her contributions from her home in California also include the  re-publication, with the just deceased at age 93, Dr. Jeremiah Holliman, of the George E. Holleman 1953 ground breaking genealogical book on the family.  Her achievements and George E. Holliman's tome, the first known publication concerning the family, were recognized with appreciation.

Next posting, more on the Holliman Alabama seminar....