A Gathering of Hollimans, Part IV

by Glenn N.  Holliman


This is the fourth 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.

On the outskirts of Fayette last October were many cotton fields (above) waiting for the harvest.  This crop was important to Southern Holliman families for several centuries.  The farm land in the Sipsy River bottoms and the the timber and minerals of the ridge and ravine topography of the area have provided income to generations of Hollimans in that part of west Alabama. 

Above at the Fayette, Alabama seminar for Holliman descendants, Raiford Brandon, Bill Holliman and Vonceil Duckworth took notes while Joe Parker (above) shared his many insights in the Holliman family.

The gathering did not lack for educational expertise.  In addition to Kathleen and Jimmy Holliman (above left), a professor at Auburn, was Lenwood Holliman (above right) of Lamar County, Alabama, a retired superintendent of schools.  Both Lenwood and Jimmy descend through Charles Holliman, a son of James Grantson Holliman.

The Hollimans attending, sans spouses, were left to right front row: Jeanette Holiman Stewart, Vonceil Duckworth, Lenwood Holliman, Glenda Norris (number 12), Jimmy Holliman, Raiford Brandon and David Jennings.  Back row: James Franklin Holliman, Glenn Holliman, Bill Holliman, Joe Parker and Lynn Holliman.

Sending greetings to Alabama from Caernarvon, Wales in Great Britain was cousin Bob Hollyman-Mawson (left) who forwarded some of his humerous findings on Holyman behaviors in Nottingham, England in the 1500s.  His article, which generated chuckles, was distributed at the seminar.

Finally after a presentation on our English heritage to the Fayette group, an accumulation of my articles on English Holymans, was distributed (see below).  If anyone would like a copy of Bob Hollyman-Mawson's article and/or mine, I am happy to email.  My email address is Glennhistory@gmail.com.

This publication describes my adventures during 2010 and 2011 in the search of the Holliman families of England before our ancestors became Americans.  The parish church on the cover is Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire, England where a very great uncle of the America Hollimans was born in 1495.  This uncle became The Rt. Rev. John Holyman, appointed a bishop during the turbulent reign of Queen Mary Tudor.


One cannot close our visit to Fayette, Alabama without a word of thanks to the Rose Hill Inn for their generous hospitality, the staff at the Fayette County Civic Center who worked on a Saturday for us, and my genealogical partner and second cousin, Glenda Norris who donated great time and energy to insuring the Holliman Round Table event would occur.


And much thanks to those who came so far and shared knowledge and asked good questions as we all sought to know better our ancestral roots.  


Next postings, more on Alabama Hollimans before we return to Merry Ole England and Wales in search of our Medieval and Renaissance roots. 

The Hollimans of Alabama

by Glenn N. Holliman

Back to the 19th Century...A Series of Articles on the Hollimans and Related Families of Fayette County, Alabama

We continue our series of the April 9, 2011 tour of Holliman sites in Fayette County, Alabama led by Glenda Norris, descendant of Christopher Holyman, Sr (1618 - 1691).

Above at the Chapel Hill Cemetery near Newtonville, Alabama are from left to right: Faye Gardner (Reform, Alabama), Jeanette Holiman Stewart (Austin, Texas) and Lenwood Holliman (Gordo, Alabama).  In this April 9, 2011 photograph, they stand behind the grave of Civil War veteran Warren Holliman (1833 - 1908), a son of Charles Holliman (1795 - 1852), of whom the three are descended.  Warren is misspelled Warron on his tombstone.

Warren Holliman's story...


In 1836, numerous children accompanied the three brothers, Cornelius, Charles and Warren Holliman, on their journey from the North Carolina/South Carolina border to Fayette County.  One of the children of Charles Holliman and wife, Barberry (sometimes Barbara) Walters, was their son, Warren, age 3 at the time.
According to U.S. Census records Fayette County had a population of over 3,000 in 1830, and would more than double in size to over 6,000 in 1840 as immigrates moved west to the yet untitled soil of Alabama.

Warren married Mary Polly Blakeney, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Kemp (or Roberts?)  Blakeney.  Thomas (1800 - 1892)  was a son of William Blakeney and a grandson of Capt. John Blekeney (1732 - 1832).   The Blakeneys had migrated to Alabama from Chesterfield, South Carolina.  Warren and Polly would have 11 children, 3 girls and 8 boys which helped entrench the Holliman name in the area.

Warren's generation came of age as the American Union dissolved and Civil War engulfed our ancestors.  Warren and his two brothers, Cornelius and Elijah, and cousins (including my great grandfather, John Thomas Holliman) joined with other Fayette Countians in enlisting in the 41st Alabama Infantry Regiment.  Warren was known as the 'strong man' of the county.  He could pick up a bale of cotton (500 pounds) and walk with it!

 Glenda Norris uses a genealogical technique she learned from Rhodes Holliman, the application of shaving cream to faded tombstones, to reveal hidden names and dates.  This is Warren Holliman's grave site.


In the next post, Warren Holliman's historic war service with the 41st Alabama Infantry Regiment....