Willie Lee Hollaway Family Arkansas

---

William "Willie" Lee Hollaway
born March 6, 1860, Ashley Co., AR
d. April 23, 1933 in Dallas, TX     [Texas Death Index, 1903-2000, #17433]
buried between his two wives, Portland Cem. (no marker), Portland, Ark.

1st m. Margaret Eugenia "Jennie" Machen 17 April 1884 [Ark Co. Marriages 1849-1910]
b. 16 May 1859 Lafayette, AL [US Census 1870]
d. 23 March 1904 Ashley Co., AR
buried: Portland Cem. marker probably put there by Willie Lee
her father: John L. Machen
her mother: Martha A. "Mattie" Burns of Alabama

2nd m. Lou "Ella" Austin Hollaway 15 Oct 1907 [Ark Co. Marriages 1849-1910]
(widow of Willie Lee's brother, John D. Hollaway) no issue
b.13 Sept 1861
d. 2 August 1928 Ashley Co., AR
buried: Portland Cem. marker on the plot of John D. Hollaway , Portland, AR [Portland Cem.]

"Willie" Lee Hollaway was born on a large plantation owned by his father, James L. in Hamburg, Arkansas just prior to the Civil War. He was the only child of his mother, Imogene (Clyde), although his father had nine others by his first wife.

1860 - Willie Lee Hollaway is born on a large plantation owned by his father, James L. Hollaway in Hamburg, Arkansas prior to the Civil War. He is four months old when the census is taken. His father is very prosperous. He lists his real estate of $29,340 and other personal value at $43,117. The latter figure is in 26 slaves. His mother, Imogene came from the W. W. Clyde family that had moved from NY. to South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi then Louisiana before settling in Arkansas. [US Census,M 653-37,Ashley/ Union]

1861 - One of Willie's adopted brothers, cousin James M., is killed in Virginia near Bull Run in one of the first battles of the Civil War where he served In Confed. Co A. 3 Ark Infantry. He had enlisted on May 20, 1861 and died July 10 1861 in Richmond, VA. His other adopted brother Porter M. L. who also enlisted on the same date and into the same company may also have died after 1863.
[Arkansas Confederate Service Records, Arkansas History Commission]

1870 - Willie Lee's father, James L., dies March of this year of bronchitis, the same month Willie was born into. [Ark Mort. Schedule]

In July "Willie" and his mother show up on the census but under "Rozen Hollaway" in Portland, Ark. as "32f keeping house, with $2000 real estate and $1200 value of personal estate." This record is very messed up. with the birth dates of the children consistantly wrong by one person. William should only be 10, Imogene's sister, Elly Clyde(17 Louisiana) is here. She is to marry Jesse Stanford on Oct 30, of this year. Imogene's mother may also be here, but the unnamed mother should be 56 as the last person on the list, although born in S. C. Willie's other two brothers, John and Albert, and one sister, Alice, are also here. [Ark 1870, Ashley 198 Portland]

1880 - William Hollaway is a boarder in Portland Dist, Ark. still single at the age of 20 years but he intends to get married within the year according the census. [Ark 1880, Ashley c150 Portland] Enum Dist. 10 p22

1884 - Willie marries Jennie Mackin (Margaret Eugenia Machen,) 17 April 1884 daughter of John L. and Martha A. Machen, originally of Alabama. [Ark Co. Marriages 1849-1910]

My cousin, Carol Austin Apple, states,"I know from what my grandmother told me, when her mother, (Eugenia), was a little girl, her family owned a grocery store or trading post in Georgia, they were invaded by Indians. Her father hid them in a hidden basement under the store during Indian raids." I have no proof that this occurred and if it did I believe it probably occurred in Alabama, which may have been part of the Georgia Territory at that time. North eastern Alabama had been the main area of the Cherokee Indians later to become Tuscaloosa and Tallapoosa Counties. I am continuing to look for proof of this event. [Apple email - 2/21/02]

1885 - Clyde Pearl is born on March 15, named after Willie's mother's family name "Clyde".

1894 - Ernest Lee Hollaway is born in July 1894 in Mist, Arkansas

1897 - Sara (Sadie) Alice is born February 13 in Mist, Arkansas.

Willie Hollaway with Sadie on his lap,  Clyde standing, Eugenia Machen and Ernest. 
photo taken about 1898-9, courtesy of Ernest Hollaway Jr.
click for larger image

c1899 -

"When Ernest was four or five he became curious about whether black would burn. He had noticed that most things were black after they burned, heence the question. He went into his sister Clyde's bedroom one day. In her closet he found a black riding skirt. To answer his curiosity, he took a match and tried to set the skirt on fire. To his surprise, it burned quickly! He did not know what to do, and so shut the closet door and ran out of the house. Soon someone saw smoke billowing from the house, but in the country there was no way to put out the fire. The large plantation house burned to the ground. This loss no doubt was a severe setback for the family finances.

Ernest never revealed to any of his family how the fire had started. When he was about 70 or 75 , he told the story to me." [records of Ernest Lee Hollaway Jr.]

1900 - I'm assuming that the above story has some validity since the family seems to have moved off the farm into town by 1900. Willie is a ferryman in Portland, Arkansas. His wife, Eugenia, and he have four children, Clyde is 15, Ernest is 5, Sadie is 3 , Bryan is one month They have two blacks living with them , a mother and son; Willa Dokes (60) and Spencer Hill (40) who are probably their servants.
Bryan is born May of 1900, may have died shortly after this , he doesn't show up on 1910 census. [US Census, Ark., Portland, Enum. 15, sheet 19 p327b]
            Hollaway,  William     head    w  m     Mar  1860    40    mar. 16yrs                  Arkansas     Miss.     Miss.   Ferryman
            ________ ,  Eugenia    wife    w   f     May 1859    41    mar. 16yrs  6births/4 living  Ala.   Georgia   Alabama
            ________ ,  Clyde       dau      w  f      Mar 1885    15     s                                  Arkansas   Arkansas  Alabama
            ________ ,  Earnest     son     w  m    July 1895      5     s                                    Arkansas   Arkansas  Alabama
            ________ ,  Sadie        dau     w   f     Feb  1897     3      s                                   Arkansas   Arkansas  Alabama
            ________ ,  Bryan       son     w  m    Nov 1899   5/12   s                                    Arkansas   Arkansas  Alabama

1904 - 23 March - His wife "Jennie" dies of the measles. I assume that his oldest daughter, Clyde, by this time 19 helps to raise the other kids with the aid of their black servants. She apparently helped to take care of her siblings who were much younger with aid of a servant or two.   Ernest would have been nine and Sadie would have been seven years old.  [Portland Cem. Records]

1907 - Willie marries Lou Ella Wesley (Austin) Hollaway on Oct. 15, 1907, the wife of his deceased brother, Albert. [Ark Co. Marriages 1849-1910]

1909- 7 Feb. Clyde Pearl, his oldest dau. marries B. H. Austin in Portland. Arkansas. [Lee p164]

1910 - He is(49 years old) living in Portland, Arkansas with Ella (48) his new wife, his son, Ernest(15 and daughter, Sadie,(13). His occupation is listed as "owns farm". Bryan doesn't show up on this census and probably died shortly after birth.
John D. Hollaway, Willie's brother, and his wife, Sallie, live just up the road. He also is a farmer. 

Hollaway,  William          head   w   m   49   mar 2 yrs       Arkansas   Mississippi    Mississippi          farmer     Owns farm  
"              ,  Ella                wife    w    f   48   mar 2 yrs       Georgia     Georgia         Georgia
"              ,  Ernest             son     w   m  15    s                    Arkansas   Arkansas      Alabama
"              ,  Sadie              dau     w    f   13    s                    Arkansas   Arkansas      Alabama
 [US Census, Arkansas, Ashley, Enum 13/ Sheet 3, Portland]

The oldest daughter Clyde moves off to Colorado with her new husband.

1917, Sept. 3 - Willie writes this letter to Forrest Kirkland, his intended son-in-law that will marry Sadie Hollaway(20 years old).

Portland, Ark
"Dear Forrest,
As you are going to be my son I guess I have the right to use these words. Your letter received a few days ago and after considering your request and considering your plans, now, of course, I would rather for you to marry at home but I do think your reasons are reasonable. I will consent for Sadie to come to you because I have confidence in you and believe you to be a man of principal and honor and that I can faithfully trust her with you believing that all will be well with her. While I know you are not a man of wealth, I do believe you to be a man and when I say man, I mean what the word implies.

Now, of course, it would be better that you had some thing to begin with but when I married I had nothing but love and I have never regretted the day, which I believe is the case with you and Sadie, and I am sure that Sadie will endeaver to do her part and I believe you will do the same and that being the case I have nothing to fear. Now as to the date. Money is very scarce with me now and I expect it will work some hardships on me in preparing her but never the less I will endeaver to do so. Now perhaps you think this the way I write I am anxious for you and her to marry and if I would say I am would you feel puffed up of how would you feel. I hope not for I do think it is nothing but the duty of every Parent to want to see his daughter marry a Gentleman. And while I am writing plainly, I hope that you will consider that it is the duty of every man to be such yet I know they are not now of course. I hate to give Sadie up from any now yet I want her to marry because I think that is in the plan of God. Now let me give you by Blessings and of a little prayer for you both that God will Guide you all right and Protect you and that you both will be a blessing.

You may think it strange that Sadie has never opened you mouth to me and what I know I have gathered. Which I do not think is right and I have not said anything to her I believe she should have confidence in which, it seems, that she has not and I thought I would wait and see if she would say anything to me."

Respect yours,
W. L. Hollaway
[abstracted from the original, saved by Sadie Hollaway Kirkland Johnson]

Sallie Hollaway, (50f widow) the second wife of John David Hollaway, Willie's older brother, is near by with her son, Hunter (24), [US Census, Ashley Co. Ark. ed 15, sheet 5 ]

1930 - Willie is widowed and age 70 when he moves to Dallas, TX where he lives near his daughter, Sadie, and her two children, Violet and Roy. He helps support them after her husband, Forrest, leaves them. He always carried his feather bed with him when he went to visit. He loved his corn cob pipe. He fished and played dominoes with May Turner's father. He never let his own children play poker but allowed his grand kids, Violet and Roy Kirkland, to play. [recollections of Violet Christenson]

Kirkland, Forest    head   rents         m  w  37 mar  at 24    Arkansas   Alabama      Arkansas         artist    studio
"            , Sadie      wife                     f   w   33 mar at  20    Arkansas   Arkansas     Arkansas
"            , Violet     daughter               f  w   11  s                 Arkansas   Arkansas     Arkansas
"            , Roy E.    son                       m w   7 s                    Texas         Arkansas     Arkansas
Hollaway, Willie    fatherinlaw          m  w  70 wd               Arkansas   Mississippi   Alabama         retired
                  [US Census, Texas, Dallas Co., Dallas, enum. dist. 57-59, sheet 16b, perhaps 2831 English st.]

1933, April 23 - He dies in Dallas but is buried in Portland Arkansas Cemetery in an unmarked grave between his two wives. [interview with Hunter Hollaway, Nov 18, 1995 at one hundred years of age][Texas Death Index, Dallas, #17433]

1950-60's - Clyde and Sadie raise their separate families which produced numerous grandchildren. We each have our own stories about these ladies. Carol Austin Apple states this, "Gramma, Clyde, was a character. I understand I am kind of like her. She had a great sense of humor. She knew everybody and had tons of friends. Yes, I remember her as a closet smoker also. She thought that no one knew that she had a cigarette in the bathroom, with the window open and then she'd have to spray room deodorizer. It was really funny. Amazingly she lived until she was 89, Smoking and all with no obvious side effects! I really loved her a lot. She told me some incredible stories about her child hood....Grandma was very lively and kept her own house and cooked until she died. She was always ready to go with me when I called her up to go do something. " [Apple, Carol email 1/30/02]

sources:

Apple, Carol L., Fremont, CA. email - candpapple1(at)juno.com
Arkansas Confederate Service Records, Arkansas History Commission, Little Rock, Ark.
Arkansas Cemetery Records, Portland
Ark Mort. Schedule
Hollaway, Ernest Jr. photo of family and info
Lee, Alice Kennedy. Excerpts from the Ashley County Eagle, Arkansas 1889-1914, 2000 Alice Kennedy Lee, P. O. Box 636, Cave City, KY 42127, email - danlee@scrtc.com
letter, abstracted from the original hand written, saved by Sadie Hollaway Kirkland Johnson, in possession of Elroy Christenson
Christenson, Violet. recollections of
Texas Death Index-1903-2000, Ancestry.com
US Census Records,

Elroy's Family Index

---

All information and photos included within these pages was developed by the help of hundreds of researchers. The information here is for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and is freely offered as long as this site is listed as a source. It may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2010.

web pages created by Elroy Christenson- elroy@next1000.com - last updated 11/10/15