Fayette County, Alabama

Fayette County, Alabama

~ Hollimans in the Bluff Community ~

Photos and text graciously contributed by
R.B. "Doc" Holliman

URIAH H. HOLLIMAN: The son of Cornelius HOLLIMAN and his first wife, Elizabeth PLYLER. Uriah was born on July 6, 1816, in Lancaster County, SC. He married Mary "Polly" LUCAS in Tuscaloosa County, AL, on Aug. 31, 1836. Performing the ceremony was the Rev. John WALTERS, M.G. Mary was 17 years old. The couple later settled southwest of Bluff in Fayette County, where government land records show that Uriah received patents for more than 320 acres in the late 1850s. Uriah joined the Confederate Army in 1862 at the age of 47! He was Pvt. Uriah H. HOLLIMAN, Co. B of the 9th Alabama Battalion of Volunteers, 26th Regiment, CSA. He died of measles and pneumonia at Okolona, Chickasaw County, MS, on May 8, 1862, attended by his wife until death. Their son, Charles Daniel, same military unit, same place, died on May 12, 1862, of the same diseases. Their grave sites are unknown but probably in the Confederate Cemetery in Okolona, MS.

MARY "POLLY" LUCAS HOLLIMAN (pictured right): The daughter of Charles Daniel LUCAS and Mary HASTINGS. Mary was born on Jan. 2, 1819, in South Carolina. She was a midwife and herb doctor in northern Fayette County for most of her life. She had 13 children. She died on July 5, 1913, at the home of her youngest son, Joshua Warren, at Vernon, Lamar County, AL, with burial at Spring Hill Cemetery just north of Bluff in Fayette County.

Offspring of Uriah and Mary Lucas Holliman:

1. Mary Elizabeth HOLLIMAN, born Sept. 12, 1837, in AL, died Oct. 9, 1841, in Fayette County.

2. James Franklin HOLLIMAN, born Jan. 29, 1839, in AL, died May 13, 1911, in Fayette County.

James Franklin HOLLIMAN (left), Co. B, 58th Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA. He joined the Confederate Army in 1861 as a Private to serve one year. He re-enlisted in 1862 and was promoted to First Lieutenant. He was captured at Missionary Ridge in the battle for Chattanooga on Nov. 25, 1863, and was confined to the notorious prison camp for Confederate officers at Johnson's Island in Lake Erie, Ohio. He was released on June 13, 1865, and returned to Bluff in Fayette County, where he was a school teacher and farmer. He married his wartime sweetheart, Rebecca Utley STEWART, on July 2, 1865. They had 4 children (3 boys and a girl) before her death in 1883. In 1886, he married one of his former students, Bertha Lee POWELL (pictured right with daughter Jannet), and they had 6 children (4 boys and 2 girls). James and his two wives were buried in the Holliman-Stewart Cemetery just south of the Bluff community. Several of his children and in-laws also were buried there.

3. Sarah Jane HOLLIMAN, born Oct. 3, 1840, in Fayette County, died Oct. 15, 1915, buried at Cottonwood Cemetery, 6 miles east of Eustace, Henderson County, TX. She married Charles Stephen COPPRELL in Fayette County on July 13, 1864.

4. Charles Daniel HOLLIMAN, born May 6, 1842, in Fayette County, died May 12, 1862, of diseases mentioned above while in the Confederate Army. Burial probably in the Confederate Cemetery, Okolona, MS.

5. John Thomas HOLLIMAN, born April 23, 1844, in Fayette County, died July 12, 1930, in Fayette County. Burial at Caines Ridge Cemetery, 4 miles south of Fayette, AL, on Route 159.

John Thomas HOLLIMAN (left) was known as "Hico John" to distinguish him from two others of the same name in the county. Married (1) Sarah E. CORBETT on Nov. 21, 1867: one child, William Perry HOLLIMAN. She died in childbirth. Married (2) Martha Jane WALKER: 5 sons. John was a Pvt. in Co. H, 41st Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA. Barefoot and near starvation, he surrendered at Petersburg, Virginia, on Feb. 15, 1865. He took the oath and was parolled to a farmer in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he worked until the fall of 1865 and then walked home to Fayette County.

6. Elijah HOLLIMAN, born April 16, 1846, in Fayette County, died July 10, 1864, from typhoid while serving in the Confederate Army. He was a Pvt. in Co. I of the 56th Alabama Partisan Rangers. He died at St. Mary's Confederate Hospital in Lagrange, GA. He was 18 years old. His grave is marked "E. Holman" in the Confederate Cemetery there.

7. Nancy Palestine HOLLIMAN, born April 7, 1848, in Fayette County, died Dec. 12, 1923. Married John PINION: no issue. She was buried near her mother Mary in Spring Hill Cemetery near Bluff, AL.

8. Cornelius HOLLIMAN, born Dec. 16, 1849, in Fayette County. Married Sarah Elizabeth SMITH at Fayette. Moved to Rockdale, Milam County, TX.

9. William Perry HOLLIMAN, born March 29, 1852, in Fayette County. Married Sarah HOLLIMAN, a distant cousin and daughter of Warren C. HOLLIMAN and Mary BLAKENEY of Newtonville, AL. Moved to Rockdale, Milam County, TX. Resided near Cameron, Texas.

10. Martha Ann HOLLIMAN, born June 27, 1854, in Fayette County. Married William Rufus BUCKNER in Fayette County on July 10, 1892. Resided near Alvord, Wise County, TX.

11. Rebecca Drucilla HOLLIMAN, born March 4, 1856, in Fayette County. Married John Thomas HOLLIMAN, cousin, and son of Warren C. HOLLIMAN and Mary BLAKENEY of Newtonville, AL. Moved to Ardmore, Carter County, OK. He was called "Black John" due to the color of his hair and to distinguish him from two other John T.'s living in Fayette County at the same time.

12. Emily Frances HOLLIMAN, born March 14, 1858, in Fayette County. Married (1) Abner McCLUNG in Fayette County. Moved to Eustace, Henderson County, TX, where she had relatives and there married Joe REYNOLDS.

13. Joshua Warren HOLLIMAN, born Aug. 26, 1860, in Fayette County, died Jan. 6, 1944. Married Martha GOULSBY, resided in Vernon, Lamar County, AL, until his death. Buried in Vernon. His mother, Mary LUCAS HOLLIMAN, died at his home in 1913.

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