Captain John Hollis was a Revolutionary War soldier and he enlisted for service in the state of South Carolina. For more on his service, click here.
Due to the facial resemblance of several of these Hollises to my own immediate Hollis family (and myself), this line is the most fascinating and worthy of my research time; However, I have not yet found any proof that any of these descendants of Captain John are my own ancestors.
Children of Captain John Hollis and Nancy Knighton:
- Col. John "Jack" Hollis, Jr. (b. 1790; d. ) - married 1819 to Letitia Holliday daughter of Daniel Holliday (Rev. war soldier)
- Daniel William Hollis (b. 1780; d.~1820 ) - married a Boulware
- Darling Jones Hollis (b. 1804; d.1883 )
- David Jones Hollis (b. 1807-8; d. after 1880 - see censuses)
- Nancy - probably never married. Died in late 1839 or January 1840.
- Elizabeth - did she marry a Hollis? Had a child named Permelia
- Susanna - married her 1st cousin Elijah V. Hollis (See below)
- Sarah - married a Davis
- Mary - was not married by 1842
- Margaret - married a Miller (John?)
1. Col. John "Jack" Hollis, Jr. doesn't appear to have married until 1819 which is also borne out in the 1820 census for Kershaw District showing no males under 26 [1] and a later bible record indicating the names of his children and their birthdates. Interestingly, John Hollis, Jr. is not listed in the estate documents of his father or mother. This is one of those genealogical mysteries: We are fairly certain that John is the son of Captain John and Nancy Knighton yet why he is not listed in the distribution of their estates is perplexing. One explanation is that he was living in another state (Alabama) at the time of their deaths and the surviving members of the family did not know how to reach him but I find this not likely. The more likely explanation is that he deferred any interest in their estates due to his own personal wealth compared to his siblings. Another mystery is why he was living in Kershaw District when his parents and siblings were living in Fairfield District although he may have simply been living on the eastern side of the Wateree.
Col. John and most of his descendants moved to the northwestern part of Alabama.
Col. John Hollis Jr. can likely be eliminated as the father of my ancestor Rufus Hollis; However, the facial resemblance of his grandson, John Hollis Bankhead, to myself is uncanny.
John was likely a Colonel in the SC Militia
(State Gazette, July 22, 1823)
Parents of John Hollis Bankhead
Click here for more pictures of John Hollis Bankhead
2. Daniel William Hollis is rather interesting. He is said to have married Elizabeth Boulware and had only 1 son, John William Hollis who was born in 1814. Daniel was supposedly murdered in 1820. [2] His estate records indicate his wife was Eliza/Elizabeth, his son was John W. and his 3 daughters were Martha (married James Sasser) and Mary Hilliard (married Jesse) and Nancy Hollis, a minor in 1823. His widow married to Joseph Lumpkin and they moved to Amite County, MS. His son John William Hollis also moved to Amite and his wife was Asis/Asha Caden. Interestingly, John William Hollis had sons Daniel W. and John W. who later moved to Ashley County, Arkansas which is almost adjacent to Union County where my great grandfather John William Hollis lived.
Based on Daniel's estate, he can be eliminated as the father of Rufus Hollis but his estate papers bring up another interesting Hollis male: Nottley Hollis. In 1822, there are 2 payments on a note made to Nottley. Nottley Hollis who was the son of John and Esther died in 1782 so this must be another Nottley, perhaps Nottley Jr. It seems unlikely that the payment would be made to an estate some 40 years later so it almost certainly isn't the same Nottley if he did in fact die in 1782. This Nottley therefore could be a potential ancestor, but there are no records for a Nottley Hollis of this age.
3. & 4. Darling Jones Hollis left a Will in 1883 where he named children and grandchildren. Per the 1850 census, David Jones Hollis was born in 1808.
I have eliminated Darling and David as the father of my ancestor Rufus Hollis born 1814; However, there is a photo of one of his daughters (Margaret) and she certainly has a familial resemblance.
5. - 10. Regarding the female children of Captain John and Nancy Knighton, little is known of them with the exception of Susanna Hollis who appears to have had several out-of-wedlock children with her 1st cousin Elijah V. Hollis Jr. while Elijah was still living with/married to his 1st wife Mary Hollis Hollis (also his 1st cousin, daughter of Moses Hollis, Jr.). One can imagine the furor this created and Elijah and Susanna later moved to Jefferson County Alabama (Birmingham area today) where they raised a large family.
We do have the Will of Elizabeth Hollis in 1841 where she names several of her siblings ( Nancy, David, Darling, Sally Davis, Polly Hollis) and her daughter Permelia who might have been illegitimate unless she married a Hollis. Note that the 1840 estate record of their mother Rosannah lists the slave named Amanda and her child Sam and the same "Mandy" and Sam are listed in Elizabeth's Will in 1841. If Permelia did have an out-of-wedlock birth, she would be the 2nd known daughter of Captain John to have done so - Susanna being the other.
Nancy, is likely the Nancy shown on the 1850 census (age 62) living with her brother David Jones Hollis. And then later, she is shown living by herself on the 1860 census, age 74. Note that this age "fits" with her being the same Nancy as shown on the 1820 census, age 26-44.
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[1] John Hollis married Letitia Holliday whose father was Daniel Holliday R.S. Daniel is shown as the next consecutive entry for Kershaw District (1820 census).
[2] Some researchers claim that Daniel was a slave trader and he was killed by slaves; However, his estate only shows that he owned 2 slaves. If he was a slave trader it seems to me that he would have owned numerous slaves for his own use in addition to any that bought/sold. We also have the letter from Peter T. Hollis claiming that he was killed by negroes.
(This page was updated on 12/16/2022)