I have been focusing my research on the children of Moses Hollis (b. 1728; d. 1794) and Rosannah Hagen (b. ?; d. 1817). Most researchers seem to be in agreement on most of these children, their marriages and their offspring but there are a few large gaps and/or questionable associations which have created a number of theories. Almost all of the children of Moses+Rosannah had descendants that moved from South Carolina to Alabama. They likely took the most direct route possible which would have taken them through Georgia on their way to Alabama and some may have spent time in Georgia (possibly even owning land) before moving on. Also, given the limited number of trails that existed at the time meant that they likely passed through present day metropolitan Atlanta. Keep in mind that it wasn't until the 1820s that Indian lands south and west of the Chattahoochee River were opened up for white settlers. The Chattahoochee River runs directly through the metro Atlanta area and thus the counties that lie just to the east of the river ( Gwinnett, DeKalb, Hall, and Jackson were common "stopping points" for these early settlers. In reality, there were numerous points along the Chattahoochee River where they would have lived before crossing the river and moving into Indian territory. In addition, the eastern counties of Wilkes, Elberton, Walton and Newton would have also been along a common trail for settlers. Today, the Interstate highways 85 and 20 are very close to those early trails.
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Males
1. Captain John Hollis Rev. War soldier, (b. 1751 in VA; d. ?) married Nancy Knighton (b. 1760-1840)
2. Sgt. Elijah V. Hollis Rev. War soldier, (b. 1763; d. 1832) married Alsey Knighton
3. Moses Hollis, Jr. (b. 1770; d. 1815) 1st married Mouncient Brown, 2nd married Mary Knighton sister of Nancy who married Captain John Hollis.
4. Berry Hollis (b. ?; d. 1805) married Priscilla Knighton
5. Samuel Hollis (b. about 1763; d. about 1793) married Elizabeth (Lnu).
Females
1. Margaret Hollis married a Patterson
2. Jemima Hollis married a Smith
3. Leander Hollis married a Johnston
4. Jean Hollis married a Tidwell
5. Nancy Hollis 1st married Jesse Gladden, 2nd married a Steward
Regarding Leander Hollis, many researchers claim that the name Leander is male. Other researchers claim Leander was a female and she was a Hollis that married a Hollis and that they are descendants of this Hollis+Hollis union based on yDNA results. Some claim she married a Hollis male and had children with this Hollis male and then married a Johnston.
I do not know where some of these theories originate because we have literally no documents to support these theories. While it is true that Leander can be both a male or female name, I think the proof of Leander Hollis being a female in this instance is shown below in the estate document of Leander's mother Rosannah Hollis; This document clearly shows Leander Johnston as her married name. Note the other females with their married names as Jemima Smith and Margaret Patterson and also note the very detailed listing of the Tidwell grandchildren - children of Rosannah's deceased daughter Jean Hollis. Also note that this document was prepared by Rosannah's son Capt. John Hollis.
It is not possible that Leander was a male Hollis based on this document.
It is possible that the document is listing a Leander Johnston who was the husband of a deceased Hollis female but this doesn't logically fit either because a widower of a Hollis would likely not be listed here unless he and his deceased Hollis wife had children. This does not seem to be the case here because Capt. John was very specific in naming the children of Rosannah's deceased daughter Jean so why wouldn't he do the same for Leander Johnston if he was a widower? I can think of no valid reason why a widower of a Hollis female would be listed here if they had no children.
Lastly, regarding the theory that Leander was a Hollis that married a Hollis, had children with this Hollis male and then married a Johnston: Without some documentation to support this theory, there is no way to put any credence to its validity. I suspect that this theory got started when someone in recent years tried to connect the female Leander Hollis to their own family's Hollis yDNA results. yDNA is only carried by a male so for any Hollis male to be the child of the female Leander Hollis, she must have had children with a Hollis male. So, if Leander is shown to be a Johnston in the document below, the researcher assumed she was married to a Hollis before the Johnston and had children with him. The critical link that is missing is the proof that Leander is the ancestor of the male descendant that had his yDNA tested. I am not saying that is didn't happen (that Leander was married to a Hollis before marrying a Johnston), I am saying that I have found no basis for this in any of my research to date.
Estate document for Rosannah Hollis, the mother of Leander Hollis Johnston
It is likely that at least 2 of the 5 known sons of Moses (John, Elijah, Moses & Berry) married sisters and extremely likely that all of the Knighton wives of these men were fairly closely related.
For my own lineage there are numerous possibilities to be found in just the descendants of Moses and the task becomes even more difficult when one finds multiple individuals with little or no information uncovered for them . So where does one begin? The obvious starting point is by researching my last proven ancestor Rufus Hollis who was born in 1814 in South Carolina to see if there are documents or other evidence that would indicate who his parents were - My research is ongoing.
(This page was updated on 12/16/2022)