From my own research and others, it appears that there were two Reuben Hollises that lived in Fairfield District, SC in the late 1700s to early 1800s and they both were about the same age and were probably the eldest sons of their respective parents. One of these Reubens was the son of William Hollis the Revolutionary War soldier and the other Reuben was probably the son of Sgt. Elijah V. Hollis who was also a Rev. War soldier.
Reuben #1, son of William Hollis the Revolutionary War soldier
William Hollis (Rev. War soldier) of Fairfield District, SC had sons Reuben, Samuel, Isaiah, William and John Gideon. His son William Hollis, Jr. died in 1821 and his estate documents provide us with a very positive identification of William Sr's children (see below). In the early 1820s, William and his family left Fairfield District, SC and moved to Autauga, AL where they can be found in the later censuses with their father. After their father William died, Samuel Hollis and John Gideon Hollis moved to Union Parish, LA (1840s). Oldest son Reuben moved to Mississippi where he can be found on the later censuses. Isaiah Hollis remained in Alabama.
William Hollis, Sr. - born about 1748 per his pension application in 1833 where he gives his age as 85. Probably buried in AL.
His sons were:
1. William, Sr. - died in 1821, likely buried in SC
2. Reuben, Jr - born about 1785 per a later censuses where he gives his age of 65. Probably buried in MS.
3. Samuel - born about 1790 per the 1850 census. Probably buried in Union Parish, LA.
4. Isaiah - born about 1795 per a later census and his grave memorial. Buried in Shelby County, AL.
5. John Gideon - born about 1807 per the 1850 census and his grave memorial. Buried in Union Parish, LA.
This Reuben is almost certainly not the father of Rufus Hollis: However, it is very curious that his sons Samuel and John Gideon wound up living very close to my ancestor Rufus Hollis in Union Parish, Louisiana.
Reuben #2, the son of Sgt. Elijah Hollis, the Revolutionary War soldier
This Reuben is a potential father of Rufus Hollis but we lack any records for his wife and children or his activities and whereabouts.
There are only a few records so my research is by no means conclusive and I included quite a bit of speculation. To my knowledge, there is no Will or estate documentation for Sgt, Elijah V. Hollis so any information pertaining to him and his descendants can only be gleaned from other documents. Other researchers claim that he was born in 1763 and married Alsey Knighton about 1782 which certainly fits the date range for Reuben's birth date (about 1785). Elijah may have moved to nearby Chester District where he died about 1832. Nothing is known about the death of Alsey.
We know that Sgt. Elijah is the son of Moses and Rosannah due to estate records and at least one land record. From the estate record of Rosannah there can be found the following document that lists beneficiaries who are likely the children of Moses and Rosannah: Jemimah, Elizabeth, Leander, Margaret, Elijah, Moses, Berryman, John, Jean and Nancy.
In these same estate documents we find the name Reuben Hollis on different lists.
The first document is from Moses Hollis' estate in 1793-1794. The file is a large one with lists of buyers at the estate. One list is rather long and contains numerous Hollis names and known close heirs of Moses but it also contains names of numerous buyers who do not appear to be closely related. Reuben's name is not found on the 1st list.
The second list is a much shorter list that contains only what appear to be close relatives: Nancy Hollis, Elijah Hollis, Susannah Hollis, Widow Hollis, Daniel W. Hollis, Janey Hollis, John Hollis, Sterling Tidwell ...... and Rheuben(Reuben) Hollis. The only name that seems out of place on this list is Abner Smith who bought 2 chairs [2]. However, Abner Smith may have been the husband of Jemimah Hollis who is a daughter of Moses+Rosannah.
I believe this 2nd list contains only close kin. We know that Daniel W. Hollis is a son of Captain John Hollis and thus a grandson of Moses+Rosannah - he was about 14 years old in 1794. Nancy and Susanna are also probably the daughters of Captain John Hollis and therefore are other grandchildren. Sterling Tidwell is another grandchild - the son of the deceased Jean Hollis Tidwell who is the daughter of Moses+Rosannah. Elijah is probably the grandson Elijah, Jr. - son of Elijah. The "widow Hollis" could be the widow of Moses (Rosannah) or it could be another Hollis widow such as Elizabeth who was the widow of Samuel Hollis the son of Moses+Rosannah who died about 1793-1794. This leaves Janey and Reuben who likely are also grandchildren. Reuben is probably not a son of Moses+Rosannah or he would likely be listed as such in Moses' estate docs or Rosannah's estate docs (see next documents below). If this list is only grandchildren, then this is evidence that Elijah did in fact have a son named Reuben. Also, since Reuben purchased a cow it might indicate that he was at least 14 years old at this time (1794) which provides us with an approx. birthdate for Reuben of 1780.
The next document we have is from the 1817 estate papers of Rosannah Hollis the widow of Moses Hollis listed above. This document appears to have been handwritten by her son and her estate executor (Captain) John Hollis. Note the top of the paper where it says "mother's property". This document is very similar to the short list of names found in Moses Hollis' estate papers (shown above) and as such it likely represents close family members who purchased items from Rosannah Hollis' estate and many of the names are the same - 14 years later: Elijah Hollis, Widow Hollis, Janey Hollis, Rheuben(Reuben) Hollis, and Sterling Tidwell. [3] So Reuben was still alive in 1817 and his age would likely have been about 37 - certainly old enough to have been the father of Rufus born 1814.
There may have been other lists which did not survive but it is clear that this particular list, as well as the short list found in Moses' estate, holds some special meaning and I think it can be safely assumed that these individuals are very close kin.. It also likely indicates that the Reuben Hollis listed in these documents is not the Reuben Hollis who was the son of William Hollis the Revolutionary War soldier. So, we are probably looking at documents that indicate that Reuben had some relationship to Moses and Rosannah.
My guess is that the first list contains grandchildren of her living children who somehow were given preferential selection for any number of reasons. If my guess is correct, this would likely make Reuben the son of Elijah especially when taking into account the next Deed Gift document in 1794 from Elijah Hollis to Reuben Hollis, Jr. This document clearly lists Reuben Hollis, Jr. as the receiver of property owned by Elijah for "love, good will and affection". I have copied the document below but it is very hard to read so I have attempted to transcribe it as well:
This document seemingly would indicate that he is giving a horse and 5 shillings to his son; However, it is possible that Reuben is a nephew that he is raising - a son of a deceased brother. The fact that he refers to Reuben as Reuben Jr. indicates that there might have been a Reuben Sr. Note that he refers to himself as Elijah Sr. when we know that there was also an Elijah Jr. indicates that there was a distinction made; However, Moses Hollis gifted a slave to his son Elijah in 1794 where he referred to his son Elijah as Jr so perhaps the Junior suffix did not carry the same meaning then as it does today. [7] Also, two of the witnesses are his brothers Berry and John - why would he require such a document witnessed by his brothers for a horse and a few shillings that he was giving to his son? Further confusing the issue is that there is no mention of a deceased son with offspring in their estates. Note: By my crude estimation, 5 shillings was about $100. This horse and money may have been a wedding gift or a gift upon reaching adulthood. If Reuben Jr. was in fact a nephew, Elijah may have been raising Reuben in his household and this may have been a gift upon reaching manhood. It is anyone's guess since we have virtually no further definitive records for this Reuben. The other curious thing about this document is the mention of a William Hollis: "as all that part of my estate here mentioned to William". Who is he referring to here? He had no known sons named William nor did his father Moses. Could William be the deceased father of Reuben, another son of Moses?
Lastly, if one digs a little deeper into the Hollis records, we see that in 1794 Moses deeded gifts to his sons Berry, Elijah, John and Moses Jr - the only deed gifts found for Moses. And then in 1795, we find only one deed gift from Elijah and that was to Reuben. Then in 1797 Berry Hollis deeded a gift to his sister Nancy Gladden. And then many years later another gift from Elijah Hollis Jr. to Susannah Hollis and her children. This Susannah Hollis was the granddaughter of Moses and thus the 1st cousin of Elijah (whom he later cohabitated/married). Based on these few deed gifts, one might come to the conclusion that Reuben was indeed part of this Hollis family and a descendant of Moses+Rosannah.
-----------------
Referring to the 1810 and 1820 censuses, we see a Reuben Hollis in Fairfield District, SC and then on the 1820 census there is a Reuben Hollis in Greenville, SC. It cannot be ascertained if these are the same man or 2 different men. The 1810 & 1820 census for William Hollis, Sr. indicates 4 males which would be consistent with Reuben living on his own; However, we know that Reuben, son of Elijah, was living as late as 1817 (Rosannah Hollis' estate documents) so there is no way to positively identify the Reuben Hollis on the 1810 and 1820 censuses. Some researchers have speculated that the Reuben shown on the 1810 census is the son of William because he is shown as the next consecutive listing following Benjamin and Littleton Hollis who are the sons of William. While this may be true, we do not know this for certain especially when Elijah V. Hollis is shown on the previous census page - only a few families separate them. Also, on the 1810 census, Elijah is shown to have 2 males age 16-26 living with him. These could be sons Elijah and Isaac Knighton - with Reuben not accounted for unless he is the Reuben listed as head of household. Another possible explanation is that Reuben was living with either his grandfather, Moses, who indicates 1 male 16-25 years old or his uncle Moses (Jr.) who lists 3 males 16-25 years old (one of whom is Moses, Jr.)
Also, while there is a small chance that there was only 1 Reuben and all the records found are for him, I find it extremely unlikely especially when considering the estate documents for Moses Hollis where a Reuben Hollis is listed as a buyer of a cow in 1794: The Reuben that was the son of William Hollis the Rev. War soldier would have only been 5-9 years old in 1794 [6] and it is unlikely that he would have been buying livestock at that age for his own account. Another thing to consider in this scenario (that Reuben might be the father of my ancestor Rufus Hollis) is that I do not closely match yDNA to any known descendants of James Hollis but I do closely match at least one known descendant of Moses via Moses' son Capt. Elijah. [4] Additionally, and this could just be a fluke of nature, I strongly resemble former US Senator & Congressman John Hollis Bankhead who is a descendant of Captain John Hollis the Rev. War soldier who was the brother of Capt. Elijah Hollis. John Hollis Bankhead is the great grandson of Captain John Hollis. [5]
Other Records - Reuben #1 or Reuben #2
This record is of a Reuben Hollis witnessing the Will of the Rev. War soldier Thomas Meredith Sr in Sept 1808. Other names on this document are John Graham, Ely Elkins, John Tidwell, John Meredith, Braham (?) Ferguson and Thomas' daughter Cathron(Catherine). This is of interest not only because of Reuben witnessing the document but also note the name John Tidwell - We know that Sterling Tidwell was a descendant of Moses+Rosannah and perhaps these Tidwells are related. This Reuben is probably the son of Elijah.
We also have a mortgage deed in April 1810 between a Reuben Hollis and Austin F. Peay. Reuben appears to have borrowed $44 from Austin and provided a steep bond consisting of one horse, 3 head of cattle, 10 hogs and all of his household kitchen furniture. John Miller and Edward Cropton, witnesses. I suspect this is Reuben who was the son of William but I base this only on the fact that Austin Peay is shown living close to Reuben on the 1810 census.
1810 & 1820 Censuses
Looking at the censuses, we can find a Reuben on the 1810 census living close to Benjamin and Littleton Hollis which might make this Reuben the son of William Hollis the Rev. War veteran since Benjamin and Littleton are the brothers of William the Rev. War soldier and therefore are the uncles of this Reuben. This Reuben is shown to be aged 16-25 (b. 1785-1794) with a wife of the same age and 1 male age 0-9. There are no other Reuben Hollises listed on the 1810 census.
On the 1820 census it gets a bit more interesting because there is a Reubin Holless now shown living in Greenville, SC. This Reuben is shown to be aged 26-44 with a wife of the same age and 2 males under age 10 and 1 female under age 10. There are no other Hollises living near him and there are no other Reuben Hollises shown on the censuses. This could be either Reuben Hollis since the ages and children match somewhat. Ransom is the only known son of Reuben the son of William but William may have had a son that died or moved away. William and his sons seem to have stuck together and moved as a family to Alabama in the 1820s where they are shown together on the 1830 census but again this doesn't mean that Reuben did not live in Greenville before joining his father and brothers in AL sometime later.
I also found an 1824 document from Hall County, Georgia [1] where a Reuben Hollis is listed in a Grand Jury. Is this the Reuben that was the son of William Hollis the Rev. War soldier or is this the Reuben that was the descendant of Moses+Rosannah?
Also in Hall County there is a William Hollis who had children in the "Poor School" in July 1825. Is this the William Hollis who was the Rev. War soldier? We know that by the time the 1830 census was taken he was already living in Autauga County, Alabama but did he stop and live in Hall County, Georgia on his way to Alabama? To me, this does not seem the most direct route from Fairfield District, SC to Autauga, AL. The route through Hall County, GA would have been a common route for settlers from the western part of SC (Pendleton, Greenville, Spartanburg).
Another interesting part of this document is that the Rev. War soldier William Hollis likely did not have any children who would have been of the age for a poor school in 1825 - his children were all grown so if this was the William the Rev. War soldier these children would likely have been his grandchildren - if this William was the Rev. War soldier.
Let's revisit the 1820 census: It is a possibility that the Reuben listed living in Greenville has 2 males and one of these males could be my 2nd great grandfather Rufus. With Rufus claiming his age of about 1814 in SC on the 1850 and 1860 censuses, this would place his age as under 10 in the 1820 census. Now, the obvious question is whether this could also be the Reuben who was the son of William Hollis the Rev. War soldier. It cannot be determined which Reuben this is because they both appear to have at least 1 son and daughter born between 1810 and 1820.
We also must assume that the 1794 deed gift that Elijah gave to Reuben Jr. proves Reuben to be the son of Elijah. We also have to discount the Jr suffix to his name as being just a contrivance rather than him literally be a Junior to another Reuben. We can safely extrapolate an age range for this Reuben as being born sometime before 1784 - I base this on the fact that a horse and money is likely to have been given to a boy at least 10 years old (more likely 13-18).
So, I place 2 Reubens in Fairfield, SC living at the turn of the 18th century:
Reuben 1: Son of Sgt. Elijah Hollis the Rev. War soldier and Mary Knighton and grandson of Moses Hollis and Rosannah Hagen. This Reuben was born before 1784 and he died sometime after 1818.
Reuben 2: Son of William Hollis the Rev. War soldier and grandson of James Hollis and Sarah Hall. This Reuben was born between 1785-1788 and he died sometime after 1860.
Note that Moses Hollis and James Hollis were brothers, sons of John Hollis and Esther Canterbury of Fairfax, VA. Thus making the 2 Reuben Hollises 1st cousins.
Several questions/issue remain:
1. Was there a Reuben Sr. that was a son of Moses+Rosannah? If so, when and where did he die? Did this Reuben have a son named Reuben, Jr.?
2. Did Sgt. Elijah Hollis help to raise a Reuben Hollis, Jr. a son of his brother Reuben, Sr.? Why else would he refer to him as Reuben Jr.?
3. What happened to Reuben Jr?
4. Is Rufus the son on Reuben Jr? Even if we assume that there were 2 Reubens, and I believe there were, it doesn't get us any closer to determining if Rufus was the son of one of them.
5. Who is the William referred to in the deed gift document?
Interesting Associations and other anecdotal observations
An interesting association: Isaac Knighton Hollis lived very close to my paternal Clements ancestors in Randolph County, Alabama - probably within a few miles. This is interesting for a couple of reasons: 1) There is a record of a land transaction between Elias Hollis and Lovick Clements, and 2) My extended Clements family moved from Randolph County, AL to Claiborne Parish, LA close to where my great grandfather John William Hollis was born. My great grandfather John William Hollis married the great granddaughter of William Clements who lived in Randolph County, AL close to where Isaac Knighton Hollis lived. Elias Hollis' [11] ancestry is unknown but DNA evidence suggests that he might be closely related to Rufus Hollis, the father of John William Hollis. Also, they appear to have been devout Methodists.
We also have the names of Rufus Hollis' known male children: John William Hollis, Reuben Hollis and Thomas Hollis. John William Hollis is my great grandfather. The "John" and the "William" names fits with the names given to several known Hollis men in the Moses+Rosannah line. For example, Captain John Hollis had a son he named Daniel William Hollis and Daniel named one of his sons John William Hollis. Reuben is possibly self explanatory: Rufus may have named his son after his father? There were several generations of Reubens after this Reuben indicating a strong family name. Also, my great grandparents named one of their sons Rufus. Historically, Rufus was given to boys with red hair and there certainly is plenty of red hair in my paternal family.
Lastly, we have the 1931 newspaper obituary for my great grandfather (John William Hollis) where one of his sons is mistakenly listed as REUBEN when it was actually RUFUS. Now this could have merely been a coincidence or the writer may have confused the names Rufus and Reuben or we may have an actual clue: Is it possible that the family informer had knowledge of the name of Reuben being somewhere in our history and simply misspoke over the phone to the newspaper when reporting the death? The obit is mostly accurate otherwise except that it has the locations where the 2 sons lived reversed (Hershel lived in AL; Rufus lived in FL).
------------------------
[1] Other interesting names on this grand jury are my paternal 5th grandfather James Clements and my maternal 1st cousin (6x removed), Ebenezer Pettigrew. Both of these men wound up in Alabama.
[2] Abner Smith's name can be found on the 1790 census for Fairfield District near the name Moses Knighton. On the 1800 census he is shown living near Isaac Knighton and Austin Peay - All names that appear in the Hollis clan documents. On the 1810 census, his name appears close to James Hollis, Thomas Boulware, Hezekiah Goings and Minor Winn - again names that are found in the Hollis clan documents. It is possible that Abner is related in some form to our Hollises.
[3] Sterling Tidwell can be found on the 1800 census living near the Hollis clan. His age is shown to be 16-25 (born 1775-1884).
[4] Exact match at 25 markers. I do match a known descendant of Burrell Hollis (son of James) it is not as close as the match to the descendant of Elijah.
[5] The resemblance is uncanny - looking at pictures of him is like looking in the mirror. See photos of John Hollis Bankhead here.
[6] On the 1850 census Reuben's age is shown to be 65 but on the 1860 census it is listed as 71 - thus a birth date of 1785-1789.
[7] It possibly might indicate the firstborn male?
(This page was updated on 12/11/2022)