William Hollis was a Revolutionary War soldier. He was born about 1765 and died about 1833. The name of his wife is not known.
Based on my own yDNA results, I am related to several descendants of this branch of the Hollis tree (James Hollis + Sarah Hall) but I do not match any of them very closely. For this reason, I have not spent a great deal of time researching this branch except to determine any common ties or relationships.
I have researched William Hollis' son Reuben Hollis only to the extent needed to keep his records and activities separate from my possible ancestor Reuben Hollis, the son of Elijah V. Hollis, Sr.
Also, one interesting curiosity is that my ancestor Rufus Hollis wound up living very near William's sons John Gideon Hollis and Samuel Hollis in Union Parish, LA in the early 1840s. They may have traveled together in a large group but were not necessarily immediate family. John Gideon Hollis moved from Alabama to Louisiana - it is not known where Rufus Hollis was prior to his arrival in Louisiana in the early 1840s.
I will provide some information here about William Hollis and his descendants since any research on Reuben Hollis, the son of Elijah V. Hollis, Sr. will necessarily need to include information about the other Reuben Hollis who is the son of William Hollis in order to identify them separately.
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From the 1821 estate papers of William Hollis' son William Hollis, Jr., the known sons of William Hollis Sr. are (It is presumed that they are listed by age, oldest to youngest):
William Hollis, Sr. appears on every census from 1790 to 1830. These censuses appear to be fairly consistent with the number and ages of his children.
Based on the censuses and other found records, the approximated birth and death dates and where they died are as follows:
William Hollis b. before 1783 d.
1821 in Fairfield District, SC; unmarried
Reuben Hollis b.~1783; d. after
1870 in Mississippi; wife was Mary
Samuel Hollis b.1791-1800 d. died
after 1840 in Union Parish, LA; wife was Wincy
Isaiah Hollis b. 1795; d. 1879
buried Shelby County, AL; probable wife was Elizabeth Stringer
John Gideon Hollis b.1809; d. 1886
buried Union Parish, LA; wife was Louisa Spigener
I am mainly interested in Reuben Hollis so my focus will be on any records for him; However, since Samuel and John Gideon wound up living in Union Parish, LA very near where my ancestor Rufus Hollis lived, I will need to include them in my research.
First of all, the 1810 census for Fairfield District lists a Reuben Hollis living very close to the Burrell, William, Sarah, Littleton, and Benjamin Hollis families. This Reuben is probably the son of William Hollis; However, Elijah Hollis is also shown living close by so we cannot say for certain that this Reuben is not the son of Elijah.
Interestingly, when the 1820 census is taken, there is no longer a Reuben shown living in Fairfield District but there is a Reubin Holless shown living in Greenville District. Is this Reuben the son of William or Elijah?
Let's look at the censuses for a Reuben Hollis:
1810 - Fairfield District, SC, 1 male 9 or less; 1 male born 1785-1794; 1 female born 1785-1794
1820 - Greenville, SC, 2 males under 10; 1 male born 1776-1794; 1 female under 10; 1 female born 1776-1794
On this 1820 census, we cannot conclusively say that they are the same man: The males age 9 or less could easily have been an infant in 1810 and he was included again as under 10 on the 1820 census - or there may be a mistake in the census information (not unusual). But we do have some later information for the children of Reuben, son of William. We know that his sons were Ransom born 1809 in SC and Osman born 1814 in SC, so the 1820 census still easily could be the same man. However, it is unusual that he was living separately from his father and brothers since they were together in Fairfield District South Carolina and again in Autauga County, Alabama.
1830 - We do not have any Reuben Hollises listed on the 1830 census. The "R. Hollis" shown living near William Hollis, Sr. on the 1830 census for Autauga, AL is likely Ransom Hollis, the son of Reuben. He is shown again on the 1840 census as Ransom. Reuben was skipped by the census takers but he likely was living in Autauga with his father and brothers.
1840 - On the census for Autauga, both Reuben, Ransom, William, John Gideon, and Samuel are all listed. Reuben lists his age as 50-59 (born 1781-1790). Isaiah has presumably moved to Shelby County, AL.
No way to know for certain if the Reuben shown on the 1810 census is the same man as is shown on the 1820 census leaving the door open for speculation that the Greenville, SC Reuben could be the son of Elijah V. Hollis, Sr. There is no doubt that the Reuben living in Autauga and then later in Mississippi is the son of William Hollis, Sr.
(This page was updated on 12/11/2022)