Judge Ernest Lee Hollaway Family Arkansas

---

Ernest Lee Hollaway
b. Jul 1894 Ashley Co., AR
d. 25 Jul 1981 Corning, AR
buried:

1st m. Veva Inez Reynolds 30 May 1917 Russellville, AR
b. Ashley Co., AR
d. Ashley Co., AR [Portland Cem.]
her father: John W. Reynolds
her mother:

2nd m. Mildred Crockett Shanks c 1951
b.
d.

1894 - Ernest Lee Hollaway is born in July 1894 in Mist, Arkansas

1897 - Sara (Sadie) Alice is born February 13 in Mist, Arkansas.

c1899

"When Ernest was four or five he became curious about whether black would burn. He had noticed that most things were black after they burned, hence the question. He went into his sister Clyde's bedroom one day. In her closet he found a black riding skirt. To answer his curiosity, he took a match and tried to set the skirt on fire. To his surprise, it burned quickly! He did not know what to do, and so shut the closet door and ran out of the house. Soon someone saw smoke billowing from the house, but in the country there was no way to put out the fire. The large plantation house burned to the ground. This loss no doubt was a severe setback for the family finances.

Ernest never revealed to any of his family how the fire had started. When he was about 70 or 75 , he told the story to me." [records of Ernest Lee Hollaway Jr.]

1900 - I'm assuming that the above story has some validity since the family seems to have moved off the farm into town by 1900.   They last two blacks listed in the household were probably servants.  Bryan is born May of 1900, may have died shortly after this , he doesn't show up on 1910 census.  Eugenia seems to have had 6 children with only four surviving.  Willia Dokes had 10 children with 4 surviving. 

1904, March 23 - Ernest's mother "Jennie" dies of the measles. [Portland Cem. Records]

1907 - Willie marries Lou Ella Wesley (Austin) Hollaway on Oct. 15, 1907, the wife of his deceased brother, Albert. [Ark Co. Marriages 1849-1910]

1910 - Willie Hollaway is (49 years old) living in Portland, Arkansas with Ella (48) his new wife, his son, Ernest(15) and daughter, Sadie,(13). His occupation is listed as "owns farm". Bryan doesn't show up on this census and probably died shortly after birth.
John D. Hollaway, Willie's brother, and his wife, Sallie, live just up the road. He also is a farmer.
            [Arkansas, Ashley, Enum 13/ Sheet 3, Portland]

1913 to 1915 - Ernest was attending Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He was majoring in literature.
[Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1915-16 - He was a history instructor in the public schools of Russellville, Arkansas. He probably restarted his education in 1916 when he attended Valpariso University at Valpariso, Indiana. [Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1916 and 1917 - He became superintendent of the schools at Hermitage, Arkansas, a position that he held until 1918. [Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1917, May 30 - Ernest marries Veva Inez Reynolds probably in the Methodist church at Arkansas City.

1918, Sept 10th - Ernest enlists in the Army. He was a private in Infantry Co., #36 of the Ninth Receiving Battalion. He was discharged at Camp Pike on December 10, 1918. I'm curious about why his service was so short.
When he was discharged he became superintendent of schools at Womble, Arkansas according to his article in the Centennial History of Arkansas.   More recently researchers have found no record of him having a position of superintendent of the schools here.   It is more likely that he may have been a principal of a school.   The town changed its name to Norman in 1925.  

1920, May - He quits his job to return to college at Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee. He graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in June, 1921. He also gets an L. L. B degree from this same institution. He had already passed the bar to practice law take cases before the circuit courts. In 1921 he was granted the right to take cases to supreme court. [Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1921, September - He became superintendent of schools in Arkansas City and according to the article he remained in that position at the time of the writing. [Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1923 - He expected to set up his own law practice and apparently did.
Ernest eventually becomes a well known judge in Ashley Co., Arkansas. [Centennial History of Arkansas. vol.III, p.43]

1930 - Ernest Holloway is living at 177 W. 3rd St. in Corning, Clay Co., Arkansas with his wife Veva, son and nephew.

1979 - Dec 27 -

1981 Jul 25 - Ernest Hollaway Sr. dies in Corning, AR
letter to Violet Christenson,  October 2, 1981 [letter in collection of Elroy Christenson]

Ernest Jr. goes on to become a missionary. He has a long and successful career and spends many years in Japan with his wife and children.

sources:

Arkansas Cemetery Records, Portland
Ark Mort. Schedule
Christenson, Violet. recollections of
Lee, Alice Kennedy. Excerpts from the Ashley County Eagle, Arkansas 1889-1914, 2000, Alice Kennedy Lee, P. O. Box 636, Cave City, KY 42127, email - danlee@scrtc.com
Herndon, Dallas T. compiler. Centennial History of Arkansas, Vol. III of 4 volumes, page 43, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company of Chicago and Little Rock, pub. 1922
US Census Records,

Return to Elroy's Family Index

---

All information and photos included within these pages was developed by the help of hundreds of researchers. The information here is for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and is freely offered as long as this site is listed as a source. It may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2008.

web pages created by Elroy Christenson- echriste@sccd.ctc.edu - last updated 12/20/08