William Frank Hollis (1885 - 1940)

Born 6 May 1885 in Wayne, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Minnie Etta (Van Ocker) Hollis — married 1910 (to 1928) in Oklahoma, United States

Descendants

Died 2 Dec 1940 at age 55 in Earlsboro, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma, United States

Biography

The son of Thomas (Hollis and Elizabeth (Dixon) Hollis, Frank was born in Wayne County in 1885.^{[citation needed]} His mother passed away in 1884, when he was ten years old, and his father remarried, marrying Rachel (McGee) Hollis in 1895. By 1900, he had six half-siblings in the household; he worked as a farm laborer on his father's farm plot in Wayne County.^[1]

He went west to work on the railroad: in 1910, he lived lodged in a hotel in Amarillo, Texas run by Ida Harrison, the wife of a tailor, while working as a car carpenter for the railroad.^[2] Frank married Minnie (Van Ocker) Hollis, the daughter of Morris Daniel Vanocker and Honora Dora Burke. She had been married previously to Frank Gibson Pollock (1880-1924), with whom she had two daughters: Hazel Pollock (1901-1940) and Grace Margaret Pollock (1905-1987). Frank and Minnie married sometime around 1911, most likely in Oklahoma. Frank and Minnie had at least five children together:

1. Hattie Opal "Louise" Hollis (1912-1997)
2. William Theodore Hollis (1915-1916)
3. Harold Morris Hollis (1917-1944)
4. Virgil John Hollis (1919-1992)
5. William Rutherford Hollis (1922-2002)

Frank registered for the draft when he was 36, noting that he worked at the time as a car inspector for the C&S Railway in Trinidad, Colorado, residing at 511 Linden Street in Trinidad. He was described as a tall, slender man with brown hair and blue eyes.^[3] In 1920, they lived in Trinidad, Colorado, where Frank then worked as a railroad car inspector.^[4]

Frank died of a heart attack when he was 55, in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. He is buried at Tecumseh Cemetery in Tecumseh, Oklahoma.^[5]

Research Notes

According to his World War I draft card, Frank was born in 1882, which conforms with his ages listed on several census records;; however, his grave marker is etched with 1885 as the birth date.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSZV-MYK : accessed 17 February 2021), Wm F Hollis in household of Thos A Hollis, Civil Districts 6, 14, Wayne, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 101, sheet 1B, family 19, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,604.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMB7-5WP : accessed 17 February 2021), Frank Hollis in household of Joseph D Harrison, Amarillo, Potter, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 198, sheet 27A, family 440, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1582; FHL microfilm 1,375,595.
3. ↑ United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Las Animas County. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Ancestry Record 6482 #19613048 with attached Image
4. ↑ Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Year: 1920; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T625_167; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 140: Precinct 45 comprising Ward 4 (part) of Trinidad City, bounded by North Ave, City limits, City limits, Las Animas River, Rosita, Rosita extd. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Ancestry Record 6061 #107907149 with attached Image
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #95477898