James E. Holliday

James Holliday was born in Clark County, Virginia around 1835. He enlisted as a private in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on August 29, 1864, into Company E of the 127^th U.S.C.T. He was 37 years old at the time, according to his Company Descriptive Book, and he stood at five feet nine inches, with black hair, eyes, and complexion. He was working as a laborer.¹ His obituary states that he was enslaved until his enlistment. After the end of the Civil War, he was honorably discharged with the rest of his company and mustered out of Brazos, Texas, on September 7, 1865.²

In 1870, he was living in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and working as a day laborer. He was married to his life Levina, and lived with children Catharine, Taylor, James, and Lily. His brother-in-law Thomas Miller also lived with them, as well as three people named Julia and Henry Thomley, and Mary Jackson, whose relations to the Holliday family are unknown.³ According to the 1880 Federal Census, he was still working as a laborer, and his oldest child had moved out, leaving his children Taylor, James, and Lily, as well as his wife Levina. Thomas Miller was still living with the family.⁴ In her application for a widow’s pension in 1889, Levina recorded that her husband returned from service in the military with chronic diarrhea, which would send him to bed for weeks or a month at a time, and leave him too weak to work for long periods.⁵

James Holliday died due to a sudden seizure on April 18, 1881, in his home on West Main Street, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He had rheumatism for some time before his death.⁶ He is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery, in section A-2, grave number 11.

1. James Holliday, Co. E, 127^th U.S.C.T. Company Descriptive Book.
2. James Holliday, Co. E, 127^th U.S.C.T. Detachment Muster-out Roll, Sept 7, 1865.
3. 1870 United States Federal Census for James Holliday, 378A.
4. 1880 United States Federal Census for James B. Holliday, 484D.
5. Case of Lavina Holliday, No. 332197. Jan 26, 1889, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
6. “Died Suddenly” The Shippensburg News, 3, Apr 23, 1881.

Bibliography:

Case of Lavina Holliday, No. 332197. Jan 26, 1889, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Charles P. Mays, Special Examiner of the Pension Office.

James Holliday, Co. E, 127^th U.S.C.T. Company Descriptive Book.

James Holliday, Co. E, 127^th U.S.C.T. Detachment Muster-out Roll, Sept 7, 1865.

1880 United States Federal Census for James B. Holliday. Ancestry.com. 484D. NARA: Washington, 2010. 1880 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

1870 United States Federal Census for James Holliday. Ancestry.com. 378A. NARA: Washington, 2009. 1870 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

“Sheriff’s Sales” Carlisle Weekly Herald. Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Nov 3, 1881. Page 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/278847134

“The County” Carlisle Weekly Herald. Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Apr 25, 1881. Page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/278838745

“Died Suddenly” The Shippensburg News. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Apr 23, 1881. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/95490578