Henry County AlArchives Biographies.....Holley, Francis M. May 2 1857 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 26, 2004, 11:17 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    FRANCIS M. HOLLEY, a prosperous young farmer of Henry county, was born May
2, 1857. His father was John G. Holley, Sr., born in Lawrence county, Ga., in
1820, and his mother was Phebe (Price) Holley. The former came with his parents
to Alabama in 1823. He, when he grew up, settled in Henry county, became a large
land owner and slaveholder, and followed farming until the breaking out of the
war. He then en-listed in the Henry Grays under Gen. A. C. Gordon of Henry
county, and served until the final surrender. He then engaged in merchandising,
putting in a stock of general merchandise at Lawrenceville, which he handled in
connection with his farm. He was a man of good business qualifications and did
much to repair the ravages of the war. He was considered one of Henry county's
most substantial and conservative men, and died in 1877, in the fifty-seventh
year of his age. His wife, the mother of our subject, was a native of Henry
county, born June 14, 1824, was educated in the schools of Henry county, and was
married January 7, 1844. She was a lady of culture and refinement, and was the
mother of six children: John G., Jr.; Sarah, wife of Jesse Hattoe; Mary E., wife
of Jesse Hickses; Martha L., wife of N. L. Hawley; Melissa, wife of W. L.
Kelley, and Francis M. The mother of these children died in October, 1861, in
her thirty-seventh year. Francis M. Holley is a native of Henry county, and was
raised and educated in the county. He was married November 17, 1880, to Miss H.
L. Espy, daughter of W. C. Espy. Her father was a native of Coosa county, Ala.,
was a farmer by occupation and served in the late war four years. After the
close of the war he resumed farming, which he followed till his death, which
occurred in July, 1891, in his sixty-first year. Her mother was also a native of
Alabama, was educated at home, and was married in her twenty-first year. She is
the mother of six children, all of whom are living, as well as herself. She
resides at Columbia, Ala. The wife of our subject was brought up in Barbour
county, and came with her parents to Henry county, and was educated for the most
part in the advanced schools of Lawrenceville, under the careful supervision of
her uncle, Prof. Joseph Espy. She was married in her twenty-first year, and is
the mother of four children, three of whom are living: Hattie M.; Ida, and
Francis R.; William Harrison died in infancy. Our subject began life on a farm
for himself in 1877, and has continued in this line ever since. He now owns a
tract of land containing 1,800 acres of as fine land as there is in Henry
county. Upon this farm he has erected the best of buildings, including a large
and commodious and well ventilated house. He has good tenant houses, convenient
lots and stables, orchards full of fine fruit trees, fields bearing excellent
crops of all kinds, and every appearance of thrift and prosperity. While our
subject is yet a young man, he is regarded as one of the most progressive
farmers of the county. He is a democrat in politics, and takes active interest
in the political questions of the day. He is a member of Lawrenceville lodge,
No. 248, A. F. & A. M., and a valuable member of society.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 1094-1095
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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