52 Ancestors 2015: #5 William Holzlider, Plowing Through "Chunks"

William Holzlider, center.  On either side of him are his children, Stella and Russell.
Also pictured is Stella's husband, Mason McCammon, and their dog Fanny.
Photo taken about 1920, along Bear Creek in Jennings County, Indiana.

My great-great grandfather, William Holzlider, was born on January 26, 1855 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents, George and Mary Gertrude, were recent immigrants to America.  (Family tradition is that George was a stowaway from Luxembourg.)  William had one older sister, Anna Mary, and three younger siblings: Edward, Julia, and Lena.  I'm not sure when his family moved to Indiana, but the Holzliders were in Jennings County, Indiana by the time the Civil War broke out.  William was working as a farm laborer on someone else's farm in Decatur county when he was 15.

The Holzlider house in Pierceville, Jennings County, Indiana.

On January 30, 1887, William married Ella Dorothy Smith in Jennings County, Indiana. He was 32, and she was 20.  William and Ella lived in Sandcreek Township, Indiana.  They had a family of six children: three boys and three girls.

William purchased 40 acres of woodland for $700 in Pierceville, Indiana in 1902 or 1903. I'm sure it was quite a job to clear the land of trees.  According to a letter written by William's daughter Bertha, the ground was all in "chunks." William and his young sons, Omer and Clyde (my great grandfather), worked hard plowing the land to make it tillable.

William's grandaughter
Martha Holtzlider in 1937.

One day in 1907, William bought a supply of lumber so that he could expand his house. Somehow, the house caught on fire that very night.  The family Bible was destroyed.  The two youngest Holzlider children, Russell and Bertha, were placed outside on a mattress that was saved from the burning house. The following day, neighbors came over and helped rebuild the house.

Ella Holzlider died in 1917 at the age of 51.  In 1920, William was still running a farm at the age of 64, with Russell and Bertha living at home.  William had retired from farming by 1930 and was living with his son Russell and his wife in Indianapolis.

My grandmother, Martha Holtzlider (pictured at right), wrote a letter in 1985 to her uncle Russell Holzlider, describing her only memory of her grandfather William:

I do remember singing to Grandpa Holzlider during what I believe was his last illness.  I was about 6 years old and it was an awesome experience for one so young and I have never forgotten standing by his bed and singing.  I don't remember the name of the song. That is the only recollection I have of Grandpa Holzlider.

William died from heart disease on July 22, 1934, at the home of his son Clyde in Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana.  He and Ella are buried at Brewersville, Jennings  County, in Bear Creek Cemetery.

52 Ancestors: #20 Clyde Ellison Holtzlider and "The Old Homestead"

Left to right: Stella, Clyde, Russell, Omar, and Gertie standing in front of their barn in Pierceville.

My great grandfather, Clyde Ellison Holtzlider, was born on March 3, 1895 in North Vernon, Jennings County, Indiana. His parents were William Holzlider and Ella Dorothy Smith.  Clyde's grandfathers, George Holzlider and Andrew Smith, were both immigrants and Civil War veterans.  They were even in the same regiment.  Clyde had five siblings: Mary Gertrude (Gertie), Stella, Omar, Russell, and Bertha.  Clyde was first of his family to add a "t" to their last name, changing it from "Holzlider" to "Holtzlider."

"The Old Homestead" in Pierceville.

The family bought a 40-acre farm in Pierceville, Indiana for $700. Clyde and Omar helped their father clear the land.   In Pierceville, there was a church, a store, and a blacksmith shop.  Clyde's sister Stella later married the blacksmith, Mason McCammon.

When Clyde was about 13 years old, the family's house in Pierceville caught on fire, and the family Bible was destroyed. The two youngest children, Russell and Bertha, were carried out of the house and placed on a featherbed in the yard.

Clyde met Dola Worland at the United Brethren Church (now known as the New Bethel Church) in Pierceville.  They were married on August, 30 1916. They had five sons and three daughters together.  Four of their children (Ellison, Garnet, Marian, and Milburn) served in World War II.  Milburn was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart after he was shot by a sniper at Iwo Jima.

Stella, Clyde, and Gertie at their childhood home in 1968.

In his later years, Clyde spent many hours playing pool and liked to take roadtrips with his siblings.  In 1963, he took a trip to Hollywood, California with Stella and Bertha.  Clyde, Stella, and Gertie revisited "the old homestead" in Pierceville on July 24, 1968.

Clyde died on December 26, 1980 in Greensburg, Indiana.  All of the Holzlider siblings lived to be at least 80 years old and remained in Indiana throughout their lives.

52 Ancestors: #18 Andrew Harmon Smith, a Resilient Soldier

My 3rd great-grandfather, Andrew Harmon Smith was born on April 11, 1838, in Hanover, Germany.  His father's name was John Henry Smith, but I don't know his mother's name.  At the age of seven, Andrew immigrated with his family to America.  Andrew had fourteen siblings; eight were born after the family came to America.  They all lived in Ripley County, Indiana.  By the time he was 22, Andrew was boarding with a family in Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana.

Pontoon Bridge over North Anna River, May 1864.

In 1861, Andrew enlisted as a private in the 7th Indiana Infantry, Company A. (Coincidentally, he was in the same regiment as George Holzlider, the father of his future son-in-law.)  At the Battle of Port Republic in Virginia on June 9, 1862, Andrew was seriously wounded in the right arm.  A note written by his granddaughter Stella Holzlider McCammon describes his injury:  "He didn't have any bone in his arm from the shoulder to the elbow; it was shot out in the war."

Andrew traveled back to Dearborn County and married Sophia B. Schroeder (whose family also came from Hanover) on March 17, 1864.  Soon after, he rejoined his regiment.

In mid May, 1864, Andrew was injured again at the Battle of North Anna in Virginia.  He sustained a wound in the left side.  Andrew was transferred to the 20th Indiana Infantry, Company G on September 20, 1864.  He was discharged on May 25, 1865, having fought in nine battles during his service.

Ella Dorothy Smith, Andrew and Sophia's first child, was born in 1866.  She was my great-great grandmother.  Sadly, Sophia died in childbirth in 1882, and Andrew was left a widower with eight children.  The newborn daughter, Ethel, lived only a year.  In March of 1884, Andrew, now 45, married again.  His new wife, 24 year-old Sarah Frances Baker, was just six years older than his oldest daughter, Ella.  Sarah and Andrew had three children together between 1885 and 1891.

Andrew Smith died December 27, 1921 at the age of 83.   Even though he was wounded twice during the war, he outlived both of his wives and six of his children.  Andrew was buried at Bear Creek Cemetery in Jennings County, Indiana.