Will - William Washington Hollingshead - was born in 1881, four days following the death of his father James. He was born in Lauderdale Co. Tennessee, which I always heard as Laudadill as a child, this was not the county where his parents were living in 1880. The 1880 census indicated that James and Josie Summers/Sumner and their daughter Anna Elizabeth, one year old were living in Haywood County near Tom Hollingshead and his wife Sally Summers/Sumner. Over in Lauderdale County lived Uncle Bill - William Ezekiel Hollingshead and his wife Julie Averitt and Uncle Frank - Benjamin Franklin Hollingshead and his wife Susie Nicks .

In 1881 each of the four Hollingshead brothers were farming, raising young families and recovering from the ravages of The War Between The States. Times were hard, but life was improving.

Sally and Josie had watched their father Wash Summers and his two oldest sons, their brothers William Abner and John Marcus march off to join the Hollingsheads and others who were fighting FOR Alabama: – Bill 20 AL, FOR Mississippi: – Co. F 13 MS Frank, or FOR Tennessee 32d TN: - Wash, William Abner and John Marcus.

Not one of my Union or Confederate relatives and ancestors ever voiced anything regarding slavery ; neither for or against as a reason for their going off to fight. Reading their letters is found a common a theme; my union relatives fought FOR the Union AND my Confederate relatives fought FOR the state where they were born or lived.

Susie welcomed home her wounded husband Frank who would always walk with a limp after the war. Abner Sumner lost an arm. Each of them Hollingshead, Summers/Sumner and thousands of others marched away from home determined to fight to the death, if necessary, to insure states rights. Each returned home thin, often sick, with haunted eyes and nightmares that troubled their sleep until the end of their lives. Ezekiel’s brother John was not so fortunate; HIS sons John and James were KIA within a month of one another.

Hard times followed but, by 1881, each had begun to again hope for the future. All of that changed for Josie Summers and the unborn child she carried. Welfare was nonexistent, jobs were nearly so. Each of the Hollingshead and Summers/Sumner families helped as much as they could, however they all had growing families and mouths to feed. Women were left with few options, Josie kept house for strangers and when they allowed; kept her children with her. When the employer didn’t want her kids under foot she faced a horrible dilemma and farmed them out with ‘kin’.

BY 1890 Frank and 2 SONS Benjamin Franklin and Charles Wesley appear on tax rolls : CYPRESS TOWNSHIP near Conway AR. Will was fortunate; Frank’s son Benjamin Franklin – Uncle Ben was married, he and his wife Ola only had one son Ruben and were happy to provide a long term home for Will. Charles Wesley and his wife Nancy Alice Bearden lived nearby.

Frank’s children grew up, married and began families. Josie remarried and produced two more daughters. Will’s sister Lizzie and Frank’s son John Dee ran off to Alabama to get married, FIVE TIMES… but that is another story. Charles Wesley and Alice had a nice family of four children along with a new baby. And Will grew up into a hardworking young man engaged to a girl down at Lonoke. Will moved to Lonoke to be closer to Cora.

And, Charley took sick.

And, Charley died.

And at harvest time the family sent Will back up to Conway to get Charley’s crop in so that Alice and the kids would not starve. As quick as the crop was in Will hurried back to Lonoke.

Come spring the family sent Will back to Conway to get a crop in the ground so that Alice and Charley’s kids would not go hungry. Charley’s children were Geneva 9, Maren 7, William Grover 6, Mattie Lee 4 and Henry Ezekiel crawling size.

The crop was in the ground when nineteen year old Will got ready to go back down to Lonoke.

Aunt Mattie told me she and the other kids stood on the porch and watched G’pa get his stuff out of the barn where he had been sleeping and put it into the wagon. She said Grandpa came to the porch to tell them goodbye and she and the others flung themselves on him and ‘we went to squallin’

Alice, twenty-nine years old, heard the commotion and came to the door.

G’pa told me he said, ‘Well, Alice I guess if we are to ever get these kids to shut up we better ride into town and go to the courthouse and get married.’

And, so they did.