Hartman-Holliday Family Books

I found a number of books that were in Holliday Ellwood Hartman's library but belonged to his relatives: his grandmother, his mother, his father, his aunts, his uncle, his cousin, and his children. In order to figure out all the relationships, I've been working on the family tree. Here's what I have so far, thanks to research done by my grandfather (Holliday's son-in-law) John H. Wise, family trees submitted to RootsWeb.com, and a few Google Books. If you have any additions or corrections, feel free to comment or e-mail me at katherinehala@gmail.com.


Holliday's Grandmother - Dorcas Hill - My Great-Great-Great-Grandmother:
You married Alexander Holliday, lived in Hollidaysburg, and had five children. I have a book that belonged to you: "Lady Huntington and Her Friends; or, The Revival of the Work of God in the Days of Wesley, Whitefield, Romaine, Venn, and Others in The Last Century" compiled by Mrs. Helen C. Knight. The inside page reads "Dorcas Hill Holliday, from her Aunt Hannah Copaley Lloyd, Hollidaysburg Pa, Apr. 17, 1854." Your father's last name was probably Hill. Therefore, your Aunt Hannah must be from your mother's side. So either your mom's last name was Lloyd and your Aunt Hannah didn't marry, or your mom's last name was Lloyd and your Aunt Hannah was your mom's brother's wife, or your mom's last name was Copaley and your Aunt Hannah, her sister, married a Lloyd.

Holliday's Father - Henry Waters Hartman - My Great-Great-Grandfather:
I find you fascinating, and I already wrote a whole post about you, highlighting your business dealings with Andrew Carnegie and your book autographed by Carnegie. I have two other books that belonged to you: Carnegie's "An American Four-in-Hand in Britain," given to you by W. L. Abbott in 1884, and "The Great Boer War" by A. Conan Doyle, presented to you by W. Pilkington of England in 1900. I like the book from Pilkington because he wrote you two Shakespeare quotes in beautiful handwriting: "The friends thou hast and their adoption tried bind them to thy soul with hoops of steel" (especially fitting for a man in the steel industry) and "To thine own self be true And it must follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man."

Holliday's Uncle - Jesse Lee Hartman - My Great-Great-Grandfather's Brother:
You were one of seven children, although your brother Homer died before you were born. Your older brother Henry Waters Hartman is my great-great-grandfather. When H. W. Hartman moved to Colorado and his streetcar venture failed, you helped his son - your nephew - my great-grandfather - Holliday Ellwood Hartman. You provided him with a house and probably helped him when his wife died of cancer and he was left with six children, the youngest of whom was 9 (my grandmother). I have your book "The Life of Charles Sumner: with Choice Specimens of his Eloquence, a Delineation of his Oratorical Character, and his Great Speeches of Kansas" edited by D. A. Harsha and published in 1856. This book also has F. R. Hartman's name in the back cover - your little brother.

Holliday's Mother - Mary Holliday Hartman - My Great-Great-Grandmother:
You descended from Northern Irish immigrants who fought in the Revolutionary War and founded Hollidaysburg. You had four siblings, including a twin named Gilbert and a sister named Hannah who ended up at the same nursing home as you. You married Henry Waters Hartman and probably moved around a lot as a young married woman. You had two sons, and at one point you were fairly wealthy and lived in a beautiful home in Ellwood City.

You gave your sons a lot of books, and you seem to have read a lot yourself. I have at least ten books that belonged to you: a Presbyterian hymnal given to "Mrs. Mary Hartman" from Waters in 1877, which means you got married in or before 1877; another Presbyterian hymnal you inscribed in 1900; "Laddie: A True Blue Story" by Gene Stratton-Porter from Eva Dillan for Christmas 1903; "Friendship Village" by Zona Fale, a Christmas gift from Eva Dillan in 1912; "A Far Country" by Churchill, a Christmas gift in 1915 from Donacheg(?); "The Major" by Ralph Connor, a Christmas gift in 1917 from Dorothea; "The American Government" by Frederic H. Haskin; "A Self-Denying Ordinance" by M. Hamilton; "Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery" by B. L. Farjeon; and "Hazel of Heatherland" by Mabel Barnes-Grundy.

I am puzzled by your relationship with your son. Apparently you spent the last nine years of your life in a Presbyterian home in Hollidaysburg. But my grandmother - your granddaughter - who would have been about 14 when you died - doesn't remember ever visiting you. She says it's because Hollidaysburg was quite far away and her father didn't have a car. My grandfather thinks maybe you and your son didn't have a good relationship. What happened? When did you stop seeing each other?

Holliday's Aunt - Blanche Holliday Hastie - My Great-Great-Grandmother's Sister:
You married Samuel Hastie and had a daughter named Helen. I have your book "The People's Bible History" published in 1896, which you either gave to your nephew Holliday or he adopted as his own. (His signature is under yours on the inside cover page.) You also gave Holliday his "Books I Have Read" journal.

Holliday's Cousin - Helen Holliday Hastie (HHH):
You are Aunt Blanche's daughter, and you seem to have been very interested in literature. I have a book that belonged to you - "In Story-Land" by Elizabeth Harrison - along with several books you gave your cousin Holliday.

*Update, February 2009 - There are two Helens ... Holliday's cousin Helen Holliday Hastie (daughter of Aunt Blanche and Uncle Samuel Hastie) and Holliday's daughter Helen Hastie Hartman who married Thomas North (see below). "In Story-Land" definitely belonged to cousin Helen Holliday Hastie, but I think I accidentally sent it to daughter Helen Hastie Hartman North's daughter Pam. Oops.

Holliday's Aunt - Hannah Holliday - My Great-Great-Grandmother's Sister:
I have your Bible, a tiny black book from 1885 with your name engraved on the cover. The second page is marked in pencil "Hannah L. Holliday, Presented by her Mother." The only thing I know about you is that you and your sister Mary, my great-great-grandmother, both died in the same Presbyterian home in Hollidaysburg, in 1934 and 1935.

Holliday's Son - Henry W. Hartman - My Grandmother's Brother:
You died in a car accident when you were only 23, six years after your mother died of cancer at the age of 45. I have two books that belonged to you: "Don Strong of the Wolf Patrol" that you got for Christmas in 1925 from your Aunt Jane, and a "Problems in American Democracy" textbook from Zelienople Public Schools that was purchased in September 1928. You used it after John Shaffer and Clyde Kauf. You scribbled '31, Speedy #16, and your initials throughout the book, plus an interesting pie chart called "Business Circle" that includes Prosperity, Panic, Depression, and Recovery. It seems like both your father and grandfather followed that model. Why is it in the inside cover of your textbook?

Holliday's Son - Samuel Hartman - My Grandmother's Brother:
I remember you and Aunt Marion very well. I have your book "The Young Financier" by W. O. Stoddard, given to you for Christmas in 1924 or 1926 by John E. Kocher.

Holliday's Daughter - Mary Holliday Hartman Meyers - My Grandmother's Sister:
I don't remember you very well, but I've met your two children Rick and Carole at various family reunions. I have your books "The Motor Maids by Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle" by Katherine Stokes, a gift from your mother, and "The Twins In The West" by Dorothy Whitehill. I also have "The Luck of the Bean-Rows: A Fairy-Tale for Lucky Children" by Claud Lovat Fraser from your Aunt Jane - your mother Ida's sister.

*Update, February 2009: There are two Mary Holliday Hartmans: Mary Holliday Hartman, H.E.'s mother (1846-1935), and then Mary Holliday Hartman who married a Meyers, H.E.'s daughter (1916-1996). Based on dates and notes in the front of the books, I believe I matched the books with their correct owner. I'm going to send Mary Holliday Hartman Meyers' books to her son Rick.

Holliday's Daughter - Helen Hastie Hartman North - My Grandmother's Sister:
You married Thomas North and had two children: Pam and Jack. I have four books that belonged to you, and I should probably send them to Pam. One is a lovely little illustrated edition of "Through The Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" by Lewis Carroll. (Paul Eastwood Hutchinson's name and address are also written inside. Paul was the name of your mother Ida's sister Lillian's husband ... your Uncle Paul ... and may also have been the name of his son, your cousin.) This same book is on sale for about $43 online, but I think I'll forego the profits and give the book to Pam. I also have "Jean's Winter With The Warners" by Christine Whiting Parmenter. This sells for between $25 and $30 online, but your copy is kind of moldy and has a page falling out, so I'll definitely send it to Pam. :) Then I have "Jack Morgan: A Boy of 1812" by W. O. Stoddard and "A Little Brother of the Rich" by Joseph Medill Patterson signed "Helen Dear Hartman, Nov. 19, 1927."

*Update, February 2009: I sent the books to Pam, even the moldy one and one that belonged to a different Helen ... see above.