Jacob and Emily were married in Monongalia County, West Virginia Dec. 6, 1837. They had six children: Mollie, Cordelia (1840), Brice (1842-1922), Caleb T. (1845), Romulus D. “Tobe” (1847), Evaline (1849), all born in West Virginia. In 1850 The Holland family was living in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Caleb was 4 years old living with Jacob and Emily, Cordelia, 10, Brice, 7, Caleb 4, Romulus, 2 and Evaline, less than a year. They had another child in 1853, Europa. Jacob was a farmer with real estate valued at $2,500. The whole family was born in West Virginia. Emily died in 1857 and Jake married Sophronia Bogus (born 1825) in Virginia. They had five children together: Lucien (1859), Bruce (1861), Idella (1863), Guy (1865) and Zera (1868).
By the 1860 census, 1860 Jacob 44 and Sophronia 23 were living in Marion Illinois. Caleb T. was 14. Living with his siblings: Brice, 17; Romulus, 12; Europa, 7; and Lucian, 1. Since Lucian was born in Illinois, they must have migrated from Virginia sometime between 1857 when Emily died in Virginia and 1859 when Lucian was born in Illinois.
Caleb joined Co. E, 60th Illinois Infantry in January of 1862 and was mustered in at Jonesboro, Illinois. His muster papers said he was 20 and listed as a brick maker but he was only 16½. He was described as 5’8” with black hair and eyes and a dark complexion. Caleb served until February of 1864 when he re-enlisted as a veteran. On March 6th, his unit was ordered to Illinois on veteran furlough. The men were furloughed from Centralia, Ill., March 15, 1864. On the 18th of April 1864, the unit moved, via Louisville, Nashville and Chattanooga, to Rossville. On April 18, 1864 near New Albany, Indiana Caleb deserted. The actual records contradict his obituary which said that Caleb had been in the army for a very specific term of “3 years, 11 months and 19 days.” Either way, he still applied for a military pension on August 16, 1890.
In December of 1869 Caleb was initiated as a charter member into I.O.O.F, Williamson County Lodge #392 of the Oddfellows in Marion.
In the 1870 census, Caleb and his sister, Europa, were living with the Tailor family in Crab Orchard Township next door to their parents and four half siblings. Caleb, 24, was listed as a sawyer and Europa, 18, was a school teacher. The only children living with Jake, a miller, and Sophronia were the ones he had with Sophronia, his second wife.
Between 1886 and 1894, Caleb built a saw mill next to West End Creek on what is now Holland Street but was then an unnamed street. By 1900, Holland had also gone into partnership with James D. Gill and was also operating a business called Marion Lumber & Planing located on West Main Street where the Family Video building is currently located. By 1906, the planing business was incorporated into the mill on Holland Street and was solely operated by Gill going under the Marion Planing Mill Company name.
On December 11, 1870 Caleb married Jerusha A. Norman. Jerusha was born in July 1857, the daughter of David Norman and Susannah Klope Norman.
In the 1880 census, C.T., 37, and Jerusha, 27, had been married nearly 10 years. They had two daughters, Gertie A., 6, and Elsa, 7 months. They lived in Marion, but C.T. was listed as a farmer. Gertie A. Holland died in May 1884 at the age of 10 years at their home on E. Main Street.
In 1881, C.T. was part of a posse to find Tom Hilliard, accused of the stabbing of Bruce Hendrickson.
Caleb served as alderman to the city under Mayor J.C. Jackson in 1884 and 1885 and later was alderman under his older brother Brice Holland when he served as Mayor of Marion in 1897 and 1898.
In the 1900 census, Caleb and Jerusha were living with three children: Fred, 18; Dee, 17; and Hattie, 7. C.T. had no occupation listed. Caleb and Jerusha had been married 29 years, owned their home free of mortgage and had had 9 children; but only 4 were still living.. Though the address wasn’t listed the family were known to be living in this period at 208 N. Van Buren Street.
Jerusha died on January 8, 1903 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. Five months later C.T. married Mary Kilpatrick on June 14, 1903
In the 1910 census, Caleb was 64 and Mary 51, Caleb was serving as Justice of the Peace for Marion Township and had been for a few years with an office at 504 Public Square. Hattie was the only child still at home and she was 17.
In the 1920 census Caleb and Mary were living alone at 802 N Van Buren St. He was 74, retired, and she was 61.
Caleb died September 20, 1924. His death certificate said he was a retired lumber dealer. His parents were Jake and Mary Holland and he had lived 60 years in Marion. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Marion with Jerusha and Fred.
His obituary (though not completely accurate) in the Marion paper was as follows:
Caleb Holland, 802 N. Van Buren was struck by the Illinois Central southbound passenger train on Saturday morning at 8 am and died shortly afterwards at the Marion Hospital where a losing battle was fought to save his life. Mr. Holland was born in W. Virginia and on July 28th this year celebrated his 79th birthday. He moved to Illinois as a young man and had settled in Marion for 64 years. In his early manhood he was united in marriage with Jerusha Norman and five children by that marriage survive. These are Mrs. Alice Transer of Herrin, Dee Holland of Herrin and Mrs. Hattie Comstock of Carbondale. Following the death of his first wife he united in 1903 with Mary Kilpatrick who survives. Six of the children of the deceased preceded him in death as have two brothers, Captain Brice Holland and D. “Toby” Holland. The two brothers also had sudden deaths, having been called to their reward by heart failure. Lucian Holland of Marion and Jake Holland of St. Louis, half-brothers and Mrs. Iva Westmoreland of California is a half-sister. Shannon Holland and Riley Holland are cousins of the deceased. Caleb enlisted in the Civil War and served 3 years, 11 months and 19 days. He was a member of the Southern Methodist Church, but had not been a regular attendant for several years due to poor health. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge in Marion and three years ago the local lodge celebrated his golden anniversary as a Mason. The Masonic Lodge will have charge of the funeral services. He was a lifelong Democrat and for 12 years served as Justice of the Peace of Marion Township. Although he had been retired for 20 years he was fairly active, getting up town to visit with his friends practically every day. It was one of those walks that ended badly. He was crossing the IC tracks on Van Buren St. when the train caught him Saturday morning knocking him over and causing his head to hit the concrete curbing. Mr. Holland was the first police officer that Marion hired and served several terms a chief of police. He was said to have been one of the most powerful men from a physical standpoint that ever lived in Marion and was a person much feared by law violators in the earlier days here and even in the remembrance of some of the younger generation. At one time he worked on the railroad when this was the short line and at another time he operated a saw mill near the present ice plant. The funeral will be Sunday afternoon at the home. Interment will be in Rose Hill Cemetery. (MDR, Sept. 20, 1924)
Children:
Gertie A Holland was born in 1874 and died May 27, 1884, age 10.
Elsie Holland was born Nov. 18, 1879 and died in Dec 18, 1928 at age 49. She married William A Tranbarger.
Loren Dee Holland was born Sept. 22, 1882 and died Aug 22, 1946. He married Bessie E. Glidewell. They had a daughter, Lillian, and a son, Don. Dee was a coal weighman in the mines. In 1930 a granddaughter, Bonnie Marie Holland, was living with them. They lived at 1416 W. Cherry St. in Herrin.
Fred N. Holland was born August 20, 1885 in Marion and died August 31, 1907 in Marion. He was 22 when he died. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Hattie G. Holland was born in 1892 and married G. Fred Comstock in October 1912.
(Sources: Federal Census records, Illinois Civil War muster rolls and company histories, City Directories, Marion City Cemetery, Marion newspapers, Events in Egypt, and the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947. Compiled by Sam Lattuca and Colleen Norman)