William Holly was born on October 23, 1821, in Albemarle County, Virginia. Little is known about Holly's life before the war except that he enlisted as a free man and worked as a farmer in Madison Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Holly enlisted and mustered in at the age of 44 as a private on January 26, 1865, in Columbus, Indiana. Holly's service record describes him as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a "colored" complexion. Holly served in Company C of the 8th USCT Infantry Regiment. Holly was present with the 8th USCT during the Appomattox Campaign in the spring of 1865, which culminated in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9. The army transferred the 8th USCT to Texas following the cessation of hostilities in Virginia. Holly mustered out in Texas on November 10 in Brownsville.
After the war, Holly lived in both Rockport and Grandview, Spencer County, Indiana. At some point, he married Margaret Strantler, but he divorced her and married Amanda Greathouse. She died on September 10, 1908. After this, he married Priscilla Grimes, who died on May 16, 1912. Holly married his fourth wife, Hannah Davis, in May 1913. Hannah had previously been married to a Lewis Davis while still enslaved. Holly had a total of eight children, two of whom had died by the time he filed his pension: Clinton, Francis McZanna, Ida, Anna Catherine Davis, Willie Lacefield, Joseph Hileman, Calvin Porter, and Posey Harrison.
Holly filed for a pension in the late 1890s. He claimed to suffer from scurvy and rheumatism as well as disease of the mouth and feet, which had been frostbitten. He claimed that the scurvy was a result of eating hardtack and salt meats while stationed at Brazos Santiago, Texas, and that the rheumatism had been caused by wading through murky waters upon disembarking at Brazos Santiago. Testimony from Holly's neighbors states that he had lost most of his teeth, walked with a cane, and was unfit for labor. Despite this testimony, Holly only received a maximum of $20 a month as he was unable to prove that the scurvy had been caused by his service. The death of his family physician also limited his ability to prove that his wartime service led to his health problems. He died on December 15, 1916, in Grandview, Indiana.
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| Name: | Holly, William | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gender: | M | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race: | Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Branch of service: | Army | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Enlistment/Muster: |
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| Residence at enlistment: | Madison Township Jefferson County, IN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank In: | Private | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank Out: | Private | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest rank achieved: | Private | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pensions: |
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| Birth date: | 1821-10-23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth date certainty: | Certain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth place: | Albemarle County, VA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death date: | 1916-12-15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death place: | Grandview, IN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Causes of death: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupations: | Farmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Compiled Service Records for William Holly, RG94, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C.; Pension Records for William Holly, RG15, NARA, Washington, D.C.; Death Certificate for William Holly, accessed through Ancestry.com; Frederick A. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, vol. 3 (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Company, 1908).
