Eva & Leslie Hollister
Eva Huntoon & Leslie Hollister

Eva Hollister & children My information on the Hollister and Huntoon sides of the family was sparse. Thanks to my second cousin Ann Hollister (granddaughter of Gabe Hollister) for filling out some of the story for me, and to my third cousins Colin Page and Elaine Seehafer and my second cousin Richard Pryse for adding to it.

Leslie Eugene Hollister was born about 1859 to Martha Darling & John Hollister, probably in Wisconsin. His mother and father were both born in New York but moved to Wisconsin with some sojourns in Illinois. They both died in Wisconsin and are buried in Norrie.

Eva was the daughter of Lucy Richardson & Joseph Bede Huntoon, born in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 31, 1867, although her ages in at least two US Censuses suggest she may actually have been born about 1864. The same censuses show that, although she was born in Iowa, she grew up in Wisconsin. Her mother apparently died when Eva was a teenager though the date and place are unknown; the date and place of Joseph B. Huntoon's death are also unknown.

Leslie and Eva were married in Norrie, Wisconsin, on October 1, 1882.

Little is known of their life together except that they had five children. In the picture on this page, Eva is shown with their children. In the back row are John Joseph (my grandfather, who was always called Joe), Daisy, Doris, and Frank. Eva's arm is around her son Gabe.

In the late 1800s or early 1900s, exact year uncertain, Leslie was clearing land on their homestead in Boone County, Arkansas, when he struck his leg with an ax. Eva sewed it up and Doris went to get the doctor. Unfortunately, gangrene set in and Leslie died. Family legend says that, as he lay dying, Leslie recited classical poetry. He was buried in Omaha Methodist Cemetery in Omaha, Boone County, Arkansas where a stone bearing only the name Hollister marks his grave.

After Leslie's death, Eva moved to Ohio where she married Wesley Cain. They had a son named Richard. She was known to many of her grandchildren as Grandma Cain.

A family story recounts that when Eva died in on August 25, 1925, a picture window had to be taken out to remove her body. She was a big woman, standing over six feet tall. She is buried in Lima, Ohio.



Note on names: A family tree drawn by my mother in the 1970s lists Eva as Evelyn Hannah Huntoon, but I have been unable to document that name -- her death certificate bears the name Eva H. Cain. Most documents, including the US Census, and family oral history indicate her mother's name was Lucy but Eva's death certificate states her mother was Mary Richardson; however, the information was given by her second husband who may not have remembered the correct information. I believe that her mother's name was Lucy.

If anyone has any information about either Leslie or Eva, I would appreciate hearing about it.

Gabrielle David is the great-granddaughter of Eva & Leslie Hollister

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