| Life fact | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Marion Trammell Hollis |
| Born | December 14, 1893, in Gerardstown, West Virginia |
| Parents | Joseph Marion Hollis and Cora Lee Trammell |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Henshaw |
| Child | Trammell Henshaw Hollis |
| Primary residence | Gerardstown, West Virginia |
| Principal roles | Automobile dealer; bank and utility director; Hereford cattle breeder |
| Religious affiliation | Presbyterian Church |
Genealogy of Marion Trammell Hollis
This genealogical account was constructed from the family information contained in the biography below. No relationships or life facts have been added from outside sources.
Marion Trammell Hollis was born December 14, 1893, in Gerardstown, West Virginia, a son of Joseph Marion Hollis and Cora Lee Trammell. The account identifies his grandfather as Captain Joseph W. Hollis.
On November 9, 1915, at Martinsburg, Marion married Elizabeth Henshaw, a daughter of Edgar C. Henshaw and Sally Lingamfelter. Their son, Trammell Henshaw Hollis, was born December 17, 1916. Trammell married first Mary Morgan, and they had a daughter, Mary Morgan Hollis. He married second Mrs. Patricia Wilson Sharpless, and they had a son, Michael.
Family outline
Marion Trammell Hollis
- Father: Joseph Marion Hollis
- Mother: Cora Lee (Trammell) Hollis
- Wife: Elizabeth Henshaw
- Son: Trammell Henshaw Hollis
Source
This biography appeared in History of the Shenandoah Valley: Family and Personal Records, Volume III (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1952), pages 49-51.
Verbatim biography
The following is a faithful transcription of the original biography. OCR errors have been corrected against the printed page images, but the original wording, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and factual claims have not been rewritten.
MARION TRAMMELL HOLLIS of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has been successfully engaged in automobile sales for over a quarter of a century. He is president of the Trammell Hollis agency, which holds the franchise for Chevrolet and Oldsmobile cars in Martinsburg, and active in a utilities concern and a bank, for he is recognized as one of his city’s ablest business men.
Mr. Hollis was born December 14, 1893, in Gerardstown, West Virginia, in which community he still resides. His parents were Joseph Marion and Cora Lee (Trammell) Hollis, who died within a year of each other, his mother in 1933 and his father in 1934. J. Marion Hollis followed the occupation of farming, and was a well-educated man, being a graduate of the University of Maryland. Trammell Hollis’ education was begun in the public schools of his native Gerardstown, and he attended Shepherd College for parts of five semesters, as a special student. He later took courses in business administration in Martinsburg Business College.
Mr. Hollis’ first experience in the business world was in the automotive field. He was associated with the Vehicle Company of Martinsburg, retail outlet for the Auburn Wagon Company. From 1916 until August 13, 1924, he was engaged in business in his own right as a partner in Henshaw, Hollis and Company, orchardists and distributors of farm supplies. On the date above mentioned, he inaugurated his own automobile sales business by acquiring the Chevrolet franchise for Berkeley County.
Opening his Chevrolet agency with only two employees, Mr. Hollis embarked on a successful career of automobile retailing. He had taken over the Chevrolet agency from the Jones-Griffith Company, and with it fifty-seven 1924-model touring cars, five roadsters, one sedanette, and one new dump truck. The preponderance of open cars, which then dominated the automobile market, will be noted. Another contrast with today’s models was the fact that all of these first vehicles which Mr. Hollis sold were a staid black in color. All were disposed of before the end of the year, indeed four had been purchased on the first day of business. One of these first four was repurchased by Mr. Hollis several years ago, and is now an honored display piece in his garage. Starting with Mr. Hollis in his enterprise twenty-five years ago was Bernard T. Butts, who has continued to serve the organization loyally ever since, and is now general manager of the Trammell Hollis organization. James S. Dailey, now operating his own automotive dealership elsewhere in the city, was another of his associates when the business opened its doors under the present management.
Within two years, Mr. Hollis’ expanding enterprise required more floor space, and he moved in that year (1926) to the Hodgson Building on Winchester Avenue. Five years later he occupied the Pine Garage building, and has remained there since. During his twenty-five years of operation, Mr. Hollis’ agency has sold more than twenty-five thousand new and used automobiles—an average of one thousand cars per year. He acquired the Oldsmobile franchise for his region on October 13, 1930, and has continued both Chevrolet and Oldsmobile sales to the present time. In addition, it is the proprietor’s justified claim that the Trammell Hollis Organization offers “Every Known Automotive Service”. His payroll has kept pace with the expansion of his volume of business, and he at present employs fifty-five persons. To their assistance through the years, and to the good will and patronage of his customers, Mr. Hollis thus paid tribute in an article appearing in the columns of the “Martinsburg Journal” on the occasion of his twenty-fifth anniversary in the automobile business:
If it had not been for the wonderful co-operation of the public and the loyalty of our employees, the measure of success we have attained would have been impossible. The people of Martinsburg and the Eastern Panhandle have treated us wonderfully and we of the organization desire to express our heartfelt thanks.
Recalling the early days and the early trials of the agency’s existence, the article cited above recounted:
On the first models bumpers were considered an extra accessory and the Chevrolet of 1925 had the old-type cantilever springs. One of the difficulties in operation of the early cars was a grabbing clutch which, if not controlled, would start the car off in broad jump fashion. To partially rectify this, Hollis and Butts hit upon the idea of furnishing each auto purchaser with a box of what was called “Fuller’s Earth”, a special soil preparation. Whenever the car started to jump, the driver would get underneath and throw some of this dirt on the clutch band to provide temporary relief.
Trammell Hollis, Inc., became incorporated on August 3, 1948. Department heads in today’s organization are: Roy C. Grove, sales manager; Albert Schneider, accountant; Carl Dick, parts and accessories manager; and Arthur Butts, service manager. The garage, which is the nucleus of the organization, contains fifty thousand square feet of floor space, and is the largest on U. S. Route 11 between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Roanoke. The growth of the organization from the small agency located in the Heller Building on West King Street, has been gratifying to Mr. Hollis and all associated with him, and it is recognized throughout his community that his sound knowledge, business ability, and reliable, ethical practices have brought him a deserved success.
The Trammell Hollis organization has not been Mr. Hollis’ only commercial achievement. He also is associated with Tuscarora Motors, Inc., as he has been since 1932, when he acquired the Buick franchise. He thus has the dealership for three of the General Motors cars which are leaders in their respective price brackets. In 1934, he also became consignee in Berkeley and Jefferson counties for the Texas Oil Company. Mr. Hollis is an aviation enthusiast qualified to pilot his own plane. He is a director of the Potomac Light and Power Company, and also a director of the Old National Bank. He is a leader in organizations of his colleagues in the automotive trade, being a director of the Automobile Dealers Association of West Virginia, and West Virginia director of the National Automobile Dealers Association. He is regional vice-president of the West Virginia organization.
Mr. Hollis finds in agriculture a profitable avocation. Starting in 1937 in a small way, he became interested in the breeding of Hereford cattle, and now has a registered herd of two hundred and fifty on his nine-hundred-acre Prospect Hill Farms. He exhibits at many cattle shows throughout the nation, and has often won the blue ribbon, indicating first prize. He has taken an active interest, too, in community affairs, devoting much of his time to diversified projects of a worthy nature.
Fraternally, Mr. Hollis is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Blue Lodge, the Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, The Council, Royal and Select Masters, and the Commandery of the Knights Templar. He has attained the Thirty-second degree, and is a member of Osiris Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a charter member of the Kiwanis in Martinsburg, and is a communicant of the Presbyterian Church, serving that religious body as deacon. In his politics, he is an Independent Democrat.
Mr. Hollis’ foremost hobby, although a quiet one, has attracted considerable attention in his community. It is the collecting of newspapers published in the early years of our country’s history. All of these, with a single exception, were published during the administrations of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and considerable emphasis is given, in them, to such national matters as the Louisiana Purchase and the Twelfth Amendment. In the collection are issues, dated in 1801 and 1803, of the “Federal Gazette and Baltimore Daily Advertiser”; several Martinsburg, Charles Town, and Winchester papers of the same era; and three complete bound volumes of the Washington “Federalist” for 1810, 1811 and 1812. Other cities represented by papers covering the first four years of the Nineteenth Century are Richmond, Virginia; Pittsburgh, Carlisle, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Fredericktown, Maryland; Scioto, Ohio; Alexandria, Virginia; New London, Connecticut. There are a number of early Baltimore papers, among them the “Democratic Republican and Commercial Daily Advertiser”; the “Republican or Anti-democrat”; and the “Telegraph and Daily Advertiser”. The single paper which does not belong to this early period is an “extra” of the New York “Herald” published on Saturday, April 15, 1865, bearing news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. There are many indications in these papers of the continuing influence of English journalism: the classified advertising on the first page, the British modes of expression and spelling. The latter in particular seems archaic to modern eyes; and the old-style long “s” is prevalent. The backlog of Mr. Hollis’ collection has been in the Hollis family for four generations, and its history is thus accounted for in the columns of the “Martinsburg Journal”:
When the Hollis home was built at Gerardstown (then Middle Town) during Revolutionary War days, by William P. Wilson, of Richmond, Virginia, Wilson used to send a Negro boy to the junction at Inwood to meet visitors from points such as Pittsburgh and Richmond. They would be invited to the Wilson home and usually had a copy of a paper which was left behind when they departed and was saved.
Hollis’ grandfather, Captain Joseph W. Hollis, acquired the estate in 1838, and the papers, which were in the attic of the house, came into his possession. When his son, J. Marion Hollis, came into ownership of the property, the papers also became his.
These journals have recently been of value in providing historical data, during research in West Virginia history conducted by the University of West Virginia.
At Martinsburg, November 9, 1915, Marion Trammell Hollis married Elizabeth Henshaw of that city, daughter of Edgar C. and Sally (Lingamfelter) Henshaw. Mr. and Mrs. Hollis are the parents of a son, Trammell Henshaw, born December 17, 1916. He graduated from Martinsburg High School and Massanutten Academy, and received his degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama, after which he attended the Sons of Dealers School, sponsored by General Motors, Chevrolet Division. He served with distinction during World War II as a member of the United States Army Air Corps, completing twenty-five missions over the European Theater on a bomber. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Oak Leaf Cluster, and Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. At the time of his honorable discharge in 1946, he held the rank of sergeant. Trammell Henshaw Hollis has been twice married. He married, first, Mary Morgan of Detroit, by whom he is the father of one child, Mary Morgan Hollis. He married, second, Mrs. Patricia Wilson Sharpless, and they are the parents of a son, Michael. Trammell H. Hollis is now president and owner of Tuscarora Motors, Inc., which holds the franchise for the sale of Buick cars in his district.