Hollingsworth Ancestry

My search for my Hollingsworth ancestors began on a snowy day 40 years ago when I borrowed my grandmother’s copy of W.B. Hollingsworth’s Genealogical Memoranda, and tried to find my family. After several days of studying the book I found that I was no further along in identifying my ancestors—a condition that did not change until about 5 years ago when DNA testing showed that I was a genetic descendant of Valentine Hollingsworth. However, I found that I had developed a life-long fascination with Hollingsworth genealogy.

This website is an effort to share some of the things that I have learned about the Hollingsworths over the years. It will include articles by many others about family members; data from such standard sources as census and social security death records; and surmises that I have reached based on fragmentary data.

This site would not be possible without the efforts of the many people who have done research on the Hollingsworth family during the past 150 years. My halting efforts at family research would never have amounted to anything without such pioneers as:

• William B Hollingsworth, whose 1884 Genealogical Memoranda was the first comprehensive effort to publish information on the Hollingsworth family;

• J. Adger Stewart, whose 1925 book, Descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, Sr., added an index to William B. Hollingsworth’s earlier book. Stewart’s book is in many ways still the standard work on Hollingsworth genealogy; and

• Henry A. (Harry) Hollingsworth, who published the Hollingsworth Register, a quarterly magazine of family genealogy, from 1965 until his death in 1995. Harry brought breadth and professionalism to our family research that has helped me many times over the past 4 decades.

I would also like to thank Randy Hollingsworth for spurring me on, and John Hollingsworth, whose tireless efforts mastering Hollingsworth genetics have provided a host of insights into the origins of our family.

 Doug Hollingsworth

 [Webmaster & Joomla developer - Randy Hollingsworth]