Our Arklahoma Heritage: From Tidewater roots to Arkansas rest- The Hollowell family legacy across five generations
- Dennis McCaslin
- Jun 24
- 2 min read



In the quiet embrace of Saint Paul Cemetery near Caglesville in Pope County lies a family saga carved in stone.
The final resting place of Christian Bingiman Hollowell (1819–1898), Union veteran and frontier patriarch, anchors a multi-generational journey that began along the Elizabeth River in colonial Virginia and ends with a Navy lieutenant commander in the hills of Arkansas.
The story begins with John Hollowell Sr. (b. 1672), who established a homestead and water mill in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia—now part of Chesapeake.

His son, John Hollowell Jr. (1695–1752), inherited the land and passed the family’s Quaker legacy down to Thomas Hollowell (1739–1821), who migrated to North Carolina and then to Orange County, Indiana, in 1812.
He is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave at Bluff Springs Cemetery in Indiana alongside his wife, Mary Peele Hollowell.
Their son, John Hollowell Sr. (1766–1855), became the first settler of Valeene, Indiana.
Living in a cave while building his home, he and his sons laid out the town, donated land for a school and church, and helped found the Church of Christ at Bluff Springs.
His son Henry Hollowell (1787–1853) carried forward this spiritual stewardship, marrying Martha Bingiman, daughter of Christian Bingiman--whose name would pass down to their son.

Born into this devout tradition, Christian Bingiman Hollowell left it behind after the deaths of his elders. By 1862, he had enlisted in Company D, 56th Illinois Infantry, serving in key Western Theater campaigns of the Civil War: Corinth, the Siege of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Sherman’s March to the Sea.
His headstone at Saint Paul Cemetery reads: Co. D, 56 Ill. INF—--a quiet marker of a man who bridged pacifism and patriotism.
After the war, Christian married for the third time and eventually settled in Pope County, where he died in 1898. According to daughter-in-law Mintie Hollowell, he passed away while the family was preparing to move to Texas and was buried in the Gravel Hill section of the Saint Paul Methodist Church Cemetery.

Christian’s son, Thomas Lee Hollowell (1869–1926), was born in Bollinger County, Missouri, and married Mintie Bowers. He ran a store in Caglesville and fathered seven children, including Samuel Tilden Hollowell (1893–1985), who would serve as a corporal in the U.S. Army during World War I. Samuel rests beside his father and grandfather beneath the Arkansas pines.
That military thread passed again to LTC Samuel Tilden Hollowell (1931–2019), great-grandson of Christian.

A history scholar and veteran of both the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and the U.S. Navy, he retired as a lieutenant commander after 20 years of service. Active in his community and his church, he was interred in 2019 beside the ancestors whose lives he’d studied and honored.
Five generations of Hollowells now rest in Saint Paul Cemetery—a family born of Quaker simplicity who came to define American perseverance.
From Tidewater watermills to Civil War battlefields, from covered wagons to military salutes, the Hollowell family left its mark not through monuments, but through memory, movement, and quiet acts of duty.
