med Bemiss. The move most likely saved both his assets and his life, since General Sherman and the bluecoats went right through Griffin in their "march to the sea." All together, some fourteen members of John Holliday's family fought in the Civil War, surprisingly all returned home safely. Although Reconstruction would prove almost as difficult as the War.
             While the rest of the south was trying to cope with the entry of the Northerners, John Holliday's main dilemma was more personal. Since the move to Bemiss, Alice Holliday, his mother, had taken ill and would steadily decline in health until her death in September of 1866 of tuberculosis. This drove John into a serious depression, which was only mildly retarded by the consoling of his Uncle John. This show of sympathy and concern for John by his uncle helped to create what would form into a long lasting almost parental relationship. His father, Henry Holliday, did not help matters much by remarrying only three months after his
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