Kentucky:  A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 3rd ed., 
1886. Allen County.

DR. WILLIAM L. HOLLIS was born February 14, 1823, in Sumner County, 
Tenn.  He is the eighth of eight boys and seven girls, all of whom lived 
to be grown, born to Jessie and Phoebe (Gambling) Hollis, who were born, 
respectively, in Virginia and Sumner County, Tenn.  Jesse Hollis was a 
farmer, and in his young days was a tailor.  He came to Tennessee when a 
lad of ten years; where he subsequently owned a farm of about 680 acres 
and a large family of slaves; he died in 1834, aged about sixty years.  
He was a son of James Hollis, who married Mary Morgan, both of whom were 
born in North Carolina; they moved to Virginia for a short period.  In 
about 1785-'90, they emigrated to Tennessee, where land was entered and 
improved.  James was a son of Isaac Hollis who came from Scotland.  The 
mother of our subject was born in 1778, was a daughter of James 
Gambling, who married Mary Terry.  He came from England, was a soldier 
of the Revolution and an aide of Gen. George Washington.  He died about 
1840 at the age of one hundred and seven years.  His wife died about 
four years later at the age of one hundred and four years; she was of 
Scotch Irish descent.  They were some of the very first settlers of 
Tennessee and were slave owners.  Dr. Hollis was reared on a farm.  
After his father's death he left home and lived with whoever he could 
procure work from; was a cabin-boy on a Mississippi steamboat for about 
three years, and when he quit he had about $400.  With this he started 
to educate himself.  After spending about two years in school he hired 
on a farm and worked by the month until his marriage, in May, 1843, with 
Mary Hatler, of Weakley County, Tenn., a native of Henry County, and a 
daughter of Alexander Hatler, who married a Mrs. Russell, natives of 
eastern Allen County, Ky.  Mr. Hatler was a farmer, miller, and a 
minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and a son of Mike Hatler, who 
came from North Carolina and was of Dutch descent.  Dr. Hollis and wife 
are the parents of five children:  Elizabeth J. (Barr), Hallie E. 
(Harris), Mollie D. (Shives), Emily M. (Fisher), Regina A. (Bridges).  
He and wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; he is 
also one of the leading members of the Masonic fraternity.  After his 
marriage Dr. Taylor located in Weakley County, Tenn., where he engaged 
in farming.  One year later he removed to Polk County, Mo., and lived 
one year, when he returned to Tennessee and finally to Sumner County, 
where he engaged in teaching for five years, in the meantime carried on 
a farm, after which he moved to Nashville and attended medical lectures, 
graduated in the spring of 1858 and located at Rochester, Butler Co., 
Ky., where he practiced his profession.  In 1867 he located where he now 
resides, ten miles east of Scottsville, on the banks of Barren River, on 
350 acres of good land; he has also two other tracts containing 110 
acres, and also owns some town property.  He lost three negroes by the 
war.  He is a self-made man, accumulating every cent by his own 
industry.  He cast his first presidential vote for James K. Polk.

Hollis Gambling Morgan Terry Washington Hatler Russell Barr Harris Shives 
Fisher Bridges
=
Sumner-TN NC VA Scotland England MS Weakley-TN Henry-TN Polk-MO 
Nashville-Davidson-TN Rochester-Butler-KY

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/allen/hollis.wl.txt