After some careful research and examination of all available source evidence, I've made a significant update to the children of John and Polly in my data tonight. This examination was influenced by a thoughtful question received from Bella Gulden. All previous sources and findings reflected them having fifteen children, which were initially enumerated in Clay Hollon's 1958 book "Hollon and Related Families" as follows: 1 - Betsey, 2 - George Washington, 3 - Nathan, 4 - Charity, 5 - Phillip, 6 - Lucinda, 7 - John D., 8 - Jackson, 9 - William, 10 - Fanny, 11 - Hannah, 12 - James Buchanan, 13 - Henry, 14 - Dock, 15 - Zerilda Jane. There are two pieces of evidence to draw a reasonable conclusion that they actually had sixteen children, with the new correction or addition being a son named Charley. First, the 1850 census lists a three year old male named "Charley" in the household. This individual was previously treated as another relative or a census mistake, as it is quite common to see errors in names and dates, based on who provided the information to the census taker, etc. Based on all verified or supposed dates of the other children, this Charley does not appear to be a nickname for one of them, nor a mistake based on all known birth years. Second, two recently identified newspapers articles from 1902, which are listed further below, indicate that Polly was "the mother of 16 children, 10 of whom are living." These newspaper articles directly points to the Charley from the 1850 census being the sixteenth child. The articles concern Polly being ill, so that information on her children would have been supplied by her husband John, or one of her children. The ten that would be living in the 1902 article would be: Elizabeth, George, John D., Lucinda, Andrew Jackson, William, Fannie, James, and Dock. As a SIMPLE summary, here is my revised listing of their children: 1 - Elizabeth (born 1837) 2 - George W. (born 1840) 3 - Nathan (born 1842) 4 - Charity (born 1843) 5 - Phillip or Philip (born about 1846) 6 - Charles or Charley (born about 1847) <-- NEW (only listed on 1850 census) 7 - John D. (born about 1848) 8 - Lucinda (born about 1850) 9 - Andrew J. (born 1851) 10 - William (born about 1854) 11 - Fannie Caroline (born 1855) 12 - Hannah (born about 1856) - still some discrepancy about her 13 - James B. (born 1857) 14 - Henry (born and died 1859) - still some discrepancy about his name, the records say "unnamed" 15 - Dock B. (born about 1860) - he also went by Henry 16 - Zerilda (born 1862) The six that would have been deceased in the 1902 article would be Nathan, Philip, Charley, Hannah, Henry/Unnamed, and Zarilda/Zerilda. 1902 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON POLLY HOLLON Researched by Timothy J. Barron, updated January 18, 2014 The following article appeared in Hazel Green Herald newspaper from Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Kentucky, on July 31, 1902, on page 3: "Aunt Polly Hollon, wife of Uncle John Hollon, of Holly, is dangerously ill at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J.A. Sewell. She is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) persons in that part of the county, and is the mother of 16 children, 10 of whom are living." The following article appeared in The Mt. Sterling Advocate newspaper from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, on August 5, 1902, on page 3: "Aunt Polly Hollon, wife of Uncle John Hollon, of Holly, is dangerously ill at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J.A. Sewell. She is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) persons in that part of the county, and is the mother of 16 children, 10 of whom are living." Timothy J. Barron tim@timbarron.net http://timbarron.net