Gideon Hollister

Gideon was the son of Gideon Hollister and Rachel Talcott of Glastonbury, Connecticut. He married first a daughter of Stephen Hollister, then married second Esther Case, the daughter of Joseph Case Sr. of East Hartford. Administration of the estate of Gideon was granted to his son Samuel Hollister on 16 September 1812. The inventory was in the amount of $97.53, and legatees were Samuel, Timothy, and Asahel Hollister, "Abby Hills" (per Lafayette Case, author of family history, but this was almost certainly Olle Hills), Esther Hollister, Abigail Hale, and Elizabeth Bebee.

By not providing approximate birth years for the children, Case muddles up which children belong to which wife. He says that Rhoda is of the first wife, and Samuel is of the second, which is entirely plausible. However, he goes on to say that Abigail is of the first wife and Timothy of the second, which is highly improbable. This is because Abigail and Timothy were both baptized on the same day, 11 August 1775, and the implication is that they were either twins, or that they were both born not too long before that date. They are both very likely of the same mother. Since seven of the children have marriage dates, that gives us some confidence concerning the order of births shown. Based on the likely birth dates of the children given below, I would like to propose that the first four children were of the first wife, and the remaining four of the second. This is because there is a gap in the births of the children between number 4 and number 5, and it would make total sense that the first wife had died, and Gideon eventually married the second wife, Esther, during this timeframe. There is also a gap between children 3 and 4, but the fact that child number 5 was named Esther adds credence to the theory that she is the first born of Esther Case. Unless better data become available, the assumption will be that the first four children were with the Hollister wife, and the last four with Esther Case.

• Olle, b. 1758, m. in East Hartford, CT 28 March 1782 Levi Hills
• Rhoda (same as Bathsheba?), b. 1760, married 2 Nov 1780 Stephen Strickland Jr. They are buried in the Old Eastbury Cemetery.
• Asahel, b. 1763, was a soldier of the American Revolution, m. 2 December 1787 Elizabeth Weir, and died in Kirtland, Lake Co., Ohio.
• Elizabeth, b. August 1767, m. 10 Feb 1788 Reuben Beebe. They are buried in Arlington, VT.
• Esther, b. 25 October 1771, d. 20 July 1829, aged 58, buried in the Wassuc Cemetery with her parents
• Timothy, b. ca 1773, m. 14 November 1798 Betty Treat. He went to Salem, Wayne Co., PA where he lived until about 1834, and then moved to Michigan, where he died.
• Abigail, b. 1774, m. 10 November 1796 Wait Hale of Eastbury, CT.
• Samuel, b. 1 July 1775, m. 28 March 1799 Clarissa Shipman.