|
BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE GOLLADAY FAMILY
The first known Golladay's in America show up in Pennsylvania in the early 1700's. These
early Golladay immigrants were part of a group called Palatines. The Palatines
immigrated from an area of Germany that was inhabited by several different groups because of religious
persecution.
|
"A striking mixture of peoples, faiths, and ways of
life could be found in the Rhineland in the 17th century, where French
Huguenots and Swiss and native German elements confronted one another in
the same village communities."
- from article written by Don Yoder in the "Harvard
Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups" (1980) regarding the origins of
the Pennsylvania Germans. |
The Golladay name was most likely spelled differently in the Old Country and
Anglicized when the family moved to America. Evidence indicates that the name was French Huguenot and
originally spelled
Gallaudet. Evidence to back up this belief is in the biography of Jacob
Shall Golladay:
|
"His father, Isaac Golladay, was of Huguenot descent,
the family coming to this country during the persecution, and setting in
Virginia."
- from "The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky of
the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century" - published in
1878 |
This biography was written while Jacob was still alive. Jacob was born in 1825.
His grandparents would have been some of the earliest Golladay's in colonial
times.
More evidence is found in the biography of Jacob's brother Edward Isaac
Golladay. Edward was also alive when the following was written in his biography:
|
"The Golladays are of French extraction, the
family name as originally spelt, being Gallaudet."
- from "Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans" -
compiled by William S. Speer in 1888 |
A letter written to George S. Golladay from his brother also indicates their
understanding of the family origin:
|
"This I shall take the liberty of doing in
virtue of the 'Huguenot blood' which is common to us."
Edward Isaac Golladay on January 12, 1860
|
Another source of the Golladay family origin is found in the journal of a French nobleman who visited
the Shenandoah Valley not long after the American Revolution:
"The country became more and more mountainous, the
pines grew denser and were finally the only kind of tree in the valley.
They grew in groves that ended in arrowheads on the mountainsides, but
never reached the peaks. The soil in these parts is arid and the only
local product is pine tar. We dined with Mr.
Golladey, whose grandfather was a French refugee."
- written by Louis-Philippe on April 14, 1797
Source: "Diary of My Travels in America, Louis Philippe, King Of France,
1830-1848
(ISBN 0-440-01844-7), page 43. |
It seems likely that the Golladay family was part of the exodus of Huguenots
from France as a result of the turmoil created by King Louis XIV of France when
he revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Further research is needed to confirm this, but
existing family history seems to indicate the Golladay family moved from France
into the Rhineland area of Germany. After assimilating into the German
population of this region and becoming German speaking, the family migrated to
America.
|
HUGUENOT CROSS
The Huguenots wore this cross during the persecution as a symbol of
their evangelical faith in Jesus and
the Word of God. The dove hanging from the cross signified the
desire of the Huguenots to be led by the Holy Spirit. |
The French spelling of the family name has been found in Shenandoah County, Virginia in 1825
in the area where the Golladay's settled. This
was in the baptismal record of
Isabella Gauladet.
Every white Golladay or Golliday in America apparently descends
from two brothers, Joseph and Jacob. Jacob was the first Golladay to move into
Shenandoah County, Virginia. He was among the first of the Lutheran setters in
Powell's Fort Valley.
Joseph was the patriarch of the branch that included Isaac Golladay of Lebanon,
Tennessee. His descendants were some of the most prominent of the Golladay
family.
|
Revolutionary War soldier Major David Golladay
Augusta County, Virginia
Private collection, image courtesy Sumpter Priddy III,
Inc., Alexandria, Virginia
|
Every black Golladay or Golliday acquired the name from working for one of
Isaac's sons. A few African-Americans may trace their roots to the farms of
Jacob Shall Golladay in Logan County, Kentucky or Frederick W. Golladay of
Wilson County, Tennessee . However, the large majority of black
Golladay/Golliday's can trace their history back to the plantation of George
Shall Golladay in Grenada, Mississippi.
|
Golladay's Gap shown in the Green Mountains at the top of this picture is near the
location where the first Golladay's settled in Shenandoah County, Virginia. |
One interesting discovery involving a Golladay family member has now become a
tourist attraction in the Shenandoah Valley:
|
"A pair of curious teen-agers are
credited with discovering the amazing underground world of
Shenandoah Caverns. A.C. Neff and Isaac
Golladay first lowered themselves into the caverns below
the Neff farm in 1884. Significant exploration did not take
place until 1888."
- from "Shenandoah Valley Herald"
article (27 Mar 2002) titled "Shenandoah Caverns
Will Celebrate 80th Anniversary This Year" |
Some families use a spelling
variation of the original name such as GOLIDAY, GALLADAY, GOLLADY, or GOLLODAY. Even today, the Golladay/Golliday name is frequently misspelled.
|
THE GOLLIDAY NAME IN IRELAND
There was a Palatine family with the name Golliday that
emigrated to Ireland. The book "The Palatine Families of Ireland" by
Henry Z. Jones, Jr. tells that William Golliday was the head of an
Irish-Palatine family in 1715. He suggests this family can be traced
back to the Galathe family in Mannheim, Germany. Apparently the roots of
the Galathe family originate in Switzerland as documented in "500 Years
of History & Genealogy of the Gallati Families of Glarus" by M.
Mogensen-Gallati. There is no current evidence to tie this Irish family
into the Golladay family that settled in Pennsylvania and it would
appear to be a different family. |
 This page last updated on
June 21, 2008
|