FIRST GENERATION
1. JOHN HOLLIS was born at England about 1645, and died at Weymouth, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, between 12 December 1700 (will) and 9 January 1700/1 (probate). He married about 1663 ELIZABETH PRIEST. She was born at Dorchester, Suffolk County, about 1638, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Priest. She died after 1701.^[1]

   The first son of John Hollis, also named John Hollis, was born at Weymouth on 28 March 1664. This is the first record we have of the elder John Hollis in New England. We assume that he married some time before that date, and that he came to New England some time before his marriage. His wife, Elizabeth Priest, was born at Dorchester, Suffolk County, but within a couple of years had moved with her family to Weymouth, and lived there the rest of her life.

   John Hollis fought in King Philip's War from December 1675 to June 1676.

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   SECOND GENERATION

2. SAMUEL HOLLIS was born at Weymouth after 1680 (under age in father's will) a son of John and Elizabeth (Priest) Hollis, and died at Weymouth on 15 November 1740. He married first about 1706 SARAH ________. She died before 1710. He married second about 1710 ABIGAIL ________. She died after 1749.^[2]

   Samuel Hollis was a weaver who lived in Weymouth all his life. His first wife, Sarah, lived less than four years after their marriage, and gave birth to one child. When he was about thirty years old he married Abigail, his second wife, who provided him with eleven additional children.

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   THIRD GENERATION

3. BENJAMIN HOLLIS was born at Weymouth on 5 November 1716 a son of Samuel and Abigail Hollis, and died there shortly before 23 July 1779. He married first at Weymouth on 20 December 1737 RUTH LOW. She was born at Hingham, Suffolk County, on 13 March 1715/6, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Lane) Low. She died before 1748. He married second at Weymouth on 2 March 1748/9 RUTH VINSON. She was born at Weymouth on 22 November 1712, a daughter of John and Sarah (Kingman) Vinson. She died there on 27 October 1751. He married third at Weymohuth on 12 March 1761 DEBORAH PRATT. She was born at Weymouth on 3 September 1731, a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Lincoln) Pratt. She died there on 7 October 1821.^[3]

   Benjamin Hollis lived in Weymouth all his life. He married three times. At the age of twenty-one he married Ruth Low, who provided him with two children. At the age of thirty-two he married Ruth Vinson, who lived only two and a half years after marriage and had no children. At the age of forty-four Benjamin married twenty-nine year old Deborah Pratt, and they had one child.^[4]

3. JOHN HOLLIS was born at Weymouth on 5 April 1718 a son of Samuel and Abigail Hollis, and died at Braintree, Suffolk County, on 5 October 1789. He married first at Weymouth on 28 September 1739 JERUSHA CLARK. She was born at Braintree on 13 March 1711 and died before 1746. He married second at Braintree on 6 November 1746 MARY GANNET. She was born at Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 31 October 1716, a daughter of Matthew and Mary (Neal) Gannet. She died on 1791.

   John Hollis at the age of twenty-one married twenty-eight year old Jerusha Clark. They had one child before Jerusha died. John moved from Weymouth to Braintree by 1746, and lived there the rest of his life. When he was twenty-eight years old he married thirty-year-old Mary Gannet, and they had six children.

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   FOURTH GENERATION

4. RUTH HOLLIS was born at Weymouth about 1762 a daughter of Benjamin Hollis and his third wife Deborah Pratt, and died at Holbrook, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, on 14 February 1833. She married at Weymouth on 12 July 1781 ADAM HOLLIS.

4. ADAM HOLLIS was born at Weymouth on 5 July 1760 a son of John Hollis and his second wife Mary Gannett, and died at Randolph, Norfolk County, on 12 January 1840. He married first at Weymouth on 12 July 1781 RUTH HOLLIS. She was born at Weymouth about 1762, a daughter of Benjamin Hollis and his third wife Deborah Pratt. She died at Holbrook on 14 February 1833. He married second at Stoughton, Norfolk County, on 21 September 1835 SUSANNA BAILEY. She was born at Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 11 December 1809, a daughter of Jacob and Susanna (Smith) Bailey. She died at Randolph on 25 August 1870.^[5]

   As a young man, Adam Hollis fought in the Revolutionary War, doing service in New York state. According to ther record he deserted twice.^[6]

   Hollis, Adam, Private, Capt. Isaac Morton's co., commanded by Lieut. Zaccheus Thayer subsequent to Oct. 12, 1778, Col. Thomas Poor's regt.; enlisted June 23, 1778; discharged Oct. 7, 1778; service 3 mos., 27 days, including 12 days travel home [240 miles]; enlisted 8 months from the time of arrival at Peekskill. also: Capt. Isaac Morton's co., Col. Thomas Poor's regt.; pay roll for Sept., 1778, dated Fort Clinton.
   Hollis, Adam, Private, Capt. John Holden's (4th) co., Col. Thomas Nixon's regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from Oct. 6, 1778 to Nov. 6, 1778; reported deserted;
   also: descriptive list of deserters, dated Camp Ten Eyck, Aug. 27, 1780; Capt. J. Holden's co., Col. Thomas Nixon's (6th) regt.; rank, Private; age 17 yrs; stature 5' 7"; complaxion light; eyes light; deserted Mar. 1, 1779.

   At the age of twenty-one Adam married his nineteen-year-old first cousin Ruth Hollis. They settled in the south precinct of Braintree, which in 1793 was incorporated as the town of Randolph. The 1790 Census reported the Adam Hollis family in Braintree consisting of one male over 16, two under 16, and 3 females.^[7] They had eight children over twenty-four years. Ruth died at the age of seventy-one. Four years later, at the age of seventy-five, Adam married twenty-five year old Susanna Bailey. Adam died four and a half years later.

4. AMBROSE HOLLIS was born at Braintree, on 5 July 1767 a son of John Hollis and his second wife Mary Gannet, and died at Randolph on 26 March 1853. He married first about 1787 REBECCA WEST. She was born on 30 December 1762, a daughter of Thomas West and his second wife Mercy Packard. She died at Randolph on 28 December 1802. Ambrose married second at Randolph on 9 August 1804 ELIZABETH CLARK. She was baptized at Braintree on 29 May 1774 and died at Randolph on 1841.^[8]

   Ambrose Hollis was born and brought up in Braintree. The 1790 Census found him in Abington; the family consisted of an adult man, a woman, and a boy.^[9] That residence must have been temporary as every other census and every birth of a child reports residence in the town of Randolph.

   Ambrose's firt wife, Rebecca, died in 1802 at the age of thirty-nine, leaving Ambrose a widower with children ages 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. Within two years he married Elizabth Clark, age thirty, with whom he had four more children.

   The town of Randolph became a major producer of shoes and boots in the United States, and Ambrose worked as a shoe maker.

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   FIFTH GENERATION

5. LYDIA HOLLIS was a child of Adam Hollis and his first wife Ruth Hollis, and died before 1840. She married at Randolph on 10 March 1822 AMBROSE HOLLIS. He was born at Braintree on 17 May 1788, a son of Ambrose Hollis and his first wife Rebecca West.
5. AMBROSE HOLLIS was born at Braintree on 17 May 1788 a son of Ambrose Hollis and his first wife Rebecca West, and died at Holbrook on 11 September 1877. He married first at Randolph on 10 March 1822 LYDIA HOLLIS. She was a daughter of Adam Hollis and his first wife Ruth Hollis. She died before 1840. Ambrose married second (intentions published at Braintree on 29 March 1840) HARRIER (BELCHER) MANN. She was born at Randolph on 15 October 1795, a daughter of Billy and Polly (Woods) Belcher. She died at Randolph on 15 July 1870.^[10]

   Ambrose Hollis, Jr., the eldest child of Ambrose and Rebecca (West) Hollis, lived most of his life in Randolph.

   Ambrose served in the War of 1812, enlisting on 14 July 1812, and being discharged on 14 July 1817. He served as a hospital steward, caring for the sick. He was stationed at various times at Buffalo, New York, Sacket's Harbor, New York, and Detroit, Northwest Territory.^[11]

   At the age of thirty-three Ambrose married his first cousin, Lydia Hollis. They had three children; she died sometime before 1840, when Ambrose married widow harriet (Belcher) Mann.

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   SIXTH GENERATION

6. LYDIA HOLLIS was born at Randolph, on 2 October 1827 a daughter of Ambrose Hollis and his first wife Lydia Hollis, and died at Abington, Plymouth County, on 13 March 1906. She married (intentions published at Randolph on 17 October 1841) LEWIS AUSTIN BLANCHARD. He was born at Abington on 1 December 1820, a son of Stephen Blanchard and his first wife Laura Vining. He died at Weymouth on 17 May 1890.

¹George Walter Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts (Boston, Massachusetts: Weymouth Historical Society, 1923), v. 3, p. 288; v. 4, p. 558.
²Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 288. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1910), v. 2, p. 282.
³Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 290. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, pp. 137, 226, 328; v. 2, pp. 94, 282.
⁴Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 290. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1850: Including the Modern Towns of Randolph and Holbrook and the City of Quincy, Transcribed by Frank E. Dyer Jr. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), p. 885; digital edition, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 10 September 2020. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 136; v. 2, p. 94. Samuel A. Bates ed., Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793 (Randolph, Massachusetts: Daniel H. Huxford, printer, 1886), 739. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1909), v. 1, p. 161. Union Cemetery, Holbrook, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : database 4 May 2020), Mary Hollis; Created by: Descendant.
⁵Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1850, p. 889. Union Cemetery, Holbrook, Adam Hoillis; Created by: Descendant; Ruth Hoillis; Created by: Descendant. Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 292. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 93. Waldo C. Sprague, "Randolph, Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1731-1875," New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 21 May 2017), Death, Ruth Hollis, 1833. David Allen Lambert transcriber, "Stoughton [Mass.] Marriages, 1727-1851," Mayflower Descendant, vol. 65, no. 1 (Winter 2017): 59 [69]. Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 19 September 2017), vol. 230, p. 280, e. 79, Randolph Deaths, 1870, Susanna Hollis.
⁶Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War (Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902), 8:139.
⁷First Census of the United States: 1790, population, Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 93, Adam Hollis; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 September 2020); NARA microfilm publication M637; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁸"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 76, p. 168, e. 13, Randolph Deaths, 1853, Ambrose Hollis. Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1850, p. 889. Sprague, "Randolph, Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1731-1875," Marriage, Hollis-Clark, 1804.
⁹1790 Census, Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 3, Ambrose Hollis.
¹⁰Sprague, "Randolph, Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1731-1875," Birth, Ambrose Hollis, 1788; Marriage, Hollis-Hollis, 1822; Marriage Intentions, Hollis-Mann, 1840; p. 10638; Marriage, Mann-Belcher, 1815. Union Cemetery, Holbrook, Ambrose Hollis; Created by: Carol Bestick, Photo added by Allyson English. Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1850, p. 896. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 293, p. 260, e. 159, Holbrook Deaths, 1877, Ambrose Hollis; vol. 230, p. 280, e. 62, Randolph Deaths, 1870, Harriet Hollis.
¹¹United States Army, "Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 August 2018), Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Establishment, May 17, 1815, p. 23, Ambrose Hollis, no. 263; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives Microfilm Publication M233; National Archives and records Administration, Washington, D.C

Bates, Samuel A. ed. Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793. Randolph, Massachusetts: Daniel H. Huxford, printer, 1886.

Chamberlain, George Walter. History of Weymouth, Massachusetts. Boston, Massachusetts: Weymouth Historical Society, 1923.

Lambert, David Allen transcriber. "Stoughton [Mass.] Marriages, 1727-1851." Mayflower Descendant vol. 65, no. 1 (Winter 2017): 50-72.

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Office of the Secretary, ed. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902.

Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain "Randolph, Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1731-1875." New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

________. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1850: Including the Modern Towns of Randolph and Holbrook and the City of Quincy. Transcribed by Frank E. Dyer Jr. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Digital edition. New England Historic Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2020.

Union Cemetery, Holbrook, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2020.

United States Army. "Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914." Images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2020.

Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1909.

Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1910.