Andrew Hollowell Aleshire was born 3 May
1891, Redland, Sequoyah, Indian Territory,
Oklahoma, son of Jacob Smiley Aleshire
and Hannah Philips Shumake. At that
time, Jacob Smiley Aleshire was a 7th Day
Baptist minister who was serving as a
missionary in Redland, Indian Territory
until a replacement could be found for
the missionary who had retired.

Grandfather Jacob Smiley Aleshire began
his ministry in Wright County, Missouri
shortly after he was discharged from the
Union Army, 2 Aug 1865.
The 7th Day Church Baptist Missions
organization gave Jacob the territory of
Northern Arkansas in counties that joined
Southern Missouri. Jacob rode his horse
on a circuit of rural churches and villages
in the Boston Mountains, Northern Arkansas,
holding open-air revivals. He took his
family along with him. His last three
children were born in Carroll County and
Marion County, Arkansas.

Jacob decided his seven children should
live in Missouri where they could get
a good education, and he would continue
his mission circuit in Arkansas. Why he
felt so strongly about continuing his
ministry probably was due to how the
deaths and destruction he witnessed as
a soldier in the Civil War profoundly
affected him. Thala June retraced his
steps, and found he held services in
small villages that had been devastated
by the Union Army which he served in.
He had been charged with bucking up his
troops when he was a Sergeant, telling
them their mission was to save the
Union. He told Mom he could no longer
do that after his brother Jonas was
killed and he saw bodies of soldiers
lying on he battlefield.

Martha (Clevenger) Aleshire, his wife
since 1861 and mother of his 7 children,
did not like the her husband's decision.
She thought Jacob should go back to
working as a stone mason like his father.

(Grandpa Jacob told this to my mother
after she married his son in 1919. She
enjoyed talking to Grandpa, and listening
to his stories as they sat in front of
the fireplace on cold evenings. She said
he never mentioned it again, and she
didn't either; it was a personal matter.)

(After they moved to Mineola in Howard
County, and while they sat before the
fireplace one cold evening, Mom watched
as a tiny, glowing, blue light floated
down from the ceiling and touched Grandpa's
knee, then went back up. He died the next
day, 28 Feb 1932. My oldest sister said
she would look for Grandpa in the clouds
and thought he would look like God.)

When Jacob could not convince Martha it
was best for their children to stay in one
place and get an education, he filed for
divorce in 1882. It was granted,along with
a settlement from his military disability
pension (Civil War injury at Battle of Pea
Ridge). Martha and children settled in
Southern Missouri near her family.

Jacob Smiley went back to Arkansas and
took up his circuit-riding mission again.
While holding a revival at Jacksonport,
Arkansas, on the White River, he met a
single woman, Hannah Philips Shumake.
They married 13 Mar 1883, Brownsville,
Cleburne County, Arkansas. Her sister
lived there.

Jacob and Hannah had four children:
Jacob Crosby (1886-1913)
(died from stomach cancer)
Hannah Lois (1889-1955)
(never married)
Andrew Hollowell (1891-1977)
(married Irena Randall and had
eight children)
Herbert Wardner (1894-1989)
(married Ella Lou Avants and
had seven children)

Hannah Philips Shumake was born 17 Nov
1852 at Pinewood, Hickman County, TN,
daughter of Andrew Shumate and Elizabeth
Philips. She died 26 Jan 1934.

In Hannah's family line, my 5th Great-
Grandfather was Jean De La Chaumette,
a French Huguenot (Protestant) who
immigrated to Virginia and changed his
surname to "Shumate". The name was
variously spelled. Hannah's father,
Andrew, and his father, Edmund, spelled
it "Shumate". Hickman County, Tennessee
census 1860, spelled it "Shumake",
leading to speculation that Hannah's
ancestry was German. [Thala June
confirmed her ancestry in year 2002.]

After many years on the circuit, Jacob
Smiley Aleshire retired, and moved to
Montgomery County, Arkansas in 1906
to an 80-ac homestead. There were no
7th Day Baptist churches in the area;
however he was called on to preach in
local churches and hold brush arbor
revivals. He also was appointed Justice
of Peace and conducted marriages.

After awhile Jacob moved his family
to near Shady, Polk County, Arkansas
in the Ouachita Mountains. His new
homestead was on Sugar Creek. He
loved living in the mountains.

After Hannah's health failed, Jacob
Smiley Aleshire moved to Mineola,
Howard County, Arkansas where they
both died. Jacob Smiley died
28 Feb 1932, Mineola, Howard, AR
Hannah died 26 Jan 1934.
===
ANDREW HOLLOWELL ALESHIRE:
I was blessed to have Papa as a father.
He and Mom were life-time sweethearts.
~Papa loved life, and delighted in
telling humorous things that were said
and done by men who worked with him.
He was a timber worker; surveying timber
stands for lumber companies, and running
his own logging business in the Ouachita
Mountains of Polk County, Arkansas.
During forest fire season, he worked for
the U.S. Forest Service, living in fire
towers in the mountains, and organizing
forest fire-fighting crews.

Papa was a self-taught musician, playing
fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo. He
hummed along in our song fests at home.
He loved to hear Mom's beautiful soprano
voice. She sang while she did her chores
also, and could yodel.

Andrew Hollowell Aleshire (Hol) married
Irena (Rena) Randall on 5 Jan 1919 in
Montgomery County, Arkansas.
They had eight children. As of 2017,
three have died.

The best tribute I can give Papa from
me is that he taught me to trust myself.
As long as I knew what was in my heart,
it didn't matter what critics thought
or said. I liked that philosophy.
The only advise he ever gave me was
"do your best." ~Thala June
===
[Biographical sketch by Thala June.]