| Notes |
- Named for his baptism sponsor and uncle, Johann Adam Hollaender.
John Adam's son, Charles Harrison Hollander, tells the story of how John Adam came to the United States. After he was orphaned at just under age 13, he was invited to join his older sisters in America. Maria Anna lived in Brooklyn with her family and Maria Eva lived in Milwaukee with her family. His major problem was getting money to pay for his passage (apparently his family did not have the means to help in this respect). He went down to the docks (perhaps hoping to stow away?) where he met another boy in the same situation. They waited and watched until they saw a mother, father, and large family of children about to board a vessel bound for New York. John Adam and the other boy mingled in with the large family and just boarded along with them. Another account, from the written autobiography of Virginia Johnson Wilcox (the only granddaughter of John Adam), tells the story that John Adam made friends with a child from the family and after the large group boarded the ship, the boy slipped his passport to John Adam, waiting on the dock. This does not make sense as passports were issued to families, not individuals, and a child was not likely to have possession of this valuable document. Also, it is hard to believe someone on board a large ship could get a piece of paper to someone on the shore. Regardless of the accuracy of the recollection of the story, it is apparent that John Adam Hollander did not secure legal transport to the United States. Details of whether his deception was ever discovered or what sort of shipboard accommodations he had are lost to history. Once in the United States, he made contact with his New York sister who probably paid for his passage on to Milwaukee, where he settled in 1856, becoming a US citizen nearly a decade later, after serving his new country in the Civil War.
The Civil War was a major event in John Adam's life and, in spite of typhoid fever and receiving a three-month leave to convalesce (first in a Nashville, Tennessee hospital; then transported via rail to Milwaukee for a 30-day furlough with his family in Milwaukee), he returned to his regiment after a five-month illness (including travel time). His years in the Civil War were often recounted by him to his children and grandchildren. He attended many of the reunion encampments of his regiment throughout the rest of his life.
John Adam was a barber and hairdresser by trade and, throughout the Civil War, he continued to work in his field, cutting the hair of General Douglas MacArthur and Billy Mitchell, when they were children (he served with their fathers in the War). Back in civilian life, following the war, John Adam had his own establishment, the first such in Milwaukee, where he also made wigs. He was well-respected by the citizens of the city and took, as his assistants and apprentices, his children. Eventually the business was left to his youngest daughter, Maria Eva (Mamie). He contracted glaucoma in his later life and could no longer work when he was made completely blind by the disease two years before the birth of his only granddaughter. Nevertheless, he remained active in the decision-making process where the business was concerned. Virginia's accounts of his attitude towards his affliction indicate that he was not depressed by his handicap and was able to make his way around his home in spite of his failed eyesight. But a granddaughter's accounts are limited to the time she was acquainted with the veteran who would take Virginia on his lap and tell stories and sing to her. Others told of him having softened with age and disability.
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1843 - 1922 (79 years)