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WILLIAM O. HOLSHOUSER.
From the beginning of the establishment of the rural free delivery service the men to whom this important branch of the country's mail department has been entrusted have been recruited from those who have shown themselves faithful and reliable citizens. As so much responsibility rests in their hands it is necessary for them to be men of strict honesty and integrity, and that William O. Holshouser has carried the mail on rural free delivery route No. 2 for seven consecutive years speaks well for the confidence in which he is held by his fellow citizens. Mr. Holshouser was born July 20, 1881, on a farm in Williamson county, Illinois, and is a son of Wiley J. and Mary (Smith) Holshouser.
Wiley J. Holshouser was born May 3, 1857, in North Carolina, a son of Jacob and Annie (Beaver) Holshouser, natives of the Tar Heel state, or German descent, the former of whom was born July 16, 1822,
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and died December 30, 1885. In 1880 Wiley J. Holshouser was married to Mary Smith, daughter of Joseph and Sophia Maria (Klutts) Smith, natives of North Carolina, and granddaughter of Richard Smith. Sophia (Klutts) Smith was born in 1830, the daughter of Daniel Klutts, who went from North Carolina to Tennessee and thence, in 1849, to Union county, Illinois, later moving to Williamson county, Tennessee [ILL?]. The Smith family settled in Williamson county in about 1840, and from that section Joseph Smith enlisted for service during the Civil war, but died before the war was finished, while at home on a sick furlough. Wiley J. Holshouser left Williamson county, Illinois, in 1885 and located at McClure, but two years later went to a farm of one hundred and seventy acres located in Cache township, near Cypress, where he now resides. He is the father of four children, namely: William; Dennis, who is carrying on operations on the home farm; and Ida and Emma, who live with their father.
William O. Holshouser received his education in the district schools of Cache township, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. Eventually he started farming on his own account, accumulating a well-improved property of eighty acres in Cache township, but this he disposed of January 1, 1911. In 1904 he was appointed rural free delivery carrier No. 2, traveling out of Cypress, and this position he has held to the present time. He is a general favorite all along his route, his genial, courteous manner having made him very popular, while his conscientious, faithful discharge of the duties of his office has made him one of the service's most trusted employes in this section.
In 1896 Mr. Holshouser was united in marriage with Miss Eva E. Parker, daughter of Dr. C. A. C. Parker, formerly a well-known physician and surgeon of Cypress, who is now possessed of a large practice in Dougale, and Alice (Henard) Parker. Mr. and Mrs. Holshouser have three children, namely: Maude Marie, Hazel and Paul. Fraternally Mr. Holshouser is connected with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is popular with all.