It was Doc's cousin, Susan McKey Thomas of Valdosta, who was able to prove his true dental school affiliation. While working on her book "In Search of the Hollidays" (1973) she corresponded with a Dr. Ernest Beerstecher at the University of Texas at Houston, who did some searching through that school's archives and located an old copy of the Dental Times published by the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery which listed the name of John Henry Holliday. Baltimore was surmised by Westerners who were just guessing. Susie remembers old timers in Valdosta talking about how John Henry sailed in and out of Savannah on his way to school in Philadelphia.

John Henry's cousin Robert Holliday of Atlanta attended the same dental school, graduating three years after John Henry. Robert and his older brother George became principals in what was called at the time the Atlanta Dental Depot (now the Atlanta Dental Supply Company), as did several of their descendants. The company is still in business today, one of the oldest and most respected dental suppliers in the Southeast. The Hollidays also had a hand in creating the first dental school in Atlanta, which gave birth to the Emory University School of Dentistry, where my husband received his dental degree. I'll be speaking about Doc's fascinating dental connection at an upcoming regional dental convention in Atlanta.