Daniel Holladay was born at Albemarle County, Virginia, August 3, 1752, a son of Daniel Holladay and Agness.  The family moved to Craven County, South Carolina, about 1758.  In addition to Daniel and Agness, the family included children John, William, Elliott, Daniel, Benjamin, Letitia (Letty) and Nancy and possibly others.

In 1769, Daniel Holladay, Sr., was granted 750 acres of land at Craven County on the waters of the Black River.  This area was then-known as the High Hills of Santee and near present-day Wedgefield at Sumter County.

In 1775, Daniel Holladay, Sr., and sons John and Daniel signed the Articles of Association for the District East of the Wateree sometime shortly after the Battle of Lexington in April.

Daniel enlisted under Lieutenant Fuller for three years in 1775.  He served in the Second South Carolina Regiment under Lieutenant Hall, Captain James McDaniel, Francis Marion, and General William Moultrie.

He marched to Charleston and was engaged in the Battle of Fort Moultrie and Sullivan’s Island June 14, 1776, where the South Carolina forces defended Charles Town against a combined attach of the British fleet and Lord Cornwallis’s land attack.  Daniel served as Orderly Sergeant.  The South Carolina Second Regiment was stationed at Charles Town during Daniel’s service and was involved in several skirmishes and actions in defending Charles Town.  After two and one-half years, he hired George Powell as a substitute and was discharged, April 6, 1778.

After his service as a soldier, Daniel provided supplies to Patriot forces.

Daniel was married twice.  The names of his wives were likely Martha Knighton and Keziah Terry.  Daniel was the father of seventeen children including Sarah, Daniel William, Peter Alexander, James, Joseph, Susannah, Lettitia, John Daniel, Harriet, Richard, Karen, Margaret, Mary, and Lenora.

In 1785, a plat was recorded for Daniel on Spears Creek at present-day Kershaw County.  He appears to have moved west across the Wateree River and established his home and business at this location, however; he continued to own land at Sumter District.  Daniel operated a tavern where the road from Columbia to Camden crossed Spears Creek.

In 1791, President George Washington made a grand tour of the southern states.  President Washington wrote in his diary, May 25, 1791, “…breakfasted at an indifferent house twenty-two miles from the town [of Columbia, the first that we came to] and reached Camden about two o’clock, fourteen miles further.  The road from Columbia to Camden excepting a mile or two at each place, goes over the most miserable pine barren I ever saw, being quite a white sand and very hilly.”  The indifferent house mentioned by President Washington was Daniel Holladay’s Tavern.  Perhaps the former orderly sergeant was able to provide a meal for the President, the former commander of the Continental Army.

In 1826, Daniel Holladay moved to Marion County, Alabama, where his son, Daniel William Holladay, had lived since 1819.

Daniel Holladay, aged 83 years, applied for a pension, April 28, 1835, as a resident of Marion County, Alabama.

Daniel Holladay died February 14, 1837 and was buried at Hill Cemetery near Sulligent, Lamar County, Alabama.  Two of his children, Joseph Holladay (1782-1846) and Lettitia Holladay Hollis (1795-1874), and several other descendants are also buried there.