Washington Co., AR - Biographies - William H. Holcomb

***********************************************
This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
Archives by: The Goodspeed Publishing Co

Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgenwebarchives.org
***********************************************
William H. Holcomb is one of the honest and prosperous tillers of the 
soil of , Ark., and was born in Gibson County, Ind., on the 28th of 
October, 1827, being a son of John and Dorothea (Willbanks) Holcomb. 
The father was born in North Carolina in 1797. William was twelve 
years of age when he was brought by his parents to Arkansas, locating 
in the southern part of . Here they resided until the fall of 1843, 
when they moved to the northern part of , and located on the present 
site of Springdale. He was educated in the common schools, and was 
reared on a farm, and in July, 1847, was united in the bonds of 
matrimony to Miss Rebecca Baker, a Tennesseean, born in 1829, and 
their union resulted in the birth of eight children, three of whom are 
living: Calvin, William H. and T. J. Ellen, the fourth child, died 
after she was married and had become the mother of three children. Mr. 
Holcomb engaged in wagon making in 1851, and also farmed until 1860. 
At the breaking out of the war he enlisted in the Confederate service, 
serving in Company G. Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry. He was wounded at 
the battle of Elk Horn, and at the battle of Corinth was wounded in 
the arm. While at Black River, Miss., May 17, 1863, he was captured by 
Gen. Grant's army, and was sent to Johnson's Island, where he was 
retained until near the close of the war. He then came home, and 
engaged in farming near Springdale, and also sold goods. In 1872 he 
moved to his present farm of 207 acres, where he expects to pass the 
remainder of his days. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist Church, 
and is a Democrat in his political views. His son, William H. Holcomb, 
Jr., was born in 1861, and was educated in the common schools and the 
State University of Arkansas. He was married in 1883 to Miss Gussie 
Givens, a native of Kentucky, and by her is the father of one child, 
William H. Mr. Holcomb is now engaged in farming, and is a Democrat 
and a member of the A. F. & A. M. His brother, Calvin Holcomb, is also 
a Democrat, [p.959] and was born in 1857. He was educated in the 
common schools and the Springdale High school, and to his union with 
Miss Maggie Huffmaster four children have been born James R., Ethel, 
Sarah E, and Henry Leroy. T. J. Holcomb, another brother, was born in 
1867, and is a graduate of the Missouri Medical College.