Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Holcomb, M. D., Curtis July 7, 1863 - January 26, 1927 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 23, 2011, 11:16 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 768 - 772 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company DR. CURTIS HOLCOMB, M. D., one of Portland's honored native sons, who was long numbered among the most prominent and successful physicians of the city, had attained the age of sixty-three years when he passed away here on the 26th of January, 1927. He was born on the present site of the Pine Street Coffee House, July 7, 1863, his parents being Samuel R. and Lorena (Barker) Holcomb, the former a native of Belleville, Illinois, and the latter of Cairo, Illinois. Samuel R. Holcomb was a lad of about twelve years when he accompanied Hiram Barker and his family to the Pacific coast, the journey being made with ox teams. The party experienced many hardships en route and was threatened by the cholera plague. The Barker family took up a donation claim in the vicinity of the Columbia slough, on Barker road, not far from Sandy boulevard, and began housekeeping in an Indian hut, while subsequently another log house was built. Hiram Barker improved his claim of three hundred and twenty acres and devoted his attention to its cultivation to the time of his death, which occurred in 1893. His wife, who survived him for fourteen years, passed away on the old homestead in 1907. They were married in Illinois. Samuel R. Holcomb, the father of Dr. Curtis Holcomb, left the Barker family following their arrival in Oregon and journeyed on to the city of Portland, where he pursued his education. Thereafter he learned the brick mason's trade, and it is a matter of record that he built the first brick dwelling house in Oregon, located near St. Johns. He also had the distinction of serving as Portland's first city marshal and was a stanch republican in politics. His death occurred in Portland in 1866, when he was still a young man. His widow survived him for many years, passing away in Portland in 1907. Curtis Holcomb, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education in grade and high schools of Portland. After putting aside his textbooks he worked at the printing trade and also served as night librarian of the Portland library in order that he might accumulate a sum sufficient to enable him to pursue a course in medicine. He published one of the first amateur newspapers in Oregon, which was printed on the present site of the Oregonian building. In 1885 he was graduated from the medical department of Willamette University and began the practice of his chosen profession at Albina, Oregon, now a part of Portland. In 1890 he became physician for the Union Pacific Railroad at Albina, where the railroad shops are located. He had been an active representative of the medical profession for more than four decades when death called him, and his passing was sincerely mourned by an extensive circle of warm friends. He was a republican in politics and belonged to a number of fraternal organizations, including the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belonged to Company G, Oregon National Guard, and was past president of the Albina Pioneers Association. In November, 1891, Dr. Curtis Holcomb was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Everson, a native of Portland and a daughter of William T. and Ellen (Ward) Everson. William T. Everson, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, made his way to the Pacific northwest in 1852, via the Isthmus of Panama, locating first near Forest Grove, Washington county, Oregon, while subsequently he took up his abode at Cedar Mill in the same county. Learning the machinist's trade, he was employed by the firm of Smith Brothers and also in the Portland Iron Works for a period of four months. He was likewise a machinist on the Cascade Locks. For a number of years, until 1880, Mr. Everson was engineer for Engine Company No. 1 of the Portland fire department. His military record included service in the Indian wars in this part of the country. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, took an active part in the work of the republican party in his community and was also an esteemed and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, Mrs. Ellen (Ward) Everson, was born in Portland and was a stepdaughter of P. G. Baker, an Oregon pioneer. She passed away in this city in 1904, at the age of fifty-one, and in the same year William T. Everson was called to his final rest, being then fifty-seven years old. Dr. Curtis and Charlotte (Everson) Holcomb became the parents of two sons and a daughter, namely: Blair, Roger and Miriam. The sons have followed in the professional footsteps of their father. Dr. Blair Holcomb, who is connected with the Portland Clinic as a specialist in internal medicine, has also built up a large practice and acquired an enviable reputation as a learned and capable physician. He was born in Portland in 1894 and after completing a high school course in this city pursued two years' college work at the University of Oregon. He next spent two years in the University of Oregon School of Medicine in Portland and finished his professional course in Rush Medical College of Chicago, which he attended for two years and from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1919. He served as interne in the Cook County Hospital of Chicago and in 1921 entered upon the practice of his profession in Portland, where he has since specialized in internal medicine. He is a member of the medical staffs of the Multnomah County Hospital and the Portland Medical Hospital and is an instructor in the University of Oregon School of Medicine. Dr. Holcomb keeps in close touch with the most advanced thought of the profession through his membership in the Portland Academy of Medicine, the City and County Medical Society and the Pacific Northwest Internists Society, and he is also a popular member of the University Club and the Multnomah Club. To him and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Edythe Mihnos and who was reared and educated in Portland, have been born four children, namely: Shirley, now eight years of age; Virginia, a little maiden of six summers; Susan, who is three years old; and Blair, Jr., one year old. Roger Holcomb was a student in the University of Oregon prior to entering Oregon Medical College, in which he remained for two years. He continued his professional work in Rush Medical College of Chicago, Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1923, and then served as interne in the Cook County Hospital of that city. He has well appointed offices at the corner of Forty-second street and Sandy boulevard in Portland and has built up a practice of gratifying proportions. He married Miss Edna Mihnos, of Portland, and has a daughter, Katherine. Miriam, sister of Drs. Blair and Roger Holcomb, was also educated in the University of Oregon and is the wife of Baltis Allen, Jr., and the mother of a son, Timothy. Mr. and Mrs. Baltis Allen, Jr., are residents of Portland. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/photos/bios/holcombm1411gbs.jpg File Size: 110Kb File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/holcombm1411gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.7 Kb