Fred Holcomb Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1638-1639 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	FRED HOLCOMB was born in Jefferson county, New York, at the town 
of Carthage, on July 2. 1851, and is the son of William and Maria 
(Fanning) Holcomb, who were also natives of New York. The father was a 
prosperuus and energetic farmer in Jefferson county, and in 1855 the 
family moved to Dubuque county, Iowa, four miles from the city of 
Dubuque, where they followed dairying for a time, then farming. In this 
county Mr. Holcomb grew to manhood and was educated. In 1869 he moved to 
Abilene, Kansas, where, with his brother, he was occupied in the cattle 
business until 1872. He then took a band of cattle to Des Moines, Iowa, 
and sold them, and with the proceeds paid his tuition for a term at a 
business college in Dubuque. In April, 1873, he came to South Dakota 
with a herd of cows which he left at Yankton while he went back to 
Dubuque and got married. Returning to Yankton with his bride, he settled 
there and started a dairy business on a small scale, carrying the milk 
about in cans on foot. A year later he had two wagons and his business 
continued to increase. In the spring of 1879 he came to Rapid City in 
company with his father to look over the country with a view to settling 
here. The father remained, but Mr. Holcomb returned to Yankton, making 
the trip on the only stage that was ever held up on the line between 
Rapid City and Pierre, this event occurring before the stage reached the 
Cheyenne river. In July of 1877, he made a visit to Rapid City for his 
health, and, determining to make this his future home, he went back to 
Yankton and disposed of his interests there, and in the spring of 1881 
brought his family and cattle to this section, settling the family at 
Rapid City and placing the cattle on the range along the Cheyenne, 
removing them later to the White river. His cattle are now mostly to the 
north, on Sulphur and Morrow creeks. He has made a great success of his 
business by keeping steadily at it and applying the wisdom gained in 
experience and observation, ever increasing its magnitude and conducting 
it along the lines of the most wholesome progress and development. His 
acreage in both ranch and grazing lands is very large and his stock 
industry is the leading one belonging to an individual citizen in this 
part of the state. The Holcomb home has been at Rapid City ever since 
the family settled here, and is one of the most elegant and attractive 
in the town. The head of the house is an active and devoted member of 
the Masonic fraternity, with membership in the lodge at Rapid City. 

	On June 4, 1873, Mr. Holcomb was married in Dubuque county. Iowa, 
to Miss Minnie V. Miller, a native of that county. They have one child, 
May, the wife of George H. White, of Rapid City. Mrs. Holcomb's parents 
came to Rapid City in 1880 and remained there until death, the father 
dying in 1886 and the mother in 1891. The father was prominent as a 
stockman and also conducted one of the first hotels at Rapid City.