William Henry Holcomb

William H. Holcomb is one of the honest and prosperous tillers of the soil

of Washington County, 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 Washington County. Here they resided until the fall of 1843, when they

moved to the northern part of Washington County, 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 t@ 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 solcl 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 sen, 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 Demo-crat, and was born in 1857. He wa& 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. HOLCOMB, William H. -There was sorrow in this community on receipt of the news last Monday that William Holcomb has died suddenly the night before near Alma, Crawford County. He was there attending an association of the Primitive Baptist Church of which he had been a consistent member for 40 years. On the evening of that night he was reported to have appeared in excellent health and was unusually talkative and it was late before he retired. He was found the next morning about daylight out at the yard fence in a standing posture, his head hanging over the palings, one hand between them the other by his side. He was dead. Some time during the night he had gone out there and, it is supposed, being suddenly attacked with apoplexy or something of that kind, seized the palings to keep from falling and died in that position. He was about 60 years of age and had lived in Washington County more than half a century. He was an unassuming Christian gentleman without guile or deceit. Honest in all his dealings, kind and benevolent, he enjoyed the highest confidence and esteem of the people of this county. Having been a Christian and a consistent member of the church from his youth, it was a fitting end to be called hence while engaged in the Master’s Vineyard and while his sudden and unexpected end brings sadness and sorrow to his family and friends they weep with the hope that he has been called to the reward that awaits the finally faithful. The remains were brought up on the 4 o’clock train Wednesday morning and interred in the cemetery in Springdale, a large number of friends of the family being in attendance. [Fayetteville Democrat 9/26/1890]

One of the saddest and most sudden blows this community has received was caused by the death of Uncle Will Holcomb. On Friday of last week he, in company with Elder J.R. Loving, went down to Alma as delegates from the Primitive Baptist Church of this place to an Association of Baptists. He was in the best of health at the time of his departure and we conversed with him at the depot and he was not even complaining of feeling badly. Who can depict or imagine the awful sorrow then that was caused Monday morning by the receipt of a brief telegram from Mr. Loving stating that he was dead. No particulars were given and the suspense to his family was terrible to bear. J.P. Deaver and W.H. Holcomb. Jr. left at once on the train and they returned Tuesday with all that remained mortal of Uncle Will. The particulars of his death so far as we were able to get them were as follows: Sunday night Mr. Loving and Uncle Will retired about 12 o’clock to the same bed, the latter being in unusually good spirits, laughing and talking. Sometime in the night, probably a short time before dawn, he got up, partially robed himself and went out. He was not missed and when the inmates of the house arose he was found leaning up against the yard fence dead, the body still being warm. The physicians of Alma say his death was the result of congestion and from appearances it must have been painless and instantaneous. Funeral services were held Tuesday from the Primitive Baptist Church, of which organization Uncle Will had been a long and influential member and notwithstanding the extremely rainy and disagreeable weather a large crowd was out to pay last tribute to this good man. The remains were interred in Bluff Cemetery. Deceased leaves behind a wife and three children, many relatives and a host of friends to mourn his death. We have been promised an appropriate obituary which will be published next week. [The Springdale News 9/26/1890]

T.J. Holcomb and wife of Claremore, Indian Territory, Mrs. J.A. Walden and C.M. Wilds of Boonsboro, Jo Holcomb and wife of Fayetteville, Wm. Smiley and family of Elm Springs, Mrs. Mary Stafford and Jo Smiley of Hindsville and Mrs. L. Beasley of Cassville, Missouri were relatives from a distance who attended the funeral of Uncle Will Holcomb. [The Springdale News 2/26/1890]