My Genealogy Hound

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 on 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 be 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, 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.