JAMES ISHAM HOLMES.
James Isham Holmes, of Shannon township, Atchison county, is a pioneer of eastern Kansas and western Missouri, and for seventy-three years has lived within a radius of twelve miles from Atchison. He is a native of Indiana and was born in Putnam county March 22, 1841. He is a son of William and Nancy (Hartsock) Holmes, the former a native of England, born in 1812, and the latter a native of Germany. William Holmes, the father, immigrated from England with his parents when he was a small boy. The family located in Kentucky, where they remained but a short time when they removed to Indiana, and in 1842 they removed to Buchanan county, Missouri, and located near St. Joseph. The father was a cooper and worked at his trade for a short time at Rushville, Mo., and in the spring of 1843 he settled one mile south of Dekalb, where he conducted a cooper shop for eight years. He then bought a farm three miles north of Dekalb, where he followed farming for twelve years, or until 1863, when he traded his place for a farm in Doniphan county, Kansas. Three years later he sold his Doniphan county farm and removed to Atchison, where he spent the remainder of his life in retirement.
William and Nancy (Hartsock) Holmes were the parents of the following children: John William, Eliza Ann, Peter, Alfred; James Isham, the subject of this sketch; John, Francis, Marion, Loma, Ann, Perry, Praeter B., Isaac, Susan Ann, Lethia Maria, Joseph, and Henry.
James Isham Holmes was reared amid the pioneer surroundings of the times and received such education as was available under the conditions, and when twenty-two years old went to Doniphan county, Kansas, where he worked in a flouring mill one year. He was then engaged in various vocations, including farming, cutting cordwood, railroading and lumbering, when he engaged in breaking prairie in the vicinity of Atchison. He followed that vocation for some time when he engaged in farming in Atchison county. He sold his farm in 1868 and shortly afterwards bought another place of eighty acres, and bought more land as the opportunity offered, and now owns a fine farm of 240 acres, where he has resided for the past forty years. He is one of the successful farmers of Atchison county and has prospered.
Mr. Holmes has been twice married. His first wife was Rose Ann Wood, to whom he was married in 1861. She died February 9, 1862, leaving one child, William H., who resides in Atchison. His second marriage took place September 17, 1863, to Jemima E. Pruitt, a Missouri girl, born in 1844. Three children were born to this union: Perry, a railroad man, residing in Salt Lake City, Utah; Nancy Emily, now deceased; Minnie married Mr. Bisel, and is now deceased. She was the mother of three children, Lawrence, Milburn, and Othello.
Mr. Holmes has been a student of men and affairs all his life. He has read extensively during his entire life and is one of the best posted men on general topics in Atchison county. He is a typical representative of the American pioneer who courageously conquered the wild and unbroken West and made of it the great agricultural and commercial empire that it is. He and his accomplished wife, who has been his helpmate and companion for more than a half century, are now spending the sunset of their lives in peace and comfort in their beautiful home which their industry has provided.