Orange
County
Biographies
REV. FRANCIS REUBEN HOLCOMB
High on the roll of Fullerton’s
honored dead is written the name of the Rev. Francis R. Holcomb, who was known
and esteemed throughout Orange County, first as a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal Church and later as a grower of citrus fruits. He was born in Windham, Portage County, Ohio,
June 4, 1841, a son of Chester Reuben and Adaline
(Spencer) Holcomb, who were natives of Granby, Connecticut, and members of old
American families. The father was born
in 1814 and followed the occupation of a mechanic as a young man. Turning his attention to the athletic sports,
he became the champion wrestler of New England.
In 1844 he left the east and with his family journeyed westward to
Muscatine, Iowa, in which state he spent the remainder of his life, passing
away in 1874, when he was sixty years of age.
His wife was born in 1816 and attained the advanced age of ninety years,
departing this life in 1906.
As a child of three years Rev.
Francis R. Holcomb went with his parents to Muscatine, Iowa, where he attended
the public schools and Stone’s Academy.
For a number of years he was a teacher in the schools of that vicinity,
performing the duties of an instructor during the winter months, while in
summer he looked after the home farm.
Afterward he studied theology and in 1879 entered the ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Iowa. He
was first assigned to Wapello and subsequently was engaged in pastoral work at
Wayland, Mount Pleasant and Agency, Iowa.
In 1888 he came with his family to California, settling in Fullerton,
the railroad station being known then as La Habra. During 1891 and 1892 he occupied the pulpit
of Chadbourne Hall, which was used as a house of
worship by the Methodists of Fullerton.
In 1893 he was called to the pastorate of the Methodist Church at Garden
Grove and continued to preach the Gospel with eloquence and power until 1904,
when he retired from the ministry. His
service in that connection covered a quarter of a century and was productive of
much good.
On the 7th of March,
1866, was solemnized the marriage of the Rev. Francis R. Holcomb and Miss Annie
L. Johnson, a daughter of Ezra and Sarah (Hoskins) Johnson of Bellevue,
Michigan. Rev. and Mrs. Holcomb were the
parents of a son and two daughters:
Chester E., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Mrs. Mary Case,
whose home is in Orange; and Mrs. Annie Gardiner, of Roscoe, California. The mother of these children died in August,
1875, and on January 1, 1877, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Shepard
of Muscatine, Iowa, became the wife of Rev. Holcomb. In 1888 he purchased a ranch in Orange
County, planted an orchard and, in addition to the cultivation of citrus
fruits, produced asparagus and other vegetables suited to this locality. He was accounted one of Orange county’s most
progressive agriculturists and successfully operated his ranch until 1916, when
he retired to Fullerton. With its
financial life he was closely associated as a stockholder and director of the
Fullerton Savings Bank and the First National Bank of Fullerton until his death
on the 9th of October, 1930, at the age of eighty-nine years, four
months and five days. He was a prominent
Mason and a man of exemplary character, esteemed and respected by all with whom
he came in contact. For four years he
had survived his second wife, whose death occurred on the 7th of
July, 1926.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 461-462, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S
ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES