Sacramento County
Biographies
HENRY HOLMES
HENRY HOLMES, a farmer of Sutter Township, was born in Yorkshire, England, February 26, 1829. His father, William Holmes, was a manufacturer of woolen goods in the old country, and also carried on farming. In 1842 he came to this country and spent a few months in Wisconsin; but, being sick while there he returned to England to spend the remainder of his days there. He was born in 1805, and died in 1880; his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1836, the mother of four sons and one daughter. Two of the family are now living, - one son in England, and Henry, the subject of this notice. The latter in his younger days was an assistant of his father, both on the farm and in the woolen mill. He became an expert in spinning and dyeing, taking charge of the business to a great extent during his father’s absence. In 1869 he bade adieu to his native land. Coming to America he spent the first year in Indiana, and afterward was in New York State; followed his trade as dyer in both States. In 1878 he came to California, and soon purchased his present place of 160 acres in Sutter Township, between the upper and lower Stockton roads. He has also an interest, with his sons, in a section of land in San Joaquin Township. In his undertakings here, also, he is in partnership with his sons. He has been a hard worker, industrious and economical, and has been quite successful. He had but $500 when he commenced here, nine years ago. He was married in 1852, in England, to Mary Woods, a native of that country, who died in 1871, the mother of six children, four of whom are now living, as follows: Emily, wife of James Spencer; Eva, wife of George Beiley; Joseph, who married Carrie Rich; and James W., who married Flora Canfield.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Page 610. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.