Biography - M Holmes
M. D. HOLMES. Agriculture and stock raising have formed the principal occupation of this gentleman, and the wide-awake manner in which he has taken advantage of all methods and ideas tending to enhance the value of his property has had a great deal to do with obtaining the competence which he now enjoys. Personal popularity, it cannot be denied, results largely from the industry, perseverance and close attention to business which a person displays in the management of any particular branch of trade, and in the case of Mr. Holmes this is certainly true, for he has adhered so closely to the above-mentioned pursuits that high esteem has been placed upon him. He is a native-born resident of this county, his birth having occurred in East Fork Township, September 5, 1847.
His father, Joel Holmes, was a native of the Pine Tree State, born in the year 1813, and when about three years of age his father and mother died. He, was put out and reared in New York State until twenty-one years of age, when he came direct to Montgomery County, Ill., and entered the land where his son, our subject, now resides. He was married in this county to Miss Marandis D. Bennett, a native of the Old Bay State, who was thirteen years of age when she came with her parents to the Prairie State. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Holmes located where our subject now resides, made many improvements on the place and there received their final summons, the father dying in 1870 and the mother in 1883. They were honest, upright citizens, frugal arid industrious, and were highly esteemed in the community in which they lived. Their family consisted of six children, three sons and three daughters, two sons and one daughter now living.
The original of this notice was reared and educated in his native place, and received his scholastic training in the log schoolhouse with no windows, and in Hillsboro Academy. He assisted his father in developing and improving the home place, and continued to reside under the parental roof until his marriage, which occurred on the 30th of October, 1870, with Miss Amanda Barnett, a native of Franklin County, Ill., born May 7, 1849, and the daughter of Jesse and Mary A. (Abbott) Barnett. Directly after his marriage, our subject located on section 28, East Fork Township, and there continued to make his home for about five years, after which he moved to the farm that he now owns. This is the old homestead, where his boyhood days were spent, and here he expects to pass the remainder of his life.
Mr. Holmes has made many improvements in his farm and now has one of the most productive tracts of land in the township. Beginning life with little capital, he has been very successful, and is now accounted one of the substantial men of his locality. His business abilities are first-class, and few men in this section have taken better advantage of such opportunities as have been afforded him. While his own interests have engrossed his attention to a great extent, he has never lost sight of the public welfare, and there are few of his fellow-citizens who have been more helpful to the general good of the community than has Mr. M. D. Holmes.
His marriage resulted in the birth of eight children three daughters and five sons, as follows: Hattie D. died at the age of eighteen years; Fred D.; Ollie S. died when two years of age; Chester D.; Hiram M.; Clara D. died at the age of fourteen months; Bertie died at the age of nineteen months, and Harold, died when quite small. Mr. Holmes owns two hundred and forty acres of land, nearly all under cultivation, and is a first-class farmer and stock-raiser. In politics, he is a Republican. For twenty years he has been School Director, and both he and his wife are worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is a Trustee.
Extracted 04 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 250-251.
