Holmesj
Transcribed from "History of North Washington, an illustrated history
of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties", published by Western
Historical Publishing Co., 1904.
JAMES B. HOLMES, enterprising,
prosperous and successful as a Chelan county agriculturist, resides on
a model farm one and one-half miles east of Mission. He was born
in Monroe county, Michigan, November 3, 1850. His father, Caleb
L. Holmes, is a New Englander, Maine being his native state, and of Scotch-English
ancestry. His life has been passed as a farmer and lumberman.
He now resides at Redwood Falls, Minnesota. The mother, Eunice E.
(Mann) Holmes, was a native of the Keystone state, of Dutch and New England
ancestry. She passed away at Redwood Falls in 1898.
When he was two years of age, the parents
of our subject moved to Wisconsin and later to Minnesota. Until he
was twenty-four years old he remained at home, working on the farm and
attending public school. Removing to Redwood Falls, he purchased
land which he cultivated successfully three years, and then went to Minneapolis,
Minnesota, where he engaged in the furniture business, continuing the same
ten years. In 1889 he disposed of the stock and came to Washington,
locating at Waterville, Douglas county, where he filed on a homestead,
on which he lived ten years. He then came to Chelan county, settled
on his present place, sixty acres of land, forty acres of which he cultivates
and has twenty acres devoted to alfalfa and orchard. He has one brother,
Ernest M., a commercial traveler residing at Redwood Falls.
At the latter place, July 15, 1883, our subject
was married to Alice W. Cook, born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father,
Alfred M. Cook, was a native of Virginia, and her mother, Susan Cook, of
Ohio. Both are deceased. Mrs. Holmes has three brothers, Alfred
A., who was captain of a company, and is now an inmate of a soldier's home;
Milton A., superintendent of a railway division in Pennsylvania, and Edward,
a farmer living near Wenatchee. Two children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Holmes, James L., a fireman on the Great Northern railway,
and Elizabeth C., a school girl residing with her parents.
Mr. Holmes is prominent in Masonic circles,
being a member of Riverside Lodge No. 112, A. F. & A. M., Wenatchee,
Wenatcheee Chapter No. 22, R. A. M., Zion Commandery, K. T., Minneapolis
and also of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Minneapolis. Politically,
he is a staunch Republican, has served as delegate to numerous county conventions,
but is not a party man in the strictest sense. In the community in
which he resides he is highly respected and influential.