Holmes, William H.

Born: 1810-XX-XX New York

Holmes was an attorney who, by 1835, resided in Pekin, Illinois. The Pekin Board of Trustees appointed Holmes as town clerk in 1838, and as tax assessor in 1841. In October 1848, Holmes moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and resumed the practice of law. In 1850, Holmes was appointed to the first board of trustees for Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. During the same year Holmes was involved in organizing the Bloomington & Wabash Railroad, an effort that included getting an act to incorporate the railroad passed by the Illinois General Assembly. In 1850, Holmes owned real estate worth $4,000.

U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Bloomington, McLean County, IL, 15; E. Duis, The Good Old Times in McLean County, Illinois (Bloomington, IL: Leader, 1874), 63; The History of McLean County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 364; Deposition of William H. Holmes (Document ID: 129092), 5 April 1849, Pearl v. Pearl et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=140933; History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 567-68; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 14 February 1835, 3:6.