Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Holmes, Samuel

Born: 1813-XX-XX Connecticut

Samuel Holmes was a businessman, city government official, federal government official, mayor, and state legislator. Holmes moved from his native Connecticut to Illinois in 1833, settling in Quincy. In October 1836, he married Jane Streeter. Holmes became very active in civic and political affairs in Quincy. He was at the forefront of efforts to construct railroads, orphan homes, and educational institutions in and around Quincy. In June 1838, Holmes won election as a trustee of the town of Quincy, and he won reelection in April 1839. In that same year, Holmes became a charter member of the first fire company in the town. He served on the committee appointed to investigate a city charter for Quincy, and at the first city elections in 1843, he won election as an alderman. In 1849, Holmes served as register of the General Land Office in Quincy. He also operated a mercantile establishment in Quincy. In 1850 and 1851, Holmes served as mayor of Quincy. In 1856, he won election, as a Democrat, to the Illinois House of Representatives, and his peers elected him Speaker of the House for the Twentieth Illinois General Assembly. After his term in the Illinois House, Holmes returned to Quincy. In 1860, he was living in Quincy's Fifth Ward and was working as a produce merchant.

U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), North Ward, Quincy, Adams County, IL, 213; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Quincy, Adams County, IL, 292; The History of Adams County, Illinois (Chicago: Murray, Williamson & Phelps, 1879), 311, 422, 455, 476; William H. Collins and Cicero F. Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1905), 46-47, 66, 67, 73, 91, 129, 174, 233, Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Adams County, 20 October 1836, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois House Journal. 20th G. A., 5; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 10 February 1857, 2:1-2; Gravestone, Woodland Cemetery, Quincy, IL.