Robert A. Holmes
Robert A. Holmes, owner of a valuable 100-acre farm which lies in Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, was born on this place April 28, 1854, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Snider) Holmes.
Thomas Holmes was one of the Ieading men of his day in Cross Creek Township. He was a millwright and miller and owned what was known as Holmes' mill for some thirty years, and was the first postmaster, the present name of the office being Fernwood. He was a Jacksonian Democrat. He reared his family according to the discipline of the Episcopal church, in which he was a senior warden. He married Mary Snider, and they had nine children: Hiram, Kate N., Thomas B. and David are all deceased; Elizabeth, now deceased, was the wife of James Collins; Allen, deceased, was, like his three above named brothers, a soldier in the Civil War; Isaac lives at Milwaukee, Wis., and Robert A., who is the youngest of the family.
Robert A. Holmes attended the local schools only and then assisted on the farm for a few years, and after that began railroading, and during the six years in that business was promoted to be a section foreman. When his father died Mr. Holmes received his present farm, a part of the 134 acres which his parent had owned, and he settled here and has engaged in farming ever since. In February, 1892, Mr. Holmes was married to Miss Sarah Virginia Skinner, a daughter of David and Mary Jane (Ice) Skinner. The parents of Mrs. Holmes were natives of Ohio and her father was a river man. Of tlie large family of Mr. and Mrs. Skinner only four survive: Dora, wife of Frank Culp; Emma; Florence, wife of Robert Fielding, and Mrs. Holmes. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes have five children: Harry, Anna, Mary, Edith and Herbert. The Holmes family from the time of the grandfather, Thomas Holmes, has been connected with the Episcopalian church. In politics Mr. Holmes is a Democrat, but the only office he ever consented to accept was on the school board, and he served one term.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910