ASA HOLMES, one of the few survivors the honored band of citizens who born in Ohio when it was in its earliest infancy as a State, first saw the light December 4, 1806, on the farm where he now (1890) resides, in Short Creek Township. Harrison County. His grandfather, Obediah Holmes, was a native of New Jersey, whither his ancestry had come from Holland, and the family is now scattered here and there over the United States. Obediah was married, in New Jersey, to Miss Mary Chun, whose uncle was a captain in the Revolutionary War. They had the following named children: John, William, Obediah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, Elizabeth and Margaret, all now deceased. The parents died, the father in Virginia, about the year 1796, and the mother in York Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1812, and lies buried at Holmes Church, in same township. John Holmes was a soldier in the Revolution, and being taken prisoner by the British, was sent to England, where he was confined in prison, dying there of fever.

Asa Holmes, the subject proper of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, and received his education at the common schools of his district. In 1810 his father had aided in the building of a school-house on the same ground where the Science Hill school-house now stands, and here our subject was educated. When twenty-four years of age he commenced to learn the trade of a carpenter, removing into Georgetown" where he took charge of a mill for a time, and followed his trade some years; in 1835 he did the carpenter work on the house where he now lives, also built the barn which was remodeled in 1880. In 1837 Mr. Holmes was married to Mary, daughter of Thomas and Hannah McCoy, of Athens Township, Harrison County, and in 1845 he returned to the home place where he has since remained. The record of the ten children born to our subject and wife is as follows: James Taylor is an attorney at Columbus, Ohio (he served three years in the War of the Rebellion) ; Susanna is the widow of Albert Harrison, and is now living in Cadiz; Abram is post-office inspector, with residence at New Philadelphia, having been appointed under the Cleveland administration (he served three years in the Civil War, was formerly in mercantile business, then was auditor of his county five years); Emeline lives at home; Sarah Elizabeth is the wife of Henry Stringer, of Short Creek Township, Harrison County: Wilson is in Jefferson County, Ohio, near Smithtield, where he carries on farming; Mary Ellen is the wife of Samuel Dickerson, in Athens Township, Harrison County; Henrietta is the widow of C. A. McCleary. and lives in Cadiz Township, Harrison County; Oliver Wendell is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Kent, Ohio; Clifford A., resides at the home place. The entire family are adherents of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Holmes was a life-long Democrat, his first presidential vote having been cast for Andrew Jackson: he was trustee ten years during a period when the Democrats had 'but eighty votes to three hundred of their opponents, which in itself attests to the popularity of our subject. His farm of 1 15 acres is situated some five miles southeast of Cadiz, where now (1890) at the age of eighty-four years, with all his faculties wonderfully well preserved, he calmly awaits the summons that will call him to the "Better Land." Since the above was written, Asa Holmes, the patriarch of his connection peacefully fell asleep at 10 o'clock in the morning, January 3, 1891, thus rounding up and completing one of the best and gentlest of lives. As a patriot he rejoiced greatly in the growth, strength and prosperity of his country. He had a burning de- sire for knowledge that was with him to the last day of his life. He followed with an interested mind the marvelous advances of science in many fields. There were but few men in the non- professional ranks who more thoroughly under- stood the theology and spirit of his church. He possessed a judicial mind and lived with the purpose that no one should be misjudged by him or wronged by any action of his life.

Ref: Biographical Record of the Counties of Harrison and Carroll, Ohio