Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/325

 HOLBROOK

HOLCOMBE

HOLBROOK, John Edwards, naturalist, was born in Beaufort. S.C., Dec. 30, 1794 ; son of Silas and Mary (Edwards) Holbrook ; grandson of Daniel Holbrook. and a descendant of Thomas Holbrook. He was graduated from Brown university, A.B., 1815, and from the Universitj- of Pennsylvania, M.D., 1818. He studied in England and Scotland, 1818-20, and on the European con- tinent, principally in Paris, making a special study of natural history, 1820-23. He was a physician in Charleston, S.C., 1822-61 ; professor of anatomy. South Carolina Medical college, 1824-55 ; and head examiner, board of surgeons, C.S.A.. 1861-65. He gained a high reputation as a naturalist, and was a friend of Louis Agassiz. He planned and commenced the serial publica- tion Southern Ichthyology to include Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, but after two num- bers changed t lie name and field to Ichthyology of South Carolina, of which ten numbers ap- jjeared, 1854-60. The civil war interrupted the publication, and after the war he spent his sum- mers in Massachusetts. He was married, in May, 1827, to Harriott Pinckney Rutledge, a grand- daughter of Governor Rutledge of South Carolina. She died at Columbia, S.C, in November, 1863, without children. Dr. Holbrook was a member of the American Philosophical society and an early member of the National Academy of Sciences. He published : American Ilerpetology (5 vols., 1842). He died in Norfolk. Mass., Sept. 8, 1871.

HOLBROOK, Silas Pinckney, author, was born in Beaufort, S.C June 1, 1796 ; son of Silas and Mary (Edwards) Holbrook, and brother of Dr. John Edwards Holbrook, the naturalist. He was graduated from Brown in 1815, studied law in Boston, and practised in Medford, Mass., 1818- 35. He travelled extensively in Europe and con- tributed to the yew England Galaxy and the Boston Courier, under the pen name of "Jona- than Forbrick " : " Letters from a Mariner," '•Travels of a Tin Peddler," "Letters from a Boston Merchant," and " Recollections of Japan and China." He also conducted the Boston Trib- une and Spectacles. He collected his contribu- tions and issued them as : Sketches by a Travel- ler (1830). He was married to Esther Gourdin. He died at Pineville, S.C, May 26, 1835.

HOLCOriB, Silas Alexander, jurist, was born in Gibson county. Ind., Aug. 25, 1858; son of John C. and Lucinda Reavis (Skelton) Holcomb. He spent the early years of his life on a farm with his parents, receiving a common school ed- ucation, and later continued his education at the academies of his native state. He began teach- ing school at the age of seventeen. His father hav- ing died in 1878, he became the head of the fam- ily, and as such, with his mother, younger broth- ers and sisters, removed to Nebraska, locating at

In 1898 he

Grand Island, where he was admitted to the bar in 1882. He was married, April 13. 1882, to Alice Brinson, of Cass county, Neb. In 1883 he settled at Broken Bow and engaged in the prac- tice of his profession. He was elected dis- trict judge in 1891 for a term of four j-ears, and in 1893 was the unsuccessful can- didate for judge of the supreme court. He was twice elected governor of Nebi'aska, first, in 1894, and again in 1896, serv- ing until 1898. He was the first Popu- list governor ever inaugurat'ed in Nebraska, elected judge of the supreme court for a term of six years.

HOLCOriBE, Amasa, scientist, was born in Nortli Graiiby. Conn.. June 18, 1787 ; son of Elijah 2d and Lucy (Holcombe), and descendant in the sixth generation from Thomas Holcombe, the immigrant, who .settled in Boston in 1630, and in the fifth generation from Nathaniel and Mary (Bliss) Holcombe, of Springfield, Mass. He was both a student and teacher of civil engineering, surveying, mathematics and astronomy, and while conducting a private class in astronomy he constructed a telescope for its use. Prof. Benjamin Silliman, who saw the instrument, ad- vised young Holcombe to manufacture similar ones for sale. This he did, and his reflecting tel- escopes were the only ones manufactured in the United States between 1828 and 1842. His skill as a maker of telescopes was recognized by the city of Philadelphia, which municiiJality pre- sented him with the Scott medal in 1835, and the Franklin Institute silver medal in 1838. The American institute. New York city, presented him with a gold medal in 1839 and a diploma in 1840. He represented the South wick, Mass., dis- trict in the state legislature for three years, and was a state senator in 1840. He constructed a camera, and with it took the first daguerreotype portraits produced in America, the instrument being one he made for a New York oi'der. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Wil- liams college in 1837. He was a licensed Meth- odist preacher for thirty years and a justice of the peace for thirty-two years. He died in Southwick. :Mass.. Feb. 27, 1873.

HOLCOriBE, Chester, diplomatist, was born at Winfield, Herkimer county, N.Y., Oct. 16, 1844 ; son of the Rev. Chester and Lucy (Tonip-