| Show THE UTAH HALL NEWSPAPER OF FAME avid reader he was alsokeen student of the law and government and strived for self-improvement His lineage traced to Ireland The first Holmes to come to America was Abraham known as the Puritan who arrived in 1719 settling in Londonderry New Hampshire An elder in the Presbyterian Church Abra ham was alsoSelectman and Justice of the Peace John for many was Presbyterian His son years They minister were followed by Thomas who served in the military during the Revolutionary War then by his son James who was Willgrand father James was also the name of Willfather who accompanied Barker Holmes came by west in 1851 his mother Martha with early Mormon pioneers They settled in Alpine Utah and then in 1864 James came with Charles Rich to the Bear Lake valley of Idaho to help establishcolony They settled in Montpelier Willmother was Harriet Phelps Phelps who was imprisoned with Parley persecutors but escaped to help pioneer ment Details of the escape weresource daughter of Morris Pratt by religious the western settleof pride to Will who frequently recounted the heroic efforts of Laura wife of Morris Phelps and grandmother of Will With her brother John ascompanion Laura traveled nearly 200 miles on horseback crossing the Missouri River through flood-swollen waters so deep the animals and riders were in swim or drown situation The intrepid Laura did deviseway to free her husband Holmes concluded elaborating only when asked Shortly after his marriage on February 19 1896 to Emma Vilate Bowen Will servedtwo-year LDS Church mission in Mississippi He then spent six months with his father in the New England States researching his ancestry Holmes was employed eight years by the railroad at Montpelier as express agent revise clerk cashier and assis553 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
