ALONZO HOLCOMB, of Dakota Township, Ill., is a son of Jonathan Holcomb, who was one of three children, of an old Revolutionary soldier, whose brother participated in the War of 1812. So it will be seen that Alonzo Holcomb is an American in the truest sense of the word, his forefathers having assisted in the struggle for American freedom.

The Holcomb family is of Scotch descent, and Jonathan Holcomb was born in Connecticut. After attaining manhood he went to Vermont and there married Miss Electra Clark, daughter of Truman Clark, who has represented the people of that State in the Legislature. Later on, he went to St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and died there, a prominent man in the locality.

The father of our subject followed the water for some time, being Captain on a vessel on Lake Champlain. Later in life he was a jeweler, and in 1846 came West to Jo Daviess County, Ill. His wife died in New York State, April 26, 1846, aged forty-six years. He followed his son to this State and Jo Daviess County, to which he had come early in the history of the county and settled near Elizabeth. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father was a Republican when he died. They had a family of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, including two pairs of twins.

Our subject was born in Grand Isle County, Vt., March 23, 1830. He was only three years old when his father and the family went to St. Lawrence County, N. Y., where he was reared and educated. He was a sprightly boy, and his stock of resolution at that early day is shown by the fact that he and two brothers walked all the way to Jo Daviess County from Chicago, to which point he had come by water.

The two brothers who accompanied Mr. Holcomb on this tedious journey were Henry, who is married and now living at Storm Lake, Iowa, and William A., who has been a resident of California for thirty-four years, and is a prominent grain dealer and politician. The family first settled at Elizabeth, but subsequently Alonzo took up his home on the prairie, elsewhere in the State, where he sought to establish himself. He was married, Sept. 12, 1850, to Miss Gula Elma Way, the daughter of Dr. H. A. Way, a native of North Carolina. Dr. Way came of Quaker stock, and was a man of literary attainments, and a great reformer. He advocated the abolition of slavery and held pronounced temperance views. He came North, a single man, and settled in Richmond, Wayne Co., Ind., where he established the Anti-Slavery Chronicle, and was closely allied with the “underground railroad,” for freeing the slaves. Eliza, the heroine of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was at his house at Richmond. It will be recollected that the characters of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s immortal story were taken from life, and Eliza’s movements are truthfully recorded in the narrative. Dr. Way labored with both voice and pen in advocating the cause which he had at heart, and was likewise a skillful physician, and an extensive practitioner in Wayne County.

Dr. Way married Rachel Manlove, who had come from North Carolina with her parents when she was twelve years old. In 1847 the parents and family all migrated to Jo Daviess County, Ill., locating in Rush Township, where they lived until the death of the father in April, 1874. He had then passed his eightieth birthday, and a few weeks previously at a gathering of his children, he was able to read without glasses an essay which he had written on “Growing Old.” He had strength of mind and body until his death. The mother died about 1854. Subsequently the Doctor married again, and the second wife is yet living in Warren, Ill.

Mrs. Holcomb was reared at home and educated in the district school there. She is the youngest daughter of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. The oldest of the daughters died in infancy; the others all lived to marry and have families. All the daughters and four sons are yet living. Five of the boys were in the army, and one died from exposure while his regiment was in Brownsville, Tenn., in 1862. They were all privates except one who was a Corporal, and fulfilled their duties satisfactorily. Notwithstanding they were in several engagements, all escaped unhurt. Their names are as follows: Manlove; Abison, who is deceased; Ennis, Levi M., and Stanton C., who died after the war was over.

Mr. Holcomb has been always busy, actively performing the duties of life. He now owns a farm of 200 acres in Rock Run Township, this county, a good body of land in Jo Daviess County, and Iowa, and property in Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb are the parents of five children: Narcissa, the wife of W. H. Bowman, is residing on the farm in Dakota Township; William took to wife Miss Nellie McMichael, of New York State, and lives on Mr. Holcomb’s farm in Rock Run Township; Albert R. married Rose Hessic, a native of Canada, and lives in Aspen, Col., engaged in mining operations; Emma is the wife of Robert J. Bayne, residing in Warren; Nettie is the wife of J. C. Waddington, and lives at Nora, Ill.

Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb are prominent in their community, usually taking an active interest in social happenings, and are generally esteemed. Mrs. H. is a very intelligent and genial lady, having Southern manners and an attractive presence. In politics, Mr. Holcomb is a stalwart Republican. His career has been somewhat varied, especially since he came to Stephenson County. He is now retired from active labor.

Contributed by Carole Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. 1888