ENOCH HOLCOMB

© Kathy Duncan, 2013

Enoch Holcomb, brother of Azariah Holcomb, was born about 1799 in Missouri.

On 19 July 1826, in Jefferson County, Missouri, Enoch Holcomb signed a petition to move the county seat from Herculaneum to Hillsboro along with brothers Azariah and Nathaniel Holcomb.

1830 census, Jackson Twp., Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri:
Enoch Holcomb 100001 - 000011

In Enoch's 1830 household are the following individuals:
one male under age five = [a son of either Enoch's or of the identified female]
one male age 30 - 40 = Enoch Holcomb
one female age 20 - 30 = [this female is too old to a child of Enoch and Anna's. She may be a younger sister of one of them or a servant. She is unidentified.]
one female age 30 - 40 = Anna (Ware) Holcomb

Living near Enoch Holcomb in 1830 were the following households: Benajah Brown, Nathaniel Holcomb, James Skaggs, and an Elizabeth Jamison.

On July 1832, Enoch Holcomb became the administrator of his father-in-law, Hardy Ware's estate, case #00962, in St. Louis County Missouri.

1840 census, Newton County, Missouri:
Enoch Holcomb 0000001 - 0000101

Enoch's 1840 household was composed of the following:
one male age 40 - 50 = Enoch Holcomb
one female age 20- 30 = [This female might be the same female that was on the 1830 census. She was probably either a sister or a servant.]
one female age 40 - 50 = Anna (Ware) Holcomb

The male child under age 5 in 1830 is no longer in the Holcomb household and is probably deceased. At this point, the Holcombs appear to be childless.

In May 1844, Anna Holcomb, wife of Enoch Holcomb, was named as a daughter and heir of Drucilla Ware in her estate, case #01902, which was filed in St. Louis, Missouri. The probate papers state that Anna and Enoch were in an unknown county in Missouri.

By 1850, Enoch and Anna Holcomb were in Navarro County, Texas.

5 Oct 1850, Navarro Dist., Navarro County, Texas:
1-1
Enoch Holcomb 51 M Well Digger b. MO
Ancy Holcomb 50 F b. MO
E. W. Holcomb 8 M b. MO
Elizabeth Holcomb 5 F b. MO
Abner Lee 49 M Cooper b. MO

The two children, E.W. and Elizabeth, are a mystery. Have Enoch and Ann finally had children of their own? Are these children of a deceased brother of Enoch's? Neither of these children was named in Enoch's probate settlement, so they are probably deceased by 1852 since no provision is made for them, and they received nothing in the settlement.

Enoch Holcomb's estate, case #03827B, was filed in St. Louis County, Missouri in 1852/3. His probate named his siblings: "Isaac Holcomb brother of decd who resides in St. Louis County and Nathaniel Holcomb brother of decd who resides in California and Azariah Holcomb and Hannah wife of James Scagg and the children of Esther Jameson who was a sister of decd who reside in the Southwestern part of the state of Missouri and the children of Phoebe Pool whose residence is unknown to me."

The probate documents noted that Enoch had no real estate, but the estate sale held on 11 Dec 1852 at his residence indicates that he was renting a farm. Among the purchasers at the sale were George Ware, who purchased a pick, shovel, cooking utensils, and a feather bed, and Isaac Holcomb, who purchased 2 lots of sundries, a chair, bedstead and tick, pot, jug, plow, lot of cabbage, and 3 lots of barn.

Isaac Holcomb presented a note dated 10 April 1852 and signed by Enoch Holcomb that indicated that Enoch had borrowed money from Isaac and that the debt was still unpaid.

Among Enoch Holcomb's probate papers was a doctor's charge on 10 August 1852 for attending Mrs. Holcomb. Since there was no widow mentioned, she probably predeceased Enoch. One of the drugs used to treat Mrs. Holcomb was quinine, which was used to treat cholera.  A cholera epidemic was raging in St. Louis from 1849 to 1852. According to period newspapers, by August of 1850, over a hundred people a week were dying. It seems likely that the both Enoch and his wife died of cholera. The probate makes no mention of the doctor attending to children.