BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

William Henry Holcombe (1825-1893), homeopathic physician, was
born in Lynchburg, Va., son of William James Holcombe, also a
physician, and Ann Eliza Clopton Holcombe of Lynchburg. The
Holcombes were descendants of a Scotch family that settled in
Virginia and the Carolinas. William James Holcombe studied
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania under Nathaniel
Chapman and, after his marriage in 1819, settled in Lynchburg to
practice medicine. Later, he became a Methodist preacher in
addition to his medical practice and, with strong feelings
against the institution of slavery, freed his slaves and helped
them settle in Ohio and Liberia. Fearing that his sons--James
P., Thomas B., William Henry, John Warwick, Anderson Lawrence,
and Samuel Brown--would be affected adversely growing up in a
slave-owning community, William James Holcombe moved his family
to Indiana, where he purchased a farm in 1842. The boys worked
on this farm until they went to William and Mary College and the
University of Virginia. After their sons left home, the
Holcombes returned to Amelia County, Va.

William Henry Holcombe first practiced medicine in Cincinnati,
where he met and married Rebecca Palmer in 1852. Shortly
afterwards, they moved to Natchez where Holcombe went into
practice with a Dr. Davis. Holcombe encountered an epidemic of
yellow fever shortly after his arrival there. He and his wife
had four children, only one of whom survived past childhood.
Their son Alexander was born 8 February 1855 in Natchez. William
Henry Holcombe's younger brothers, Sammy and Johnny, and Johnny's
wife Harriet and child, Walker, lived with William and Rebecca in
Natchez for awhile. Johnny died 5 April 1855 and his wife and
son returned to Indiana. The Holcombes moved to New Orleans soon
after. William remained there for the rest of his life,
practicing homeopathic medicine and holding office for a time in
several homeopathic medical societies.