http://debmurray.tripod.com/decatur/decbioref-17.htm
"History of Decatur County, Indiana" Lewis A. Harding B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, Indiana published in 1915.

JOHN W. HOLCOMB
Among the ablest of the younger members of the Indiana bar, is John W. Holcomb, an attorney of Westport, Indiana. With the blood of Revolutionary ancestry coursing through his veins, and the overshadowing influence of the Puritanic thought of his progenitors, it is not surprising that we find him not only a prominent lawyer, but a leader in the affairs of the state. With other honors gathered in his comparatively short lifetime, this young man has the distinction of having been the youngest member of the Indiana Legislature during the session of 1899, when he represented Decatur county, having been elected .the preceding fall. When a man transcends the average of attainment, a look into the history of his ancestors often reveals hidden forces which play an important part in his own life. In the present instance this is eminently true, and we shall find a brief study of the family record of unusual interest, especially from a psychological viewpoint. The attorney whose name forms the caption of this article was born on a farm in Marion township on February 27, 1874, but he did not stay on the farm.

The earliest progenitor of the Holcomb family in America was Thomas, who came from Devonshire, England, to America in 1630, locating at Dorchester, Massachusetts. Born in 1590, he came to this country for the same reason that actuated his other Puritan friends, and it was his descendants who fought in the Revolutionary War. After five years' residence at Dorchester, he went to Connecticut to live, and here it was that he passed away in 1639. His son Nathaniel became the paternal ancestor of John W. Holcomb.

Next in the line of descent, is Rufus, whose father, Luther, was a Revolutionary soldier. Rufus was a native of Connecticut, born in 1786. Stirred by the desire for adventure, he came west at an early day, locating near Moore's Hill, Dearborn county, where Eli, grandfather of John W. Holcomb, was born in 1823. When a young man he moved to Ripley county. His wife, Emeline Hall, was of the true type of pioneer mother, presenting her husband with six children. These were Daniel, father of our subject, Emma Williams, of Kansas; Albert, also of Kansas; Benson, who lives in Arizona; Walter, a resident of California, and Dora Oldham, who lived in Kansas until her death in 1903. Eli Holcomb and his wife left their pioneer home in Indiana for a home farther West, in Kansas, and it was here that the aged man died in 1899. Daniel W. Holcomb, father of our subject, was born in Ripley county in 1852. About the year 1870 he came to Decatur county. He settled in Marion township on a farm in 1873, and it is here that he still lives. The tract of land which he first purchased consisted of forty acres, but the energetic farmer added to this as his success permitted until he has acquired two hundred and thirty-five acres. He gave especial attention to stock raising besides the usual agricultural enterprises. He is still hale and hearty and is active in politics, being a strong Republican. He is at present township trustee, and has been for many years a member of the Baptist church. Mrs. Holcomb, Sr., was formerly Mary E. Evans, and was born in September, 1855. Their children are John W., the subject of this sketch; Albert, A retired farmer of Westport; Ada Mozingo, who died in December, 1914; Lewis, of Oklahoma; Janie Mozingo, wife of Edward Mozingo, of near Greensburg; Margaret Brown, of North Vernon, and Joseph B., who lives upon his father's farm.

John W. Holcomb received a good general education before he specialized in the studies which prepared him to become the successful lawyer that he is. While he was brought up on the farm, he attended first the common schools, and then the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana. At the age of eighteen, when many young men are still in college, he began teaching, and for the following eight years, taught in Marion township and Jennings county. He was admitted to the bar in 1897, and practiced for two years in Greensburg, and later spent five years in Indianapolis. Locating in Westport in 1908, he began to build up the practice which now makes him a leader in his profession, and entitles him to a place among the best-known lawyers of the county.

On September, 1899, Mr. Holcomb was married to Margaret Owen, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Owen, of Marion township, and to them two children have been born. These are, Mary, whose birth date is January 26, 1906, and Mabel, born on June 7, 1908.

Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb are prominent members of the Baptist church. Mr. Holcomb belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge, and also to the Modern Woodmen of America of Westport.

Mr. Holcomb has not been active because of the fact that his profession has led him into political fields, but because here he finds the kind of activity that is congenial to his tastes. The Republican party in his part of the state is stronger because of his leadership, and the fact that he was elected township trustee in 1914 and a representative of his county in the Indiana Legislature of 1899, attests to the measure of confidence and popularity which his constituents accord him. Both positions he has filled with credit both to himself and to those who elected him. Although a youthful member of the Assembly, he was an able representative, and his county had no reason to regret its choice. Mr. Holcomb has a keen, penetrating mind, called perhaps more technically, a "legal mind," yet his character has the elements of strength that are intellectual, for his nature is at once judicial and sympathetic. He is a good husband and father, a kind friend, a genial neighbor and an upright, loyal citizen.