| Rich Holmes's Chief Lines |
| Jerome N. HOLMES |
He served in the Civil War in the 189th New York Volunteers. Much of his time in the service was spent in the hospital, and he was a semi-invalid the rest of his life. His trade was cheese making, but he was not able to work much at this trade beyond about 1880, and took a variety of odd jobs including hops picking boss; he also shot partridges and gathered ginseng for sale. In most documents Jerome Holmes ; in a few, Jerome N. Holmes. A document in Jerome's pension file reads in part: "Oliva Holmes being duly sworn deposes and swears that she is the widow of Jerome Holmes, who was a soldier in the Civil war and who drew a pension because of such service, that the said soldiers full name was Jerome N Holmes but was usually written by him as Jerome Holmes not useing the middle letter N. That the name Jerome N Holmes or Jerome Holmes belonged to one and the same person who was her lawful husband from whom she was never divorced and who served in company D, 189th New York Inf." Another reads in part: "In regard to the name being written different I presume that in making out papers which I often do for my mother and did for my father I may have used the middle letter N. [circled - RSH] which father himself very seldom used but which I nearly always used in giving or writing his name." Neither document has anything to say about what the N stood for! In one document from the Bureau of Pensions dated Jul 13, 1915 it appears to say Jerome U. Holmes or Jerome V. Holmes. However, the middle initial could possibly be an N. In any case this document appears to have been filled in by someone at the Bureau, not someone who knew Jerome, and presumably the name was copied from the Application for Reimbursement dated Jun 25, 1915, in which the middle initial appears to be N but could be read as U.p. 38Hamilton, family #611Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #410Hamilton, family #59 Birth date: october 9 1834. Oct. 9, 1834. Age 5-10 in 1840. Age 16 in 1850. Age 20 in 1855. Age 25 in 1860. Age 27 on "Sep 5, 186 " [1864]. Age 29 on Sep 5, 1864. Age "twenty-nine years and eleven months" on Sep 5, 1864. Age 30 in 1865. Age 27 in 1865. Age 35 in 1870. Age 40 in 1875. Age 45 in 1880. Age 72 on Feb. 24, 1907. Age 77 on May 24, 1912. Age 78 at death on Dec 20, 1912. Birth place: Madison Co., New York. Madison. In S. Hamilton 20 years in 1855. New York. NY N.Y. on death record transcript. Hamilton NY. Hamilton in the State of New York.Hamilton, p. 212Hamilton, family #59Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #410Hamilton, family #611Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #325Hamilton, family #768Hamilton, 2nd dist., Family #84Hamilton, Family #141Hamilton, Family #141Hamilton, 2nd dist., Family #84Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #325Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #410Hamilton, family #611Hamilton, family #768Hamilton, family #59 Death date: 20 December 1912. Dec. 20, 1912. Dec 20th 1912. Dec. 18, 1912. Dec. 20, 1912. Cause of death: Chief cause: Chronic Myocarditis. Other causes: Acute Nephritis. He bought Lot No. 42, 11' x 22' in size, in the Poolville Cemetery, and may have been buried there. See entry for Hiram Holmes for more information. Height: 5 feet 10 1/2 inches on Sep 5, 186[4]. Complexion: Fair. Eyes: Blue. Hair: Dark on Sep 5, 186[4]. From a comparison of his census-neighbors in 1860 to an 1853 map of Hamilton it appears Jerome was then living in or near lots 84, 87, or 95 on what is now the south end of South Hamilton Road, very near Hiram HOLMES. Beers's 1875 atlas shows J. Holmes living in the hamlet of South Hamilton on lot 72, on the east side of what is now Williams Road, between the bend north of South Hamilton Road and the intersection of Excell Road - closer to the bend than to Excell Road, south of a house belonging to a Palmer and north of one belonging to a Kenyon. From a comparison of his census-neighbors in 1865 to this same atlas map it appears Jerome had moved to this South Hamilton location by then. He is listed as being in South Hamilton in an 1868 directory. On a visit in 1997, South Hamilton's "downtown" was found to consist of maybe half a dozen houses on Williams Road near the T intersection with South Hamilton Road. An old church there is now apparently a residence. The house that seems to be closest to the position shown on the Beers map for "J. Holmes"'s property was a green house, with some other buildings on the property, about 0.17 miles south of Excell Road and 0.13 miles north of the bend (or roughly 1/4 mile from the church), occupied by a Richard Delacy. Another house, a little one nearer to the bend and situated close to the road, (approx. 75.45576 W 42.76831 N) appeared to have burned fairly recently. In response to a questionnaire, DeLacy says his house existed in 1875 and at that time had four rooms and was 28' by 14'. That would be fairly consistent with Clarence's descriptions. However, he also says he believes Jerome's house was not that house but the burned one. It burned in about 1994. DeLacy was sent a photo of Jerome's house but was unable to tell if it was the burned house; he says the present owner knows nothing of its history. In 1999 the burned house had been cleared away and the land it stood on had been purchased (sometime in the preceding couple of years) by Sue Kimmick (husband's surname: Durling - spelling of both surnames uncertain), who lives in the existing house just south of it; she recognized the name KINYON as a previous owner of that house. That implies DeLacy's house *is* close to the house marked J. HOLMES on the 1875 map. Kimmick bought the land from a Mr. Terry Chesebro (spelling uncertain) who bought it around the 1940s for about $300. He still owns the land around that site and lives in Syracuse. She doesn't have records of that property back to 19th century. Mr and Mrs Frank Johnson live across the street from the burned house site, in a house once owned by a COLLINS (given name Noah?). The old school house was on his property. He recalls a Claude HOLMES who lived in the area. He said after a while he had a vague recollection of the burned house being owned by a HOLMES. From the hill on Excell Road there is a good view of Poolville Pond. In 1865 the family lived in a framed wood house valued at $300. He did not own land. In 1875 the family lived in a framed wood house valued at $400. He did not own land. Jerome was residing in South Hamilton on 25 Feb 1907. On 13 Jan 1910 he stated that at some point since the Civil War he had lived for about 6 months in Norwich, Chenango County but otherwise had lived in Hamilton. On 27 Jan 1910 he was in Richfield Springs "temporarily" staying with Clarence but wanted to continue receiving mail at South Hamilton. On March 1, 1912, he moved to Albany N.Y; 86 Woodlawn Ave., Albany, New York. Jerome was residing at 86 Woodlawn Ave., 8th ward, Albany, New York at his death.Hamilton, family #611Hamilton, 2nd dist., family #325p. 159Hamilton, family #325 Cheese maker in 1868 He had a pension of $9 a month, later increased to $30. He spent 4 months unemployed in the year before the 1880 census.p. 159 Married by Rev. S. P. Way. He was pastor of the 2nd Baptist Church of Hamilton (actually Hamilton Center) from 1841-1845 and pastor of the 2nd Baptist Church of Brookfield (actually in North Brookfield) 1856-1858. Marriage date: March 18, 1855 Eighteenth day of March, 1855. March 18 1855. Witnesses:Charles H. Da[c]e [Dare?] Lucy D. Whi[l]comb [Whitcomb?]
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