Silas Alexander Holcomb (August 25, 1858– April 25, 1920) was a Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 best known for being elected as the ninth Governor of Nebraska

Governor of Nebraska

The Governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the State of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current Governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005 upon the resignation of Mike Johanns . He won a full...

 and serving from 1895 to 1899. He ran under a fusion

Electoral fusion

Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate...

 ticket between the Populist

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 and the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

.

Early life

Silas Holcomb was born in Gibson County, Indiana

Gibson County, Indiana

Gibson County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana and is included in the Evansville, Indiana–Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 33,503. The county seat is Princeton.-Geography:...

, but in 1879, after his father's death, he moved with mother and siblings to Hamilton County, Nebraska

Hamilton County, Nebraska

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,403 people, 3,503 households, and 2,676 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile . There were 3,850 housing units at an average density of 7 per square mile...

. He worked in a law office in Grand Island

Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 48,520 at the 2010 census.Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state,...

 and was admitted to the Nebraska bar in 1882. That same year he married Alice Brinson in Mills County, Iowa

Mills County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 15,059 in the county, with a population density of . There were 6,109 housing units, of which 5,605 were occupied.-2000 census:...

. They moved to Broken Bow

Broken Bow, Nebraska

Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,491 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Custer County.-History:...

 where he farmed and practiced law.

Political career

From 1891 to 1894, Holcomb served as a 12th District judge. In 1894, with the support of William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

, he was elected Governor of Nebraska. He was re-elected in 1896. Following his years as governor, Holcomb was appointed a justice on the Nebraska Supreme Court

Nebraska Supreme Court

The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Each Justice is initially appointed by the Governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each Justice is then subject to a retention vote for additional...

 in 1900. From 1904 to 1906, he served as chief justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

. He left the Court in 1906, but then he served on the Nebraska Board of Commissioners of State Institutions from 1913-1919.

Death

Due to poor health, Holcomb retired from public service in 1919. He moved to Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

, where he lived with his daughter until his death on April 25, 1920. Holcomb's body was returned to Nebraska and buried at Broken Bow.

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