Holcomb Family

The Holcomb family’s story in Poplar Bluff begins with William Allen (W.A.) Holcomb, a former railroad locomotive engineer who brought a small machine shop to the city in about 1896. By 1906 he was in partnership with Robert Breuer Sr. as Breuer & Holcomb, proprietors of the Poplar Bluff Foundry & Machine Shops, and in January 1909 he purchased Breuer’s interest to become sole owner of what the *Poplar Bluff Republican* called one of the city’s important industries, serving customers from miles around. W.A. Holcomb and his wife, Kittie, lived at 115 South Eighth Street and operated their foundry and machine works at 623 South Fifth Street, where he also served the city as Councilman for the Second Ward. Their son, Frank Hoysardt Holcomb, grew up in that household, graduated from Poplar Bluff High School and studied engineering at the University of Missouri before working as chief electrician for the Wabash Railroad. Their daughter, Hester M. Holcomb (later Richmond), appears in the 1923 *Bluff* with the Class of 1911. The tornado of May 9, 1927 destroyed the Holcomb plant. W.A. Holcomb announced within days that it would be rebuilt, and a modern reinforced-concrete foundry rose on the same site that summer. He retired in 1940 and Frank took over the business, which by the 1950s traded as Holcomb Machine Works, supplying tools, welding equipment, plumbing supplies and industrial fittings at 623 South Fifth Street. Frank Holcomb’s wife, Marguerite, is listed with him in the 1931 city directory at 941 Poplar Street. Frank remained the owner of Holcomb Machine Works until his death on March 3, 1957. Sources: Poplar Bluff city directories (1906, 1908, 1909-1910, 1911, 1926, 1931); the Poplar Bluff Republican, January 28, 1909; the Daily American Republic, May 10 and 13, 1927, May 9, 1928, and December 31, 1954; the Weekly Citizen Democrat, June 9, 1949; The Bluff, 1923 and 1930.