Frank Hoysardt Holcomb

Frank Hoysardt Holcomb was the son of William Allen (W.A.) Holcomb and Kittie Holcomb. The 1909-1910 city directory lists him as a student living in the Holcomb household at 115 South Eighth Street. He graduated from Poplar Bluff High School — family history records 1909, while the 1923 *Bluff* lists him with the Class of 1908 — and attended the University of Missouri’s School of Engineering. Before joining the family business he worked as chief electrician for the Wabash Railroad. By 1931 he was living at 941 Poplar Street with his wife, Marguerite. He succeeded his father at the foundry and machine works when W.A. Holcomb retired in 1940, eventually owning the operation; by the 1950s the business at 623 South Fifth Street traded as Holcomb Machine Works, carrying heavy hardware and industrial supplies — tools, welding and plumbing equipment, fittings, belts and pulleys. A feature in the *Daily American Republic* of December 31, 1954 documented the business and its building. Frank Holcomb remained the owner of Holcomb Machine Works until his death on March 3, 1957. The later history of the business and the building has not yet been established.