Isaac Edward Holmes

Background

Isaac Edward Holmes was born on April 6, 1796 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. He was the son of John Bee Holmes and Elizabeth (Edwards) Holmes.

Education

Young Holmes was prepared for college under the tutelage of the cousin, Reverend Christopher Gadsden, afterward Bishop, and at the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven. He entered Yale at the age of fifteen, graduated with the class of 1815, returned to Charleston for the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1818.

Career

Holmes' first local distinction was the result of amateur literary undertakings, particularly his Recreations of George Taletell (1822), an imitation of Irving's Sketch Book. In 1823 he joined with others in founding the South Carolina Association, an organization created for the express purpose of countering abolitionist influences from the North.

As counsel in a legal attempt forcibly to hold a colored cook taken from a British merchantman, Holmes delivered speeches characterized by the presiding judge as inflammatory. In the legislature, to which he was elected in 1826 and again in 1828, he vehemently opposed the tariff. Defeated by the power of Union sentiment in 1830, he was returned in 1832 with renewed energy to expend in behalf of the Nullification program. The year before he had initiated a test case by refusing to pay duty upon certain imports from England. Aided by the powerful friendship of Calhoun, Holmes in 1838 defeated the conservative H. S. Legaré for Congress and sat during the next twelve years as representative of the 16t South Carolina District. He served as chairman of the Committee on Commerce, 1843-1844, and as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, 1846-1847. He strongly championed adequate national defense, urged improvements in the great interstate waterways of the West--though he opposed federal aid within the states--and advocated the annexation of Texas.

He delivered a memorial address upon John Quincy Adams, February 24, 1848, and upon Calhoun, April 1, 1850. In August 1847 he wrote to Howell Cobb, pleading for the establishment of an effective Southern bloc; and in a fervent speech before Congress, December 27, 1849, he proclaimed that the representatives of the South "must now assume the attitude of bold defiance to the circumscription of their rights in the Territories. "

Yielding political ambitions in an effort to better his private fortune, Holmes went to California in 1851, practicing law for a while in San Francisco and farming for a while at Bushy Glen in Alameda County. When the ordinance of secession was passed he hurried to Washington for a conference with Seward and others concerning a possible way of maintaining peace. When the conference failed, he went on to Charleston, threw his support to the Confederacy, and as a member of the council and in other ways served his city. After Lee's surrender, he was sent as one of the commissioners from Charleston to Washington to propose a plan of provisional government; the appointment of Governor Perry was in some measure a result of this mission.

He died in Charleston in his seventy-first year.

Achievements

• Holmes went down to history as a notable American congressman. He is remembered as a representative of South Carolina's 4th, 5th and 6th Districts in the United States House of Representatives. He was also notable as a member of South Carolina State Legislature.

Works

More photos

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  • Speech of Hon. i. e. Holmes, of S. Carolina, on the Texas Boundary: Delivered in the House of Representatives, Tuesday, September 3, 1850 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Speech of Hon. I. E. Holmes, of S. Carolina,...)

Politics

Holmes was attracted to politics and identified himself with the extreme Southern party. His point of view in national affairs was consistently that of the slave-holding South.

Views

Holmes was genuinely concerned for the welfare of his country, though the necessity of slavery was with him a cardinal doctrine.

Personality

In social relations Holmes was genial, almost gay; and it is worthy of comment that he was capable of true affection, as witnessed by his friendships with Adams and Webster, both of which rose above clamorous partisan politics.

Connections

Holmes was married to his cousin, Mary Fisher. She died in 1856.

Mother:

Elizabeth (Edwards) Holmes

Spouse :

Mary (Fisher) Holmes

Father :

John Bee Holmes

Brother:

Thomas Bee Holmes

Brother:

Henry McCall Holmes

Brother:

John E. Holmes

Brother:

William A. Holmes

Brother:

Albert C. Holmes

Sister :

Rebecca Holmes

Sister :

Mary Edwards Holmes

Brother :

Arthur Fisher Holmes

Brother :

Charles Rutledge Holmes