Felix Holmes ancestors can be traced back many generations as they settled in America migrating from the deep south eventually to Texas where Felix’s story begins. The following is a brief history of Felix Holmes’ family, starting with Lola Oversta “Collier” “Holmes” who was Felix’s wife.
Lamon Family
Author’s note: the names Lamon, Lamond, Lemmon, Lemon, or Lemons are seen on legal documents and headstones.
Duncan Lamon or Lamond (1729-1789) came to America from Scotland. Scottish immigrants were referred to as Highlanders. Duncan married and had five known children including the second born, Archibald (1748-1791). They lived in what became Nash County, North Carolina. Nash County is in the east central part of the state. The County seat is Nashville. The 1782 Tax Roll shows that Duncan had 4870 acres and 26 Slaves and Archibald had 400 acres and 9 slaves.
Archibald married Olive Ruffin. Archibald and Olive had seven known children including the youngest William B Lamon (1790-1840). Olive died the year William was born possibly giving birth. Archibald died a year later at age 44. It is unknown who cared for the children after the death of their parents.
Prior to 1820, three of Archibald’s sons Payron (1769-1827), Orendatus “Orran” (1784-1835) and William B (1790-1840) are found in Smith County. Tennessee. They all appeared to be landowners.
Little is known about William B Lamon except he had a son, Thomas Payton Lamon (4/4/1818-9/19/1888) who grew up in Smith County.
Thomas married Canzada Langford (8/25/1820-6/23/1905) in 1837 in Smith County. He was 19 and she was 17. Around 1842 they moved to Tishomingo County Mississippi where Thomas owned a farm. This county is in the northeast corner of the state bordering Alabama. They had 10 children. Several of their children and spouses moved to Texas where Thomas and Canzada went to live out their last years with their daughter Martha and then with daughter Lucy.
Thomas and Canzada died in Covington, Hill County, Texas and are buried there. Hill County is in the east central part of the state. The County seat is Hillsboro. He was 70 when he died, and she outlived him by 16 years.
The story of Lola Holmes family continues with their daughter, Tabitha.
Tabitha J (5/10/1848-10/14/1935) married Andrew Jackson Collier (1848-1925) in Alabama. They were both 24. They had two children, Lola (4/5/1875-1/14/1965) and Harry Paton (12/26/1879-8/9/1938). Around 1877 they left Mississippi and moved to Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas which is adjacent to Hill County. Nothing is known about what happened. between Andrew and Tabitha as she married Joseph Andrew Carlisle (5/12/1836-11/26/1921) in about 1884 when she was 36 years old. They lived in Seymore, Baylor County, Texas where he was a farmer. Baylor County is in the north central part of the state near Oklahoma and some distance from Hill County.
Her daughter, Lola married Felix Holmes. (See Below). Tabitha’s son Harry married and remained in Baylor County managing his farm. Tabitha and Joseph lived with Harry until Joseph’s death then Tabitha moved to California to live with her daughter Lola in Tustin
Joseph died at age 85 and Tabitha lived to age 87. They are buried in Cache Creek Cemetery in Seymour, Baylor County Texas.
Holmes Family
Holmes were found back as far as 1694 In North Carolina, but they cannot be traced with certainty.
Pleasant Thurmond Holmes (3/1/1818-12/11/1893) was born in Edgefield County, South Carolina. He married Martha Ellen Powers on 8/29/1840 in Georgia. He was 22 and she was 17. They spent the first eight years of their married life in Georgia. Prior to 1850 the family moved to Louisiana. By 1870, they were in Denton, Texas where he owned a farm. The City and County of Denton are in the northeastern part of Texas between Hill and Baylor Counties.
They had twelve children, seven survived to adulthood. The surviving children lived their lives and died in Texas except for Hardy Pleasant Holmes.
Hardy Pleasant Holmes (4/14/1848-11/19/1925) was born in either Georgia or Alabama, possibly during the families move to Louisiana. He married Sarah Elizabeth Sprouse (1855-1901) on 7/10/1872. He was 24 and she was 17.
Sarah was the daughter of Josiah (1817-1882) and Martha Jones Sprouse (1827-1871). It is possible that her family can be traced back to Vincent Sprouse who was born in Albemarle, Virginia in 1760. Josiah was born in South Carolina and Martha was born in Alabama. The Sprouse’s made their way to Denton, Baylor County, Texas
Sarah Elizabeth Holmes died at age 46. Hardy lived with his daughter Mattie Kelley for a while in Denton County. At some point Hardy came to Santa Ana, California and married Amanda Geisel Hess Clark (5/8/1857-6/24/1942). They were found in Santa Ana prior to 1914 and lived at 2006 North Broadway (a building permit was issued to build a garage at his home in 1/1914), Amanda had a business repairing dolls.
Amanda had been married twice before. She married Charles Hess with whom she had three sons. She then married William Clark, who she divorced.
Several real estate transactions were recorded in Amanda’s name including the purchase of five acres on Newport Road from L M Keever. In 3/1920, she sold or transferred 5.17 acres on Vanderlip to Hardy P Holmes.
Amanda was a member of Rebekah’s, a charter member of the local chapter of the White Shrine and a member of the Ebell Club.
Amanda’s son, Norman, who was single, and her sister lived with them. Norman died in an automobile accident in 1928 at age 39 and is buried in Fairhaven Cemetery
Hardy died at age 75. Services were held in the First Christian Church in Seymour, Baylor County, Texas. He is buried in Cache Greek Cemetery. Amanda remained in their home in Santa Ana and died at age 86. Her next-door neighbor was Pearl Farrar, the former wife of Julian Prescott. Amanda was buried in Fairhaven Memorial Cemetery in Santa Ana.
Hardy and Sarah Sprouse Holmes had eight children who reached adulthood.
Olive Jennie Holmes (2/2/1876-10/2/1918) married Lubbock Franklin Farcher (2/29/1860-1/3/1933) in 1896. He was 36 and she was 20. She died at age 42. He was a widower for 15 years when he died at 72. They lived and are buried in Baylor County, Texas
Merta Ann Holmes (9/30/1879-3/14/1949) married Cash Alexander Bell in 1900. He was 25 and she was 21. They had three known children. He farmed and raised livestock. They remained in Baylor County, Texas where she died at age 69 and he lived well into his 90’s.
Myrtle Pleasant Holmes (9/20/1881-2/22/1955) married Floyd Leander Malone (12/7/1879-3/11/1950). They had two known children. They remained in Baylor County where he died at age 70 and she lived 15 more years and passed away at age 83.
Martha Ward “Mattie Holmes (2/11/1884-12/26/1980) married Olivie B Kelley (3/30/1884-12/6/1979) who worked as a clerk at a mercantile store. They moved to Tulsa Oklahoma where he owned a farm. They had two daughters. She died at age 96 in Tulsa.
Hardy Edgar Holmes (11/30/1885-3/13/1968) married Virgie Myrtle ”Myrtle” Malone (8/9/1890-1/10/1966). She was the sister of Floyd Malone who married Myrtle Holmes.
They moved to Santa Ana, California prior to 1920. He applied to be a Santa Ana policeman in 6/1924 and was accepted. They had two children: Malone and Lucile. They divorced and she continued to live with her two children where she worked for a department store.
Hardy and Myrtle died within a year of each other. He was 80 and she was 76. They are both buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Arthur Theodore Holmes (4/16/1889-9/2/1958) married Ollie May Parks in May 1911 in Texas. He was 21 and she was 18. They moved to Santa Ana prior to 1920. He purchased land from L. A. Ludwig in 2/1920. They made their home on 1326 South Broadway in 3/1921. He sought a permit to operate a towel laundry at that location, but the permit was denied. He later was issued a building permit to build a home at 529 S Broadway. In 4/1922, he sold a grocery store he had on 215 W Bishop St as he was contemplating returning to Texas where he had business interests. However, in 10/1922, he is a real estate salesman for Hoffman and Smith. In 1926 he joined his brother in the Santa Ana police force.
Arthur and his wife Ollie had one daughter: Geneva Florence (9/1/1912-11/24/1993).
He died at age 69. And she died at age 94. They are buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Lura Lillian Holmes (5/5/1892-4/1/1991) married James Henry Chambless (1/29/1883-3/26/1968) in 1909. He was 26 and she was 19. They moved to Santa Ana prior to 1920. Their home was at 1329 Van Ness where they lived for many years. They had two children: James and Inez. He worked as a wheat farmer then as a driver for the Central Lemon Association of Villa Park.
He died at age 85 and she died at age 98. Their son preceded her in death dying at age 50. James and Lura are buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Felix Robert Holmes (8/7/1874-12/18/1963) was the eighth child of Hardy and Sarah Sprouse Holmes. Felix married Lola Collier (4/5/1876-1/14/1965) in 1902. She was the daughter of Tabitha Lamon Collier Carlisle. See Above.
Felix owned property in Baylor County as there is proof that he paid taxes.
On 9/3/1903, Theodore Roosevelt’s signature was affixed to a patent granting Felix Holmes 160 acres in the city of Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico Territory. Felix farmed the land primarily with broom corn. He also was a well digger. Roosevelt County is in the east central part of the state bordering Oklahoma.
They left Portales for Phoenix on 11/16/1918 on the Santa Fe Railroad. Lola and the girls rode in the passenger car and Felix and the boys rode in the stock car with his livestock. Fortunately, he had insurance on the livestock as one of the horses died as the railroad denied them water. Their household possessions were also transported. They stayed in Phoenix for over a year where he worked as a teamster hauling produce.
They left Phoenix on 12/21/1919, transporting their livestock and household goods, for Santa Ana again by rail. He continued his work as a teamster and tended to his citrus and poultry. Felix retained ownership of the land in New Mexico for which drilling rights were leased to Gulf Refining Company.
They rented a home on 3.86 acres on Newport Road and Vanderlip. It is believed this is the same property owned by his father Hardy which Felix later acquired. The house had three bedrooms but had a large porch in the back which helped them accommodate the large family.
During many weekends and during holidays, relatives from Santa Ana and Los Angeles would visit Felix and Lola for a family gathering and to pick fresh citrus and produce.
Until the early 1950’s Felix would hitch his horses to the wagon and ride to town.
Felix died at 89 and Lola died two years later at age 88. Their daughter Lois cared for her parents for their last years. The ranch was then sold. Felix and Lola are interred at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park in Anaheim, California.
Five of their six children were born in New Mexico as follows:
Hugh Sterling Holmes (2/18/1901-5/8/1995) was born in Texas. The 1930 census shows him, at age 29, living with his parents and working as a shoe salesman for a department store. He married Zaida Y McLane on 2/17/1934 in Los Angeles. They lived in Los Angeles County where she was a waitress. They divorced and had no children.
He became connected with a shoe manufacturer and became a distributor of their product to Los Angeles Department stores. The shoes were favored by many Hollywood celebrities.
He met his second wife Marion Lou Russell (7/5/1898-7/20/1988), at Bullock’s Department Store where she was a clerk. They moved to Santa Ana and lived in an apartment in the mid 1960’s.
They retired to Escondido, California. Hugh died at age 94 and he is buried at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park in Anaheim, California. Marion is buried in her home state of Wisconsin.
Lura Pearl Holmes (1/23/1903-9/9/1995) married Lorin David Grignon (3/24/1904-5/6/1967) Lorin was born in Washburn, Bayfield County, Wisconsin. His parents moved to San Rafael, Marin County California when Lorin was 16. He graduated from the University of California-Berkley in 1925. He married Leah Ruth Buckin on 8/7/1926 in Marin County. They had one daughter, Patricia Lee the next year. They divorced.
Lura worked in the Golden West Packing House. She used to visit her brother Hugh, before he was married, in Los Angeles. Lura and her sister Lola decided to move there. She got a job with Paramount Studios as a manicurist. She met Lorin, a sound development engineer for the studio, and they were married on 7/31/1936.
They lived in West Los Angeles where he went to work for 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. He was involved in the process of developing CinemaScope for which he won an academy award for technical achievement in 1953. The technique was first used in the filming of The Robe” He also won the Samuel Warner Award for stereophonic sound. Later they moved to Lake Tahoe, California where he owned and managed “Tahoe Systems” the local cable television system.
He predeceased Lura in death by 18 years dying at age 63 in Lake Tahoe. Lura continued to operate the cable system with the help of her brother Herbert. When Herbert died, she sold the system to Jack Kent Cooke.
Lura died at age 92. Lorin and Lura are buried at the Masonic Memorial Gardens in Reno, Nevada.
They had one daughter, Janene.
Lola Electa Holmes (4/5/1905-2/22/2000) attended Orange County business college. She moved to Los Angeles to share an apartment with her sister Lura and brother Hugh. She worked at Citizens National Trust Co in Hollywood. She married John Lucian Wehrly (7/6/1898-12/19/1989) in 2/1929 in Santa Ana. He was 30 and she was 23. John was the son of a Santa Ana physician and John was a dentist. Their home was at 2411 N Park in Santa Ana.
They had four children of which three died as infants with only their son Robert Lucian surviving to adulthood. Robert had cystic Fibrosis and died at age 43.
They divorced and he married his office assistant. Lola did not remarry. John died at age 91 and Lola died at age 94. John, Lola and son Robert are interred at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park in Anaheim.
Lois Elizabeth Holmes (6/17/1917-12/10/1972) nearly drowned as a small child in New Mexico. She suffered some brain damage due to lack of oxygen. She married Charles Johnson and they divorced. Lois took care of her parents until they died. By this time, she had developed Parkinson’s disease. Her sister Lura moved her to a convalescent home in Auburn California so she could oversee her care.
Herbert Hardy Holmes (2/7/1909-4/12/1969) graduated from Tustin High School in 1928. Herbert was a painter and a “Jack of all trades”. He lived with his sister Lola Wehrly in Santa Ana for a short time. He also lived off and on with Lura and Lorin He was married three times , first to Martha Jewett (8/30/1917-6/1999) with whom he had two children, Marlyne Lorraine (3/16/1942-) and then to Dorothea Webb on 1/24/1954 in Orange California.
He moved to Placer County where he helped his brother-in-law and sister Lura operate the cable television system. When he did not show up for work, Lura discovered him dead in bed of an apparent heart attack.
Harry Pleasant Holmes (6/5/1911-1/3/1995) graduated from Tustin High School in 1931. While Harry worked at Cox’s Market where young Dorothy Alice Bartholomew (8//1/1920-4/15/2019) would come in to see Harry hoping he would notice her. He finally got the hint and married her on 7/18/1942 at the Methodist Church in Santa Ana. He was 31 when she was 21.
Alice was the daughter of Robert Michel Bartholomew of Tustin. The Bartholomew family came to Tustin from Casper, Wyoming prior to 1930. Robert owned an orange grove on Fruit Street. He also had groves on Bryan Avenue and in Lemon Heights. Alice graduated from Tustin High School in 1938.
During World War II, Harry worked for Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach. He then worked for the Orange County Highway Department. He lived at home until he got married.
In the late 1940’s Harry became the proprietor of “Tustin Service” a Mobil Oil Service Station on the southeast corner of 1st and D St (Highway 101) in Tustin. The station was across the street from the Tustin Lumber Company. Over the years, Harry hired and mentored many Tustin teenagers. The property is still owned by the family.
Harry was a member of the Red Hill Volunteer Fire Department, the Santa Ana Elks and Charter member of the Tustin Lions Club. Alice was a member of the Tustin Area Women’s Club.
Harry died at age 83. Alice, a widow for 24 years, remained in their home receiving care before moving into a group home. Alice died at age 98. Both are buried at Fairhaven Memorial Cemetery.
They had three children as follows:
John Holmes graduated from Tustin High in the class of 1961 and graduated from Whittier College with a business degree. He attended Wharton School of Finance graduating in 1967 and became a CPA in 1989. He worked for Honeywell Corporation until 1988 then went into business for himself.
Corliss Holmes was Miss Tustin in 1963 and was a candidate for Miss America. She attended Whittier College for one year. She married and had four children.
Christopher Robert Holmes graduated from Tustin High School in the class of 1969. He graduated from Whittier College in 1973. He became an engineer for Union Pacific Railroad. He is married and has two children.
Created 11/5/2022. Revised 10/23/2025: Researched by by Vicki Gray, Janene Van Tassell (granddaughter of Felix Holmes and daughter of Lura Grignon), and John Holmes (grandson of Felix Holmes and son of Harry Pleasant Holmes)
