Holcomb, Alberta

Earl M. Holcomb was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in April 1894, the son of Homer Holcomb and Alberta ("Birdie") Carr. He had 4 siblings: Ralph, Gladys, Helen, and Robert. Holcomb and his brother Ralph went to France in the spring of 1917, where they served with the British Expeditionary Force as cooks for the Number 9 (Lakeside, USA) General Hospital (also known as United States Army Base Hospital No. 4). After his return to the United States, Earl Holcomb worked as a butcher in Elyria, Ohio, where his family lived. He and his wife Clara later moved to Canton, Ohio.

From the guide to the Earl Holcomb letters, Holcomb, Earl letters, 1917-1919, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)