After many hours of historical research coupled with a little help from the city of Edmonds’ Yost Park brochure, resident Jim Underhill pieced together a portrait of city pioneer Samuel Holmes.
Underhill’s interest in Holmes and his contributions to Edmonds led to the city’s decision to erect signs at 76th Avenue West and 212th Street Southwest to call attention to the historic “Holmes Corner” neighborhood.
Samuel and Anna Holmes arrived in Edmonds in 1886, having left Iowa to improve his health. The newlyweds were taken in by the family of Edmonds’ founder George Brackett, who nursed the ailing Samuel Holmes back to health.
A year later, on the morning of Jan. 11, 1887, the Holmeses began the trek over rough trail and thick forests to their claim two miles east of the Bracketts’ homestead. They settled in the area where Edmonds Woodway High School, Stevens Hospital and other commercial and residential development are located today.
One story of the Holmeses’ early years involved their first night on their property, when a cougar took refuge from a blizzard inside the couple’s tent. After a tense standoff, the cougar fled and gave flight to a tall tale.
Samuel Holmes established a productive ranch, farm and diary called the Deer Creek Creamery on his homestead. Like many pioneers, he also operated and leased a saw mill.
Through his research, Underhill discovered Samuel was active in local politics and twice held the office of deputy assessor for Snohomish County. It was said few men had a wider circle of acquaintances or was held in higher esteem than Samuel Holmes.
Anna Holmes, a gifted musician, and her husband raised four children; the older two were listed among the earliest graduates of Edmonds High School.
In 1906, a prosperous Samuel Holmes was poised to build an elegant residence near the new interurban line about a quarter mile from the homestead. But recorded history went silent until the morning of July 22, 1918.
It was on that date The Tribune-Review reported a local rancher — Samuel Holmes — “shoots self” after failing to kill a woman. There was no mention of Anna.
In a reversal of fortune, Samuel Holmes, then a handyman on the very property he developed, apparently was fixated on “his enemies in Everett.” That July day he exploded into a rage and tried to murder the new owner of his original property. Failing that, he took his life.
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