Francis S. Holmes

Francis S. Holmes
Francis Simmons Holmes (1815-1882) lived at 70 St. Philip for three decades. From 1850-1869 he was professor of paleontology and curator of the Charleston Museum, which was housed at the College from 1850 to 1914. The South Carolina Encyclopedia characterized the museum in that era as “the best natural history museum in the South and among the best in the nation at the time.” Holmes moved to 70 St. Philip when he married Elizabeth S. Toomer in 1837; she and her unmarried sisters continued to share the residence with Holmes and their children. Their seventh child was a toddler when Elizabeth Toomer Holmes died in 1859. He remarried Mary Hazzard in 1861, and they moved out of 70 St. Philip after the Civil War. Professor Holmes oversaw the development of the Charleston Museum collection until 1869, when he resigned after the College reduced his salary (the City of Charleston had ceased to provide funds for his position). Holmes authored The Southern Farmer and Market Gardener, Pleiocene Fossils of South Carolina (co-authored with Michael Tuomey), Post-Pleiocene Fossils of South Carolina, and Phosphate Rocks of South Carolina and the “Great Carolina Marl Bed.” Courtesy of College of Charleston Libraries, Special Collections.
Download Original File