At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 15, 1908, W. P. Holbert of Protection tp., died after a lingering illness, and was buried at 2 p.m. yesterday in the Protection cemetery.

Deceased was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1833, and was, therefore, at the time of his death aged 74 years and 1 month of age. At the age of 17, in company with his parents, he moved from Pennsylvania to Peoria, Ill., and later the family moved to Cloud county, Kansas. That was in 1870. From Cloud co. he moved to near Great Bend. In 1877 he moved to the eastern part of Comanche co. and a short time afterwards to Kiowa creek, in the western part of the county, where he continued to live. Mr. Holbert was married in or near Larned, Kansas, on December 1, 1874, to Miss Eliza Jane Cochran, who with seven children, survive him. One child is dead.

Mr. Holbert was a brave Union soldier, having served during the Civil War as a member of Co. K. Fifty first Illinois Volunteers. As a private citizen he was respected by all. He knew the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life, being among the very first settlers in this part of the state. He had been in poor health, confined to his room and greatly weakened in body and in mind, during the past two years or more. His death at the time was, therefore, not unexpected.

"When Mr. Edmonds came (to Comanche County), there were very few settlers up and down Mule Creek and the Medicine River. Not long after the Edmonds came, R. H. Estill, D. T. McIntire, W. P. Holbert, Thos. Wilmore, Capt. Pepperd and others came and settled along Mule Creek."

Excerpt from David Frankford Edmonds: Life Sketches of Comanche-co. Pioneers; Some of Their Struggles and Early-day Experiences.
The Western Star, January 25, 1924.

Also see:

Civil War Veterans who lived in Comanche County, Kansas

51st Illinois Infantry, a web site by Allen Perry.

William P. Holbert, Private, Company K, 51st Illinois Infantry - a biography by Allen Perry which gives many details of Holbert's Civil War service. He notes that Holbert's obituary in The Western Star is "inaccurate in several pre-Kansas particulars".

Roster of Company "K" 51st Illinois Infantry - HOLBERT, William P.   Rank: Private, Residence: Granville, Date of Muster: Dec 24, 1861. Remarks: Discharged Oct 17, 1862; wounds.

Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site! The original news article incorrectly gave his name as Hobart instead of Holbert in two places. His name is given as Holbert in cemetery records, Civil War records and other news articles about him.

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