Holmes, Stokely Mize (1828–1905)

Stokely Mize Holmes, Confederate cavalry officer and Caldwell County postmaster, was born in Alabama on August 21, 1828, son of Thomas Foster and Margaret (Craig) Holmes. He was a founding resident of Staples in Guadalupe County. Holmes married Susannah Caroline Eichelberger on January 13, 1857, in Winston County, Mississippi. They had eight children. He became the postmaster of Prairie Lea in Caldwell County on February 23, 1859, and served until 1862.

During the Civil War, Holmes organized a group of Guadalupe County volunteers and served under Col. Peter C. Wood. They merged with other regiments to become the Thirty-sixth Texas Cavalry in late 1863. The Thirty-sixth served in Louisiana and Texas and saw action in the Red River campaign. They participated in the battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. They surrendered in Galveston in June 1865.

Holmes died on July 28, 1905, in San Marcos and is buried in the Tuttle Cemetery in Staples.