The prep students of the Radical University: Holmes Agnew

Holmes Agnew (b. Abt. 1862; d. August 5, 1931)

New Jersey.  White.

Occupation: advertising, clerk in store, merchant.

Father's occupation: physician

Mother's occupation: authoress

Holmes Agnew was born around 1862 to Mary Platt and Samuel J. Agnew. Mary was from a prominent and well-established New York state family. Her grandfather was New York congressman Jonas Platt and her father Michigan Attorney General Zephaniah Platt. Zephaniah was active in the abolition movement. For example, he served as vice president in the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the Civil War, he moved to South Carolina and served as judge for the 2nd Circuit Court from 1868 until his death in 1871. Mary herself became a successful writer later in life. Her most successful publications were a series of  short histories of various counties (A Short History of England, A Short History of France,...). 

The father John was born in Pennsylvania.  However, when John was young, his father became a professor at the University of Michigan and the family moved to Ann Arbor, MI. By the time he married Mary, around 1860, he had moved to Yonkers, NY.

Holmes was likely born in New Jersey. That state is listed as his birthplace in the 1900 U.S. Census. The 1880 U.S. Census states that Holmes was born in South Carolina, but this almost certainly an error for this would have required his parents to have traveled from (Union-controlled) New York state to (Confederate-controlled) South Carolina in the middle of the Civil War. 

The marriage of Holmes' parents did not last long. By 1871, they had divorced and Mary had remarried. Her second husband was widower Theodore W. Parmele. Theodore was a Civil War veteran from a distinguished New York state family, and he is described in more detail in the entry about his son Charles.

By the time she remarried, Mary had moved to South Carolina. Her wedding was held in Aiken, SC. This was part of the judicial district where Mary's father served as a judge. After the remarriage, Holmes lived with his mother and Theodore in Columbia.  Also living in the household were Theodore's children from his first marriage 

In Columbia, Holmes first attended the Columbia Male Academy. At the time, the academy was run by future state Governor Hugh S. Thompson. Many alumni of the academy later matriculated at the University of South Carolina. Future USC students studying with Holmes included his brother Charles Parmele, Charles J. and Edward M. Babbitt (sons of USC Professor Babbitt), Arthur D. Rivers, W. McBirney Sloan, Edwin W. Screven, and Thomas P. Thomas Jr.

Holmes entered the Preparatory Program at the University of South Carolina at some point between February 1875 and January 1876. Holmes' step-brother Charles started attending the college program at this time. The university closed before he completed the program.

After Reconstruction, Holmes moved with his family to New York City, where his stepfather was from. In 1880, he was living with his stepfather and working as a store clerk. By the late 1880s, he was working in advertising and as a merchant. However, around this time, he began spending much of time living wildly, spending much of his time carousing in the Tenderloin District. One newspaper described Holmes' behavior as follows: he "drove fast horses, wore clothes of the kind affected by men who want to make an impression on upper Broadway, spent freely, and achieved the summit of his ambition, which was to be known as a 'good fellow.'"

By the 1890s, Holmes' lifestyle began leading to legal issues. Newspapers began reporting on these issues in 1895. In January of that year, Holmes traveled from Southampton, England to New York City on a steamer. On the trip, he befriended another passenger, James M. Keene.  Upon landing, Holmes helped James and his wife get accommodations at the Hotel Marlborough, the hotel that Holmes was living in. A week after that, police came to hotel to arrest James. Newspapers alleged that, shortly before leaving England, James had stolen money from his employer to cover gambling losses. Despite the allegations, Holmes provided support to James, for example by accompanying him to court. The final outcome of the legal proceedings against James are unknown, but the New York police turned him over to U.S. officers. A month later, in March, he was under police custody in England and awaiting trial.

Within a few years, Holmes began to have serious financial problems. For example, in April, 1897, Holmes went to the Hotel Metropole cafe and proceeded to drink to excess, ordering absinthe cocktails and bottles of expensive champagne. Upon be asked to pay at the end of the night, Holmes claimed that he only had seven cents to his name. A hotel manager called the police, but the police just advised that the manager should have presented a bill earlier in the evening. The episode was widely reporting in New York newspapers.

By August of 1897, Holmes had taken to begging on the streets. He was regularly arrested for petty crimes like begging and public drunkenness. Periodically he was confined to a psychiatric hospital. Throughout the 1890s and 1900, Holmes' personal problems were widely reported by newspaper.

Except for a short period around 1900 when he and his mother moved to Washington D.C. and a period around 1905 when he was living in White Plains, NY, Holmes largely remained in New York City for the remainder of his life.

Newspapers appear to have largely lost interest in Holmes by 1910, although he continued to have personal problems and was periodically confined for psychiatric treatment. He died in 1931 while an inmate in Central Islip State Hospital.

Sources Cited

1) 1860; Census Place: Yonkers, Westchester, New York; Page: 501; Family History Library Film: 803880

2) 1880; Census Place: New York City, New York, New York; Roll: 870; Page: 58B; Enumeration District: 072

3) 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 1240160

4) New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; City: White Plains; County: Westchester; Page: 13

5) New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 01; Assembly District: 03; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 84

6) 1930; Census Place: Islip, Suffolk, New York; Page: 57B; Enumeration District: 0089; FHL microfilm: 2341385

3) New York, New York, City Directory: 1886, 1894, 1922.

4) NY State Death Index, New York Department of Health, Albany, NY. Certificate Number:50568.

8) "Foreign Way." Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express. February 6, 1895. pg. 2.

9) "Holmes Agnew A Beggar." The World (New York, New York). August 8, 1897. p. 51.

10) "Stolen Gold in his Trunk." The Sun (New York, New York). February 6, 1895, p. 2.

11) "Mrs. Keene Discharged." The World (New York, New York). February 7, 1897. p. 5.

11) "The Charges Against a Liverpool Clerk." Liverpool Mercury, etc (Liverpool, England). March 23, 1895. p. 5.

12) Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 5, 1897. p. 7. 

13) "Holmes Agnew Begs Five Cents." The Sun (New York, New York). August 9, 1897. p. 1.

13) "Wouldn't Be Called Beggar." The World (New York, New York). August 10, 1897. p. 3.

14) "Young Agnew in Bow Street Court." The Sun (New York, New York). March 24, 1899. p. 2.

15) "Howard Agnew Arrested Again." The Sun (New York, New York). August 10, 1900. p .1.

16) The Standard Union. December 15, 1902. p. 5.

17) "Homes Agnew Under Arrest." The Evening World (New York, New York). May 13, 1903. p. 1.

18) "Howard Agnew in Bellevue." New York Tribune. May 2, 1908. p. 1.

19) "Columbia Male Academy Reunion Now Proposed." The State, May 2, 1926. p. 15.