Elmer Wallace Holmes was born on December 8, 1841, in Brockton, Massachusetts. After his father’s death, he left school at the age of thirteen in order to help support his family. At the beginning of the Civil War (1861-1865), Holmes enlisted in the army and became part of the 35th Massachusetts Infantry, but was then discharged in 1863. He later returned as an army recruit for the Second Massachusetts Battery, then transferred to the Sixth Battery in New Orleans.

At the age of twenty-two, he married his first wife, Ruth C. Nickerson, who passed away giving birth to their son, Elmer Elwood. In 1869, Holmes held a foreman’s position for the Brockton Gazette’s paper trade. In 1871, he married Alice E. Odell and had two daughters (Anna Lucia and Alice Bertha).

He then moved to Southern California, first to Los Angeles followed by Riverside. In Riverside he became part of a small committee of horticultural students, was elected as a school official, held the position of executive office for the school board for about fifteen years, organized the Riverside High School, authored the Union District High School law, was on the board of city trustees, was the principal organizer of the Riverside Library Association, was managing editor of the San Bernardino Weekly-Times Index, was assemblyman for San Bernardino County, and was appointed to the board of county supervisors. Holmes passed away on April 23, 1913 in Riverside, California.