Obituary record of graduates - By Yale university, 1870:

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Isaac Edward Holmes, fourth son of John Bee and Elizabeth Homes, was born in Charleston, S.C. April 6, 1796.

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He prepared for college under the tuition of his cousin, the Rev. C.E. Gadsen (Y. C. 1804) afterward Bishop of South Carolina. Returning home after graduation commenced the study of law, and was admitted to practice in 1818. While a law student, he published a series of Essays under the title of George Tale-tell, after the style of Irving's Sketch Book, which were well received and contributed to his literary reputation. About the year 1826, in conjunction with Mr. Robert J. Turnbull, under the signature of Caroliniensis , he wrote and published a series of political essays in favor of State Rights; and his view on this subject led him to an active support of the doctrine of Nullification. After a successful practice of his profession in his native city, and having served as a member of both of the City Council and of the State Legislature, he was elected in 1838 to the Congress of the United States, and continue to hold his seat until 1850, when he removed to California, resuming the practice of law in San Francisco, where he remained until called home by the illness of his wife in 1854.

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After her death, which occurred in Dec. 1856, he returned to California and resided there until Jan. 1861, when learning of the passage of the Ordinance of Secession by South Carolina, he left for his native State, passing on his way home through Washington, where several interviews with Mr. Seward and Gen. Scott he endeavored to advert the threatening Civil War, and landed in Charleston under the belief that it could be adverted. Through a thorough State Rights man after the school of Mr. Calhoun, he deemed secession at the time inexpedient.

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A few years after his return, his health began to fail, and was never fully restored.

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He died in his native city, on the 24th of February, 1867, having nearly completed his 71st year.