John A. Holmes was born in Mississippi and received a law degree from the University of Texas. He became county attorney of Roberts County and was elected district attorney of the 31st Judicial District in 1922. In 1928, the Governor of Texas appointed him district attorney of the 84th District to relentlessly prosecute criminals who infested the oil fields during Borger's boom years. Often threatened by gangsters, he was shot to death by gunmen at his home in Borger.