Albert Holcomb was born around 1824 in Pennsylvania to Marlin Holcomb and Electa Bailey. His father was a farmer in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Holcomb attended school in Bradford County before working as a cabinet maker. He enlisted in the Union army on August 27, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company D of the 106th Pennsylvania Infantry later that day. He was injured in the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31, 1862, and again in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. He mustered out on September 10, 1864, and returned to Bradford County. By 1870, he owned $3,500 of real estate. He applied for a federal pension in August 1881 and secured one soon afterward. He moved to Elma, Washington, sometime in the 1880s, and he died there on June 19, 1893.