Holt practiced as a lawyer from 1853 to 1873, except for a period of service as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.
In that year he was also elected to the position of local circuit court judge.
In 1890 he was appointed to the state Supreme Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy, and then was elected to the remaining 4 years of that term in 1892.
It was the first bank in Greenbrier County, opening for business on July 29.
One of his grandchildren, born just after his death and named in his honor was Homer A. Holt, a lawyer, attorney general, and governor of West Virginia.