Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/329

 HOLDEN

HOLDER

1891-99, and was elected president of the Uni- versity of Wooster in Jul}-, 1899. He united with the presbytery of Wooster, synod of Ohio, April 10, 1900. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Beloit college, Nov. 3, 1899.

HOLDEN, Oliver, singer, was born in Shirley, Mass., Sept. 18, 1765 ; son of Neheniiah and Eliza- beth (Stevens.) Mitchell Holden. His mother was a niece of the Earl of Carberry. He was trained as a carpenter, removed to Charles- town and became a dealer in real estate in 1787. He was a pleasing singer and a member of the choir of the church of the Rev. Jedediah Morse, of Charlestown. When Washington visited Bos- ton in 1789, Oliver Holden was selected to gather and train a choir for the occasion, and the " In- dependent Musical Society " .sang with great ef- fect the "Ode to AVashington." He represented Charlestown in the general court of Massachu- setts in 1818 and for several subsequent j-ears, and was justice of the peace. He gathered his compositions, and in 1793 published Americas Harmony. In 1793 he published The Union Harmony or Universal Collection of Sacred Music, in two volumes. He is tlie author of Co7i- fidera, Paradise, Coronation, and other popular psalm tunes. The masterpiece of his composi- tions is Coronation, which first appeared in the Union Harmony, and during the civil war it was frequently sung as a battle hymn. It was written as a ptean of praise on the birth of his first child, a daughter. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery company of Bos- ton, 1794-1844, and frequently conducted the music on public occasions. His tomb is in the old bury- ing-ground, Charlestown, Mass., and is marked with a tablet placed by his granddaughter. A memorial tablet is placed in the Shirley churcli. He died in Charlestown, Mass., Sept. 4, 1844.

HOLDEN, William Woods, governor of North Carolina, was born in Orange county, X.C., Nov, 24, 1818. His school training was limited to the district school till he was sixteen years old, when he entered a printing office, where he served, 1834-36. He studied law in Raleigh, N.C., 1836- 41. and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He purchased the Raleigh Standard and published it, 1843-68. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1846-47 ; met with the governors of Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and prominent citizens of these states, at Raleigh, N.C., at the time of the state fair in the fall of 1856, to consider what action miglit be necessary on the part of the slaveholding states in the event of the election of John C. Fremont as President, which meeting was the first move- ment leading to secession in 1861. He was a member of the secession convention of May 20, 1861, and signed the ordinance of secession. He

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was a state commissioner for the establishment of the Deaf and Dumb institute and the State Insane asylum. He was appointed by President Johnson provisional governor of North Carolina in 1865, at the same time Jonathan Worth was elected by the people. A dual government resulted, which exist- ed for a time, when Governor Worth was recognized and held the office till 1868, when Holden was elected by the people, and held the office until he was impeach- ed by the state senate in 1870. The im- peachment trial was the culmination of a period of great politi- cal excitement ac- companied by riot and bloodshed. Governor Holden had placed several counties under mar- tial law and called out the state militia to enforce the same. He had vainly applied to the President of the United States for Federal troops to maintain order and put down insurrec- tion, and then, on Nov. 10, 1870, had withdrawn all show of martial force and proclaimed the restoration of civil authority. On the meeting of the state legislature, Dec. 20, 1870, the house of representatives presented eight articles of im- peachment against the governor for high crimes and misdemeanors, to the senate, which body summoned the governor to appear and answer. The state was represented by its prosecuting offi- cers and by former-Governor Thomas Bragg, and the uefendant was represented by equally able counsel and the trial resulted in his being " re- moved from the office of governor and disquali- fied to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under the state of North Carolina." He removed to Washington, D.C., where he was editor of the Natio7ial Republican, 1871-73. He then returned to Raleigh, having been appointed by the President, postmaster of that city, and he held the office till 1884. He died in Raleigh, N.C., March 1, 1892.

HOLDER, Charles Frederick, author and nat- uralist, was born in Lynn, Mass., Aug. 5, 1851 ; son of Dr. Joseph Bassett and Emily Augusta (Gove) Holder, and grandson of Dr. Aaron Lummus and Rachel (Bassett) Holder, and of John Chase and Hannah (Green) Gove, of Weare, N.H. His first paternal ancestor in America, Christopher Holder, of Winterbourne, Glouces- tershire, England, a minister of the Society of Friends, author and missionary, landed at Pi-ovidence, R.I., June 8, 1656, from the ship