Charles C. P. Holden

Holden was born on August 9, 1827, in Groton, New Hampshire.[2][6][5] He was born to Phineas H. Holden and Betsy Holden (née Parker).[5] He would be one of nine children.[5]

One of his earliest American ancestors was Richard Holden, who came to America from Ipswich, England, in 1634 with his brother Justinian on the sailing-vessel Francis, settling in what would later become Watertown, Massachusetts.[5] Holden's maternal grandfather was Levi Parker, who served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, serving from the war's start in the Battle of Bunker Hill, until its conclusion in the Siege of Yorktown.[5] Levi Parker was with George Washington at the time of John André's capture, and served as a guard at André's execution.[5]

With his family, Holden moved to Chicago, Illinois, on June 30, 1836, when it was still a town of only 4,000 residents.[2][5] His family soon moved to Will County, Illinois.[6][5] Holden returned to Chicago at the age of 15.[6] In Chicago, Holden first worked at a grocery store owned by Charles Sweet on Water Street.[2][6][5]

Beginning in the spring of 1847, Holden served in the Fifth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers in the Mexican–American War until being mustered out of service in Alton, Illinois, on October 16, 1848.[2][5][6]

After the war, he returned to Chicago and worked at the A. H. & C. Burley bookstore on Lake Street from October 16, 1848, until March 1850.[2][5]

On March 19, 1850, he joined a party traveling overland from Fort Kearny, Missouri, to California.[5] This was amid the California Gold Rush. Holden lived in California for four years before returning to Chicago in 1854.[2][5] His group reached Hangtown, California, on July 12, 1850, where they began mining the middle fork of the American River.[5] After spending two seasons mining the river (the second season being spent at Coloma Bar),[5] in the autumn of 1851 Holden started farming and raising livestock in the Napa Valley.[5] He continued until December 1, 1853, at which point he began his travels back east.[5]

On December 1, 1853, Holden began his journey back East on the SS Winfield Scott, which was headed towards Panama.[5] However, on the first night of his voyage, the ship crashed into Anacapa Island and sunk.[5] He and other passengers subsequently traveled across the Panama isthmus, and were ultimately taken to New York by the Pacific Mail steamer Illinois, landing January 3, 1854.[5] Holden returned to Chicago on March 18, 1854.[5]

In 1855, he began working as an examiner of lands for the Illinois Central Railroad, a job he would keep for 18 years.[2][6] His job was to sell to land speculators and settlers the 2,595,000 acres (10,500 km²) of land the railroad had been granted by the federal government along its railroad tracks from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois.[2] He would leave the job in February 1873.[5] He had, during his tenure, helped to sell two million acres of their land.[5]

The Holden Block, built by Holden in 1872

Holden made a number of successful real estate investments, erecting several commercial blocks.[5] In 1872, Holden built the Holden Block, a commercial block which survives to this day.[7]

After leaving the Illinois Central Railroad's employ, he took a notable role in building the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad.[5]

Holden became politically active in 1858, when he served as a delegate from Chicago to the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois.[5]

In 1872, he was a nominee to serve as a presidential elector from Illinois if Horace Greeley had carried the state.[5]

Holden died on February 9, 1905, in Matteson, Illinois, where he was spending the winter.[2][6] He had been sick for several weeks with pneumonia and "weakness of the heart".[6] At the time he died, he lived in Chicago at 1387 West Monroe Street.[6]

Photograph of Holden's wife Sarah

Holden photographed at the age of 76

On September 17, 1855, Holden married Sarah J. Reynolds, the daughter of Isaac N. Reynolds and Ruth Ann Reynolds.[6] She was the granddaughter of Abraham Holderman, the namesake of Holderman's Grove, Illinois.[5]

During the Civil War, he raised a company for the Eighty-eighth Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers, which his brother Levi P. Holden led.[5]

Holden was widowed on July 26, 1873.[6][5]

On July 11, 1888, he married Thelma N. McCoy, daughter of Henry M. McCoy.[6][5]

He had an adopted daughter named Sarah.[5]

Holden was a member of the Illinois State Association of Veterans of the Mexican War, the Sons of the American Revolution, California Pioneers' Association of Chicago, Old Settlers' Society of Cook County, and the German Old Settler's Association (which gave him a gold medal in 1888).[5]

Holden's extended family had numerous members who were well-involved in Chicago politics. This included Charles N. Holden, his cousin.[12][13]