WILLIAM H. HOLDEN

The life labors of William Henry Holden were terminated by death in 1911. He had been actively identified with farming in Worth county and had been otherwise connected with its business interests and its substantial development. Mr. Holden was born in Shepley, England, on the 30th of September, 1868, and was a son of George and Hannah (Stone) Holden. His parents were also natives of England, where they were reared and married, and Mr. Holden there engaged in woolen goods manufacturing. He afterward came to the United States and for a short time resided in Wisconsin but subsequently removed to Iowa, establishing his home first near Nora Springs. Later he became a resident of Rock Falls and afterward of Freeman, Iowa. He engaged in cultivating land and also worked in flour mills at Rock Falls. Subsequently he became a resident of Lincoln, township, Worth county, and invested in forty acres of land, to which he added from time to time as his financial resources increased until he became the owner of a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. Upon his farm he erected new buildings and otherwise carried forward the work of development and improvement. He was one of the early settlers of the neighborhood and contributed largely to the pioneer progress and later upbuilding of the community in which he lived. He continued to operate his farm successfully until his death, which occurred in January, 1900, and his wife passed away near the old homestead, December 31, 1916. They were of the Unitarian faith in their religious belief and Mr. Holden was a stanch advocate of the republican party, feeling that its principles contained the best elements of good government.

William Henry Holden spent his boyhood days with his parents in the various localities in which they lived and his educational opportunities were those offered by the public schools. Through the periods of vacation he worked upon the farm and he assisted his father in the development of the Lincoln township farm for some time. Pie afterward purchased a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres south of the old homestead and he also purchased the interests of the other heirs in the old home property and thus became owner of the farm which his father had purchased at an early day. He continued to further develop and improve the place to the time of his death. He added new buildings, secured the latest improved machinery and constantly promoted his farm work, converting his place into one of the attractive features of the landscape. He was also a stockholder in the Farmers Creamery Company of Manly and a stockholder in the Farmers Bank of Manly and the Farmers Elevator Company of Manly. His business judgment was sound, his sagacity keen and his enterprise unfaltering, and what he undertook he carried forward to successful completion.

On the 12th of June, 1902, Mr. Holden was united in marriage to Miss Alice Pickford, a daughter of John and Ann (Booth) Pickford. Mrs. Holden was born at Deepcar, England, as were her parents. Her father was a stone sawyer in England and never came to the United States. To "Mr. and Mrs. Holden were born five children: Celia, Arthur, Oliver, Amy and Grace.

Mr. Holden voted with the republican party from the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise and his religious faith was that of the Unitarian church. He stood for all those interests which are of value to the community, supporting every plan and measure for the public good, and at the same time he wisely and carefully directed his business affairs in a manner that brought to him substantial success and enabled him to leave his family in very comfortable financial circumstances. His personal qualities were those which made for popularity among his friends and neighbors and his death was the occasion of deep regret to many who knew him as well as to the members of his own

SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; Pages 558 & 559

Transcribed by Gordon Felland, October 15, 2006