William W. Holden

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, earliest first. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 18 dated events in the chronology →

1. November 24, 1818 William Woods Holden is born near Hillsborough William Woods Holden, later editor of the North Carolina Standard and governor, was born near Hillsborough to Thomas Holden and Priscilla Woods. His grandfather had moved to Orange County to farm, and from age six he was raised by his stepmother, Sally Nichols Holden.Search the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Holden, William Woods
2. About 1828–1834 William W. Holden serves as an apprentice printer at the Hillsborough Recorder At about age ten Holden was apprenticed as a printer's devil to Dennis Heartt, editor of the Hillsborough Recorder, who was responsible for his early education and political views. He struck out on his own at about sixteen, working first for the Milton Chronicle. People: Dennis HearttSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Holden, William Woods
3. 1864 Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough is elected to the Confederate Congress Turner won as an anti-administration candidate in the same year Orange gave Zebulon Vance an 885-vote majority over the peace candidate William W. Holden. In Congress his resolutions supported Graham's push for the Hampton Roads peace conference. People: Josiah Turner Jr., Zebulon B. Vance, William W. Holden, William A. GrahamLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 108
4. 1865 Orange County sends John Berry and Samuel F. Phillips to the 1865 convention Orange would have elected Graham to the postwar convention, but his pardon was held up, so he withdrew and voters chose Berry and Phillips. People: Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, William A. Graham, William W. HoldenSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 109
5. late 1866 to August 1867 The Union League organizes Black voters in Orange County The Republican Union League, organized in Orange, Alamance and Guilford by Albion W. Tourgee, its first state president, recruited nearly every Black man who would vote before the 1867 election. It had faded by the end of 1870. People: Albion W. Tourgée, William W. HoldenLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 114-115
6. 1868 Orange County votes against the 1868 constitution and for Thomas S. Ashe over Holden Orange rejected the new Reconstruction constitution 1,863 to 1,324 and gave Conservative Thomas S. Ashe 1,834 votes to 1,310 for William W. Holden, who carried the state. People: William W. HoldenSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 113
7. July 1868–March 1869 Reconstruction Republicans reshape UNC governance The 1868 constitution gave the choice of university trustees to the state Board of Education, controlled by Governor William W. Holden. In July 1868 the new trustees removed President David L. Swain and his faculty, and a Republican faculty under Solomon Pool reopened classes in March 1869 amid strong partisan opposition. People: William W. Holden, Solomon PoolDocumenting the American South, The First Century of the First State University: Civil War and Reconstruction
8. August 4, 1868 Swain protests his removal to Governor Holden Learning that the new Reconstruction trustees had declared his 1867 resignation final, David L. Swain wrote Governor William W. Holden, as chairman of the board, that no charge had been made against him and that a resignation accepted by a board that no longer existed could not be revived. He asked for reconsideration, but died later that month. People: David L. Swain, William W. HoldenDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 777
9. 1869 Court strikes down the act for a state-built railroad to Chapel Hill An 1869 plan had the state build a line from the North Carolina Railroad to Chapel Hill through commissioners, paid for with $300,000 in state bonds. When the commissioners chose Henry C. Thompson as president over Governor Holden's choice, Holden refused to sign the bonds, and in the University Railroad Company's suit against him the court held the act unconstitutional over Judge Reade's dissent. People: William W. HoldenSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 33
10. 1869 Solomon Pool accepts the presidency of the university Pool accepted the presidency of the University of North Carolina in 1869 at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars and was permitted to keep his federal appraiser post at the same time. Governor William W. Holden had taken charge of the board of trustees to secure a president with Republican affiliations. People: William W. HoldenSearch the index · NCpedia: Pool, Solomon
11. June 1869 The Pool faculty holds its first commencement After a first term that began March 3, the university reported on June 10, 1869 three sophomores and seven freshmen and gave an A.B. to Abdel Kader Tenney. At the thinly attended commencement Governor William W. Holden argued for educating both races in one university, whites at Chapel Hill and Black students elsewhere. People: Solomon Pool, William W. HoldenDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 19
12. October 20, 1869 Governor Holden warns Orange County it may be declared in insurrection Holden's proclamation of October 20, 1869, named Lenoir, Jones, Orange and Chatham counties and said that in Orange the jail had been forced, two Black prisoners taken out and shot, and three other Black men hanged. He warned that he would declare those counties in a state of insurrection and use the whole power of the state if the violence continued. People: William W. HoldenDigitalNC: Goldsboro Daily Messenger, October 25, 1869, page 2
13. March 5, 1870 Hillsborough men ask Governor Holden to commission Pride Jones against the Klan On March 5, 1870 six Hillsborough men, among them J. W. Norwood, James Webb and Henry K. Nash, recommended to Governor Holden that Pride Jones be made a militia captain to put down night riding. Holden sent the commission on March 7 and Jones accepted on March 9. The raids soon stopped, and Jones resigned after four weeks. People: William W. Holden, Pride JonesTrial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina (1871), vol. 2, pp. 1158-1164
14. May 13, 1870 Dennis Heartt dies in Hillsborough Dennis Heartt died at his home in Hillsborough on the morning of May 13, 1870, in his eighty-seventh year, and his funeral was held at the Presbyterian church the next day while the town's stores closed. The Recorder noted that Governor W. W. Holden, once his apprentice in the Recorder office, had him appointed Hillsborough postmaster after the war. People: William W. HoldenSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Hillsborough Recorder, May 18, 1870, page 2 (obituary)
15. August 5–19, 1870 Kirk's militia arrests Josiah Turner Jr. at Hillsborough On August 5, 1870, a detachment of Kirk's state militia seized Raleigh Sentinel editor Josiah Turner Jr. at or near Hillsborough, took him by rail to Company Shops and then held him with Kirk's other prisoners in the Caswell County courthouse at Yanceyville. U.S. District Judge George W. Brooks ordered him discharged on August 19, 1870, on his habeas corpus petition. People: William W. Holden, Josiah Turner Jr.Internet Archive: Trial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1871)
16. December 9, 1870 Orange County representative Frederick N. Strudwick moves to impeach Governor Holden Frederick N. Strudwick of Orange introduced the House resolution to impeach Governor William W. Holden, which the House adopted on December 14, 1870. On December 19 he chaired the Committee of the Whole that adopted the eight articles of impeachment and elected the seven House managers. People: William W. Holden, Frederick N. StrudwickInternet Archive: Trial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1871)
17. December 1870 Strudwick is kept off the impeachment managers because of his Klan reputation After guiding the impeachment resolution through the house judiciary committee and the full house, Strudwick was not chosen as a manager for the senate trial. It was feared that his widely known association with the Ku Klux Klan would make the proceedings look like a Klan prosecution. People: William W. HoldenSearch the index · NCpedia: Strudwick, Frederick Nash
18. March 22, 1871 Senate convicts Holden on the article charging Turner's arrest in Orange County The state Senate found Governor Holden guilty, 37 to 12, on Article III, which charged him with the unlawful arrest of Josiah Turner Jr. in Orange County on August 5, 1870, and also convicted him on Articles IV through VIII. Senator John W. Graham of Orange then offered the order of judgment removing Holden from office and barring him from state office, which the Senate adopted. People: William W. Holden, Josiah Turner Jr., John W. GrahamInternet Archive: Trial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina, vol. 3 (1871)