CSA SOLDIER * POET * NEWSPAPERMAN * POLITICIAN * MAYOR OF RALEIGH *
Joseph William Holden was born 1844 in Raleigh, Wake County, NC, the eldest of 4 known surviing children (1 boy/3 girls) born to Governor William Woods Holden and his (1st) wife, Ann Augusta Young.
His father was born near Hillsborough, the son of Thomas Holden and Priscilla Woods, who were never married; and was reared after his sixth birthday by his stepmother, Sally Nichols Holden. His grandfather, who was English, first settled in Massachusetts but later moved to Orange County, N.C., to engage in farming. The future Governor of NC grew up to be a printer, editor, politician, and the most controversial state figure during Reconstruction.
Joseph Holden and his sisters were raised in Raleigh, Wake Co, NC. When he was about age 8, his mother died, and two years later his father remarried to Louisa Virginia Harrison who became mother to 5 more of the Governor's children, including half-brother, Charles Collier Holden, buried here. His 3 sisters would all later marry. Laura Haylander Holden, married Senator Louis P. Olds; Ida Augusta, married Calvin J. Cowles; and Henrietta Reid, married F. L. Mahler.
Joseph attended the Lovejoy School in Raleigh; and, still later, entered the military academy in Charlotte conducted by General D. H. Hill, where he remained till the opening of the Civil War.
Though a boy of sixteen or seventeen, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and was sent to Roanoke Island. There he is reported as having distinguished himself by his gallant conduct. He was taken prisoner and remained in captivity about a year, when he was released on parole and returned home. At his father's solicitation he went to Chapel Hill, but was dissatisfied there and yearned to go back into the field. His father prevailed and handed over to him the editorship of the North Carolina Standard, the newspaper he founded in 1843.
As the Civil War progressed, Joseph's father became an outspoken critic of the Confederate government, and also a leader of the North Carolina peace movement. After the war's end in 1865, Holden was appointed Governor by President Andrew Johnson, and played a central role in stabilizing the state during the first days of Reconstruction and was avidly pursued the Ku Klux Klan. When he called out the militia against the Klan in 1870, imposed martial law in two counties, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus for accused leaders of the Klan in what became known as the Kirk-Holden war, the result was a political backlash that lost the Republicans the upcoming legislative election. After the Democratic Party regained majorities in both houses of the state legislature, he was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives on December 14, 1870. Despite being defended by well-known attorneys such as Nathaniel Boyden and William Nathan Harrell Smith, Holden was convicted on six of the eight charges against him by the North Carolina Senate in straight party-line votes on March 22, 1871. Holden's son-in-law, Sen. Lewis P. Olds, was among those who voted against removal. The other two charges received majority votes, but not the required two-thirds majorities. William Woods Holden was the first governor in American history to be impeached and removed from office (although Gov. Charles L. Robinson of Kansas was the first American governor to be impeached).
While his father was still Governor, Joseph (a Republican) was elected in 1868 to the North Carolina House of Representatives from Wake County. Holden served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives while his party controlled the state legislature in 1868-1870, but he resigned before the end of his term. In 1868, Holden was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 1870, Holden lost a close race in a special election to the United States House of Representatives, the result of which he unsuccessfully contested.
In 1868 Holden was elected upon the Republican ticket to the Legislature, and was made speaker of the House. He presided with grace, and evinced a surprising knowledge of parliamentary law. He served two sessions in this body, and later ran for Congress, but was defeated.
After the rancorous experiences incident to his father's impeachment and the difficulties that beset his own path, he left Raleigh with the intention of beginning life anew among other scenes and peoples. His father advised this, and himself soon afterward tried the experiment by removing to Washington.
Young Holden faced toward the great West. His money gave out, and, penniless, he wandered on until he reached Leavenworth, Kansas. There he sought work on the Times, which was at that time conducted by a brother of Susan B. Anthony. The editor, discovering the worth of the young man and his identity, promoted him to the post of managing editor of the paper; but health failing, after eighteen months he determined to come back home and re-establish himself in his native city.
So, in 1874, he turned homeward. Coming to Washington, he might have entered the civil service, but came to Raleigh.
He was elected mayor of his native city, serving from 1874-1875. The duties of this office, together with occasional newspaper articles and more ambitious work upon the manuscript of a novel, which he never finished, engaged his time up to his death. His administration as mayor was temperate and judicious, and did much toward re-establishing him in the affections of his fellow-citizens. The office at that most acute stage in the city's history called for a dispassionate man, and the fact that Holden filled it acceptably to all factions speaks well for his executive powers, and demonstrates that he had the purpose to serve the best interests of the community in which he was born.
Joseph never married, and died at the young age of 31 on 21 January 1875, and is buried near his parents in Oakwood Cemetery a broken shaft marking his grave.
One of the obituarys of the time read in part: "He was a young man of more than ordinary talent, with an active, discriminating mind; fertile and poetic imagination; cultivated taste; warm, generous nature; courteous and kind to friend and foe; and but for his early entrance into political life, with the temptations and associations that belonged to it, might have risen to eminence in the State or in the world of letters."
Joseph W. Holden's fame today rests on his poems, and especially his '' Hat- teras," which has been copied widely. Other poems of merit written by him are '' Love's Melancholy," " Hymn,'' and "A Home Above."
Joseph William Holden was born 1844 in Raleigh, Wake County, NC, the eldest of 4 known surviing children (1 boy/3 girls) born to Governor William Woods Holden and his (1st) wife, Ann Augusta Young.
His father was born near Hillsborough, the son of Thomas Holden and Priscilla Woods, who were never married; and was reared after his sixth birthday by his stepmother, Sally Nichols Holden. His grandfather, who was English, first settled in Massachusetts but later moved to Orange County, N.C., to engage in farming. The future Governor of NC grew up to be a printer, editor, politician, and the most controversial state figure during Reconstruction.
Joseph Holden and his sisters were raised in Raleigh, Wake Co, NC. When he was about age 8, his mother died, and two years later his father remarried to Louisa Virginia Harrison who became mother to 5 more of the Governor's children, including half-brother, Charles Collier Holden, buried here. His 3 sisters would all later marry. Laura Haylander Holden, married Senator Louis P. Olds; Ida Augusta, married Calvin J. Cowles; and Henrietta Reid, married F. L. Mahler.
Joseph attended the Lovejoy School in Raleigh; and, still later, entered the military academy in Charlotte conducted by General D. H. Hill, where he remained till the opening of the Civil War.
Though a boy of sixteen or seventeen, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and was sent to Roanoke Island. There he is reported as having distinguished himself by his gallant conduct. He was taken prisoner and remained in captivity about a year, when he was released on parole and returned home. At his father's solicitation he went to Chapel Hill, but was dissatisfied there and yearned to go back into the field. His father prevailed and handed over to him the editorship of the North Carolina Standard, the newspaper he founded in 1843.
As the Civil War progressed, Joseph's father became an outspoken critic of the Confederate government, and also a leader of the North Carolina peace movement. After the war's end in 1865, Holden was appointed Governor by President Andrew Johnson, and played a central role in stabilizing the state during the first days of Reconstruction and was avidly pursued the Ku Klux Klan. When he called out the militia against the Klan in 1870, imposed martial law in two counties, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus for accused leaders of the Klan in what became known as the Kirk-Holden war, the result was a political backlash that lost the Republicans the upcoming legislative election. After the Democratic Party regained majorities in both houses of the state legislature, he was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives on December 14, 1870. Despite being defended by well-known attorneys such as Nathaniel Boyden and William Nathan Harrell Smith, Holden was convicted on six of the eight charges against him by the North Carolina Senate in straight party-line votes on March 22, 1871. Holden's son-in-law, Sen. Lewis P. Olds, was among those who voted against removal. The other two charges received majority votes, but not the required two-thirds majorities. William Woods Holden was the first governor in American history to be impeached and removed from office (although Gov. Charles L. Robinson of Kansas was the first American governor to be impeached).
While his father was still Governor, Joseph (a Republican) was elected in 1868 to the North Carolina House of Representatives from Wake County. Holden served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives while his party controlled the state legislature in 1868-1870, but he resigned before the end of his term. In 1868, Holden was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 1870, Holden lost a close race in a special election to the United States House of Representatives, the result of which he unsuccessfully contested.
In 1868 Holden was elected upon the Republican ticket to the Legislature, and was made speaker of the House. He presided with grace, and evinced a surprising knowledge of parliamentary law. He served two sessions in this body, and later ran for Congress, but was defeated.
After the rancorous experiences incident to his father's impeachment and the difficulties that beset his own path, he left Raleigh with the intention of beginning life anew among other scenes and peoples. His father advised this, and himself soon afterward tried the experiment by removing to Washington.
Young Holden faced toward the great West. His money gave out, and, penniless, he wandered on until he reached Leavenworth, Kansas. There he sought work on the Times, which was at that time conducted by a brother of Susan B. Anthony. The editor, discovering the worth of the young man and his identity, promoted him to the post of managing editor of the paper; but health failing, after eighteen months he determined to come back home and re-establish himself in his native city.
So, in 1874, he turned homeward. Coming to Washington, he might have entered the civil service, but came to Raleigh.
He was elected mayor of his native city, serving from 1874-1875. The duties of this office, together with occasional newspaper articles and more ambitious work upon the manuscript of a novel, which he never finished, engaged his time up to his death. His administration as mayor was temperate and judicious, and did much toward re-establishing him in the affections of his fellow-citizens. The office at that most acute stage in the city's history called for a dispassionate man, and the fact that Holden filled it acceptably to all factions speaks well for his executive powers, and demonstrates that he had the purpose to serve the best interests of the community in which he was born.
Joseph never married, and died at the young age of 31 on 21 January 1875, and is buried near his parents in Oakwood Cemetery a broken shaft marking his grave.
One of the obituarys of the time read in part: "He was a young man of more than ordinary talent, with an active, discriminating mind; fertile and poetic imagination; cultivated taste; warm, generous nature; courteous and kind to friend and foe; and but for his early entrance into political life, with the temptations and associations that belonged to it, might have risen to eminence in the State or in the world of letters."
Joseph W. Holden's fame today rests on his poems, and especially his '' Hat- teras," which has been copied widely. Other poems of merit written by him are '' Love's Melancholy," " Hymn,'' and "A Home Above."
CSA SOLDIER * POET * NEWSPAPERMAN * POLITICIAN * MAYOR OF RALEIGH *
Joseph William Holden was born 1844 in Raleigh, Wake County, NC, the eldest of 4 known surviing children (1 boy/3 girls) born to Governor William Woods Holden and his (1st) wife, Ann Augusta Young.
His father was born near Hillsborough, the son of Thomas Holden and Priscilla Woods, who were never married; and was reared after his sixth birthday by his stepmother, Sally Nichols Holden. His grandfather, who was English, first settled in Massachusetts but later moved to Orange County, N.C., to engage in farming. The future Governor of NC grew up to be a printer, editor, politician, and the most controversial state figure during Reconstruction.
Joseph Holden and his sisters were raised in Raleigh, Wake Co, NC. When he was about age 8, his mother died, and two years later his father remarried to Louisa Virginia Harrison who became mother to 5 more of the Governor's children, including half-brother, Charles Collier Holden, buried here. His 3 sisters would all later marry. Laura Haylander Holden, married Senator Louis P. Olds; Ida Augusta, married Calvin J. Cowles; and Henrietta Reid, married F. L. Mahler.
Joseph attended the Lovejoy School in Raleigh; and, still later, entered the military academy in Charlotte conducted by General D. H. Hill, where he remained till the opening of the Civil War.
Though a boy of sixteen or seventeen, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and was sent to Roanoke Island. There he is reported as having distinguished himself by his gallant conduct. He was taken prisoner and remained in captivity about a year, when he was released on parole and returned home. At his father's solicitation he went to Chapel Hill, but was dissatisfied there and yearned to go back into the field. His father prevailed and handed over to him the editorship of the North Carolina Standard, the newspaper he founded in 1843.
As the Civil War progressed, Joseph's father became an outspoken critic of the Confederate government, and also a leader of the North Carolina peace movement. After the war's end in 1865, Holden was appointed Governor by President Andrew Johnson, and played a central role in stabilizing the state during the first days of Reconstruction and was avidly pursued the Ku Klux Klan. When he called out the militia against the Klan in 1870, imposed martial law in two counties, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus for accused leaders of the Klan in what became known as the Kirk-Holden war, the result was a political backlash that lost the Republicans the upcoming legislative election. After the Democratic Party regained majorities in both houses of the state legislature, he was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives on December 14, 1870. Despite being defended by well-known attorneys such as Nathaniel Boyden and William Nathan Harrell Smith, Holden was convicted on six of the eight charges against him by the North Carolina Senate in straight party-line votes on March 22, 1871. Holden's son-in-law, Sen. Lewis P. Olds, was among those who voted against removal. The other two charges received majority votes, but not the required two-thirds majorities. William Woods Holden was the first governor in American history to be impeached and removed from office (although Gov. Charles L. Robinson of Kansas was the first American governor to be impeached).
While his father was still Governor, Joseph (a Republican) was elected in 1868 to the North Carolina House of Representatives from Wake County. Holden served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives while his party controlled the state legislature in 1868-1870, but he resigned before the end of his term. In 1868, Holden was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 1870, Holden lost a close race in a special election to the United States House of Representatives, the result of which he unsuccessfully contested.
In 1868 Holden was elected upon the Republican ticket to the Legislature, and was made speaker of the House. He presided with grace, and evinced a surprising knowledge of parliamentary law. He served two sessions in this body, and later ran for Congress, but was defeated.
After the rancorous experiences incident to his father's impeachment and the difficulties that beset his own path, he left Raleigh with the intention of beginning life anew among other scenes and peoples. His father advised this, and himself soon afterward tried the experiment by removing to Washington.
Young Holden faced toward the great West. His money gave out, and, penniless, he wandered on until he reached Leavenworth, Kansas. There he sought work on the Times, which was at that time conducted by a brother of Susan B. Anthony. The editor, discovering the worth of the young man and his identity, promoted him to the post of managing editor of the paper; but health failing, after eighteen months he determined to come back home and re-establish himself in his native city.
So, in 1874, he turned homeward. Coming to Washington, he might have entered the civil service, but came to Raleigh.
He was elected mayor of his native city, serving from 1874-1875. The duties of this office, together with occasional newspaper articles and more ambitious work upon the manuscript of a novel, which he never finished, engaged his time up to his death. His administration as mayor was temperate and judicious, and did much toward re-establishing him in the affections of his fellow-citizens. The office at that most acute stage in the city's history called for a dispassionate man, and the fact that Holden filled it acceptably to all factions speaks well for his executive powers, and demonstrates that he had the purpose to serve the best interests of the community in which he was born.
Joseph never married, and died at the young age of 31 on 21 January 1875, and is buried near his parents in Oakwood Cemetery a broken shaft marking his grave.
One of the obituarys of the time read in part: "He was a young man of more than ordinary talent, with an active, discriminating mind; fertile and poetic imagination; cultivated taste; warm, generous nature; courteous and kind to friend and foe; and but for his early entrance into political life, with the temptations and associations that belonged to it, might have risen to eminence in the State or in the world of letters."
Joseph W. Holden's fame today rests on his poems, and especially his '' Hat- teras," which has been copied widely. Other poems of merit written by him are '' Love's Melancholy," " Hymn,'' and "A Home Above."
Joseph William Holden was born 1844 in Raleigh, Wake County, NC, the eldest of 4 known surviing children (1 boy/3 girls) born to Governor William Woods Holden and his (1st) wife, Ann Augusta Young.
His father was born near Hillsborough, the son of Thomas Holden and Priscilla Woods, who were never married; and was reared after his sixth birthday by his stepmother, Sally Nichols Holden. His grandfather, who was English, first settled in Massachusetts but later moved to Orange County, N.C., to engage in farming. The future Governor of NC grew up to be a printer, editor, politician, and the most controversial state figure during Reconstruction.
Joseph Holden and his sisters were raised in Raleigh, Wake Co, NC. When he was about age 8, his mother died, and two years later his father remarried to Louisa Virginia Harrison who became mother to 5 more of the Governor's children, including half-brother, Charles Collier Holden, buried here. His 3 sisters would all later marry. Laura Haylander Holden, married Senator Louis P. Olds; Ida Augusta, married Calvin J. Cowles; and Henrietta Reid, married F. L. Mahler.
Joseph attended the Lovejoy School in Raleigh; and, still later, entered the military academy in Charlotte conducted by General D. H. Hill, where he remained till the opening of the Civil War.
Though a boy of sixteen or seventeen, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and was sent to Roanoke Island. There he is reported as having distinguished himself by his gallant conduct. He was taken prisoner and remained in captivity about a year, when he was released on parole and returned home. At his father's solicitation he went to Chapel Hill, but was dissatisfied there and yearned to go back into the field. His father prevailed and handed over to him the editorship of the North Carolina Standard, the newspaper he founded in 1843.
As the Civil War progressed, Joseph's father became an outspoken critic of the Confederate government, and also a leader of the North Carolina peace movement. After the war's end in 1865, Holden was appointed Governor by President Andrew Johnson, and played a central role in stabilizing the state during the first days of Reconstruction and was avidly pursued the Ku Klux Klan. When he called out the militia against the Klan in 1870, imposed martial law in two counties, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus for accused leaders of the Klan in what became known as the Kirk-Holden war, the result was a political backlash that lost the Republicans the upcoming legislative election. After the Democratic Party regained majorities in both houses of the state legislature, he was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives on December 14, 1870. Despite being defended by well-known attorneys such as Nathaniel Boyden and William Nathan Harrell Smith, Holden was convicted on six of the eight charges against him by the North Carolina Senate in straight party-line votes on March 22, 1871. Holden's son-in-law, Sen. Lewis P. Olds, was among those who voted against removal. The other two charges received majority votes, but not the required two-thirds majorities. William Woods Holden was the first governor in American history to be impeached and removed from office (although Gov. Charles L. Robinson of Kansas was the first American governor to be impeached).
While his father was still Governor, Joseph (a Republican) was elected in 1868 to the North Carolina House of Representatives from Wake County. Holden served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives while his party controlled the state legislature in 1868-1870, but he resigned before the end of his term. In 1868, Holden was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 1870, Holden lost a close race in a special election to the United States House of Representatives, the result of which he unsuccessfully contested.
In 1868 Holden was elected upon the Republican ticket to the Legislature, and was made speaker of the House. He presided with grace, and evinced a surprising knowledge of parliamentary law. He served two sessions in this body, and later ran for Congress, but was defeated.
After the rancorous experiences incident to his father's impeachment and the difficulties that beset his own path, he left Raleigh with the intention of beginning life anew among other scenes and peoples. His father advised this, and himself soon afterward tried the experiment by removing to Washington.
Young Holden faced toward the great West. His money gave out, and, penniless, he wandered on until he reached Leavenworth, Kansas. There he sought work on the Times, which was at that time conducted by a brother of Susan B. Anthony. The editor, discovering the worth of the young man and his identity, promoted him to the post of managing editor of the paper; but health failing, after eighteen months he determined to come back home and re-establish himself in his native city.
So, in 1874, he turned homeward. Coming to Washington, he might have entered the civil service, but came to Raleigh.
He was elected mayor of his native city, serving from 1874-1875. The duties of this office, together with occasional newspaper articles and more ambitious work upon the manuscript of a novel, which he never finished, engaged his time up to his death. His administration as mayor was temperate and judicious, and did much toward re-establishing him in the affections of his fellow-citizens. The office at that most acute stage in the city's history called for a dispassionate man, and the fact that Holden filled it acceptably to all factions speaks well for his executive powers, and demonstrates that he had the purpose to serve the best interests of the community in which he was born.
Joseph never married, and died at the young age of 31 on 21 January 1875, and is buried near his parents in Oakwood Cemetery a broken shaft marking his grave.
One of the obituarys of the time read in part: "He was a young man of more than ordinary talent, with an active, discriminating mind; fertile and poetic imagination; cultivated taste; warm, generous nature; courteous and kind to friend and foe; and but for his early entrance into political life, with the temptations and associations that belonged to it, might have risen to eminence in the State or in the world of letters."
Joseph W. Holden's fame today rests on his poems, and especially his '' Hat- teras," which has been copied widely. Other poems of merit written by him are '' Love's Melancholy," " Hymn,'' and "A Home Above."
Inscription
Joseph W. Holden
Speaker of the House of Representative of North Carolina and Mayor of Raleigh
Gravesite Details
Son of Gov. William W. Holden
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