Will County ILGenWeb Biographies..... 
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File contributed for use by:
Dori Leekly & Margie Glenn

Author: History of Will County, Illinois; Chicago: Wm LeBaron Jr & Co, 186 Dearborn Street, 1878.

Phineas Hemmenway HOLDEN, was born in Hollis, N. H., May 6, 1792; was the son of David HOLDEN 
and Bridget ATWELL; his father was born July 31, 1769, and his mother was born in 1770: they 
were married July 31, 1788, and had fourteen children to wit: David, born July 31, 1789; died 
Dec. 12,1700; William Cummings, born Aug. 16, 1790; Phineas Hemmenway, born May 6, 1792, died 
Feb. 23, 1872; Bridget, born Jan. 19, 1795, died Aug. 9, 1796; Josiah Rhodes, born Feb. 22, 
1797; Bridget, born Dec. 10, 1798, died Sept. 12,1800; Mira, born Nov. 28, 1800; David, born 
Dec. 27, 1802, died Dec. 11, 1833; Milton, born July 11, 1804; Adam Montgomery, born May 18, 
1806, died Oct. 5, 1863; Sarah, born March 10, 1808; Lucetta, born March 4, 1816; Charles 
Cotsworth Pinckney, born Jan. 10, 1812, died March 7, 1816; Mary Ann, born Sept. 17, 1814; 
died July 24, 1841; of these, Rhodes, Milton, Sarah and Lucetta, are still living; Mr. 
HOLDEN's grandparents were David HOLDEN, born Dec. 10, 1738, and Sarah HEMMENWAY, born Oct. 
25, 1739; they were married July 13, 1761, and had nine children. David HOLDEN, died Aug. 8, 
1803, and Sarah HEMMENWAY HOLDEN, died April 7, 1830; his great-grandparents were John 
HOLDEN, born about 1695, and Sarah DAVIS, born in 1700; they were married Nov. 22, 1715, and 
had ten children; she died Dec. 21, 1753, and he died Dec. 27, 1753; John's grand-parents 
were Richard HOLDEN, born in 1609, and Martha FOSDICK; they were married between 1634 and 
1639; they had nine children; he died March 1, 1696, aged 87 years; she died in 1681, John, 
the last named, and his brother Justian, were born in Suffolk Co., Eng.; they were arrested 
in the streets of London for their adherence to Puritanism, but through the influence of a 
member of Parliament, named HOLDEN, they were released and fled to America; they embarked 
at Tipwich, in April, 1634, in the ship Francis, and settled in Watertown and Cambridge, in 
Massachusetts. The father of Phineas Hemmenway was a cooper by trade, and, with his young 
wife, early removed to Groton, N. H., where they settled on a small farm, where the subject 
of this sketch received as good an education as the country at that time afforded. His 
father was for many years one of the Selectmen of the town, quite a prominent position at 
that time, and died Oct. 13, 1823; his mother died Dec. 30, 1839; Mr. HOLDEN was married 
April 17, 1817, to Betsey PARKER, daughter of Levi PARKER, who was born June 25, 1752, and 
Abigail POOL, of Hollis; her father had by his first wife, who was Rebecca FLETCHER, of 
Westford, Mass.: Levi, born Jan. 9, 1778; William, born in 1780; George, born Oct. 11, 1783; 
by his second wife, whom he married in 1785: James, born Jan. 6, 1787; Luther, born __; 
Calvin, born __; Betsey, Jan. 14, 1792, and Samuel, June 23, 1800. Her grandparents were 
William PARKER, of Groton, and Susanna KEMP, who were married March 30, 1736, and had; 
Susanna, born Feb. 10, 1737; William, Sept. 28, 1741; Tytil, born May 1, 1744; Samuel, March 
7, 1746; Isaac, born Jan. 22, 1749; Levi, June 25, 1752'; Susanna, Oct. 10, 1755, and Ruth, 
no date given. Mrs. HOLDEN's mother died July 16, 1823, aged 64 years; her father died Sept. 
10, 1825, aged 72 years; of the children, Samuel only is living; he resides at Davenport, 
Iowa; is now 78 years old, but in good health. Mrs. HOLDEN's father was an officer of the 
Revolution, and was attached to the command of Gen. WASHINGTON, and stationed near West Point 
at the time of the treason of Gen. ARNOLD, and at which time Major ANDRE of the British army, 
was detected as a spy and arrested at Tarrytown, N. Y., and executed at Tappan, on the Hudson 
River; Lieut. Levi PARKER saw him hung, and, so long as he lived, related the sad spectacle, 
and regretted that Arnold could not have been hung in his stead; Lieut. PARKER was a 
meritorious and gallant officer, serving during the war. Mr. and Mrs. HOLDEN were married 
at Dunstable, Mass., April 17, 1817, and immediately commenced life together on a small farm 
in Groton, N. H.; here they lived until 1830, when they removed with their family of six 
children to West Hartford, Vt.; at this place, Mr. HOLDEN purchased 80 acres of land, mostly 
timber, and commenced his new farm with that energy only known to those who have seen the ups 
and downs of New England life; they remained here until the spring of 1836, when they sold 
their little homestead, and, on June 1, emigrated with their family of nine children, for 
Illinois, arriving at Chicago June 30, 1836; Mr. HOLDEN's younger brother, Josiah, had settled 
in Will County, near Joliet in 1834, whither Mr. HOLDEN and his family immediately proceeded; 
they found him and his family finely located on the Du Page River, about seven miles below 
Plainfield, and were received with true Western hospitality; shortly after this, Mr. HOLDEN 
located a claim of 160 acres at Skunk Grove, on the headwaters of Hickory Creek (now Frankfort), 
where they commenced life in earnest on the prairie; they erected a snug log house, and here 
they struggled together for many years to raise their large family, working early and late, and 
economizing in every possible manner; when they began their prairie home, the county was 
entirely new, the nearest neighbor on the south was thirty miles, at Bourbonnais Grove; the 
nearest post office, fourteen miles, at Joliet. Their claim was on the Sac trail, a path worn 
deep in the ground by the Indians; this trail had been traveled for centuries, by all appearances 
- it was the Indians' direct route from Detroit to the Far West - it ran nearly on a bee-line; 
the Indians had displayed such good judgment in laying out this trail, that the settlers as the 
country became settled, adopted it; in many places this trail was worn for more than two feet in 
the earth, and no man of this day can tell or form any idea as to how long it had been traveled 
by the red man. Their family now consisted of Elizabeth W., born in Tyngsboro, Mass., April 27, 
1818; Newton P., born at Groton, N. H., June 20, 1820; Mary Emeline, born in Groton, N. H., Sept. 
13, 1822; David L., born in Groton, N. H., Nov. 13, 1824; Charles C. P., born in Groton, N: H., 
Aug. 9, 1827; Sarah Ann C., born in Groton, N. H., Sept. 3, 1829: George M., born In West Hartford, 
Vt., July 11, 1831; Mira Jane, born in West Hartford, Vt., June 30, 1833, and Levi Parker, was 
born in West Hartford, Vt., July 14, 1835; Mary Emeline was married to J. W. FREER, then a farmer 
on the Kankakee River, above Wilmington, in this State, Feb. 22, 1844; she died of consumption, 
Nov. 28, 1845, leaving one son, Henry C. FREER; Sarah Ann C., died of consumption, Feb. 13, 1847; 
she was a lovely girl, admired by all who knew her; she was the idol of her father's family; the 
loss of these two loving daughter weighed heavily upon Mr. HOLDEN, as also upon the whole family; 
Elizabeth W. was married to Cromwell WILSON, of Fort Madison, Iowa, Jan. 9, 1848; Mr. WILSON is a 
retired capitalist; they have never had any children; they reside at Fort Madison. Newton P. was 
married to Caroline PARISH, June 30, 1847, at Bristol, Ill.; they have had: Sarah, Wright P., 
Milton and Frank; Sarah died Feb. 11, 1873, with consumption; Wright is studying law; Frank is 
at school, and Milton is on his father's farm, at Frankfort; David L. was married to Miss Esther 
PARISH in 1871, and has four fine boys - Homer Phineas, Charles C. P., Howard and Morton; George M. 
was married in 1856, to Minerva BUTLER, and had several children, two of whom only are living - 
Charles and William; Mira Jane was married to J. M. BROWN, and has had several children, two of 
whom only are living - Malcolm and Willis; Levi Parker was married to Charlotte E. REYNOLDS in 
March, 1865; they have two lovely little girls - Birdie and Cora; Charles C. P. was married, Sept. 
17, 1855, to Sarah J. REYNOLDS, who died July 26, 1873, of purpura hemorrhagica, aged 37 years 3 
months and 15 days; Mr. and Mrs. HOLDEN lived to see the country, which was a wilderness when they 
came to it, settled up and dotted all over with first-class farms, with villages in every direction, 
railroads running through all parts of the State, with one through their own farm; they had lived to 
see all these things accomplished, and their children well settled in life. April,17, 1867, they had 
their golden wedding, all their children being present, except Elizabeth; many came from Chicago to 
congratulate the aged couple on their fiftieth anniversary of their wedding; it was a happy time for 
all - children and grandchildren. Mrs. HOLDEN was afflicted with a cancer in the face, which first 
made its appearance in about 1864; it continued to grow and spread, until Sept. 24, 1869, when she 
yielded up other, life this dreaded disease; during the last years of her life, she had suffered the 
most excruciating pain, but bore it all with a meekness and forbearance seldom to be met with in this 
world; from her youth, she had been a consistent Baptist, not merely in word but in deed; the 
privations she had to endure during many years after her removal to Illinois, were met without a 
murmur, saying "it is all for the best"; she lived for her family, and those she left behind her are 
sad witnesses of this fact; she always had a kind word for everybody and none knew her but to love 
her; Mr. HOLDEN took her death very hard, but would fill up the time as best he could in visiting his 
children in Chicago, Joliet and elsewhere; he had been in his neighborhood quite a prominent man, 
always taking an active part in politics, but never seeking office; he had been an original Henry 
Clay Whig, but since that party had become extinct, he had joined the Republicans; when Lincoln was 
nominated for the Presidency the first time, in 1860, he was an anxious looker-on in the lobby of the 
Convention; Lincoln having been an old Whig, he claimed that he would make a safe and good President; 
of this he was sure; the truthfulness of this assertion has been verified to the letter. Mr. HOLDEN 
was present at the laying of the corner-stone for the Bunker Hill Monument, which cornerstone was 
laid by Gen. LAFAYETTE, June 17, 1825; he was a careful observer, and read much from the newspapers 
of the day, keeping well posted as regards current events; early in February, 1872, he took a severe 
cold, caused by a trip which he had taken to visit his children in Chicago; his condition was not 
thought to be dangerous, when, suddenly he was taken away, dying on February 23, 1872, at the good 
old age of 79 years 9 months and 18 days; he died on his farm, that which he located in August, 
1836; he was buried by the side of Mrs. HOLDEN and his two daughters, Emeline and Sarah, in a 
beautiful lot in Oakwood Cemetery, near Joliet.