Napa County CA Archives Biographies.....Holden, B. F. 1842 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 17, 2006, 11:08 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

B. F. HOLDEN has been a resident of Napa for seven years. For two years of this
time he purchased wool for the Boston market, and for the same length of time
was book-keeper for the Sawyer Tanning Company and the Norton Tanning Company,
at their San Francisco office, but for the past three years he has been
treasurer and manager of the Napa Woolen Mills. This concern was originally
started in a small way, but in 1885 it was formed into a stock company, of which
S. E. Holden is now president, B. F. Holden, treasurer and manager, and C. R.
Gritman, the cashier of the Bank of Napa, secretary. This company doubled the
capacity of the mill, which now occupies one main structure, 100 feet square, of
two stories and basement, and an adjoining building for the engine and boilers.
On the main floor there are sixteen broad Knowles looms, and the finishing
machinery, on the second floor is located the carding and spinning machinery;
while the scouring and assorting of the wool is carried on in the basement. Two
boilers, one of fifty-horse-power and one of thirty, furnish steam for the
engine and for the necessary process of manufacture. About $150,000 worth of
goods, principally flannels and blankets, is turned out by these mills every
year. They employ about forty hands, use mostly Californian wool, and
manufacture only fine wool blankets and a fine grade of flannels, used for
shirts and suitings. Since Mr. Holden has assumed the management of the mills
they have gradually improved in their general results, and are now in fairly
prosperous condition, and the outlook is very promising. Their products are
mostly disposed of in San Francisco, through the house of Murphy, Grant & Co.,
Greenbaum, Weil, Michels & Co., but they have also been forwarding a
considerable quantity to T. A. Shaw & Co., of Chicago. They also ship goods to
Sacramento, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

  Mr. Holden was born in Saxonville, Massachusetts, in 1842. His parents were B.
F. and Harriet (Morse) Holden, both branches of the family being of old New
England stock, whose ancestors emigrated from England in the seventeenth
century. His father moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1843, and established a
woolen factory under the firm name of B. F. & D. Holden, which afterward became
the Concord Manufacturing Company, in which B. F. learned the business, and
later acquired an interest that he still continues to hold. He attended the
public schools of Concord, and was a member of the class of 1865 of Wesleyan
University, at Middletown, Connecticut. He was married in 1864 to Miss Minnie
Crockett, of Middletown. Returning to Concord, after leaving the University, he
engaged in the woolen business at Bristol, New Hampshire, where he remained
until 1883, when he came to California. They have two children: Mary Genevieve,
a graduate of the State Normal School at San Jose, and now engaged in teaching
in Napa County; and Clarence, who is attending school at Napa. He is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Holden was a member of the New Hampshire
Legislature, elected from Bristol for the sessions of 1874-'76. In 1887 he
invested in the stock of the Napa Woolen Mills, and took charge as treasurer and
superintendent. This position he now holds. During the few years he has lived in
California, Mr. Holden has applied the same active and intelligent effort to his
business that distinguished him in his New Hampshire home, and as a result the
establishment he represents is moving forward successfully, and building up a
very large and successful business.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast
from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with
Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of
Prominent Citizens of To-day.

"A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendents." – Macauley.

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1891.


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