Thomas Holden (1828 - 1913)

Born Sep 1828 in England

Husband of Josephine Montgomery — married 1862 in Lassen, California, USA

Descendants

Died 1 Feb 1913 at age 84 in Ventura, California, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michael McMahan [send private message]

Biography

Thomas arrived in the USA on 11 May 1850 with two brothers, James, age 22, and Ralph, age 18, on the Ship Constitution in New York. There is a record for a Thomas Holden in a Monroe, New York boarding house in 1850, but I am not sure this is the correct Thomas Holden. I cannot see a reason for him to be there because his brothers James and Ralph are in listed in the Bruswick, Medina, OH census, same ages, along with a Horace Holden,20, and living with William Bloomfield family, also from England.

Thomas made a second trip to England the next year and returned with more Holden relatives 19 April 1851 in New York on the Ship New England with Ralph Holden, 50, Thomas Holden 51, James Holden 53, and another brother John Holden, 19. On both trips by Thomas, there are no females with them that I can find. And none are found with them in the census records except for wives when the younger brothers married and one sister Elizabeth seen in the 1870 & 1880 census for Ralph in Brunswick.

In the 1860 census for Brunswick OH, the elders Thomas 50, James 70, and Ralph 65, plus the younger James 28, and John 21 are listed living together. In the 1860 census for Eaton Rapids, Eaton, MI, Thomas Holden, 26, is found living with R. Holden, 25, and Sarah Holden 17. Ralph married Sarah Ann Ballard 16 Sep 1858 in Brunswick and Thomas went with them to Eaton Rapids. James, 1824-1901, John, 1824-1910, and Ralph, 1932-aft 1880 all married and remained in Brunswick until their death, except for Ralph. I cannot find him after the 1880 census in Brunswick. He and Sarah split before 1867 when she remarried and it looks to me that Ralph never remarried as he is found living with the elder Ralph and sister Elizabeth in 1870 & 1880. Elizabeth never married and was still living in 1910. An arrival record was never found for her.

The relationship of all these Holdens is only proven for the elder Ralph. An obituary is found in the The Medina Gazette Friday, January 13, 1911 p. 8, for "John Holden, the youngest son of Ralph and Mary Holden, was born at Bury, Lancashire, Eng., Apr 2, 1834, and died Dec 12, 1910. When 16 years of age, he came to America with his father and three brothers. He married Martha J, eldest daughter of Richard and Emily Page of Brunswick, Sept. 21, 1862. . . . He is survived by. . . sister Miss Elizabeth Holden of Brunswick, and one brother Thomas Holden of Los Angeles Calif". So Ralph Holden, 1798-1876, is the father of these Holden brothers, James, Thomas, Ralph, and John. I can only assume that the elder Holdens, Ralph, James 1790-1861, and Thomas, 1802-1866, are all brothers. I cannot find any of these people in the 1841 England census. Except for the younger Ralph and Thomas, all of these men and their American wives are buried in Town Line Cemetery, Brunswick, Medina, OH and are found there on Find A Grave. I was never able to find a connection with Horace Holden, 20, seen only in the 1850 census of Brunswick.

Thomas was naturalized, but I have no record of this or his arrival. The Vickers Family History says he was married to Josephine Montgomery in Lassen CA in 1862. They lived on the PItt River in that area of northern CA living there for 18 years. The year is confirmed in the 1900 census. His first civil record is the 1880 census where he is enumerated two different times in two different cities. First is San Francisco, CA on 2 June, and second is Saticoy, Ventura, CA on 15 June. Evidently they were captured on the census during their relocation from Lassen to Ventura. He is found in the 1900 census for Santa Paula, Ventura, CA and again in 1910 for Los Angeles CA. He has some City Directory records for same 1910 address starting in 1906. There are other records for Thomas Holden earlier in LA starting in 1901 for other addresses, but I am not sure that it can be him. Vicker's Family History tells us they lived in LA from 1900-1912, so it very well could be him.

In the 1880 census, Thomas and Josephine are living with the Marquis Todd family and listed as nephew and niece, but the census taker gets it wrong listing Thomas as single and his girls as boarders. Marquis is Josephine's uncle, youngest brother of mother Matilda Todd Montgomery

In 1910 census, Josephine is not with Thomas and she cannot be found anywhere in CA for that census. However, in the 1909 & 1910 City Directory for LA, Josephine Holden is living on Euclid while Thomas is listed at the 357 S. Fremont address of the census. We cannot be sure that this Josephine is the wife of Thomas, but sure is possible. Did they have a separation?

Thomas died in Ventura in 1913 less than two months after his wife died. His children with Josephine are:

Addie Mae 27 May 1869

Grace 27 May 1869, twin of Addie Mae

Mamie 1875-c1877

Elizabeth 1881-1947

Grant and Grace, twins who died in infancy in 1865

Sources

Ancestry.com, New York, Irish Immigrant Arrival Records, 1846-1851 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001), Ancestry.com, [1]

Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1851; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 097; Line: 47; List Number: 360. [2]

Ancestry.com, Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993 (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), Ancestry.com. [3]

Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census Census Place: Santa Paula, Ventura, California; Roll: 116; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0166; FHL microfilm: 1240116.

Ancestry.com, California, Death Index, 1905-1939[4]

Vickers Family History, Spencer Garrett