My Genealogy Hound

FREDERICK HOLFORD. Since he took up his residence in this city several years ago, with the view of retiring to private life and to the enjoyment of an ample fortune, this gentleman has been among the foremost citizens of Springfield to forward its financial interests, and his hand is seen in various schemes to extend its industries and commerce and to advance its growth in various directions. His operations are by no means confined to this city and county, but reach far beyond, as he is engaged in various enterprises requiring large capital, his interests extending to different parts of the United States. He is a man of remarkable energy and tenacity of purpose, with marvelous capacity for business, and notwithstanding he is long past the meridian of life he throws himself into his work with the vigor and zeal of a man in life’s prime, and is still perfectly able to superintend the investment of his money and to manage his large property with unerring judgment.

The subject of this notice was born in England, near Oxford, May 9, 1813. His father, Thomas Holford, was a native of Berkshire, England, and in his early youth he acquired the trade of a shoe-maker, became a manufacturer, built up a fortune, and spent his last years in retirement. Our subject learned his father’s trade, and in 1833 left home to seek work in London, and was employed at his trade there one year. His father had always taken a great interest in America, and consequently our subject had heard a great deal about the New World, and ambitious to see the country, and to see what life held for him here in this Eldorado of the home-seeker and fortune-hunter, he set sail for the United States in 1834, and landing in New York, remained in that city one year. He then concluded to seek what was then the “Far West,” hoping to better his finances, and secure a home for himself. He started by the most convenient and expeditious route, by steamer on the Hudson River to Albany, thence by rail to Schenectady, the only passenger railway in the United States at that time, and the first he had ever seen; at Schenectady he took passage on a canal boat for Buffalo. At Tonawanda he and others left the boat and went on foot to visit Niagara Falls. There was but a small settlement of whites there at that time, and quite a number of Indians. Three days later the party returned to Buffalo by steamer, and there engaged passage for Chicago. On his arrival in that city he found it a flourishing village of twenty-five hundred inhabitants, with the surrounding country sparsely settled, and the most of the land owned by the Government. Mr. Holford had a friend living about fifty miles north of Chicago, and desiring to visit him, he took passage for his place in a box wagon or stage, and the roads being bad the male passengers were obliged to walk a part of the way.

After arriving at his destination our subject made a claim to a tract of Government land, but after residing on it a few months, concluded that it would be rather slow work getting rich there, and returned to Chicago, where he resided a few months and then went to the territory of Iowa, making his way across the State of Illinois to Fulton, then but a hamlet, where he crossed the Father of Waters to Clinton County, Iowa. He made a claim to a tract of Government land at Camanche, and at once commenced to improve a farm. He devoted himself assiduously to agriculture the ensuing four years, and then he retraced his footsteps eastward as far as Cincinnati, where he established himself in the shoe business, and though he had but little capital and had to commence in a small way he soon worked up an extensive trade, and continued in business until 1874, when, having acquired a fortune, he came to Springfield, intending in this beautiful city to live in retirement from the cares of a business life and to enjoy his wealth at his ease. His vigorous temperament, however, would not allow him to live in idleness, and he was not satisfied until he once more found himself amid the excitements of an active business life. He accepted the position of Vice-President and Treasurer of the Republic Printing Company, publishers of the daily and weekly Republic, and he also became a member of the company that built the paper mill at Enon this county, besides prominently identifying himself with various other enterprises. Among other things he utilized the large tract of real estate that he purchased when he first came here, for building purposes, and erected several good houses, many of which he still owns, deriving a good income from their rental, and others he sold at an advanced price.

Mr. Holford has passed the seventy-seventh milestone on life’s journey, but inheriting a strong constitution, and being temperate in all things, he enjoys good health both physically and mentally, his vigorous step, clear eye, and keen intellect betraying no marks of age. He has one son, named George, in whom his hopes and ambitions are now centered. We have seen in this brief life-record that our subject possesses a rare talent for business, far-reaching foresight, and conspicuous practical good sense, and that the wealth that he has secured by the exercise of these traits has been of benefit not alone to himself and his friends, but to his adopted city, as by wisely expending a portion of it here he has promoted the welfare of the community. A man of frank, pleasant bearing, of quick and genial wit, whose powers of observation and wide experience have given him a large fund of information, he is an entertaining companion and has gathered around him a large circle of friends. He is active in religious matters as an Elder in the Second Presbyterian Church. He has always shown a great interest in charitable objects, and was one of the first members of the Board of Directors of the Childrens’ Home of Clark County, located at Springfield, Ohio.

The lithographic portrait* of Mr. Holford, shown elsewhere in this volume, represents one of Clark Countys honored citizens.

A portrait was included in the original printed volume.