Hon. Charles Holden, fire insurance and real estate and loan agent, at No. 69 Pearl street, Grand Rapids, was born February 7, 1860, and is the eldest of the three children that have resulted from the marriage of E. G. D. and Melissa E. (Smith) Holden, his brother, Henry S., being secretary and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Carved Molding company, and his sister Mary H., being the wife of Judge Willis B. Perkins, of the circuit court of Kent county. E. G. D. Holden, a native of Ohio, came to Kent county, Mich., in the fifties, located in Grand Rapids in 1858, and established the agency which the son, Hon. Charles Holden, still successfully conducts. In 1860 he began the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and served as prosecuting attorney in 1861 and 1862..he became actively interested in politics and one of the most ardent workers in the republican party, became chairman of the republican county committee, and also a member of the republican state central committee. In the fall of 1874, he was elected secretary of state, assumed the duties of the office in January, 1875, was re-elected in 1876, and closed his second term in December, 1879. At each election he carried the full vote of his party, having the largest majority of any candidate on the state ticket. In May, 1896, he retired from active business and now resides at Florence, Oregon.

Hon. Charles Holden received a sound education in the common and high schools of Grand Rapids, and from early boyhood has been self-sustaining. Though having a good home and indulgent parents, he also possessed a self-reliant spirit, and early earned his pocket money by selling papers and doing odd jobs, and when but fifteen years old was appointed a messenger in the state department at Lansing. This ultimately led to his appointment to a clerkship, which he retained eight years, when he resigned, in 1883, to accept the secretaryship of the committee on state affairs and appropriations and finance jointly in the state senate. Following this, he returned to Grand Rapids and studied law for a year, and then took an extended vacation and traveled for a year all through the United States, excepting the southeast portion. On his return he resumed the study of the law, but lack of funds caused him to relinquish this study for the time being, and he accepted a position with the firm of Eaton & Lyon, the largest book concern in Western Michigan. Later, better financial inducements were offered him by the Grand Rapids board trade, with which he became identified. At the same time, he had charge of the Lyon collecting agency for Grand Rapids, then doing the largest business in its time in the northwest. He was also a correspondent of the American Cabinetmaker, a trade journal published in Boston. Again he studied law for a short time, but was induced to accept the agency of a large wholesale grocery concern in Chicago, which agency he held in western Michigan, until offered a better one, of a similar character, by a firm in Covington, Ky. For this firm he had charge of all their trade in the state of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and with it he remained until he became partner in business with his father and brother, under the firm name and style of E. G. D. Holden & Sons. Three or four years later the brother’s interest was purchased by the father and his son Charles, and in 1896 the latter succeeded to the entire business.

Mr. Holden has always taken an active interest in politics and has been an influential factor in the councils of the republican party. In 1894 he received the nomination for representative from the First district, and was triumphantly elected at the general election, assumed the duties of office in January, 1895, and served one term of two years. He was greatly interested in the measure for the abolition of capital punishment, which measure he opposed bitterly, and the press at the time made very complimentary mention of his speeches on the bill, attributing to his eloquence and persistent work, the fact that the bill was killed. This was really the most important measure that was brought before the house that session. Since the expiration of his legislative office, Mr. Holden has declined further political honors, although he has kept in close touch with the leaders of his party.

Fraternally, he is prominently identified with the popular young men’s order—the Knights of Pythias. He is a charter member of Imperial lodge, No. 154, of Grand Rapids, and he also organized and equipped uniform rank division, No. 57, of which he was first lieutenant; subsequently he was appointed to the rank of major on the staff of Brig.-Gen. Hastings, by Maj.-Gen. Carnahan, who has stood at the head of the rank for many years.

Since 1883 Mr. Holden has been a member of and active worker in the First Universalist church of Grand Rapids, and at various times has held the office of church trustee, assistant superintendent and superintendent of the Sunday school.

Since his retirement from political life, he has devoted his time and attention almost exclusively to his present business, which has increased with the passing years and has prospered greatly under his fostering care. He has been strictly upright in all his transactions, and no blemish or stain has ever marred his good name. July 10, 1899, he married Miss Marie Sprague, daughter of E. W. Sprague, of Jamestown, N. Y.