Talk:Holden, Massachusetts

Latest 31 revisions may constitute WP:CV

because they all come out "one book". I don't have enough experience on the matter of WP:CV or Holden, Massachusetts to know whether or not this is the case or what to do. L3X1 (talk) 16:56, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

I have tried contacting the IP editor, as they are also clogging the backlog with their numerous edits - my issue is also that this editor in one edit will add a "fact" and then remove it ten edits later - without going into this source myself I'm not sure what is real and what isn't, but I'm going to challenge it - and let the editor know they converse with us here to figure this situation out. Garchy (talk) 22:29, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

History section

This is the section that was removed during my restore - placed here so that it can be worked back into article.

Until its incorporation in 1741, Holden was part of Worcester, referred to as the North half. The area was inhabited by Native tribes prior to colonial settlement. On July 13, 1674, Quiquonassett and Woonaskocha, sagamores from two local Nipmuc bands, deeded a tract of land (which would become Worcester and Holden) to Daniel Gookin of Cambridge, Daniel Henchman of Boston, and others. One year later, the outbreak of King Philip's War hindered settlement in this part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In October 1682, the General Court passed a vote in which Gookin, Henchman, and the others would forfeit the land unless they speedily advanced settlement. A previous survey of the area was used to create a dividing line between North (present-day Holden) and South (present-day Worcester). While the South half was successfully settled, there are no records of settlement in the North half prior to 1722. "The solitude of the wilderness had remained unbroken, unless the occasional report of an huntsman's gun, or the shrill whoop of the Indian, echoing among the hills, aroused the timid deer, or the hungry wolf...History as well as tradition, describes an Indian path leading from Lancaster to Hadley which passed through the north part of this town..."

On June 14, 1722, Worcester was officially incorporated as a town. Rapid settlement of the North half began after the spring of 1723, when Jonas Rice discovered limestone upon land later known as Bullard Farm. With a rising population and a defined settlement, inhabitants of the North side eventually proposed separating from Worcester during the winter of 1739-40. It was not granted. However, on January 2, 1741, a second petition passed and on January 9, Governor Belcher signed the act, incorporating North Worcester as a distinct and separate town called Holden.

The name was given in honor of Samuel Holden, a wealthy merchant from London who had died the previous year. He held a seat in Parliament, was a leading director for the Bank of England, and was head of the Dissenters in Great Britain. He was known as a great friend and benefactor of the New England Colonies, and a man of extremely high character. A large portion of the families who settled in Holden came from Concord, and some from Lexington. Smaller numbers came from Watertown, Medfield, and other eastern towns.

In 1789, John Hancock donated the land at the center of town for a public common and meeting house. The deed read: "For and in consideration of the sum of five shillings, and of the love, good will and affection which I have and do bear to the town of Holden, and from a respect to the public worship of God, do hereby give, grant, and convey to the said town of Holden - one acre of land."

The town has been well represented in every American war, including the Revolution and the Civil War. The only commissioned officer from Holden was Capt. George Webb, a favorite of George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette. It was also in Webb's company that Deborah Sampson served as a continental soldier for almost three years.

References