Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/267

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HOLMAN
HOLME
239

his twenty-first year was the author of a novel en- titled " Errors of Education," which he published in two volumes under the auspices of Henry Clay, in whose office he studied law. In 1808 he re- moved with his family to the territory of Indiana, and soon afterward was appointed judge of one of the two judicial circuits into which the territory was then divided. In 1813 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and in 1814 he was the president of the territorial council. On the ad- mission of Indiana into the Union in 1816 he was appointed one of the judges of the supreme court of the state, and held the office fourteen years. In 1835 he was appointed by President Jackson U. S. district judge for Indiana, which office he held till his death. Judge Holman was identified with the early history of the Baptists of Indiana, and served as pastor of a church in Aurora from 1834 till his death. He was president of the Western Baptist publication and Sunday-school society, and of the state conventions of the Baptist church from 1837 till his death. He took an active part in the es- tablishment of Indiana college, now the university of the state, and was one of the founders of Frank- lin college, the chief Baptist institution of learning in Indiana. He left a large collection of manu- scripts which have not yet been published. — His son, William Steele, congressman, b. in Dearborn county, Ind., 6 Sept., 1822, received a common- school education, was in Franklin college, Ind., for two years, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Aurora, Ind. He was judge of probate from 1843 till 1846, prosecuting attorney in 1847-'9, a member of the State consti- tutional convention of 1850, and of the state legis- lature in 1851-'2. He was judge of the court of common pleas from 1852 till 1856, was then elect- ed to congress as a Democrat, and has been nom- inated fourteen times, suffering only three de- feats, in 1854, 1876, and 1878, and serving, with those exceptions, from 1859 to the present time <1887). He has been an uncompromising enemy of trickery, and has won the name of the " Great Ob- jector from his fearlessness in opposing doubtful measures and the schemes of lobbyists. He is thor- oughly versed in the statutes, and takes cognizance of every important bill that is before the house.


HOLMAN, Joseph George, actor, b. in Eng- land in 1764; d. in Rockaway, L. I., 24 May, 1817. He was educated at Queen's college, Oxford, and intended for the church. During his college course he joined a Thespian society, and became so deeply interested in acting that he turned his at- tention to the stage. After preparatory study and practice in country play-houses, Holman, on 26 Oct., 1784, made his appearance at Covent Garden theatre, London, in the character of Romeo, fol- lowed by other personifications, with much success. He then spent several years as a player in Scot- land and Ireland, part of the time as director of the Dublin theatre. In 1798 he married a daugh- ter of Frederick Hamilton ; but his wife died in 1810, and he returned to London in 1812 and ap- peared at the Haymarket theatre with his daugh- ter. At the close of this engagement father and daughter came to this country, making their first appearance at the New York Park theatre in " The Provoked Husband." From there they made the usual tour to Boston, Albany, and Philadelphia. For a single season Holman leased the Philadel- phia Walnut street theatre, and toward the close of his career unsuccessfully managed the Charles- ton, S. C, theatre. He returned to New York city from the south impoverished and broken in health, and for most of the time thereafter continued un- employed. Holman rose to much distinction in juvenile tragedy and high-comedy parts, in some of which he had no equal on the London stage. Some of his best renderings were Hamlet, Edgar in "King Lear," Benedict, Lord Townley, Mr. Oakley, and Duke Aranza. He had more ease and finish than intensity, was a studious performer, and a well-bred, scholarly man. Six or seven plays came from his pen that were acted on a few occa- sions, but never published. — Holman's second wife, b. in England about 1798; d. in New York city, 1 Sept., 1859, was a Miss Lattimer. Holman engaged her to come from England and join his troupe at the Charleston theatre. On the return of the com- pany to New York city she was married to Hol- man, 22 May, 1817, two days before he died. Her second marriage was with Isaac S. Clason, and her third, in 1824, to Charles W. Sandford. a law- yer and general of militia. After this event she retired from the stage and concert-room for about two years. At her instigation, Gen. Sandford, in 1826, became lessee of the new Lafayette theatre, when she resumed her former dramatic efforts. After the destruction of that play-house by fire, Mrs. Holman. retaining her professional name, performed occasionally in various cities, and in June, 1832, made her last appearance at the Park theatre in New York city as Maria in " Of Age To-morrow." On a single occasion, in 1838, she came forward for her husband's benefit, at the New York National theatre, as Susan in the play of " Perfection." Mrs. Holman was an attractive singing actress, and frequently appeared with suc- cess in concerts and oratorios. Her renderings of " The Soldier Tired of War's Alarms " and Bishop's " Echo Song " were greatly admired.


HOLME, John, poet, b. in England ; d. in Sa- lem, N. J., in 1701. He came to this country about 1685, settled in Philadelphia, and in 1687-'9 was one of the justices. He left in manuscript a long and interesting poem entitled " A True Relation of the Flourishing State of Pennsylvania," which was preserved by his descendants and published for the first time in "Bulletin of Historical Col- lections " (Philadelphia, 1845-'7, vol. v.).


HOLME, Thomas, civil engineer, b. in Water- ford, Ireland, in 1625 : d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1695. He was commissioned, 18 April, 1682, by William Penn to be surveyor-general of Pennsyl- vania, being designated in the commission as " my loving friend, Capt. Thomas Holme." From this mention it is inferred that Holme had served in the land or naval forces of England, and possibly under Penn's father, the admiral. He sailed for Pennsylvania in the ship " Amity " four days after his appointment, and immediately on his arrival in the province entered on the duties of his office, in the performance of which he engaged until his death. His map of the " Province of Pennsylva- nia," together with his " Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia," published extensively in Europe in 1683-'4, has made his name familiar to every student of American history. On Penn's arrival in the province, 28 Oct., 1682, he appointed Holme to be one of his councillors, and Holme sat with the lord proprietor in his first court, held 3 Nov., 1682, at New Castle ; in his first legislative assembly, held on 7 Dec, at Chester ; and in the first council that was held at Philadelphia, 10 March, 1683. He continued a member of the council, and, by virtue of this office, a member of each legislature that met up to the time of his death, and served on many important committees, among which were a committee " to prepare the charter," in 1683 ; a committee " to Looke into the Actions of ye Lord