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Note: Annotations followed by FEBJr. were written by Frederick E. Bauer, Jr., presumably
before the publication of Zook's history in 1976.
Al-Khashab, Wafiq H. Population and Settlements of Holden, Massachusetts. M.A. Thesis,
Clark University, 1957.
The prediction derived from this extensive compilation of evidence is that the facilities of
the town will have to undergo substantial change in light of rapid population increases. [FEBJr.]
Armington, Albert Arthur, and Walker Craig Armington. The Family of Joseph Armington in America, 1713 to 1994.
Franklin, N.C.: Genealogy Publishing Service, 1994.
Includes (pp. 82–84) sketch of Samuel Wallace Armington (11 Feb. 1837 – 13 Mar. 1913), who was
a storekeeper, soldier in the Civil War, postmaster, and manager of Pine Grove Farm.
Barber, John Warner. Historical Collections.... Boston, Mass., 1839.
An unparalleled collection of sketches of Massachusetts cities and towns accompanied by
wood cuts of scenes from each place. The sketch of Holden is illustrated by a wood cut of the Common showing the two
churches, the Davis House and the Town Hall. A selection of these sketches and wood cuts with editorial comment by Ivan
Sandrof was published under the title of Massachusetts Towns, an 1840 View by the Barre Publishers
in 1963. [FEBJr.]
Bardwell, Horatio. Pastor of the Congregational Church in Holden. Two Sermons on Christian Baptism. Delivered at
Holden, Sept. 1825. Worcester: Printed by William Manning, 1825. 40 pp.
Bubar, Raleigh B. Out of the Maine Woods. Holden, Massachusetts, 1974.
Chittick, William F. The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953. Bristol, R.I., 2003. 20 pp.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hearings To Consider the Claims of Clinton, Sterling and Holden. Held Before
Committee Appointed by the Governor under the Provisions of Chapter 101, Resolves of 1901. 2 vols. Boston:
Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1902. 1475 pp. Vol. 1, Nov. 21, 1901, to Dec. 12, 1901; Vol. 2, Dec. 12, 1901,
to Dec. 24, 1901. Holden testimony, 116–201.
Cooper, George, comp. Seaman's Chaplain: Reflections on the Life of Samuel C. Damon. Honolulu:
Signature Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0 943823 02 1. Copyright by C. F. Damon, Jr.
Crosby, Charles C. P., Pastor of the Baptist Church in West-Boylston, Mass. Two Letters Addressed to the
Rev. Horatio Bardwell, of Holden, Mass. Worcester: William Manning, Printer, 1826. 24 pp.
Damon, Samuel C. The History of Holden, Massachusetts, 1667–1841. Worcester:
Wallace & Ripley, Printers, 1841. 154 pp.
The first history of the Town to be written by a resident. Mr. Damon was the son of the
distinguished Colonel Samuel Damon, owner and proprietor of many mills and commercial enterprises. The material which
Mr. Damon collected for this history was derived in great part from the original town records and from materials in the
State Archives. Bibliography on the History of Holden, Massachusetts.
Damon, Samuel C. Damon Memorial; or Notices of Three Damon Families Who Came from Old England to New England
in the XVIIth Century. Honolulu, 1882. Reprinted in George Cooper, comp., Seaman's Chaplain:
Reflections on the Life of Samuel C. Damon.
Davis, Joseph. Gospel Ministers and Their People Have Mutual Concerns of the Greatest Importance. A Sermon,
Preached at Holden, January 2, MDCCXCIII, By Joseph Davis, A.M., Being Fifty Years after His Introduction into the Work
of the Gospel Ministry There: And Now Published at the Desire of the Hearers, and Many Other Gentlemen, To Whom It Is
Humbly Inscribed. Worcester: Leonard Worcester, 1793. 24 pp.
Although presented as a sermon, this is the recollections of the man who began his own ministry
in Holden in 1742. The service at which the sermon was given commemorated his fifty years in the ministry. [FEBJr.]
Estes, David Foster. The History of Holden, Massachusetts, 1684–1894. Published by the Town.
Worcester: Press of C. F. Lawrence & Co., 1894. 346 pp.
This history was prepared at the request of the Town as a part of its 150th Anniversary
Celebration. The first section of the work includes a reprinting of Damon's History.... The latter
section includes a selection of biographical sketches of leading families and individuals of the period. [FEBJr.]
A 1996 reprint of Estes is available for $49.00 from Higginson Books:
Higginson Book Company
148 Washington Street
PO Box 778
Salem MA 01970
Hammond, Philip W. "Water Supply Improvements and Distribution Problems at Holden." New England Water
Association 70 (1956): 235–41.
A comprehensive description of the plans and procedures needed in Holden to supplement
the Muschopauge Pond water supply. [FEBJr.]
Hayward, Harold Mansfield The Natural History of a Small Town. Ph.D. Dissertation, Clark
University, 193-
A concentrated study of Holden and its institutions to ascertain the extent of social mobility
and social control which exists amid a changing population. [FEBJr.]
Heinold, Rosemary E. Swedish Community in Chaffins, Holden, Massachusetts, 1885–1925.
Graduate Seminar Paper, Assumption College, 1976.
Hendricks, Charles H. A Swedish Family Odyssey. Chapel Hill: Hendricks Family Press, 1995. 394 pp.
History of Worcester County, Massachusetts. Boston: C.F. Jewett and Company, 1879. 2 vols.
A two-volume study of Worcester County which includes a lengthy selection on Holden written
by Isaac Damon, pp. 570–83. [FEBJr.]
Holden, Mass. 225th Anniversary Holden Massachusetts 1741–1966. Holden, Mass.: 1966.
A souvenir booklet complete with pictures of people and places important to Holden in a
variety of time periods. [FEBJr.]
Holden, Town of. Committee on Water Supply. Report of the Committee on Water Supply of the Town of
Holden, Mass., Including the Report of the Engineer. July 1897. Wakefield, Mass.: Printed at The Citizen
and Banner Office, 1897. 19 pp., plus 7 pp. of appendices and folding map.
Committee consisted of Charles E. Parker, Edward W. Merrick, and Fred T. Holt.
Hunt, Norman C. Sir Robert Walpole, Samuel Holden, and the Dissenting Deputies. London and
New York: Oxford University Press, 1957. 31 pp. Friends of Dr. Williams's Library, 11th Lecture, 1957. Andover-Harv.
Theol.: OLD DIV 621 W722 F911 no. 11
Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Worcester County, Massachusetts.... Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co.,
1889. 2 vols.
The second of the two volumes includes an extensive article describing the history of
Holden, pp. 1381–94. [FEBJr.]
Hutter, Harry K. Land Utilization of Town of Holden, Worcester County, Massachusetts. M.A.
Thesis, Clark University, 1930.
A broad general description of Holden geographically, economically, and historically.
Included in this work are attractive hand colored maps of many geographical and topographical features. [FEBJr.]
Jones, Robert Willoughby Boston and Maine: Forest, River and Mountain. Los Angeles: Pine
Tree Press, 2000. 224 pp. $79, may be purchased from the Pine Tree Press, P.O. Box 39484, Los Angeles, CA 90039.
Mason, W. Everett. Graham-Lewis Family: From Townsend to Holden, Massachusetts and Beyond.
Penobscot Press. 106 pp. Available from: W. Everett Mason, 9 Randall St., Worcester MA 01606.
Massachusetts Forest and Park Association. Summarized Sample Survey of Natural Resources Based on the
Town of Holden and Vicinity. Boston, 1934.
A community-oriented effort to demonstrate the value of organized and planned land use
studies. [FEBJr.]
Nason, Elias. A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts; with Numerous Illustrations on Wood and Steel.
Boston: B.B. Russell, 1874. Copyright, 1873.
Published in a number of editions, including 1876 and 1890, this work provides a statistical
study of the economic potential of the Town of Holden. [FEBJr.]
Neale, Jane P. God Willed It: Stories of the 19th Century Missionaries From the First Religious Society
of Holden, Massachusetts. Penobscot Press, 1996. 114 pp.
_______. History of the First Congregational Church (U.C.C.), Holden, Massachusetts.
Penobscot Press, 2003. 148 pp.
_______. Samuel Holden: The Man Who Never Came to Town. Penobscot Press, 1999. 82 pp.
Paine, William P[aine]. A Sermon Occasioned by the Murder of Philip Edwards, Perpetuated, under the
Influence of Alcoholic Insanity, by John L. Davis, in Holden, Mass., August 15, 1838. Worcester: Press of
the Massachusetts Spy, 1838.
_______. A Sermon Preached...in Holden, Mass., on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of His Settlement,
October 24, 1858. Worcester, Mass.: Edward R. Fiske, 1858.
This sermon is much more than a theological exercise. It recounts both the history of the
Town and the church. [FEBJr.]
_______. Sermon Preached...in Holden, October 25th, 1863..., the Thirtieth Anniversary of the
Settlement of Their Pastor. Worcester: Edward R. Fiske, 1864.
A sermon which was intended as a review of the 30 years which Mr. Paine had served the
church. It includes an intimate glimpse into the minister's family as he speaks of the untimely death of his daughter
Sarah, who died in 1862 at the age of 21 years. [FEBJr.]
_______. A Memorial Discourse...on the Fortieth Anniversary of His Pastoral Connection...in Holden,
October 24th, 1873.... Worcester: E.R. Fiske and Co., 1874.
A sermon delivered three years before his death and forty years after his installation
as minister. The sermon was the highlight of a gala church celebration. [FEBJr.]
Pictorial Holden. Photographed and Published by W.S. Bullard, Worcester, Mass. Heffernan &
Carey, Printers, 560 Main Street, Worcester, Mass. [12 pp.] [After 1901 and before 1909.]
Picturesque Holden. Published by the Social Economics Club of Holden, c. 1907. 46 pp.
The Davis Press, Worcester.
Prouty, Florence Newell. History of the Town of Holden, Massachusetts, 1667–1941.
Worcester: Printed by The Stobbs Press, 1941. 370 pp.
This volume is an anniversary book commemorating the 200th anniversary of the town.
It is a vital compendium of information although it suffers from over extension. This is an absence of a central narrative
line to hold the vast array of detail together. [FEBJr.]
Report of the Holden Slave Case, Tried at the January Term of the Court of Common Pleas, for the County
of Worcester, A.D. 1839. Worcester: Printed by Colton & Howland, 1839. 32 pp.
Rice, Franklin P. "Baptisms from the Records of the First Church of Holden, Mass., 1743–1822, the Births Not
Being on Town Records." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 58 (1904): 274–80, 371–77.
Shea, Michael. Effects of the Great Depression in the Town of Holden, Massachusetts, 1929–1939.
M.A. Project paper, Assumption College, 1971.
Skillings, Charles T., Clare M. Nelson, and Ross W. Beales, Jr., comps. A Pictorial Historical of Holden,
Massachusetts. Holden, Mass.: Holden Historical Society, Inc., 1991.
Snow, Amy L. History of the Congregational Church of Holden 1742–1962. Holden, Mass., 1962.
A brief review of the key events and people involved in the growth and development of the
Congregational Church over a period of 220 years. [FEBJr.]
Soderman, Doris Flodin. The Sculptors O'Connor. Worcester: Gundi Publishers, 1994.
Andrew, Sr., 1847–1924; Andrew, Jr., 1874–1941. Gundi Publishers, Box 820, 1102
Pleasant St., Worcester MA 01602. (508) 757-8940
225th Anniversary, Holden, Massachusetts, 1741–1966. Holden, 1966.
Vital Records of Holden, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Worcester: Published
by Franklin P. Rice, 1904. 236 pp.
An alphabetical listing of births, marriages and deaths extracted from the town records. [FEBJr.]
Warren, Henry W. Reminiscences of a Mississippi Carpet-Bagger. Holden, Mass.: March, 1914.
The Davis Press, Worcester, Massachusetts. 110 pp.
Whitney, Peter. The History of the County of Worcester, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: with a
Particular Account of Every Town from its First Settlement to the Present Time; Including its Ecclesiastical State,
Together with a Geographical Description of the Same. To Which Is Prefixed, a Map of the County, at Large, from Actual
Survey. Worcester: Isaiah Thomas, 1793. Reprint. Worcester: Isaiah Thomas Books & Prints, 1983.
Although only a brief account of Holden is included, it is perhaps the first historical
account written about Holden. [FEBJr.]
Wood, Benjamin. An Address Delivered at the Installation of the Worcester County Encampment of Knights
Templars and the Attendant Orders, in Holden, June 24, 1825. Worcester: Printed by William Manning, 1825. 13 pp.
Wright, Judah (1774–1844). Alonzo's Dream: or an Allegorical Representation of the Light in which
Faults and Misfortunes are Frequently Viewed by the Unthinking Part of Mankind. 1823.
_______. Poems Upon Various Subjects. 1812.
Information about Wright, who was blind from infancy, is found in Estes, History of Holden,
52–53, 333–34. His hymn at the centennial celebration is printed on p. 53; the Historical Society has the broadside,
983.2.19. His poem, "The Blind Man" (from Alonzo's Dream), appears on p. 334.
Zook, Nicholas. Holden: The Evolution of a Town. Holden: Published by The Holden Bicentennial
Commission, 1976. Printed by Davis Press, Inc., Worcester. 170 pp.
MAPS AND ATLASES
Map of the Town of Holden, Surveyed & Drawn by Charles Chaffin, 1832. Boston: Pendleton's Lithography, 1832.
Atlas of Worcester County, Massachusetts. New York: F.W. Beers, 1870.
Atlas of Worcester County, Massachusetts. Philadelphia: L. J. Richards & Co., 1898.
MANUSCRIPTS
Dryden, Artemas. Account Book. Old Sturbridge Village Library.
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