Charles Frederick Holly (September 4, 1819 – September 7, 1901) was an

associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the Colorado Territorial Supreme Court from June 10, 1865, to July 19, 1866. He and William H. Gale were jointly appointed by President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

Early life

A native of Connecticut, Holly graduated from

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in Ohio. After graduation, he studied law privately with

Henry Stanbery Henry Stanbery (February 20, 1803 – June 26, 1881) was an American lawyer from Ohio. He was most notable for his service as Ohio's first Ohio Attorney General, attorney general from 1846 to 1851 and the United States Attorney General from 1866 ...

and Thomas Ewing, Sr. in Ohio. In 1842, he moved to Missouri, practiced law there and served as a probate court judge, and then moved to the Territory of Nebraska in the 1850s and practiced law from 1857 to 1860. He moved to Colorado in 1860 and was elected to Colorado's first territorial legislature, serving as the first speaker of the House of Representatives of Colorado Territory.

Later life

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Holly served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

as part of the

2nd Colorado Cavalry Regiment The 2nd Regiment Colorado Cavalry was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 2nd Colorado Cavalry was organized at St. Louis, Missouri, by consolidation of the 2nd Colorado Infantry and 3rd ...

. A grand jury indicted him for adultery in 1866, but the charges were eventually withdrawn. Holly's wife, Carrie C. Holly, and two other women were the first women elected to a state legislature in the United States. The three were elected on November 6, 1894, and served in the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

from 1895 to 1896. Carrie C. Holly represented Pueblo in the state house."Death Record: Charles Frederick Holly", ''Omaha Daily Bee'' (September 10, 1901), p. 2. Holly died on September 7, 1901, three days after his 82nd birthday, in Beulah,

Pueblo County, Colorado Pueblo County ( or ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,162. The county seat is Pueblo. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish lan ...

. He is buried in the Beulah Cemetery.

References

1819 births 1901 deaths People from Connecticut Kenyon College alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Colorado lawyers Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives People from Pueblo County, Colorado Speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court Colorado Territory officials People of Colorado in the American Civil War People of Connecticut in the American Civil War Union Army officers 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American judges {{US-state-judge-stub