Myron Holley
Encyclopedia
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
.
Life
Holley was the son of Luther Holley (1752–1824) and Sarah Dakin Holley (1755–1830). He attended Williams CollegeWilliams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
.
He was a member from Ontario County
Ontario County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 100,224 people, 38,370 households, and 26,360 families residing in the county. The population density was 156 people per square mile . There were 42,647 housing units at an average density of 66 per square mile...
of the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
in 1816 and 1820-21. He worked with DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...
to convince the State Legislature to finance the construction of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
. He was among the Erie Canal Commission
Erie Canal Commission
The New York State Legislature appointed in 1810 a Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie, and Report which became known as the Erie Canal Commission...
ers appointed in 1816 to supervise the construction, and was chosen Treasurer of the Canal Commission. He oversaw the construction of the canal in person living with the workers for eight years.
In 1822 he built the Old Stone Warehouse
Old Stone Warehouse
Old Stone Warehouse is a historic warehouse building located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It was built in 1822 and is a four story, trapezoidal building with six story addition built of Medina sandstone. It was built by Myron Holley and was located on the Erie Canal...
at Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
on speculation. In 1824, an audit revealed a shortage of about $30,000 in the canal funds, and Holley resigned on March 30, giving his personal property to make good for part of the shortage. Holley died a pauper in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery
Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester
Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, founded in 1838, is the United States' first municipal rural cemetery. Situated on 196 acres of land adjacent to the University of Rochester on Mount Hope Avenue, the cemetery is the permanent resting place of over 350,000 people...
. His monument there was paid for by members of the Liberty Party
Liberty Party (1840s)
The Liberty Party was a minor political party in the United States in the 1840s . The party was an early advocate of the abolitionist cause...
which he likely conceived and had co-founded with John Greenleaf Whittier and others.
Orville L. Holley
Orville L. Holley
Orville Luther Holley was an American writer, newspaper editor, historian and politician.-Life:...
and Horace Holley (1781-1827)
Horace Holley (1781-1827)
Horace Holley was a Unitarian minister and president of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky....
were his brothers.
The village of Holley, New York
Holley, New York
Holley is a village in the town of Murray in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 1,802 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :The village of Holley was incorporated in 1850...
is named after him.
Sources
- The Rebel of Rose Ridge - Myron Holley's Days in Rochester by Donovan A. Shilling (gives birthdate April 20, but on the stone is written April 29)
- http://www.gencircles.com/users/susanham/2/data/5 Holley genealogy, at GenCircles
- The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 40 and 281; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
- Laws of the State of New York, in Relation to the Erie and Champlain Canals: Together with the Annual Reports of the Canal Commission Ers, and Other Documents Requisite for a Complete Official History of Those Works etc. published by the Secretary of State's Office, New York (State) (E. and E. Hosford, printers, 1825) with the Attorney General's Report on the question if Holley's sureties had liability to refund the State for the remainder of the shortage, with an outline of Holley's chaotic financial proceedings
- Myron Holly; and What He Did for Liberty and True Religion by Elizur WrightElizur WrightElizur Wright was an American mathematician and abolitionist. He is sometimes described as the "father of life insurance" for his pioneering work on actuarial tables...
(Boston: the Author, 1882), Google eBook scan.