William Woods Holden

thumb| William Woods Holden (November 24, 1818 – March 1, 1892) was an American politician who served as the 38th and 40th governor of North Carolina. He was appointed by President Andrew Johnson in 1865 for a brief term and then elected in 1868. He served until 1871 and was the leader of the state's Republican Party during the Reconstruction era. Quotes Let us welcome capital and immigration, furnishing as they will be the indispensable means to our progress and prosperity. Prejudices growing out of nativity, or out of the rebellion, are not worthy to be cherished. I love my State, because her people have been good and kind to me, and because her sky is above my home, as it will be above my grave. Inaugural speech as Governor of North Carolina, delivered to a "vast audience" in Capitol Square, Raleigh (July 4, 1868). Memoirs of W. W. Holden (Durham, NC: The Seeman Printery, 1911) ch. 4, pp. 101–2, 105 In the allotments of Providence we have been placed in a pleasant and beautiful country—a country washed on either hand by the waters of the circling seas, and teeming with all the elements of prosperity and power. This glorious country—this chosen seat of science and of art—this happy and peculiar residence of civil and religious liberty, has been won for us by the constancy and courage of our ancestors; it is the birth-place of blood and battle and prolonged disaster; and it is ours to defend, ours to enjoy, and ours to transmit in untarnished splendor to posterity. "A Happy Country", in Eugene G. Harrell and John B. Neathery (eds.) The North Carolina Speaker (Raleigh: Alfred Williams & Co, 1887) p. 88 External links Category:Governors of North Carolina Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians Category:1818 births Category:1892 deaths