People
Village Leaders
Liberty Holden - Founding Father and Bratenahl's First Mayor
Liberty Emery Holden was a founder of Bratenahl, its first Mayor, an accomplished real estate developer, owner of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and, at one time, one of the most influential men in Cleveland.
Liberty Holden was born on June 20, 1833, on a small farm in Raymond, Maine, son of Liberty and Sally Holden. At that time, Raymond, Maine was still part of the northern New England frontier.
Liberty began teaching at age sixteen and completed two years at Waterville College (Colby College) in Waterville, Maine, before moving, in 1856, to finish his education at the University of Michigan. While Professor of Literature at Kalamazoo College, he married his most brilliant pupil, Delia Elizabeth Bulkley, on August 14, 1860. Delia was born on May 22, 1838, in New York. She was the sister of Charles Bulkley, who lived at 11475 Lake Shore Boulevard.
After two years as superintendent of Tiffin Ohio schools, Holden moved to Cleveland in 1862 to study law. Holden studied mineralogy in his spare time to give himself a basic understanding of the mining business. In 1873, he began investing in mining properties, iron ore in the Lake Superior region, and silver in Utah. He became a leading spokesman in Washington for western silver interests. Holden amassed a fortune from western mining and used his money to invest heavily in local real estate and promote Cleveland's cultural life.
On January 2, 1885, Holden purchased the financially distressed Cleveland Plain Dealer from William W. Armstrong and launched the morning Plain Dealer. He purchased the Cleveland Herald and divided its assets with the Cleveland Leader. Holden combined the newspapers into the evening, morning, and Sunday Plain Dealer. Holden personally operated the newspaper until 1898.
Liberty Holden owned the Hollenden Hotel in downtown Cleveland and took its name from an early English form of the word “Holden.” Holden purchased the land for his hotel from Philo Chamberlain, created a corporation to construct it and hired Cleveland architect George F. Hammond to design it. When the hotel opened on June 7, 1885, it was considered a technological marvel because every room was equipped with electric lights, and the building was fireproof. The hotel contained 1,000 rooms, 100 private baths, a theater, barbershop, along with several bars and clubs. The hotel housed permanent as well as temporary residents. The hotel's interiors consisted of paneled walls; redwood and mahogany fittings; and crystal chandeliers.
As president of the building committee, Holden was a major force behind the construction of the Cleveland Museum of Art and Wade and Rockefeller Parks. He was a charter member of The Country Club and president of the Cleveland Union Club.
In 1881, Liberty and Delia acquired the land to build a sandstone-clad thirty-four room Tudor manor house called “Loch Hame” located at 8907 Lake Shore Boulevard.
In 1903, Holden was asked by Frederick Goff, mayor of Glenville, to lead a drive to have Glenville on the Lake become a separate municipality. As detailed in the Founding of Bratenahl, Holden successfully implemented a plan to restrict all the land in Glenville of the Lake from commercial development. He then was a prime force behind the effort to detach Glenville on the Lake from Glenville and create the Village of Bratenahl.
On December 13, 1904, Liberty E. Holden was elected as the first village mayor of Bratenahl with fifty-eight votes in favor, and none opposed. Under his leadership, all the newly elected officers of Bratenahl had a lot of work to form and operate the new village. Raising revenue was essential; workers' employment was crucial; necessary goods and services needed procurement: policies, procedures, and laws required to be drafted and enacted. Mayor Holden and the members of the first Bratenahl council completed the tasks in a relatively short period.
Holden was a member of the Mayflower Society and the Sons of the American Revolution. He took great pleasure in tracing the Holden family’s growth in America from its earliest days in the mid-seventeenth century, eventually commissioning a two-volume genealogical register of all the Holden family who could trace their ancestry back to the original settlers in the New World.
Liberty and Delia had nine children, seven of whom lived in and left their mark on Bratenahl: Albert Fairchild, born on December 31, 1866; Liberty Dean, born on February 7, 1869; Delia Bulkley (White), born on January 31, 1871; Roberta (Bole), born on September 30, 1876; Emery (Greenough), born on March 8, 1879; and twins Gertrude (McGinley) and Guerdon Stearns, born on December 9, 1881. The remaining children were the two oldest: Sarah Eliza, born on March 23, 1862; and Charles Emery, born on September 27, 1861, who died at age 16.
Delia was active in educational and welfare work in Cleveland. She participated in the founding of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland School of Art and the Lakeside Hospital.
Liberty Holden died on August 26, 1913, in Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio. Following his death, Delia moved to Pasadena, California. She died on June 25, 1932, and was returned to Cleveland for burial alongside her husband in Lake View Cemetery.
Holden’s rich mining properties were left mainly to his son, Albert, and Albert’s two daughters, Emery May and Katherine. The newspaper and real estate property were left in trust to the younger son, Guerdon, and four daughters, Roberta, Delia, Emery, and Gertrude.