Alfred George Holland - Fireman 1st Class
Alfred George Holland was born 4 October 1844 in Leicester, England. He enlisted on 12 February 1864 at the 14 State Street, New York, NY Naval Rendezvous as a Fireman 1st Class for a 1 year enlistment[1]. He was sent to the U.S.S. Tecumseh on 20 April 1864 [2].
On 10 June 1864, Holland was admitted to Naval Hospital Portsmouth with "dilatatio" [3]. In Holland's disability pension application, his surviving shipmates described his condition the day he was taken ashore as being severely emaciated and weak along with blaming his condition upon the extreme heat of the engine room (130°F per ENS Zettick) and the bad water they had to drink. His illness was severe enough that he was med seped on 14 July 1864 [2], [3].
After his discharge, when he was able to work, Holland worked as a machinist for various railroads and later got into mining.
Holland was married twice. His first wife, Julia, died on 20 November 1870 in Jefferson City, MO, just a few days after giving birth to their daughter, Julia Helen. He married his second wife, Mary Anna in 1873 and had two children, Maud and Alfred. In 1883, he along with his family first moved to Colorado and then back to Missouri to be closer to Mary's family. After an in-law died leaving Mary a sizable inheritance, they moved back to Colorado. From reading Holland's affidavit, Mary wasn't happy with the small cottage he bought and they lost well over $15,000 when a mine they owned a stake in dried up. Holland fell into a depression and left for New Zealand in 1900 with the "intention of being buried at sea." Mary obtained a divorce and Holland spiraled further into his depression after learning of it, culminating in a suicide attempt his friends had to pull him out of. [4]
Holland lived the rest of his life in New Zealand and died on 8 June 1910 in Thames.
Dependents
Wife: Julia Sullivan Holland (died 20 June 1870)Wife: Mary Anna Holland (married 12 June 1873)
Daughter: Julia Helen Holland (born 13 November 1870)
Daughter: Maud Lillian Holland (born 28 June 1874)
Son: Alfred George Holland, Jr. (born 26 July 1889)
Awards & Memorials
Alternate Spellings of Name
References and Sources
[1] Return of the United States Naval Rendezvous, 14 State Street New York, NY for the week ending February 13 1864[2] NARA T1099. An index to rendezvous reports during the Civil War, 1861-1865.
[3] Hospital Tickets and Case Papers, compiled 1825-1889. ARC ID: 2694723. Department of the Navy, Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Record Group 52. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
[4] M1469, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Civil War and Later Navy Veterans, 1861-1910 ("Navy Survivors' Certificates"), National Archives at Washington, D.C
