Success in any line of occupation, in any avenue of business, is not a matter of spontaneity, but represents the result of the application of definite subjective forces and the controlling of objective agencies in such a way as to achieve desired ends. Mr. Holliday has realized a large and substantial success in the business world and his career has well exemplified the truth of the foregoing statements. He occupies to-day a prominent place in the financial circles of the city of Detroit and is the controlling force in one of its important industrial enterprises. He has large capitalistic interests, distributed among various commercial, financial and industrial enterprises, and is one of the distinctively representative manufacturers of the city. Progressive and energetic in the management of these varied affairs, loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, he holds a secure position in the confidence and esteem of the community and has contributed in large measure to the material advancement of the city in whose still greater commercial and civic prestige he is a firm believer. He is president of the Holliday Box Company, of which he was the founder, and of the Central Savings Bank of Detroit, both of which are mentioned on other pages of this volume. He is also president of the United States Board & Paper Company, of Carthage. Indiana, one of the most important concerns in its line of manufacture in the Union.

William Post Holliday was born in Springfield. Erie county. Pennsylvania, on the 9th of January. 1852. and is the son of William and Fannie Eunice (Post) Holliday. His ancestors, both on the paternal and maternal side, settled in America during the early colonial period, and numbered among them were men who achieved distinction in the French and Indian wars, the war of Independence and in the commercial, civil and social life which followed. James Holliday, the first of the family to reach the New World, was a native of Annandale in the valley of the Annan river. Scotland, who removed to northern Ireland, and from there emigrated, in 1730, to America, where he became one of the first white men to settle in what is now Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he experienced the vicissitudes and endured the labors incident to the time. He took part in the warfare which was constantly being waged with the Indians, was commissioned a lieutenant in March, 1756, and in the fall of the same year, while on an expedition against the savages, met his death at their hands. He married Elizabeth McDowell, a native of Ireland. John Holliday, a son of James and Elizabeth (McDowell) Holliday, was commissioned lieutenant June 25, 1775, and on the commencement of the war of Independence joined the Continental army, in which he was commissioned captain, September 25, 1776. He later became a member of a volunteer corps, and while in service on Long Island was made prisoner. Adam and William Holliday, brothers of James Holliday, were the founders of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Adam was one of the most active patriots of his section, while William was a soldier in the Continental line in the war of Independence and was commissioned lieutenant. Samuel Holliday, grandfather of our immediate subject and son of Captain John Holliday, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of November, 1755. On the 23d of March, 1797, he married Jeannette Campbell. Taking his bride, he began his honeymoon in making the extremely hard and trying journey through the almost impassible forests to "Lake Eric. He arrived in what is now Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of April, and purchased a tract of land seven hundred acres in extent, located in what is now the township of Springfield. He was the fifth white man to settle in this county and was known as the most capable Indian fighter of his time and section, his trusty McCreary rifle being his constant companion. He died on the 10th of November, 1841, an honored and influential citizen of his county.

William Holliday, the father of our subject, was born in Springfield, Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of November, 1808. His entire life was spent in the management of fanning and timber lands. He was a man of lofty integrity, strong intellectual powers and was an influential and highly respected citizen. His death occurred on the 25th of April, 1877, at the age of sixty-nine. On the 17th of December, 1840, he married Fannie Eunice Post, daughter of Joseph Post, Jr., of Granby, Connecticut. Mrs. Holliday was a lineal descendant of Stephen Post, a native of England, who emigrated to America in 1634, settling in Massachusetts colony, and afterward removing to Connecticut, of which colony he was one of the original patentees, and his name appears in the charter granted by Charles II. A portion of the city of Hartford occupies the land originally granted to him. He became one of the important personages in the colony, was appointed to confer with Uncas, chief sachem of the Mohegan tribe of Indians, regarding boundary disputes, and was made a beneficiary in the will of the noted chieftain to the extent of a considerable tract of land. His son, Thomas, married Rebecca Bruce, daughter of the Hon. Obadiah Bruce, one of the founders of Plymouth colony, appointed commissioner in 1642, and a man of great influence in the colony. Joseph, the son of Thomas and Rebecca (Bruen) Post, was a soldier in the Continental line in the war of Independence, enlisting at Waterbury, Connecticut, July 7, 1778. He married his first cousin, Mary Post, the daughter of Lieutenant Abraham Post. Joseph Post, son of Joseph and Mary Post, was also a soldier in the war of Independence, serving throughout the struggle. He married, on the 21st of March, 1765. Mary Denison, of Connecticut. Their son, Joseph, Jr., was born May 7, 1772. He married Clarissa F. Wilcox, of Granby, Connecticut. They were the parents of four children, of whom Fannie Eunice. Mrs. William Holliday) was the youngest. Four children were born of the union of

William Holliday and Fannie Eunice Post. Their names in order of birth, with brief incidental record, are as follows: Samuel V., who served with distinction in the civil war, entered the Union army and was made paymaster with the rank of major; he was afterward promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel, and served until 1865, when he received his honorable discharge. He was appointed Commissioner of Customs of the United States by President Harrison in 1889. Eliza Jane is the widow of the Hon. David M. Richardson, who was a prominent manufacturer of Detroit. James Campbell Holliday is a resident of Springfield, Pennsylvania, and William Post Holliday is the subject of this review.

William Post Holliday received his early education in the public schools of his native place and later continued his studies in the Springfield Academy. His collegiate preparatory course was taken in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in 1868 he entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, which institution was opened that year, so that his is the distinction of having been a member of the first class to be matriculated in the university. He entered the literary department, in which he completed an elective course in 1871. In October, 1872, Mr. Holliday took up his residence in Detroit, where he entered the employ of the late David M. Richardson, one of the leading manufacturers of matches in the Union. He was employed in the various departments of the factory, gaining intimate knowledge of all details and process of manufacture and in 1875 was made superintendent of the plant, a position which he creditably filled until 1878. In the year last mentioned he instituted his first independent business venture, by engaging in the manufacture of paper boxes, and from the modest enterprise thus established has been developed the extensive and important business of the Holliday Box Company, of which he is president and in which he has been the controlling force since its start. Of his efforts in this connection more detailed information is given in an article descriptive of the company, and to the same the reader may consistently refer for supplemental information. In 1904 Mr. Holliday was elected president of the Central Savings Bank, and this chief executive office he has since retained, being known as a discriminating financier and having assisted in bringing the administrative policy of his bank up to the point of highest efficiency. He is also a member of the directorate of the American Exchange National Bank and of which institution he has been for many years an influential stockholder. He is also an interested principal in a number of other enterprises which have been of value in the commercial advancement of the city.

Aggressive and broad-minded, Mr. Holliday has wielded a specially potent influence in industrial and financial affairs during the past fifteen years, and the city has few who are more appreciative of its attractions and advantages and whose faith in its future development is of more insistent and loyal type. In the organization of the Detroit Board of Commerce he was one of the most active promoters. He was elected its first treasurer, and since completing his term of office has continued an ardent and tireless worker in the organization. He is a member of the National Association and the Western Association of Paper Box Manufacturers and has served as president of each of these organizations. His political affiliations are given to the Republican party. Political office has never appealed to him, though he never neglects in the least his civic duties and obligations and has taken an influential part in the councils of his party. He is an enthusiastic lover of aquatic sports and the waters of the river and lakes afford him his chief means of recreation. He is a member of the Detroit Motor Boat Club and his motor boat, the "Nagana," is one of the best examples of this class of marine architecture belonging to the large fleet of this popular organization. He is also a member of the Lake St. Clair Fishing & Shooting Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Bankers' Club of Detroit, the Detroit Club, Sons of the American Revolution and Society of Colonial Wars.

On the 10th of June, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Holliday to Miss Marion Barker Ramsey, daughter of the late John Ramsey, who was a resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey and who was engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business in New York city for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Holliday have one daughter, Mabel, who was graduated from the Detroit Home & Day School in 1902, finishing at Mrs. Hazcn's school, at Pelham Manor. New York, in the class of 1903. Mrs. Holliday is a woman of broad education and refinement. The family have long been prominent in the best social life of the city and the attractive home, on Davenport street, is known for its gracious hospitality.
History and Biography (The City of Detroit and Wayne Co) Henry Taylor and Co. 1909