S. SOLON HOLL

    In no profession is there a career more open to talent than in that of the law, and in no field of endeavor is there demanded a more careful preparation,  more thorough appreciation of the absolute ethics of life or of the underlying principles, which form the basis of all human rights and privileges.  Unflagging application, intuitive wisdom, and a determination to fully utilize the means at hand, are the elements which insure personal success and prestige in this great profession, which stands as a stern conservator of justice; and it is one into which none should enter without a recognition of the obstacles to be overcome and the battles to be won, for success does not perch on the falchion of every person who enters the competitive fray, but comes only as the direct and legitimate result of capacity and unmistakable ability.  As the essential qualifications of an able lawyer are found in Judge Holl, he has won creditable success at the bar of Sacramento.

   A native of Pennsylvania, his birth occurred in Lancaster county, July 8, 1833, his parents being Daniel and Barbara (Leib) Holl.  His father was the eldest child of Ephraim and Magdalena (Royer) Holl.  The grandfather died Jan 29, 1808, at the age of thirty-six years, and his wife passed away April 18, 1832.  The ancestry of the Holl family may be traced back to Johannes Holl, who with his young wife came from Switzerland to America in 1730.  They had four sons, namely:  Johannes, Johan Peter, Wendell and Isaac; and the second named was probably the great grandfather of our subject.  Daniel Holl, the father of the Judge, was born in Warrick township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1795.  On account of his father's ill health he was early forced to start out in life for himself,  and thus his youth was more largely occupied with toil than that of many other boys of the period. After his father's death in 1808, he was his mother's main support until her second marriage in 1812.  He did most of the teaming in his section of the country and made considerable money in that way, driving "four-in-hand" to Philadelphia. On attaining his majority he came into possession of a part of his father's estate, but on account of inflated money values he lost all he had and he gave to his sister his interest in the home farm in order to pay her her dues.

   In the pioneer days of Ohio he moved to the Buckeye state, locating near New Berlin in 1825.  He was accompanied by his wife and four children, for his marriage had occurred in 1818.  Later however, they returned to Pennsylvania, and it was not until 1832 that they again took up their abode in Ohio.  The journey of three hundred and fifty miles was made by land, being accomplished in sixteen days.  They lived in one of the primitive log cabins common at that period, and the father began the development of the farm of one hundred and sixty acres.  As the years passed his capital increased and he made other investments in real estate, at length becoming a rich, influential and popular citizen.  In the fall of 1869 he met with an accident that brought on blood poisoning and resulted in his death, December 31, 1870. His many excellent qualities endeared him to all with whom he came in contact and his loss mourned throughout the entire community.  His early political support was given the Whig party, and when the Republican party was formed, he joined that organization, being a firm adherent of the Union cause throughout the dark days of the Civil War.  Charitable and benevolent, he was known as the poor man's friend, and in all life's relations he was just and honorable.  His wife was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1803, a daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Smith) Leib.  After her husband's death she removed to New Berlin, Ohio, and later met with an accident which caused her death on the 16th of August, 1882.

    Judge Holl was a child of only nine months when his parents removed from Pennsylvania to Stark county, Ohio.  He was reared near the village of New Berlin, and acquired his education at what was then known as Packer's school, but is now called Apple Grove school.  His childhood was passed in the usual manner of farmer lads of his period, and at the age of eighteen he learned the carpenter's trade, serving an apprenticeship with Israel P. Feather, near New Berlin.

    When the California gold fever broke out he suffered an attack, and being a young boy of unusual enterprise, he determined to seek his fortune in the land of gold.  Accordingly, in the spring of 1850 he bade adieu to home and friends in Ohio and started down the Mississippi river, going by way of the Gulf of Mexico and Nicaragua river and lake, and then on foot and ox-cart to the Pacific ocean, where he boarded a sailing vessel bound for San Francisco. He left home on the 4th of March, 1850 and arrived at the Golden Gate on the 27th of August.  Delay was occasioned by mismanagement on the part of the transportation agent and their progress was further barred by the breaking out of cholera, and they were thus held in quarantine in New Orleans.  They were also delayed on the west side of that country by the failure of the vessel to put in an appearance at the time appointed.  Scarcity of provisions on the Pacific coast occasioned much suffering.  There were one hundred members of the party with which Judge Holl traveled. On the 4th of July the captain gave them some flour and a small  pig for a 4^th-of-July dinner.

     At length, however, Judge Holl safely reached his destination, and began mining near Grass Valley, but met with indifferent success; and after a year he decided to leave the search for gold to others.  He then began work in a carpenter shop in Grass Valley, and was very prosperous in that venture until a fire destroyed all his property. Phoenix-like, however, his business arose from the ashes, and he was soon again enjoying a liberal patronage in the line of his chosen vocation; but a second time he met with heavy losses by fire, and this determined him to engage in work that required other than physical labor.  Coming to Sacramento, he took up the study of law, and an excellent memory enabled him to gain not only a broad knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, but also wide general information.  He spent much time in the state library and remembered all that he read.  Since his admission to the bar, he has been one of the leading practitioners in Sacramento, and was elected judge of Sacramento police court, acceptably filling that position for a number of years. He is widely known on the Pacific coast as a leading representative of the legal fraternity and enjoys the high regard of his professional brethren.

      January 16, 1868 the judge was united in marriage to Miss Julia Hartwell, and to them have been born two sons: James, who is managing his father's ranch in Lassen county; and Charles a rising young attorney of Sacramento.

      Not long after his marriage, Judge Holl extended the field of his labors by securing large tracts of land near Mount Shasta, California, and engaged in sheep raising.  He started with over two thousand head of sheep and a number of cattle, but a deep snow rendered the venture largely unsuccessful. For months snow to a great depth lay upon the ground, and when spring came, Mr. Holl had only one sheep and one bull!  However, he continued in the stock-raising business and he is still interested in stock-raising in northern California.  But he is probably better known in connection with his law practice.  As few men have done, he seems to realize the importance of the profession to which he devotes his energies, and the fact that justice and the high attribute of sympathy he often holds in his hands. His reputation has always been won through earnest, honest labor, and his standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his ability.