The Francis Holden Papers consist of correspondence, business papers, miscellaneous personal papers, photographs, advertisements & other printed matter, books, and some diaries/account books. Personal correspondence is to Francis P. Holden, primarily written in Lockeford, California, 1857-1893, with some undated. Business papers are for multiple estates and date 1835-1866. Miscellaneous personal papers date 1854-1893, with some undated. Photographs come in a variety of types contemporary to the time (tintypes, ambrotypes, etc.), and are mostly undated. The diaries/account books are dated 1857-1894.

Francis Powers Holden (1810-1893), of Abington, Mass., was a maternal uncle of Delia Hammond Locke, wife of the founder of Lockeford, San Joaquin county, California. With his wife, Hannah, Holden came to California just before the Civil War.

Collection is open for research.