The death of his parents left him an orphan at the age of thirteen; he earned his own livelihood early on and put himself through the Academy and Park College in Parkville, Missouri.

[5] By 1910, Holland was a "dealer in gas and electrical supplies and fixtures," for on July 1 of that year he took possession of the leased store and basement at 756 South Hill Street from the Jesse H. Taylor Company.

[8] Holland died of a heart attack on July 11, 1940, in his home at 126 North Avenue 54, Highland Park,[9] leaving his wife, Cora, and two sons, Wendell and Kenneth, and a sister, Mattie Gooding.

[11] In January 1930, Holland and seven other council members who had voted in favor of granting a rock-crushing permit in the Santa Monica Mountains were unsuccessfully targeted for recall on the grounds that the eight had conspired with .

[12]That recall effort did not get off the ground, but Holland was targeted later the same year in another ouster movement based on "his attitude in the acquisition of Victory Park, No.

Holland was a member of a 1939 federal grand jury appointed to probe the asserted monopolistic practices of nearly 100 Pacific Coast oil companies.