Frederick William Mackey Holliday was born on 22 February 1828 in Winchester, Virginia, to Dr. R. J. Holliday and Mary Catherine Taylor. He attended Winchester Academy and graduated from Yale University in 1847. After less than a year's enrollment, he acquired degrees in philosophy, political economy, & law from the University of Virginia in 1848. He began a law practice and was elected to three consecutive terms as Commonwealth's Attorney for Frederick County in 1851. An avid secessionist, Holliday lost his election to represent Frederick County in the Virginia Secession Convention. During the Civil War, Holliday served as captain of Company D, 33rd Virginia Regiment, Stonewall Brigade. Promoted to major and lieutenant colonel for his exemplary service, Holliday was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain resulting in the amputation of his arm. Holliday was forced to resign his commission. Holliday defeated Alexander R. Boteler to represent Virginia's 10th District in the Second Confederate Congress from 1864 to 1865.
Following the Civil War, Holliday returned to his law practice and married Hannah Taylor McCormick of Clarke County in 1868. Upon the death of his first wife, Holliday married Caroline Calvert Stuart of King George County in 1871. Holliday's second wife died in childbirth, along with their infant child. In 1876, he served as a commissioner at the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia. The following year, Holliday, a Conservative, was elected governor of Virginia unopposed as the Republican Party concentrated on legislative seats. Holliday took office on 1 January 1878. Like his predecessor, Holliday's term as governor was dedicated to Virginia's state debt from the war. He fought against the Readjusters who sought to renegotiate the state debt. Holliday left politics at the end of his governorship and devoted the rest of his life to traveling the world. Holliday suffered a stroke and died on 20 May 1899 and is buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.
From the guide to the Executive Papers of Governor Frederick W. M. Holliday, 1878-1881, (The Library of Virginia)
