Franklin Samuel Holley was born on March 18, 1843, in Cornwall, Vermont, to Truman B. Holley and Juliette Sanford. His father was a farmer who owned $4,600 of real estate in 1850. A decade later, his father owned $8,000 of real estate and $3,570 of personal property. Holley attended school in Cornwall before enrolling at Barre Academy. He enlisted in the Union army on August 12, 1862, and mustered in as a private in Company F of the 1^st United States Sharpshooters Regiment. He apparently transferred to the 2^nd United States Sharpshooters Regiment sometime during the war. He was discharged for disability on January 1, 1865, and returned home to Vermont. By 1870, he was working as a farmer, and he owned $1,760 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property.

 

Holley lived with his mother in Cornwall until at least 1880. He married Jennie Maynard, and they had at least two children: Stanley, born around 1881; and Maynard, born around 1889. The family moved to San Joaquin County, California, sometime during the 1880s, and Holley worked as a travel salesman there. He applied for a federal pension on February 2, 1906, and ultimately received one. He died in San Joaquin County on April 7, 1917.

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