Born in Lakeville, Connecticut in 1832, Holley graduated from Brown University in 1853.[1] He worked at Corlias & Nightingale (Corliss Steam Engine Works) as a workman and student. He also served as a locomotive engineer on Stonington and Providence Railroad, and then entered the New York Locomotive Works as a draughtsman.
During his early 20s, Holley was a close friend of Zerah Colburn, the well-known locomotive engineer and journalist/publisher who founded Railway Advocate and later the journal to Holley.[1][2]
In 1857, the two visited Britain and France to study the rail system and compiled a report for the presidents of American railroads, The Permanent Way published in 1858. Around the same time, Holley wrote to The New York Times accurately predicting screw propulsion would supersede side wheels for ocean navigation.[1] Holley was also a construction consultant for development of Stevens Battery.[1]
In 1860, the two traveled together on the maiden voyage of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Eastern. Holley's most famous book, A treatise on ordnance and armor published in 1865, followed a visit he made to Britain in 1863 when he again met Zerah Colburn.
Holley was a creative inventor, who received 15 patents in the US. Ten of those fifteen were for improvements in the Bessemer process, for which he purchased the US rights in 1863 on behalf of a consortium of investors. He soon designed and built Bessemer plants in Troy, New York, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Braddock, Pennsylvania. He planned or was consulted on a dozen others.[1]
^ abcASME History and Heritage (1980). Mechanical Engineers in America Born Prior to 1861: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: ASME. LCCN79-57364. OCLC6579756.