JOHN HOLLENBECK

Sacramento County

Biographies

JOHN HOLLENBECK

JOHN HOLLENBECK.--The ever interesting story of the toil, sacrifice and accomplishments of the builders of the Golden State is recalled in the life of John Hollenbeck, who was born August 21, 1834, near Cairo, Greene County, N.Y., the son of John and Elizabeth (Bennett) Hollenbeck. John Hollenbeck, Sr., was a native of New York. In 1843 he moved to Walworth County, Wis., locating near East Troy, and engaged in farming until he retired, residing on his ranch until he passed away in 1895, at the ripe old age of 105 years. Mrs. Hollenbeck died in Wisconsin when she was fifty-five years old. They were the parents of three children: Justice, who died in Grundy County, Ill.; Daniel, who died in Wisconsin; and John, of this review. The grandfather, David Bennett, served in the Revolutionary War.

When John Hollenbeck was ten years old, he moved with his parents to the locality of East Troy, Walworth County, Wis. He lived in a bur-oak log cabin that stood for many years on their place, and there he became familiar with farming and was educated in the school of experience, having very little opportunity to go to school. In those days the only pen used was a quill pen. On April 10, 1854, he set out for the Pacific Coast. The journey by ox team from Wisconsin to California took six months and was very interesting, though dangerous. They had several narrow escapes from the Indians, and were saved each time by a second train which usually pulled up in sight just as the Indians were about to attack. These two trains moved pretty close to each other all the way across the plains. A halt was made at Council Bluffs, then only a small trading post. They arrived in Salt Lake City, July 23, 1854. After leaving there they ran out of provisions, and were obliged to subsist on boiled wheat, which they ate three times a day until they finally arrived at the present site of Courtland, in California, on October 6, 1854. Mr. Hollenbeck located in the Delta country and worked for four months for A. J. Peck on Sutter Island. He then worked for wages for the Barbers, of Courtland, for a year and a half, after which he returned to the A. J. Peck place and worked from 1857 to 1859. All the land where Courtland now stands was sold for $1,400; the land on which Paintersville is located for $1,000; and the Smith ranch, just north of Paintersville, for $3,000. 1858, Mr. Hollenbeck purchased ten colonies of bees and paid $100 a swarm for them. Three weeks later he was offered $135 a swarm, but he preferred to keep them for the honey, which sold for one dollar per pound in the comb. He soon became an experienced beekeeper, and in two years’ time increased his number of colonies to fifty. In 1862, at the time of the great flood, the apiary, which was on the Sacramento River, was swept away, with great loss to its owner. For two years thereafter Mr. Hollenbeck worked at Rio Vista, and in 1864 he settled on Steamboat Slough and acquired some state land. He has resided on his ranch for about sixty years. It is located on Ryer Island, which comprises about 11,000 acres of land. His farm consists of approximately 180 acres, with a frontage of two miles on Steamboat Slough opposite Howard’s landing. In the early days only a narrow strip along the levee was in shape to farm; the rest was all swamp and tule land. It is one of the original tracts in Reclamation Distrcit No. 301, and has been levied by dredge. After years of hard labor, the land was cleared and improved, and today it is one of the most fertile ranches in the Delta region. His first crop was a yield of onions from two acres that netted him $2,000, and to this start he gives credit for his splendid success. He still raises onions, vegetables, fruits, alfalfa, grain and hay. There is also a fine section of land reserved as range for the horses and cattle. In 1872 John Hollenbeck helped to organize the Ryer Island Reclamation District No. 501. Dr. Ryer had previously started clearing the banks of the slouch to prepare for the levee-building, but it is only since recently that they had the strong dredger levee.

Mr. Hollenbecks’ first marriage occurred on November 20, 1864, at Sacramento, and united him with Miss Mary Meehan, a native of Ireland. She was reared in Boston, Mass., and came to Sacramento, where she stayed with her relatives until her marriage. Mr. And Mrs. Hollenbeck were the parents of seven children: John and Daniel, both deceased; William, farming in the Holland district; Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Calvin Hampton, of Ryer Island; George J., of Sacramento; John, and Daniel F., both farmers on the island. Mrs. Mary Hollenbeck died on September 17, 1878. On July 20, 1880, Mr. Hollenbeck was married a second time in San Francisco, being united with Miss Mary Bird, a native of Boston, Mass. They were the parents of four children: Lizzie K., wife of Frank Kelley, of Ryer Island; and Gertrude, Albert H., and Ethel. Albert H., married Marie Gwerder and assists on the home place. Gertrude and Ethel are also with their mother, whom they aid in presiding over the home. Mr. Hollenbeck is hale and hearty at the age of eighty-nine, and is alert both physically and mentally, doing the active work of an average man thirty years his junior. Politically, Mr. Hollenbeck is a Republican. For thirty years he has held the position of clerk of the school board of Ryer district, his long retention in office proving his efficiency as a business man and his sympathetic attitude toward things educational.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 941-942. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.