John Edward Hollenbeck

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John Edward Hollenbeck (June 5, 1829 – September 2, 1885) was an American businessman and investor who was involved in the 19th century development of

Los Angeles, California
.

Early life

J. Edward Hollenbeck was born in Hudson, Ohio, and later moved with his parents to Winnebago County, Illinois. He had limited schooling and, in 1846, decided that he did not wish to be a farmer. With his father's permission, the young man left home to make his own way. After doing day labor for traveling funds, he returned to Ohio and apprenticed himself to learn the machinist's trade with Bell and Chamberlain in Cuyahoga Falls. He became a master of this trade in three years but declined to join his employers’ business as a partner.

In Nicaragua

Instead of establishing himself in business in Ohio, young Hollenbeck decided to travel to the

California gold fields. He took passage on a sailing vessel from New Orleans to Aspinwall, now Colón
, in Panama. Upon his arrival, however, the steamer upon which he had booked passage broke down, and he contracted a fever while waiting for repairs. He was too ill to continue traveling and sold his remaining ticket for California.

The coastal areas of Panama and Nicaragua, and particularly the community of

San Juan del Sur, Rivas
on the Pacific where they would embark on ships traveling the coast between Panama and Nicaragua and California.

After recovering his health, Hollenbeck took a position as an engineer on a steamer running up the

Mainz, Germany
, who had recently immigrated to Nicaragua from New Orleans. In January 1854, he married the young widow.

However, the community's economic base was damaged when, on 13 July 1854, the

Illustrated London News.[1]
Soon after, the San Juan River changed course and the town was again seriously damaged. Greytown was rebuilt after its destruction and again began to prosper.

However, in 1855, the American filibuster William Walker installed himself as President of Nicaragua and revoked the charter of the Accessory Transit Company and then assumed its assets. Hollenbeck and his wife were evacuated with other families from El Castillo the day before the filibuster attack on February 15, 1857, which destroyed the hamlet by fire. Walker was in turn ousted two months later by a Central American coalition. In May 1857, Hollenbeck was rewarded for his loyalty by the Costa Ricans by receiving a government contract and having the former Accessory Transit Company house given to him in replacement of the destroyed American Hotel.[2]

Walker and his followers attempted to retake Nicaragua in November 1857, when they entered Greytown harbor and camped at nearby Puntas Arenas. A squad of Costa Ricans affiliated with Walker raided Castillo Rapids, and took Hollenbeck and his wife as prisoners. The couple was held up river on the San Juan River for two weeks, and then moved to Lake Nicaragua for an additional two months. During their captivity, the family's store, house and goods in Castillo Rapids were burned. US Marines and Nicaraguan forces soon surrounded the invaders and captured Walker. Hollenbeck and his wife were freed.

Finding their property destroyed, the couple set out for Illinois where their only son, John Edward Hollenbeck Jr., had been sent to his grandparents during the crisis. However, upon arriving in New York, they learned the two-year-old child had died of diphtheria. They returned to Greytown again, and Hollenbeck rebuilt his general merchandise business there. He also began diversifying, buying a river steamer from the now-struggling Transit Company.

In the fall of 1860 Hollenbeck considered returning to the United States, and briefly established a home in Missouri. He continued to travel to Central America to manage his businesses. However, the impending conflict of the American Civil War caused great economic concern. With the outbreak of war, an embargo was laid on travel and business; railroads were torn up and soldiers quartered in every town. So, he and his wife returned yet again to Greytown in 1865.[3] Shortly after his return, he obtained commissions as an agent for the Royal Mail ships[clarification needed] and agent for an English mining company, shipping large quantities of India rubber, Brazil wood, hides, cedar, rosewood, coffee, indigo, and other products. On June 6, 1867, he and his wife arrived in New York City from Greytown,[4] continuing to Hamburg, Germany, from where they returned to New York City on Sept. 28, 1867.[5] After returning to Central America, the Hollenbecks were back in New York City on October 6, 1869.[6] About 1872, the Transit Company closed all its Nicaraguan operations and Hollenbeck, with three partners, bought all the American company's property and assets.

In California

Hollenbeck Block
, with the First Presbyterian Church in back
Hollenbeck Hotel in 1890 at the corner of Spring and Second, demolished in 1933

In 1874, a wealthy man but experiencing health difficulties, Hollenbeck and his wife visited

Minister Plenipotentiary
to the United States, and on his return he visited Washington, D.C., transacting business for the Nicaraguan government in this capacity.

Arriving in Los Angeles early in the spring of 1876, Hollenbeck purchased land on the east side of the Los Angeles River, and built a large residence with broad verandas and a tower on extensive grounds on Boyle Avenue. He made twenty-seven acquisitions of property by 1880; spending $108,875 for a total of 6,738 acres (2,727 hectares). The real estate holdings included 600 acres (240 ha) south of the city limits, much of which was planted in vineyards. In the San Gabriel Valley, he owned orchards of oranges, lemons, and grapes; and invested in 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of

Hollenbeck Hotel.[7]

Hollenbeck was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of the city, on December 3, 1877, for a term ending on December 6, 1878.[8]

In 1878 Hollenbeck became a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, and was elected its president. On June 18, 1880, Hollenbeck was listed in the Federal census as a capitalist, he and his wife were raising a Nicaraguan mulatto teenage ward, and they had four servants, including two Chinese and a Mexican.

Los Angeles Coliseum and the Los Angeles County Museums. On July 2, 1883, Hollenbeck received an American passport to travel abroad, which described him as being 5 feet 8+1⁄2 inches (1.74 m) tall, having blue eyes and a light complexion.[10] He last appeared on the Los Angeles City Electors List on August 4, 1884, where his occupation was listed as farmer.[11]

His sister, Susan Abiah Wells, married James George Bell.

Legacy

References

  1. ^ "3D Modeling of Greytown, Nicaragua". University of Colorado Boulder. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  2. ^ "Guerra 4784" (PDF). latinamericanstudies.org.
  3. ^ "List or manifest of all the passengers taken on board the steamship Ericsson". latinamericanstudies.org.
  4. ^ "List or manifest of all the passengers taken on board the steamer Nevada". latinamericanstudies.org.
  5. ^ "Dampfschiff Germania". latinamericanstudies.org.
  6. ^ "List or manifest of all the passengers taken on board the steamer Alaska". latinamericanstudies.org.
  7. ^ "An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California". Transcript of J. Edward Hollensbeck Obituary. Chicago: Lewis. 1889: 504. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2019-11-04. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850–1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
  9. ^ "Inhabitants of the fourth ward, City of Los Angeles, in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, enumerated by me on the eighteenth day of June, 1880". latinamericanstudies.org.
  10. ^ "Personal description of John E. Hollenbeck, No 7672". latinamericanstudies.org. July 6, 1883.
  11. ^ "City electors". latinamericanstudies.org.
  • Guinn, J.M., "A History of California and an Extended History of Los Angeles and Environs", in 3 volumes, Los Angeles: Historical Record Co., 1915.

External links

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