Abraham Hollenbeck
1796-1843

The following was contributed by William Walker.

"PIONEER FAMILIES OF LAPEER COUNTY, MICH (P167-168) ELLIS"

HOLLENBECK. Being among the earliest families in Marathon, some family records are gone. Abraham Hollenbeck (1796-1843) married Jane Gardner (born NY 1800, died Sept 5, 1868) daughter of Jacob Gardner. The family came to Marathon Oct 13, 1837 from Columbia Co NY. It is believed the couple had 9 children, birth order mostly not known: 1) Edmund, about whom more later; 2) Jacob, about whom more later; 3) Sophia married Benjamin Harris and had children Nelle, Edward and Mary; 4) Christina married Chauncey Maxfield (see her sister Lucretia) and had Abraham, Emma, Loren and Ephraim; 5) Richard, born NY Oct 12, 1827, died May 22, 1882 at Columbiaville, had a daughter Nelle who married Undersheriff Elsen Wait and she died May 6, 1922; 6) Lucretia married Chauncey Maxfield, former husband of her sister Christina, and they had 3 children; 7) Silas married Martha Aurand (born June 20, 1842, died Sept 7, 1897) daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Owens) Aurand, and they had sons Harry and Edward; 8) William, about whom more later; 9) Jane.

Edmund, probably the first child of Abraham and Jane, was born Columbia Co NY in 1818, married first 1845 Julia A Richmond (born NY ca 1830, died Dec 23, 1881). With his parents Edmund moved in 1826 to Oneida Co NY, then in 1833 to Wayne Co NY, and all came to Marathon in 1837. He married 2d in 1883 a Mrs Davis of Oakland Co, who had been born near Rochester NY. It is believed the first wife bore him 4 children: 1) William who lived at Detroit; 2) James (or Richard) also of Detroit; 3) Sumner who lived Columbiaville; and 4) George W, born Oregon twp 1850, died Jan 31, 1919, who married 1871 Josephine Tibbits of Marathon, a native of Lockport NY. She was born June 2, 1848, and died April 5, 1893. The couple had a son Ray and daughter Mrs Daisy McNall.

Jacob, shown as 2d child, was born at Hudson NY 1820, died Oct 24, 1896, and married 1842 Harriet Clute. He had come with his father in 1837. The couple supposedly had 7 children. Jacob married 2d in 1861 Emily Vermilya and was said to have had 2 daughters. Records on these children are unclear, also birth order: 1) Franklin was in the Civil War; 2) Mary married Nelson Lawrence; 3) Manley, born Aug 30, 1851, died Nov 28, 1874, married Nell Middleton and had a daughter Blanche Burnell; 4) Eugene married Margaret A Hodge and had a daughter Sadie Emily born May 28, 1879; and 5) Lavine married William Leach.

William (1832-1889), shown as 8th child, married Mary Anne Tower and had probably 5 children: 1) Martha Alice, born Aug 3, 1858, died March 5, 1925, married Sept 27, 1875 Willey A Clute and had 6 children; 2) William R Hollenbeck Jr, born Nov 14, 1862, married Dec 24, 1885 Margaret E Lauthers of Oregon twp. He was a partner in a Columbiaville grocery, and later lived St Johns, Oregon; 3) Charles E, born Oct 13, 1865, died March 18, 1936, married 1890 Lillian Hutchinson and had a son Glenn L Hollenbeck who became county probate judge; 4) Henry lived several places, likely Vassar and Orion; and 5) George A, born Columbiaville ca 1869, died Jan 30, 1939 in Lapeer, and married Hazel DeGroat (died Aug 25, 1937) and had 2 sons.

"HISTORY OF LAPEER COUNTY, MICHIGAN; H.R. PAGE & CO 1884 (P137-138)"

EARLY HISTORY.....October 12, 1937 Mr. Clute moved his wife & child to Marathon..... The next day October 13, Abraham Hollenbeck moved in and the next week Alijah Willey, both bringing large families, who still, for the most part, reside among us. ....Shortly after this, ice a foot thick had formed all over the river and flats, while the river fell leaving a deep depression and wide fissures in the ice. Across this Abraham Hollenbeck, who had moved into town the day after Mr. Clute, attempted to pass; but his cattle broke through and but for the lucky circumstances that his sleigh caught and hung on a stump they would have slipped under the ice and been drowned. With the energy and haste of despair he procured the aid of Clute and Willey and their wives, and with axes and levers they succeeded in rescuing the much valued oxen from their perilous position in the water; but not until the last one had become so chilled that he could not stand up for a considerable time. Abraham Hollenbeck had bought the northwest quarter of section 21 in 1836, in which year about three-fourths of the township (Marathon) had been bought up by speculators and those intending settlement, but he did not move in until the fall of 1837. Mr. H was a pious man; in fact, his neighbors say he was for some years the only pious man in town. for a while public worship was conducted by him at his own house, and that of Andrew McArthur; and here also and under his care was organized and conducted the first Sunday-school. This was probably under the auspices of a Mr. Morse, a Presbyterian minister located at Lapeer, in the fall of 1838. To this same denomination Mr. Hollenbeck belonged. .....Mr. Hollenbeck built the first barn, a log one, forty feet long, and it was raised by eight men. Verify, "there were giants in those days." He also built the first corn-crib of small logs, which is still standing in full view of the road, avery fine specimen of backwoods architecture, showing Mr. H. to have been a man ingenuity and enterprise. ....In 1841 the first schoolhouse was built on Hollenbeck's Corners near the cemetery, and the first teacher was Miss Sarah Hart.

Return to Hollenbeck Genealogy