From "Sweet Prairie Home" by Mary L. Hall, Kansas State Historical Society
Article with picture titled: "Home of John C. Hollenbeck on the NW 1/4 of S4-18-25, northwest of Ness City, Kansas. Courtesy of Mrs. Ralph Stum, Ness City, Kansas".
John C. Hollenbeck
The first home of John C. Hollenbeck was destroyed by fire on a Wednesday afternoon in February 1904. The house, in Eden Township was completely gutted by the fire which Mrs. Hollenbeck discovered in the kitchen. It had gained such headway that she saw no way of extinguishing it and with her little ones clinging to her skirts, she saved all that could be saved from the burning building.
Mr. Hollenbeck and hired hands were away from home at the time and about all furniture burned up as well as the beds, etc. There was some insurance on the house but how much had not yet been learned. 1
In April 1904 Charles L. Porter was putting the finishing touches on the carpenter work on the new stone residence of J. C. Hollenbeck in Eden Township which replaced the house that burned the 17th of last February. 2
John C. Hollenbeck was born July 17,1864, at Syracuse, New York, the son of Abraham H. and Jane Manchester Hollenbeck. When he was 12 years old, he came with his parents to Kansas.
His wife was Miss Emma S. Price whom be wed April 3,1887, daughter of John and Sevilla Price, born in Henry County, Iowa, May 30,1864. She came to Kansas in 1878 at 14 years with her parents, settling on a farm nine miles southwest of Ness City on what is now known as the Bill Mellies farm.
They were to become the parents of seven sons and two daughters, all living at the time of her demise at Bunker Hill, Kansas, at age 60 years, nine months and 20 days.
At the time of his death on November 14, 1943, at Los Angeles, California, of the nine children, eight were still living, John, Homer, Clyde, Lyle, Fred, Abe, Cecil and Ethel. Olive, the eldest had died in Portland, Oregon in 1936.
Though other families may have lived in the stone house, it has been empty for many, many years and is in a state of ruin.
Note: The Standard Atlas for Ness County, Kansas, 1906 shows John C. Hollenbeck, farmer and stockraiser, on S4-18-25, with post office Ness City, Kansas, as of 1876. He is shown on the N 1/2 of Section 4; the N ½ of the SW 1/4 of Section 4 and the N 1/2 of Section 5, all in Township 8-Range 25.
References: Loraine Hollenbeck (Mrs. Ralph) Stum, Ness City, Kansas; Ness County News, April 4, 1925; Ness County News, November 25, 1943.
1. The Echo, February 20, 1904.
2. Ness County News, April 30, 1904.
1 Abraham H. Hollenbeck
+Jane Manchester
2 John C. Hollenbeck Born: July 17, 1864 in Syracuse, New York Died: November 14, 1943 in Los Angeles, California
+Emma S. Price Born: May 30, 1864 in Henry County, Iowa Married: April 03, 1887 Died: December 19, 1924 in Bunker Hill, Kansas
3 John Hollenbeck
3 Olive Hollenbeck Died: 1936 in Portland, Oregon
3 Clyde Hollenbeck
3 Abe Hollenbeck
3 Ethel Hollenbeck
3 Cecil Hollenbeck
3 Lyle Hollenbeck
3 Fred Hollenbeck
3 Homer Hollenbeck Born: December 04, 1891 Died: January 22, 1971
+Dorothy Rankin Born: August 11, 1896 in Hodgeman County, Kansas Married: November 30, 1916
4 Velda Lorraine Hollenbeck Born: September 15, 1918 in Ness County, Kansas
+Ralph Elmer Strum Married: June 10, 1939
4 Marvin Keith Hollenbeck Born: October 27, 1921 in Great Bend, Kansas
+Doris Jean Heatherly Married: September 15, 1945 in San Diego, California
*2nd Wife of Marvin Keith Hollenbeck:
+Jean Rohr Ferris Married: February 08, 1964 in San Diego, California
4 Cleo Violet Hollenbeck Born: July 04, 1928 in Jetmore, Kansas
+Charles W. Craig Married: September 05, 1946
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