John Edward Hollenbeck
Encyclopedia
John Edward Hollenbeck was an American businessman and investor who was involved in the 19th century development of Nicaragua
and the city of Los Angeles, California
.
, 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 master of his trade in three years, but declined to join his employers’ business as a partner.
. 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 Greytown, Nicaragua, were growing rapidly due to the areas position as the eastern terminus of a transport operation owned by American Cornelius Vanderbilt
's Accessory Transit Company
. This transportation network carried thousands of travelers each month from the Atlantic to the Pacific side of Central America
on their way to the gold rush in San Francisco. Sail and steam-ships traveled from New York and New Orleans in the United States to Greytown. From there, small boats transported passengers up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua
. Then, mules, horses, or stagecoaches carried them over the small isthmus between the lake and 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 Chagres River
. He continued to work on steamers, running from Aspinwall and Chagres to Greytown, Nicaragua, and up the San Juan River. Around 1852, Hollenbeck began the first of a number of businesses ventures in Nicaragua. In Greytown, he furnished entertainment to travelers on the route from Nicaragua to California. At Castillo Rapids, he established a general merchandise store, and won a contract with the Transit Company cutting wood for fuel for the San Juan River steamers. In the spring of 1853 he purchased the Nicaragua Hotel at Castillo Rapids, which he continued to operate until February 1856. At the time of the purchase, the hotel was managed by Elizabeth Hatsfeldt, originally from 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 whas damaged when, on 13 July 1854, the United States Navy
sloop USS Cyane
bombarded and burned Greytown in retaliation for reported local actions against American citizens. The action was a culmination of a confrontation between Americans and the townspeople over tariffs and control of transit routes. The destruction was reported around the world, including an illustration in the Illustrated London News
.http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/warmup/greytown/greytown_f.html 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. Walker was in turn ousted in 1857 by elements backed by Vanderbilt.
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. U.S. 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 again returned to Greytown, and there Hollenbeck rebuilt his general merchandise business. 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. Shortly after his return, he obtained commissions as agent for the Royal Mail steamers and agent for an English mining company, shipping large quantities of India rubber, Brazil wood, hides, cedar, rosewood, coffee, indigo, and other products. About 1872, the Transit Company closed all its Nicaraguan operations and Hollenbeck, with three partners, bought all the American company’s property and assets.
. The community was growing rapidly, and businesses were investing heavily in anticipation of the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad
. While visiting California, Hollenbeck purchased several parcels of real estate and deposited funds in Temple & Workman Bank. Hollenbeck soon closed out his Nicaraguan businesses and made his final move to the United States. Prior to his leaving Nicaragua, the Government appointed him 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 6738 acres (27.3 km²). The real estate holdings included 600 acres (2.4 km²) 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 3500 acres (14.2 km²) of Rancho La Puente
— a grain and stock ranch. In 1884 he purchased and developed an urban business district, known as the Hollenbeck Block, within Los Angeles.
In 1878 Hollenbeck became a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, and was elected its president. In 1881, he and other investors organized and established the First National Bank. In 1880, Hollenbeck, with former California Governor John G. Downey
, horticulturalist Ozro W. Childs
and other associates, persuaded the State of California to purchase 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) in Los Angeles to foster agriculture in the southland. The property, then known as Agriculture Park, is now known as Exposition Park
, home to the Los Angeles Coliseum and the Los Angeles County Museums.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and the city of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Early life
J. Edward Hollenbeck was born in Hudson, OhioHudson, Ohio
Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 22,262 at the 2010 census. It is an affluent exurban community and is part of the Akron, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and later moved with his parents to Winnebago County, Illinois
Winnebago County, Illinois
Winnebago County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 295,266, which is an increase of 6.1% from 278,418 in 2000...
. 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
Day labor
Day labor is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work.-Types:Day laborers find work through three common routes....
for traveling funds, he returned to Ohio and apprenticed himself to learn the machinist's trade with Bell and Chamberlain in Cuyahoga Falls
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...
. He became master of his 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 fieldsCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. He took passage on a sailing vessel from New Orleans to Aspinwall, now Colón
Colón, Panama
Colón is a sea port on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. The city lies near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city....
, 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 Greytown, Nicaragua, were growing rapidly due to the areas position as the eastern terminus of a transport operation owned by American Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
's Accessory Transit Company
Accessory Transit Company
The Accessory Transit Company was a company set up by Cornelius Vanderbilt and others during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, to transport would-be prospectors from the east coast of the United States to the west coast....
. This transportation network carried thousands of travelers each month from the Atlantic to the Pacific side of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
on their way to the gold rush in San Francisco. Sail and steam-ships traveled from New York and New Orleans in the United States to Greytown. From there, small boats transported passengers up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...
. Then, mules, horses, or stagecoaches carried them over the small isthmus between the lake and 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 Chagres River
Chagres River
The Chagres River is a river in central Panama. The central part of the river is dammed by the Gatun Dam and forms Gatun Lake, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal. Upstream lies the Madden Dam, creating the Alajuala Lake that is also part of the Canal water system...
. He continued to work on steamers, running from Aspinwall and Chagres to Greytown, Nicaragua, and up the San Juan River. Around 1852, Hollenbeck began the first of a number of businesses ventures in Nicaragua. In Greytown, he furnished entertainment to travelers on the route from Nicaragua to California. At Castillo Rapids, he established a general merchandise store, and won a contract with the Transit Company cutting wood for fuel for the San Juan River steamers. In the spring of 1853 he purchased the Nicaragua Hotel at Castillo Rapids, which he continued to operate until February 1856. At the time of the purchase, the hotel was managed by Elizabeth Hatsfeldt, originally from 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 whas damaged when, on 13 July 1854, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
sloop USS Cyane
USS Cyane
Three ships of the United States Navy have been named Cyane, after the Greek nymph.* The USS Cyane , was originally HMS Cyane captured in 1815 and taken into the US Navy, where she served until 1836....
bombarded and burned Greytown in retaliation for reported local actions against American citizens. The action was a culmination of a confrontation between Americans and the townspeople over tariffs and control of transit routes. The destruction was reported around the world, including an illustration in the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
.http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/warmup/greytown/greytown_f.html 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
Filibuster (military)
A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...
William Walker installed himself as President of Nicaragua
President of Nicaragua
The position of President of Nicaragua was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until the Constitution of 1838 the title of the position was known as Head of State and from 1838 to 1854 as Supreme Director .-Heads of State of Nicaragua within the Federal Republic of Central America...
and revoked the charter of the Accessory Transit Company and then assumed its assets. Walker was in turn ousted in 1857 by elements backed by Vanderbilt.
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. U.S. 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
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
. They again returned to Greytown, and there Hollenbeck rebuilt his general merchandise business. 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. Shortly after his return, he obtained commissions as agent for the Royal Mail steamers and agent for an English mining company, shipping large quantities of India rubber, Brazil wood, hides, cedar, rosewood, coffee, indigo, and other products. 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
In 1874, a wealthy man but experiencing health difficulties, Hollenbeck and his wife visited Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The community was growing rapidly, and businesses were investing heavily in anticipation of the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
. While visiting California, Hollenbeck purchased several parcels of real estate and deposited funds in Temple & Workman Bank. Hollenbeck soon closed out his Nicaraguan businesses and made his final move to the United States. Prior to his leaving Nicaragua, the Government appointed him 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 6738 acres (27.3 km²). The real estate holdings included 600 acres (2.4 km²) 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 3500 acres (14.2 km²) of Rancho La Puente
Rancho La Puente
Rancho La Puente was a ranch in the eastern San Gabriel Valley that, in its fullest extent, measured just under , and remained intact until about 1870. By modern landmarks, the ranch extended from San Gabriel River on the west to just west of the 57 Freeway on the east and from Ramona...
— a grain and stock ranch. In 1884 he purchased and developed an urban business district, known as the Hollenbeck Block, within Los Angeles.
In 1878 Hollenbeck became a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, and was elected its president. In 1881, he and other investors organized and established the First National Bank. In 1880, Hollenbeck, with former California Governor John G. Downey
John G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
, horticulturalist Ozro W. Childs
Ozro W. Childs
Ozro Childs was a Protestant horticulturalist, merchant, and banker in the 19th century in Los Angeles, California. He was a founding father of the University of Southern California.-Early years:...
and other associates, persuaded the State of California to purchase 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) in Los Angeles to foster agriculture in the southland. The property, then known as Agriculture Park, is now known as Exposition Park
Exposition Park (Los Angeles)
Exposition Park is located in University Park, Los Angeles, California, across the street from the University of Southern California. Exposition Park houses the following:* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum* Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena...
, home to the Los Angeles Coliseum and the Los Angeles County Museums.