ABRAM A. HOLLENBECK farmer in the village of Greenport, Columbia County, in the town of Hudson, and is a well-preserved specimen of American manhood, worthy of the frugal Dutch ancestry from which he is descended. He was born in the town of Springport, October 23, 1823, his father being Abram S. Hollenbeck who came from Canada in his young manhood, and married Betsey Wey, a daughter of a farmer in this section, William Wey. From this union came six sons and as many daughters, of whom six are still living, Abram A, being the fourth son and sixth child. His brother, John Hollenbeck, lives in Hudson; and so does his sister, Mrs. Phebe Carroll. Another sister, Mrs. Elsie Sunderman, resides in Ghent. Isaac Hollenbeck lives in Livingston. A third sister, Mrs. Maria Bunt, lives near Hudson. Their father died at the age of fifty-eight, leaving a small property. His wife survived him some seventeen years, dying in 1868, aged seventy-five. Their graves are in Greenport churchyard.
Having received a limited education in the district school, young Abram early began - to earn his way by farm work, both for his father and others. He was married July 13, 1844, as soon as he attained his majority, to Eliza Carolina Bogardus, who was of Holland stock, like himself, and was a native of Athens, a town on the opposite side of the Hudson River. She was born in 1822, daughter of Jeremiah and Cornelia (Brooks) Bogardus, being the eldest of their ten children, six boys and four girls, seven of whom are still living. Their mother died when she had nearly reached her sixtieth year, and their father at the greater age of seventy-seven. Mrs. Hollenbeck's maternal grandmother was Catherine Becker, of Columbia County
Mr. and Mrs. Abram Hollenbeck have passed their married life in this town, where have been born their five sons and five daughters, of whom one boy and two girls died in infancy. Of the seven living children, Elizabeth is the wife of Edward Pinder, a Livingston farrner, and has one daughter; Jeremiah Hollenbeck, named for his maternal grandfather, is a Philmont farmer, and has three daughters; Mary is the wife of Charles M. Arlington, of Elizabeth, N.J.; William Henry Hollenbeck lives in Tremley, N.J., and has one son; Laura is the wife of Theodore Stanbaugh, a Hudson River fisherman, and has one son and one daughter; Samuel B. Hollenbeck married Mary Sifer, of Hillsdale, and has one child — Mary Eva; Edward P. Hollenbeck resides in Greenport with his wife and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Hollenbeck make their home with the family of their son Samuel B., above named.
The subject of this sketch is a life-long Republican, and the family belong to the Dutch Reformed church. They have been hardworking people, amply deserving every good thing they have received and worthy of the respect wherein they are held by their children and neighbors.
Biographical Review - This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Columbia County New York - BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1894