Lt. Matthias John "Matt" Hollenback

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HOLLENBACK, MATTHIAS Pioneer, Revolutionary Soldier, Judge, Merchant, Indian Trader, etc., was born February 17th, 1752, at or near Jonestown, in Lancaster (now Lebanon) county, Pennsylvania, and was the second son of John Hollenback - of Saxon descent, - and Eleanor Jones, a lady of Welsh parentage. Being thus of mixed German and Welsh descent, nature appears to have selected for him some of the strongest and best traits of both characters. His education was limited to a few weeks tuition in a common school; but to him, as to other men who have risen from obscurity by the force of their own abilities, the world was a life long school, and experience and observation his skillful tutors.

He emigrated to Wyoming Valley about the latter part of the year 1769, with a party of young men from his native county, for the purpose of settling under the Connecticut laws; and at once embarked in trade in a small way. In the long and bloody dispute which followed, known as the "Pennamite and Yankee War," though himself a Pennsylvanian, he strictly adhered to the cause in which he had embarked, until the question of jurisdiction was decided in favor of Pennsylvania by a competent tribunal, in the Decree of Trenton. "From that moment," says the late Judge Scott, "he yielded, obedience to the Constitution and laws of Pennsylvania, and contributed all in his power to quiet the turbulent and reconcile the disaffected to the legitimate authorities." On the 17th of October, 1775, he was commissioned an Ensign in the 24th Regiment of Connecticut colonial Militia. On the 26th of August, 1776, he was appointed by Congress to serve as an Ensign in Captain Durkee's Company of Wyoming minute-men, for local defense.

The Wyoming companies were not long afterward, drawn into cooperation with the main Revolutionary army; and Hollenbeck served eighteen months, being engaged in the battles at Millstone, Bound Brook, Mud Fort, Brandywine and Germantown. His daring conduct at Millstone was specially commended. Early in June, 1778, representations of imminent danger to their homes caused the resignation of the commissioned officers of the Wyoming companies, and their return to Wyoming with a portion of their men, Hollenback among the number. They came just in time to die. As the fatal days approached, scouts were sent up the Susquehanna to reconnoiter the approach of the enemy. At Exeter, fifteen miles above Wilkes-Barre, Hollenback and, one companion found the bodies of the two young Hardings freshly murdered and scalped by the savages. These they placed in a canoe and brought down the river. The foe was now known to be near at hand and the settlers were roused for self-defense.

The greater part of the Wyoming minutemen being still in the main army, the defense devolved mainly upon the aged, the young and the undisciplined, poorly armed and equipped: yet they went forth with constant mind, and the most of them sealed their devotion with their blood. The story of the day of July 3d, 1778, is well known. Ensign Hollenback fought upon the right wing; and says the historian Miner, "Fear was a stranger to his bosom. I have heard several say who recognized him in the battle that a braver soldier never marched out to meet an enemy." When the day was lost and the rout became general, he escaped to the river, throwing off his outer clothing and securing some valuables to his queue. Thus he swam the river, diving under as long as he could, and coming to the surface occasionally for breath; a bullet once grazing his head so closely as to cause an involuntary gasp, by which he lost a gold piece out of his mouth. Resting for an hour on the eastern bank, under cover of the forest and the darkness, he presses on to Wilkes-Barre, reaching home about one o'clock in the morning of July 4th. After some hurried consultation and preparations, by four o'clock he was in the saddle and on the way to Bear Creek, where he met Captain Spalding with his company, and urged him to press on to the relief of the fort at Wilkes-Barre.

That officer declining the risk, with a few men whom he induced to join him, Hollenback started on the return. On regaining the verge of the valley, however, he found that he was too late, the town and his own house being in flames and the fort already in possession of the savages. He now devoted his exertions to the relief of the fugitives, and supplying them with bread in their flight to the Delaware; in which his untiring energy evoked the gratitude of many sufferers. After tranquility was restored, he was of the party who returned to the valley and battlefield, and attended to the burial of the slain, whose bones now lie under the monument at Wyoming. He now again embarked in trade; marrying one of the widows of the battle, by whom he had three daughters and a son, the late G. M. Hollenback. The house and store which he then erected, and in which he laid the foundations of an ample fortune, is still shown Main street, in the city of Wilkes-Barre. In the year 1791, he established the first trading post at Newtown - now Elmira, New York - upon the occasion of Colonel Pickering's treaty with the Indians at that place. About six years before, or somewhat earlier, he established stores at Tioga Point - now Athens, Pennsylvania - Wysox and elsewhere. All the goods for his numerous stores were brought in wagons from Philadelphia to Middletown, and then "pushed" up the Susquehanna in Durham boats; which, returning, brought down the various articles of barter, furs, produce, etc., received from the settlers and Indians in exchange for goods. As his ventures prospered, he extended his operations with wonderful vigor. No amount or hazard, travel, or fatigue, seems to have daunted this daring and energetic pioneer.

At each of his trading posts he acquired land, and carried on also the cultivation of the soil. Clearly foreseeing the progress of the country, he invested his earnings in the purchase of farms and unseated lands, thus becoming ultimately one of the largest landholders in the valley of the Susquehanna. Upon hearing of peace with England, in 1782, he gathered and took to Niagara a drove of cattle, for the purpose of supplying the garrisons there. But so prompt were his movements, that he preceded by some weeks the official news of peace, and was held as a prisoner by the British garrison. Upon his return, in 1792, from his last enterprise of this kind, he narrowly escaped from a plot of the Doane gang of desperadoes to waylay and kill him for his money; his relation of this trip and of his adventures upon the return is said to have been full of thrilling interest. His journeys were made in the saddle; his money, often large sums of gold and silver, being carried at the pommel. A sword-cane, attached to the saddle when on the journey, was generally his weapon of defense; it is still preserved and shown in his only portrait. His life was often in imminent peril. On one occasion a worthless Indian threw live coals upon the top of a keg of powder in one of his stores, with the purpose of blowing him up; but the courage and address of a clerk averted the explosion.

The Indian is said to have lost his life afterwards in an encounter with the same clerk on a foot-bridge across the river. Many similar anecdotes were related, but the memory of them is now lost. A few years after the war, when the renowned chief Red Jacket passed through Wyoming on his way to Philadelphia, he paid Hollenback a friendly visit, accompanied by his braves; the host's surviving daughter, now in her eighty-seventh year, still remembers the visit and the courtesy of the noble savage. In July, 1788, Hollenback was present at the treaty of Buffalo, between the Six Nations and the State of Massachusetts, represented by Oliver Phelps. At the same treaty were present also Colonel John Butler, the British leader at Wyoming, and Capt. Joseph Brant, the celebrated Mohawk leader. In 1787, Hollenback was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel by Benjamin Franklin, President of the Supreme Executive Council; two later commissions are dated 1792 and 1793. In 1787, he was also commissioned Justice of the Peace and of the Court of Common Pleas; and in 1791, upon the adoption of the new State Constitution, an Associate Judge, which position he filled with honor and respect throughout the remainder of his life, a period of thirty-eight years. Prominent in public affairs, as in private business, his house was the home of a generous and courtly hospitality, where were entertained many eminent persons on their visits to Wyoming. For many years it was his custom to give an annual dinner to the bench and bar of Luzerne county; at which time "the Madeira flowed like water, and the cares of business were laid aside for the pleasures of hospitality and social enjoyment." In politics, the sympathies of Judge Hollenback were with the Democratic party. His last vote was cast for General Jackson, in November, 1828, only three months before his own death: the ballot was taken from his hands by the election board as he sat in his carriage the incident calling forth enthusiastic cheers from the Democratic spectators. He died on the 18th of February, 1829, aged seventy-seven years, leaving to his children a large estate and an honorable name. He was a man of strong mind, indomitable energy and unconquerable will; "a patriotic man and brave soldier, a true type of that representative class of Americans who subdued the wilderness and founded the Republic."

In person he was of the middle stature, with a compact and vigorous frame, capable of the extremes of exertion and exposure. His habits were simple and abstemious, and his dress plain, but worn with a careful regard for personal neatness. He was not a member of any Christian church; but was attached to the Presbyterian denomination, of which he was a constant and liberal supporter.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 15 2020, 18:08:37 UTC

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