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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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JACOB HOLLEY, the oldest liveryman in Northampton and the proprietor of a flourishing livery stable at 270 Main Street, is of German nativity, having been born in Wurtemberg in the year 1826. His father, Martin Holley, was a farmer, and also engaged in the baking business, in his native country, which he never left. He married Agnes Wilbur, who bore him five sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to maturity and married. But three of them came to America, those being Jacob, the subject of this article, a sister that died in Boston in 1893, and his youngest brother, John Holley, a miller and a manufacturer of lumber in Amherst.

Jacob Holley was but six years of age when his father died. He then went to live with an uncle, who sent him to school until he was twelve years of age. He was apprenticed to the cabinet-maker’s trade for a term of three years, afterward continuing to work at it until 1846. On May 5, 1847, accompanied by his brother, John L., Mr. Holley bade adieu to his friends and the Fatherland, and started for America. The journey from London to Quebec was made in a sailing-vessel, and lasted forty-two days. Of the forty-two emigrants aboard the ship only he and his brother had any money on their arrival in Canada, and that amounted to three dollars. The brothers proceeded to Montreal, and soon found work in the haying and harvest fields, where they worked for four months at six dollars per month. Then, drawing all their wages, they journeyed to New York City, thence to Hartford, Conn., and subsequently to the neighboring town of Broad Brook, where, at length, they secured work in the woollen factory, receiving six dollars per month and board. Six months later they went to Leeds, then called Shafer’s Hollow, in Hampshire County, and again found employment in a woollen factory. They labored twelve hours each day through the winter for small pay, and were glad to do so. In the spring Mr. Holley found a situation in the grist-mill at Northampton, a position which he retained nearly eleven years. Beginning with the modest salary of twelve dollars and fifty cents a month, his pay was increased from time to time until he received ten dollars and fifty cents per week. In 1857, having accumulated some money, he purchased the livery property of Ashael Wood, including residence and stable, and has since carried on the business. The strict and honorable methods he has adopted were guarantees of the success he has had. They have won for him in an especial manner the confidence and patronage of the best people in the city. From eighteen to thirty horses are used, and he employs from three to five men. By thrift, shrewdness, and foresight in the business, he has acquired a considerable property in real estate, being the owner of a ten-acre lot on King Street and of a valuable farm in Chesterfield. He is an industrious and respected citizen and an independent voter, being bound to neither man nor party.

On October 13, 1853, Mr. Holley was married to Anna Jones Graves, a native of Ireland; and they had three sons and two daughters. Two of the sons have passed away, William L. dying in Northampton at the age of twenty years, and Robert Jacob in St. Joseph, Mo., aged twenty-three years. The latter was a very smart and active young man. His body was brought back to the home of his nativity and placed in the cemetery beside that of his brother. The record of the children living is as follows: Anna J., who married H. P. Dewey, has a son ten years of age; Agnes M. lives with her sister; Henry Graves Holley is a farmer and deals largely in meat. The mother died in 1887; and Mr. Holley subsequently married her sister, Maria E. Graves. Mr. Holley is a fine representative of the sturdy and thrifty German element that has so materially advanced the industrial interests of the country.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

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