USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. II > Part 21
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Henry Eckart, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Fred Eckart Packing Company, is one of the essentially progressive and rep- resentative business men of his native city of Fort Wayne and takes a loyal and helpful interest in all things tending to advance its civic, com- mercial and industrial prosperity and prestige. Here he was born on the 7th of January, 1867, and he is one of the eleven children of Fred and Elizabeth (Linker) Eckart, the former of whom was born in the King- dom of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter in the old Fort House that gave title to the present thriving city of Fort Wayne, her parents having been numbered among the very early settlers of Allen county. Frederick Eckart long held precedence as one of the prominent business men of Fort Wayne, where he founded and developed a prosperous packing
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business. Henry Eekart is indebted to the public schools of Fort Wayne for his early educational training, and in the meanwhile he had become associated with his father's business when he was a lad of but twelve years. He learned the various details of this line of enterprise and con- tinued to be associated with his father's business until he was twenty years of age, when he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he remained two years, as one of the employes in a leading meat-packing plant. At the expiration of the period noted he returned to Fort Wayne and opened a meat market on Ewing street. He built up a good business in the retail line but finally resumed his alliance with the extensive business of the Fred Eckart Packing Company, to the development and advancement of whose important commercial enterprise he has contributed largely through his progressive policies and marked executive ability, he being now secretary and treasurer, as well as general manager ,of the com- pany. In politics Mr. Eekart maintains an independent attitude, pre- ferring to give his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment rather than to be guided within striet partisan lines. In a general way he advocates the basic principles for which the Democratic party stands sponsor. He and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran church and he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. His wife, whose maiden name was Mamie Voltz, is a native. of the city of Rochester, New York, and they have two children-Herbert and Helen.
David S. Eckert, well known in Allen county as a manufacturer of cigars, was born in Fort Wayne on February 4, 1865, and is the son of John C. and Rachel A. (Walters) Eekert. The family was a Pennsyl- vania one, and the grandparents of the subject, John C. and Sarah (Turner) Eckert, were born and bred in that state. They died in 1844 and 1871, respectively. Their son, John C., the father of the subject, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 22, 1836, and when he was sixteen years old became identified with the cigar-making industry in Harrisburg. He continued in the work there until 1857, when he moved westward to Ohio, remaining there two years and returning to his home town in 1859. In August, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army, joining the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh regiment of Pennsylvania Infantry, that being one of the nineteen regiments called out by the governor of the state for nine months' service. He was mustered out in May, 1863, and in the following September brought his family to Fort Wayne, in which city he passed the remainder of his life. His first work in Fort Wayne was as a cigar-maker, but in 1870 he opened a shop of his own, and his factory at No. 85 Calhoun Street was the scene of much activity in the cigar business. He made a specialty of his Brand 39, which became widely popular wherever his cigars went. On February 8, 1857, Mr. Eckert was married to Miss Rachel A. Walters, who was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and eight children were born to them, five of whom are yet living. The father died in 1895 and David, the subject of this review, took charge of the business for his mother. At her death, in 1909, it came into his hands, and he has con- tinued as the proprietor of the establishment his father was so long identified with. David Eekert had his education in the Fort Wayne public schools and finished his training with a thorough business course, after which he joined his father in the business, so that he has been
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identified with the cigar business all the years of his active life. Mr. Eckert was married on April 28, 1903, to Miss Bertha C. Scott, daughter of William L. and Mary Scott. Four children were born to them. Three are living-Mary Katherine, David S., Jr., and Robert William. Mr. Eckert is a Thirty-second degree Mason, with Shriner affiliations, a mem- ber of the Elks, the Moose, the Eagles and the Fort Wayne Commercial Club. He is a Democrat in politics and a progressive and enterprising citizen.
Frank W. Edmunds .- The name of Edmunds is one of the oldest and best known in Fort Wayne to-day, its representatives having been identified with the city and its varied activities for the past century. Frank W. Edmunds, the immediate subject of this brief family review, was born in Fort Wayne, and his father, James Edmunds, was also a native son of that city, born there in 1828. James Edmunds in early manhood engaged in the draying business in Fort Wayne, and he was active in that work during the remainder of his life. It is worthy of note that he was the owner of the first spring truck to be operated in his community, a fact that gives indication of a spirit of progress in him that has since been manifested in his son. Mr. Edmunds died in 1874, at the early age of forty-six years. His wife was Mary Smith, also a daughter of Fort Wayne. They were the parents of four children, and their two living sons are Harry Edmunds, a resident of Chicago, and Frank W., mentioned above. Mrs. Edmunds was the grand-daughter of Conrad Smith, who had the distinction of having served from the first call to arms of the Minute Men through to the last day of the American Revolution. His great-grandson, Frank W. Edmunds, is the proud possessor of his official release from the service-a paper that is most interesting in character. Mr. Edmunds was born on November 23, 1869, in Fort Wayne, and had his early education in his home city. He followed his common school training with a course of study in Fort Wayne Methodist College, after which he turned his attention to the study of telegraphy and for two years was engaged in that work. He then became occupied in civil engineering for a period of three years, after which he identified himself with the Fort Wayne Electric Works, where he continued for another three-year period. In 1893 Mr. Edmunds launched out in the business world on his own responsibility, engaging in electrical construction work, and while he started on a small scale, as befitting his circumstances, he is to-day head of the oldest and largest business of its kind in the city of Fort Wayne, employing about sixteen persons. Other interests have claimed his attention, among which might be mentioned the Fresko Chemical Company, of which he is president. Mr. Edmunds is Republican in politics, and is a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Fort Wayne Country Club, and as a member of the local Commercial Club has been a factor in much of the development work that organization has insti- gated and carried to completion. In 1911 he married Miss Inez Cecil, of Rome City, Indiana, and they have two sons-Frank, Jr., and William.
John W. Eggeman, judge of the Circuit Court of Allen county, is one of the most influential factors in the development of the highest type of character in the youth of this populous community. His official duties as judge of the Circuit Court carry the responsibilities of judge of the juvenile court, and, in the performance of his work in the latter impor-
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tant field, Judge Eggeman has found the deepest satisfaction, for the reason that it opens an incomprehensibly wide field of true usefulness. Scores of successful young men and women have been able to date the upward turn of their lives from the time the judge has heard their stories in court and given his best thought and attention to eliminating the conditions which have led them into error and wrong. Judge Egge- man was born in Fort Wayne, June 12, 1875, the son of Peter and Cath- erine (Niezer) Eggeman. Following his years of study in the parochial schools of the city, he attended Taylor University and then entered Notre Dame University. Here he not only became proficient in the several lines of study undertaken to fit him for a life of usefulness, but he attained wide fame as an athlete, notably on the football gridiron. As a youth of six feet and four inches in height, possessed of well-trained muscle guided by a quick-acting mind, his name was known throughout the world of athletics. He graduated from the law department of Notre Dame in 1900 and came immediately to his home city, where he engaged in the general practice of law. For several years he was associated with James B. Harper, a leading member of the bar of Allen county. In 1912 he was elected to serve as the judge of the Circuit Court, suc- ceeding Judge Edward O'Rourke, who had served on the bench for a period of thirty-six successive years. During the active years of Judge Eggeman's service he has displayed highly-developed judicial qualifica- tions which include a keen mind, a knowledge of the spirit of the law, and a true sympathy which fits him to weigh carefully and justly the problems which come before him in his dual capacity. He is an active member of St. Patrick's Catholic parish. As a member of the Allen County Bar Association and one of the founders of the Blackford Club, he has rendered good service. On June 9, 1903, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Wagner, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Kruse) Wag- ner, of Lafayette, Indiana. To this union have been born three children -John W., Jr., Robert F. and Mary E. Eggeman. In a recent public address Judge Eggeman presented his views on the question of child delinquency which portrays, perhaps, better than the words of another, the fine mind, the charitable sympathy and the determined purpose of the judge of the juvenile court, before whom are brought the boys and girls of Allen county for examination before other and more severe action can be taken. "Before two months had pased, after I had assumed the bench of the Circuit Court, I became convinced that knowledge of the intricacies of legal procedures was not the only important matter con- nected with the position," said he. "To my own satisfaction, at least, I soon learned that disputes over material things are not quite so impor- tant as endeavoring to make good citizens out of the boys and girls of our community, and if, during my term of office I shall have been instru- mental in having the fathers and mothers exercise the proper parental guidance and supervision of the habits of their children, and in instilling in the minds of the members of the different organizations I have ad- dressed a desire to help the children to make good, then I shall be extremely thankful. The proper bringing up of children is not a hobby, but a duty that is owing by every parent, for if we are to have capable and competent men and women we must first have good boys and girls." After entering deeply into the consideration of the influences of heredity and environment, Judge Eggeman gave his reasons for declaring that the surroundings of the child have a greater molding effect upon char-
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acter than ancestry. "Crime, as such, is not transmitted from our ances- tors," declared Judge Eggeman. "A counterfeiter does not hand down a tendency to his offspring to make engraved plates any more than a pickpocket transmits his ability to steal purses from pockets with the skill that defies detection. The only things we acquire through heredity are color, form and structure. We do not inherit mathematical faculties or anything else that we have to acquire. A tendency to steal is no more inherited than a tendency to become a good telegrapher. Drunkenness is not inherited. It is only transitory. While it is true when parents are drunkards we ofttimes find the children drunkards, yet the cause is environment. The parents by example, if not expressly, teach their children to acquire a taste for alcohol." With his views thus expressed, Judge Eggeman appealed to his audience to unite in the great work of placing about the children and the youth the most healthful environ- ments to the end that those whose home surroundings are below the desired standard may be helped to the truest interpretation of manhood and womanhood. "The home," said he, "is where the child must receive its first training. It is remarkable to notice how children absorb and emulate. The conversation and habit of the parent are watched intently, and the manner in which they are reproduced by the children is aston- ishing. I could picture to you the homes that have come under my observ- ation. Homes that are hells. Homes of debauchery, drunkenness, dis- honesty and conflicts. Homes in which the child is taught to lie and steal by direct example. Where the environment is such that, no matter how healthy the brain of the child, it must of necessity become a criminal. Then I could picture to you the home where there is lack of supervision of the intimacies and friendships of the children; evil associations and a failure of the parents to keep in touch with their habits-lack of discipline, encouragement of extravagance and evil example under the parental roof. All these are factors in the spoiling of juvenile character. During the years of 1914 and 1915 we tried an average of two hundred cases each year in the juvenile court of this county and invariably the offenders were reared under the influence of such homes. Some time ago, five boys were brought into court for stealing coal, not for the purpose of keeping warm but to secure money to turn over to their parents. Then we have the parents of the girls who permit them to wander through the streets, and the drift is inevitably downward. Most of the girls come from homes of ignorance coupled with vice. Wrong tendencies, lack of parental control and the lure of all the city's evil agencies combine to bring them to the attention of the law. In most cases, the trouble may be found after a short investigation of the home." Judge Eggeman closed his address by citing a large number of examples which have come under his observation, presenting the great good which has come through the conscientious use of his office and of the establishment of the probationary home in which the boys and girls are cared for amid good surroundings before the sentence to the reform school can be passed. Judge Eggeman in assigning relative importance to the good influences to be thrown about the child, placed the home first. "The next great factor is the Christian religion," said he. "The greatest force for civilization and good in the world to-day is the teaching of the lowly Nazarene."
Albert Egly .- In 1906 Albert Egly brought about the organization of the Grabill State Bank, at which time he became cashier of the new institution. He has continued to hold that position down to the present
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time, and the success and well being of the bank has been largely attrib- uted to his work. He has been a resident of Grabill for the past fifteen years, coming here in 1901 as bookkeeper for a prominent grain concern, though other labors have claimed his attention between then and the time when he became identified with his present work. Mr. Egly was born in Adams county, Indiana, October 16, 1879, son of Samuel and Fannie (Schindler) Egly, both natives of Adams county and now living in Geneva. They became the parents of five children, of which the subject was the first born. The others are Adam, of Geneva; Katherine, the wife of Ezra Rupel, of Geneva; William, a professor in Bluffton College; and Rachel, living at home. Albert Egly had the usual common school train- ing, followed by a course of study in a well known business college at Valparaiso, Indiana. When he was nineteen years old he engaged in teaching, in which work he was occupied for three years. In 1901 he came to Grabill as bookkeeper for a grain dealer and was in that position for a year. His next work was that of bookkeeper in the Peoples State Bank at Berne, Indiana, which post he held for three years, going thence to the S. F. Bowser Company as assistant manager of the collection de- partment of that firm. After one year in that connection he organized the Grabill State Bank, and since that time (1906) has been cashier of the bank. Mr. Egly is a Democrat, active in local politics, and a leader in the community that has become his home. He is secretary and treas- urer of the New Home Telephone Company, and holds a similar office in the Allen County Light and Power Company. He has been a potent force in the work of building up the educational standards of the town- ship and has served as secretary of the local school board for the past three years. On October 17, 1906, Mr. Egly was united in marriage with Miss Anna Stukey, who is of Ohio birth and parentage. They have two children-Robert Paul and Richard Samuel. The family have member- ship in the Christian church and are leaders in the work of that organi- zation in their community.
Lewis G. Ellingham .- Since he has been a resident of Fort Wayne, beginning with June 1, 1916, when he assumed the active management of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Lewis G. Ellingham has entered with patriotic earnestness into every substantial effort to further the best interests of the people of this city and the region reached by the enterprising newspaper which he controls. Mr. Ellingham was born on a farm in Wells county, Indiana, February 23, 1868, son of Charles and Hannah (Scotton) Ellingham, both natives of England. The parents removed from the far mto Bluffton, Indiana, when "Lew," as he is popularly known, was a lad of six years. During several years, while he attended the Bluffton schools, Mr. Ellingham was employed in the office of the Bluffton Banner, where his liking for newspaper work was developed into the determination to make it his life work. While he was in his nineteenth year he purchased the Geneva (Indiana) Herald, which he conducted for three years, when he purchased the Winchester (Indiana) Democrat. After three years of service here, he established the Decatur (Indiana) Democratic Press. In 1896, the company pur- chased the Decatur Democrat and consolidated it with the Democratic Press and the combined publication was issued as the Democrat. Mr. Ellingham became the sole owner of the properties in 1897. He con- tinued the publication of the Democrat, which attained to a prominent and influential place in shaping the political and commercial affairs of
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the state, until June 1, 1916, when he removed to Fort Wayne to take active charge of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, with Edward G. Hoff- man as an associate in the ownership of the publication. Mr. Ellingham's influence in the political affairs of the state is suggested by the fact that,. in 1906 and 1908, he served as the Eighth district chairman of the Demo- cratic party with such marked ability as a leader that he became the unanimous choice of the Democrats of Indiana as their candidate for Secretary of State. In the election of 1910 Mr. Ellingham led his ticket and showed a plurality of about 13,000 votes. His service brought him a recognition of confidence, in 1912, and his vote was still larger. Mr. Ellingham's second term ended December 1, 1914. On January 2, 1905, Mr. Ellingham was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Miller, daughter of Colonel and Mrs. M. B. Miller, of Winchester, Indiana. Two children -Winifred and Miller-have been born of this union. Mr. Ellingham is an active member of the Commercial Club of Fort Wayne and of the Fort Wayne Rotary Club. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the Knights of Pythias and Elks Lodges. With the family he is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Fort Wayne. At the head of a newspaper of wide influence, Mr. Ellingham is unstinted in his devotion to the promotion of the welfare of his city and state. He has the right idea of the province of a newspaper, and this idea permeates the activities of every person connected with the institution.
Thomas Emmet Ellison, lawyer, was born at LaGrange, Indiana, August 12, 1852, son of Andrew and Susan Miranda (Tuttle) Ellison. Andrew Ellison was born January 11, 1817, at Castlederg, County Tyrone, Ireland, of Scotish-Irish descent. His parents immigrated to America in 1819, and resided in Western New York until 1835, when they came to LaGrange county, where they made their home the remainder of their lives. Andrew was determined to have an education, hence in homespun and homemade clothes, with a linen duster as a dress coat, he pursued his studies at the Ontario Collegiate Institute. The fact that his father was cheated out of a large body of land made him choose the law as a pro- fession. He walked to Wabash, Indiana, where he studied law for nearly a year in the office of Judge J. U. Pettit, and then went on to Indianapolis to be admitted to the bar, in 1843. He resided at LaGrange until his death, November 30, 1896. He was constantly in demand to try difficult and important litigations. He was especially strong before a jury. He travelled the circuit with the Judge, as they did in those days, attending court from forty-two to forty-six weeks in the year, unless it was a political year, when he gave up much of the time to political debate. He never held office, because he wanted to be free from all obligations. His practice in the Supreme Court was not exceeded by any lawyer in the state, from 1853 to 1870. He acquired considerable means and was noted for his generosity and high moral character throughout Northern Indiana. On his mother's side, Thomas E. Ellison was of Winslow descent, which family had much to do with the creation and growth of Massachusetts Colony. While the Winslows are frequently mentioned in English his- tory, they are best known because several came over in the Mayflower, in 1620, or soon thereafter. Edward Winslow, born at Droitwitch, Eng- land, in 1560, was the father of nine children. Richard, the eldest, re- mained in England. Edward, the second, came to America, in 1620, in the Mayflower. He was afterward Governor of Plymouth Colony and a very important personage in the Massachusetts Colony. John came to America and Eleanore remained in England. Kenelm, Mr. Ellison's di-
THOMAS E. ELLISON
1
ASTOR, LEI TILDEN FOUND"
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rect ancestor, was born April 29, 1599, at Droitwitch, and died September 13, 1672, at Salem, New England. Gilbert came to America on the May- flower, but afterwards returned to England. Elizabeth and Magdalen remained in England and Josiah came to Massachusetts, in 1629, and died there in 1636. Kenelm came to this country in the Mayflower, in 1620, and married Eleanore Adams in June, 1632. Of their four children, Kenelm was born about 1635, and died November 11, 1715. By his wife, Demaris, he had eleven children, and of these eleven, John was born about 1701, and died in 1755, having married Bethiah Andrews. Na- thaniel, the fourth of the nine children of John and Bethiah Andrews, was born April 22, 1730, and died June 6, 1778, having married Hannah Fitch. Nathaniel fell a victim of a prevailing epidemic while exerting his powerful influence in doing the service of the American armies in the Revolutionary war. (See Blake's Biographical Dictionary). He married Hannah Fitch, of Coventry, Conn., April 9, 1753. They had eleven children. The second, Hannah, was born February 14, 1757, and died May 28, 1802. She married Timothy Tuttle. "Timothy Tuttle was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, in which he served five years and was engaged in many battles, such as Cow' Pens, and after the war moved to Willistown, Vermont, then called the Green Mountain Territory, and spent the remainder of his life as a farmer." Of their six children, Rich- mond, the fourth, was born February 20, 1790, and died at South Bend, Indiana, November 9, 1874. His wife was Lovina Morton, born May 6, 1794, at Winslow, Conn., daughter of Diodate and Jemima Rockwell Morton. She died August 30, 1867, at Mishawaka, Indiana. In 1812, in the war between Great Britain and the United States, Richmond Tuttle was made sergeant in a company called "Dragoons," whose business was scouting and carrying dispatches. Two of his most intimate friends were arrested by the enemy and executed as spies and many in prominent Methodist and just before leaving Brockport, N. Y., he erected the company fell until it was reduced to sixteen. The company was in the battle of Ogdensburg at Sacketts Harbor. Mr. Tuttle was a very a fine Methodist church, for that time, as a reminder of his interest in the town where he had made his home many years. He settled in Mishawaka, Indiana, and was engaged in various business and many church enterprises until the time of his death. His eighth child, Susan Miranda was born September 13, 1829, at Brockport, N. Y. She was married to Andrew Ellison, August 4, 1851, and lived at LaGrange, In- diana, until her death in May, 1913. Thomas E. Ellison was a student at Notre Dame University, in 1868. He attended the University of Michigan in 1872-3-4, being a special of the literary department as well as a regular of the law department, receiving the degree of L. L. B. in 1874. He located in Fort Wayne as a partner of Judge Robert S. Lowry, in 1877. January 10, 1878, he married Emma Sophronia Stockbridge, who died March 23, 1884. They had three children: Robert died in infancy ; Phoebe, born September 20, 1880, married Warren Dupre Smith, head of the Department of Geology of the University of Oregon; and Andrew Winslow Stockbridge Ellison, born May 20, 1882, is now connected with the Ford Motor Co., of Detroit, Michigan. For a second wife, the subject of this memo, married Hannah Hall, of Topeka, Kan., Dec. 14, 1887. Mr. Ellison was admitted to the Indiana bar, December 23, 1873, while a resident of LaGrange, Indiana, and he moved to Fort Wayne in February, 1877, and there he has resided ever since. He was admitted to the bar of the United States Circuit Court of Indiana in November, 1880, and
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