HENRY ECKHARDT

 

HENRY ECKHARDT, proprietor of wholesale and retail sportsmen's supply house, Sacramento, is a native of Hoff-Geismar, Hesse-Cassel, Germany, born September 6, 1833, and son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Leger) Eckhardt.  His father was a restaurant and hotel keeper.  Henry Eckhardt was educated at his native place from the age of six until he was fourteen, then went to Cassel to learn the gunsmith's trade, and served an apprenticeship four years.  He then traveled throughout the South German countries, and on arriving at the proper age was notified to come home to enter the military service.  He was too short of stature at the time to fulfill the qualifications, and was put off until next year.  In the meantime, however, he decided to emigrate to America, and on the 10th of June, 1854, he sailed from Bremen on the sailship Von Stein, and landed at New York after an ocean voyage of fifty-two days.  After a brief stop at the metropolis, he went to Columbus, Ohio, and was then compelled to be laid up by sickness.  He went to work when able, sometimes at his trade, and again at farming in the country.  He was married while in Ohio, in 1859, to Miss Sarah Zangmeister, who died in the early part of 1862.  Mr. Eckhardt went to New York City and obtained employment at government work with Moore & Bons, 303 Broadway, and he and his brother William were employed there  two years thereafter.  All the work done at this shop was performed by hand, and when the government got to making everything by machinery, the rush stopped, and Mr. Eckhardt went West, bringing up at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he and his brother started in business.  While there he served about six months in the Home Guards.  The business in St. Joseph was continued until 1870, when Mr. Eckhardt came to California and opened a shop and store in Sacramento.  He has built up an extensive trade, wholesale and retail, and it has come to be known far and near that every purchaser can depend exactly on what Mr. Eckhardt tells them in regard to his goods.  Such a course cannot do otherwise than lead to success, and he has been successful.  His second wife, whom he married in St. Joseph, was formerly Miss Wilhelmina Huber, a native of Germany, born at Kaiserlantern, on the Rhine, and who came to this country when a young lady.  She died in 1875, at Sacramento.  His present wife was formerly Miss Frederika Huber, a sister of his second wife.  of the first marriage there are two children, viz:  William, in the gun business at Spokane Falls, and Katie.  By the present marriage there is one child- Harry.  Mr Eckhardt is a member of Schiller Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of Lodge No. 81, A. O. U. W.  Mr. Eckhardt has made his principal business success in Sacramento, and the fact that his trade extends way up into Oregon and Washington Territory is a sufficient testimonial to his business qualifications.