Sacramento County
Biographies
HENRY ECKHARDT
The period from 1833 to 1853, representing
the first twenty years in the life of Henry Eckhardt,
was passed uneventfully by him in his native land of Germany, where he received such advantages as the public schools
offered at the time and also gained a thorough knowledge of the trade of a
gunsmith. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he began to work as a
journeyman. The openings available for future occupational labors in Germany were not alluring; therefore he sought the
opportunities of America and never afterward did he have reason to regret the
decision that gave him citizenship in this country. Immediately
after crossing the ocean he went to Columbus, Ohio, and found employment at his trade. There he married
and there his wife died at the age of twenty-two years. Two children were
born of that union, namely: William H., now a resident of San Francisco; and Katherine, now the widow of James McNiff.
After the death of his first wife he married Miss Minnie Huber, who resided
during girlhood at St.
Joseph, Mo., and died at Sacramento in 1875, leaving no children.
From 1870 until his retirement from
business in 1896 Mr. Eckhardt carried on a gun store
in Sacramento, where he had a host of friends in commercial circles.
In his chosen occupation he had no superior in the city. His knowledge of
fire-arms of all kinds was thorough and his advice was sought daily even by
skilled marksmen and experienced hunters, all of whom united in testifying as
to his broad information along these lines. Retiring from business
largely on account of ill health, he went abroad with his family and spent some
time in Europe in the hope of deriving physical benefit therefrom. His death occurred in Sacramento March 13, 1909,
and was recognized as a distinct loss to the citizenship of the place. In
the early part of his identification with Sacramento he had been one of the leading members of the Turn Verein and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In the city of Sacramento, March 5, 1876,
occurred the marriage of Henry Eckhardt
and Fredericka Huber, a sister of his second wife. One son came to bless
their union, Harry Frederick, who was born October 14, 1881, and received the best educational advantages offered by his native city, besides attending Heald's Business
College in San
Francisco until his
graduation from the institution. During 1898 he went abroad with his
parents and traveled for a year on the continent. After his return to California he matriculated in the department of pharmacy at the University
of California, where he remained until his graduation. Afterward
he took the complete course of study in the Pennsylvania College of Pharmacy,
the oldest institution of its kind in the United States. Upon leaving the Philadelphia institution after his graduation he returned to Sacramento and secured a position in a drug store, where he had
charge of the department of pharmacy. Later he worked in other coast
cities as a pharmacist. More recently he purchased one hundred and fourteen
acres of fruit land six miles from Dixon, Solano county, fifty acres of
the tract having been planted to fruit of different varieties and the whole
forming an investment both practicable and profitable. To assist him in
the care of the ranch his uncle, Conrad Huber, has removed with his family from
Nebraska and will establish a permanent home in the west, thereby
giving to the young owner capable assistance in the many responsibilities
incident to the care and cultivation of the large acreage in fruit trees.
Fraternally he has been actively connected with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. While living in San Francisco temporarily he became a member of Parlor No. 1, Native
Sons of the Golden West, in that city. Mrs. Eckhardt
owns an elegant and attractive residence at No. 1817 M street, Sacramento, as
well as business property at Nos. 523-525 K street, and is numbered among the
popular women of the city, having a host of friends among the people in whose
midst she has lived for many years. Aside from her brother, Conrad, no
member of her family resides in the west; one sister, Carrie, who is the
widow of Louis Hafner and formerly made her home in Sacramento, now is living in Germany, while another sister, Lena, Mrs.
Nicholas Kiefrider, is a resident of the city of Philadelphia.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento
County, California, Pages Pages Pages 689-690.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.