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MARTIN ECKELBERRY,
whose farm of two hundred and eighty-seven acres is situated on
section 11, Madison township, about seven miles from Dresden and
five miles from Adamsville, is accounted one of the practical,
enterprising and highly respected agriculturists of his locality.
He was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1839, and is descended
from Pennsylvania ancestry, his paternal grandfather having come
from the Keystone state to Ohio, where he followed the occupation of
farming. Henry Eckelberry, father of Martin
Eckelberry, was born near Sonora, Muskingum county, and spent
the greater part of his life in this locality, but died in Guernsey
county, Ohio, in 1845. His wife bore the maiden name of
Margaret Wilson.
Having lost his father when only about
six years of age, Martin Eckelberry was brought to Adams
township, Muskingum county, where he was reared by his
brother-in-law, Charles Beck, with whom he lived for eleven
years. He attended the common schools of the neighborhood to
some extent, but his opportunities for securing an education were
meager. When he was twenty-two yeas of age he enlisted for
service in the Union army, joining Company7 F, Second Regiment of
West Virginia Cavalry, on the 8th of September, 1861. They
could not be equipped here, so were recruited from the Seventh Ohio
Regiment and were sent to West Virginia, where equipments were
furnished by the latter state and the men were mustered in as a West
Virginia regiment. Mr. Eckelberry served for three
years, ten months and twenty days and was honorably discharged July
4, 1865. He was often where the leaden hail fell thickest and
again was stationed on the lonely picket line, but wherever duty
called he was found faithful and true and he was a worthy member of
the great army which preserved the Union. He took part in many
important engagements, including the battles of Lewisburg,
Lafayetteville (where Lightburn retreated), Fisher's Hill,
Winchester, Martinsburg, Newtown, Charlottesville, Sailor's Creek,
Five Forks, and Appomattox, thus operating largely in Virginia.
It was this regiment of cavalry that cut off Lee's retreat
when he left Richmond and thus closed the last gap whereby he might
have made his escape. When the regiment was at Witheville
their colonel was shot through the lungs, but he afterward
recovered.
Following the secession of hostilities and his return
to the north, Mr. Eckelberry engaged in farming upon land
belonging to his father-in-law. He had been married while home
on a furlough, on the 8th of February, 1864, to Miss Lois E. King,
who was born Dec. 13, 1845, in this county, and is a daughter of
George and Elizabeth (Drumond) King. In 1839 her father
was employed as a farm hand and her mother as a maid upon the farm
which they afterward owned. Her father was the eldest son of
Patrick King, and was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania,
Sept. 4, 1815, but came to Muskingum county, Ohio, with his parents
in his youth and spent his entire life upon a farm. When he
attained the age of twenty years he started out to make his way in
the world and for some time thereafter lived in Washington township,
but later removed to Madison township, where he accumulated a good
property, developing a fine farm of about six hundred acres.
During the first sixteen years of his active business career he
rented land, but in that time, through his economy and industry, he
secured the capital that enabled him to purchase a farm, and as the
years advanced he added to his property until he was one of the
large land-owners of the county. The old farm homestead is
still in possession of his children and is one of the most valuable
tracts of land in the Muskingum valley, the soil being rich and
fertile, so that it yields excellent crops. In 1841 he was
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Drumond, a daughter of
one of the old and prominent settlers of this part of the state, and
reared a family of nine children: Mrs. Cordelia Shire of
Kansas, the eldest of the family, returned home to attend the
funeral of her brother and here died Oct. 16, 1891; Mrs.
Eckelberry, is the second in order of birth; Mary and
Lafayette, both died in 1853; Serena C., is now Mrs.
Norman of Zanesville; Thomas O., is a farmer of Madison
township; Australia, died in 1885; Nebraska, died in
1891; and Utah, died in 1860. The father departed this
life Dec. 8, 1891, and the mother's death occurred in 1895.
Mr. King and his family held membership in the Methodist
Protestant church and during the many years of his residence in this
part of the state he was known as a public spirited citizen,
interested in the success of all progressive enterprises. He
commanded the respect of his fellowmen and excited their admiration
by what he accomplished in the business world. At the King
home there has for many years been held a family reunion, attended
by all those bearing the name or related thereto, and the
number in attendance has reached several hundred.
Following his marriage Mr. Eckelberry remained
upon his father-in-law's farm for four years and in 1869 removed to
his present home on section 11, Madison township. Here he
purchased one hundred and fifty acres, to which he has since added
until within the boundaries of his farm are now comprised two
hundred and eighty-seven acres. With the assistance of his
sons he operates the entire farm, which is devoted to the raising of
grain and stock. His fields are well tilled and in his
pastures are found high grade short-horn cattle and Merino sheep.
Persistency of purpose and unfaltering energy have been strong
elements in his success and he is now in possession of a valuable
property.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Eckelberry have been born Mar.
8, 1867, and married Bessie J. Keys; Mary Livonia who
was born Dec. 21, 1869, and died June 10, 1902; Katura Elizabeth,
who was born Dec. 19, 1872; Dora May, born Oc t. 14, 1875;
Robert Baker Aug. 23, 1878; Eura Belle, Mar. 13, 1882;
and Lena Agnes, July 22, 1887.
The parents are members of hte Episcopal church and all
of the children are communicants of St. Matthew's church.
Mr. Eckelberry votes with the republican party and upon this
ticket has been chosen for the office of road commissioner and
school director. He belongs to Major Cass post, No.
415, G. A. R., and also to the Grange, and is held in high esteem by
his associates of these organizations. His has been an active
and useful life, which has ever been crowned by successful
accomplishment, and today his large and well improved farm with its
excellent equipments stands in evidence of his persistency of
purpose and unfaltering diligence.
Source: Past and Present of the City of Zanesville, and
Muskingum Co., Ohio - Published Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing
Co. - 1905 - Page 500 |
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