ECKART, George

1852 - 1939  (86 years)

• Name	ECKART, George
  Birth	15 Sep 1852	Czech Republic   [1, 2]
  	Birth year according to death certificate.
  Gender	Male
  Obit	4 Aug 1939	Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States
  	Address: Antigo Daily Journal
  	Antigo Daily Journal August 4, 1939 pg. 1 & 7 George Eckart Antigo's Oldest Pioneer, Is Dead Passed Away Early Today at 86; Had Been Ill Seven Weeks George Eckert (sic), Sr. Antigo's oldest pioneer, died at his home at 1030 4th Ave., early this morning after an illness of seven weeks at the age of 86 years. The deceased was born in Austria, September 1853. He came to this country with his parents when only a year old. The family settled in the town of Gibson, Manitowoc county, and it was from that section that he came to what is now Langlade county in 1876. He came here with F.A. Deleglise, the founder of Antigo, and he picked out a piece of land, just west of what was later to become the city of Antigo, as a homestead. He started clearing the land and the following year was married to Barbara Legro and the trip to Antigo was their wedding trip, made by ox team. He had already erected a small log house on the land and had a few vegetables planted. It was here that they lived until their retirement a number of years ago, when they moved nearer the center of the city, the farm in the meantime having become a part of the city limits. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Eckart, five of whom have passed away. Those surviving besides Mrs. Eckart are John and George and Mrs. Rose Kalouner and Mrs. John Kubeny, all of this city. He is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. A sister, Mrs. Anna Censky of Drummond, Wis. and a brother, John of Albert Lea, Minn., also survive. The funeral will be held at the Muttart & McGillan funeral home Monday afternoon at two o'clock and will be in charge of the Z. C. B. J. society of which he had been a member for many years. Interment will be in the Bohemian National cemetery in the western part of the city and south of the original Eckart homestead. George Eckart. Antigo Daily Journal August 8, 1939, pg unknown. George Eckart Sr. Funeral services for George Eckart Sr., Antigo's oldest pioneer who died Friday morning, were held Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Muttart and McGillan funeral home under the auspices of the Z.C.B. J. lodge, Interment was in Bohemian National cemetery in the western part of the city. Pallbearers were six grandsons of the deceased, George, John, Clarence, and Eugene Kubeny, Edward and Erwin Eckart. Coming from out of town for the funeral were the Misses Marion and Lorraine Eckart, Mr. and Mrs. George Kubeny and son, Jack, and Mr. and Mrs. John Kubeny and son Donald, of Milwaukee; Mrs. Anna Censky of Drummond; Mr. and Mrs. John Eckart, Mr. and Mrs. George Eckart and daughter, Mrs. Agnes Dobberstein, Albert Lea, Min.; Joe Soukup, Chicago; Mrs. James Amensen, Green Bay; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Phiefer, Sturgeon Bay; Mr. and Mrs. Emil Kloida, Francis Kloida, and Mrs. Hodis, Manitowoc; Mr. and Mrs. Anton Honzik, James Honzik, and Beorge (sic) Honzik, Mishicot; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kunz, Francis Creek; Oscar Censky of Oakfield, Wis.; Mr. and Mrs. John Surprise of Shiocton and Mrs. Lillian Censky of Chicago.
  Death	4 Aug 1939	Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States   [2]
  	Death certificate looked up at Antigo courthouse Birthdate listed as 9-15-1852 Austria He was a retired farmer and died of Arterio Scerosis. Book 9 Page 567.
  Burial	Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States   [2]
  	Address: Stengl (AKA Bohemian) National Cemetery
  Person ID	I5416	Jindra and Chaloupka Family Trees
  Last Modified	5 May 2024

  
  

  Father	ECKART, Johann George,   b. 17 Dec 1822, Domažlice, Bohemia d. 17 May 1898, New Richland, Waseca, Minnesota, United States (Age 75 years)
  Mother	STANDOLA, Mary,   b. Abt 1826, Czech Republic d. Aft 1870 and Bef 1880 (Age > 45 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1840  [3]
  Family ID	F332	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	LEGRO, Barbara,   b. Abt 1859   d. 27 Jun 1950 (Age 91 years)
  Marriage	13 Nov 1877	Manitowoc, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States
  	Celebrate Wedding Anniversary On Nov. 12, 1936, Mr. and Mrs. Eckart celebrated the 60th anniversary of their wedding. It was the same year, January 22, just 60 years before, that Mr. Eckart came to this section. He came to The Journal office that day with the story of his experiences, which was published in the Journal. It is such a vivid picture of the life of this pioneer and of the early days of Antigo that we are going to republish the story at this time, It follows: On January 22, 1876 Mr. Deleglise and myself came to the wild woods, what the Indians called Antigo, but Mr. Deleglise called it Spring Brook. Later when it became a village, Mr. Deleglise gave it the name Antigo. That is 60 years ago today. When we came to Wausau we hired a rig to take us to Ackley, but he had a hard time to get us to Hogarty. So the next day, Mr. Hogarty hitched a pair of Indian ponies to what was called a jumper. It was only winter road that Ackley had, being over logs and windfalls. We came to Ackley in the evening. The next day we moved into an empty shanty Ackley had. Then we started to survey and surveyed until spring. By that time John Doersch had a shanty fixed, so we cut a road and moved in. Then I started to clear my place and built a shanty. Deleglise went home to Appleton. I cleared about three-fourths of an acre and built a shanty 12x14. After planting some potatoes and bagas I started for Wausau. Ten miles this side of Wausau I stopped at a farmer by the name of Noles and got a job for $15.00 a month. I worked through the summer. In the fall I dug my potatoes and bagas. They were fine and big. I dug a hole and stored them, covering them with leaves and they kept fine. Then I started for the old home in Gibson, Manitowoc. I was married in November, 1876. We planned moving here but the weather was so poor we had to stay until the second of January. We had a yoke of oxen and one cow. It took us 14 days and parts of nights. That was our honeymoon trip. We had a covered wagon and I had an old country yoke for each ox separate and farmers had never seen it before. They thought we were gypsies, so the farmers very seldom let us stay over night. Most of the time we had to go on till we came to a stopping place. We got there after midnight. It was the second of February and there was only about 2 inches of snow. It was a good thing that John Doersch and I cut a new road from here to Hogarty, 12 miles, otherwise I couldn't have moved here when I did. When I moved here I had to build a little barn, so I could put in my oxen and cow. After I had that done I had to go to Wausau to get some stuff. I stopped at Noles farm and I promised him I would come to skid logs in his camp. So I had to leave my sweetheart here. We didn't have very much feed so she had to cut down trees for the cow to browse. That way we wintered our cow. I came to see my sweetheart most every Saturday after supper. That was a 23 mile trip to see how she was getting along. I stayed until Sunday afternoon, then went back to be on the job Monday. There was only one settler on the whole road. That was Mr. Hogarty. What would the young fellows nowadays do. They would have to use an automobile. In the spring of 1877 I got a letter from Deleglise to build a shanty for him. So I built the shanty for him that now stands on the Library lawn. I cleared a place where I built the shanty. Then I cleared one acre where the Home Theatre stands. In those days it was harder times than now. Nowadays if a young couple gets married they would have to be furnished with all furniture. When we started here we didn't have any furniture. In place of a table we had a wash tub tipped over. For bed we had two poles bored into shanty logs. and poles across. For chairs we had blocks sawed from logs. That time we could not depend on relief like they do now. We had to depend on ourselves and get along as best we could. The first spring we were here, we got out of provisions. So John Doersch and I started to Wausau. We bought a sack of flour and some groceries and some tools that we needed. I carried that sack of flour and it was a warm day. By shaking that sack of flour on my back, I had a quarter of an inch of dough on my coat. I told Mrs. Doersch to scrape it off and bake pancakes right away. In 1879, 16 of us, I think it was, was, started for Langlade to decide where the county seat would be. We waited until nearly closing time, then we rushed in and beat them by two votes. We had blankets and some food and stayed overnight by a creek. The next morning we started for home all happy. So it is our time to quit until some other time.
  Children	1. ECKART, Frank,   b. Abt 1878   d. 21 Feb 1896, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States (Age 18 years)   2. ECKART, Mary,   b. 19 Feb 1881, Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States d. 4 Nov 1967 (Age 86 years)   3. ECKART, George Frank,   b. 19 Feb 1883, Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States d. 1 Jun 1956, Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States (Age 73 years)   4. ECKART, John Valentine,   b. Abt 1887   d. 1957 (Age 70 years)   5. ECKART, Infant,   b. Abt 1890   d. Abt 1890 (Age 0 years)   6. ECKART, Elmer,   b. 2 May 1895, Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States d. 26 Apr 1899, Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin, United States (Age 3 years)   7. ECKART, Emil   d. 27 Apr 1899   8. ECKART, Rose Agnes,   b. 28 Nov 1898, Wisconsin, United States d. 2 Nov 1992, Brookfield, Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States (Age 93 years)   9. ECKART, Ida,   b. 7 Feb 1900   d. 6 Jul 1910 (Age 10 years)
  Family ID	F1823	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 Aug 2024

  
  

• Notes

  There is a George Eckart living in Antigo WI in the 1900 Census. Age would match his. He is married to a Barbara which matches a Manitowoc County Marriage EKART: George m: 13 Nov. 1877 (co. mar. index v.4 p.123) to: Barbara Legro Name: George Eckart Home in 1900: Antigo, Langlade, Wisconsin Age: 44 Birth Date: Dec 1855 Birthplace: Bohemia Race: White Ethnicity: American Immigration Year: 1856 Relationship to head-of-house: Head Father's Birthplace: Bohemia Mother's Birthplace: Bohemia Spouse's Name: Barbara Marriage Year: 1878 Marital Status: Married Years Married: 22 Residence : Antigo City, Langlade, Wisconsin Occupation: View Image Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age George Eckart 44 Barbara Eckart 50 George Eckart 17 John Eckart 12 Emma Eckart 6 Rosa Eckart 1 Ida Eckart 3.12

  
  

• Sources

  [S92] Census - 1870 United States Federal Census - Manitowoc County. [S283] Website - Stengl Cemetery-Langlade WIGenWeb, viewed online; 10 May 2013; Eckart Family. [S94] Website - Family Trees - Ancestry Family Trees - Undocumented, viewed online; 28 June 2012; Eckart Family; unknown; Gail Eckart; unknown; http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/18332971/person/18014200490.