John Eckhoff
Pages 221, 222
JOHN ECKHOFF, one of Crockery Township’s progressive agriculturists and a representative farmer of Ottawa County, was born in Germany on the 20th of December, 1835. His parents, John and Margaret (Ehlers) Eckhoff, were both natives of Germany, and there resided until death. A tailor by trade, the father followed that occupation for many years in his native land, accumulating a goodly store of the material blessings of this world through diligent effort and perseverance. He and his wife were honorable and upright in their relations with all whom they met, and were prominent in the Evangelical Church, of which they were devoted members.
The second of a family of five children, the subject of this biographical notice was educated in Germany, where he remained until he was twenty-two years of age. Emigrating thence to the United States, he proceeded at once after landing to Michigan, where he settled in Ottawa County and has made his home here ever since. Soon after the opening of the Civil War, his sympathies, aroused on behalf of the Union, and with all the ardor and zeal of a native-born son of America, he enlisted as a member of Company G, Twenty-first Michigan Regiment, the date of his enlistment being August 11, 1862. For two years and eleven months he served with conscientious devotion, and at the close of the war he was honorably discharged, July 5, 1865.
Among the engagements in which Mr. Eckhoff participated may be mentioned the battles of Perryville and Stone River. In the last-named engagement he was wounded in the muscles of his left arm, and at the same time was taken prisoner, being conveyed to Murfreesboro, Tenn., on the last day of the year 1862. On the 3d of January, 1863, he was paroled, but was unable to leave the hospital for some time thereafter. Upon his recovery he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, in which he served until the close of the war. On account of the wounds received while in service, he is granted a pension of $8 per month by the Government.
Very soon after his return from the war, Mr. Eckhoff established domestic ties, being married August 31, 1865, to Miss Margaret Simms, who was born in Germany. The union has resulted in the birth of eleven children, as follows: John Henry, Fred W., Andrew E., Mary M., Charles M., Henriette L., Anna A., Lewis A., Minnie D., Jessie C. and Archie L. In the fall of 1865, a few weeks after his marriage, Mr. Eckhoff purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of unimporved land in Crockery Township, and here he has since made his home, meanwhile clearing the land and placing it under a high cultivation. The place is pleasantly located within five miles of Spring Lake.
Since casting his first Presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Eckhoff has uniformly maintained the principles for which the Republican party stands. He has served Crockery Township as Highway Commissioner and has also officiated as Constable. In his social connections, he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of the post at Nunica, No. 435. He is also a member of the Spring Lake Lodge No. 234, A. F. & A. M. With his wife he holds membership in the Evangelical Church, and is prominent in all the benevolent enterprises originated by that denomination.
Portrait & Biographical Record of Muskegon & Ottawa Counties, Michigan 1893, Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company
Transcriber: Susan Gates Davis
Created: 31 March 2003
URL: http://ottawa.migenweb.net/biographies/1893/eckhoffj.html
Contact County Coordinator: Evelyn_Sawyer@msn.com