In
1966 I was working for an independent insurance claims
adjustment firm in
Corpus Christi. One of the firms we handled claims for was
INA. The INA rep in
Corpus at the time was Don Eckhart (note, no D). Don was
from Kansas originally.
I was assigned a claim on an injury
accident in
Yorktown. The INA insured was Hugo Eckhardt. The claimant
was a Mrs. Ellen (Eckhardt) Braun. Her doctor was Dr. Kleberg
Eckhardt in
Corpus Christi. The investigating officer from the
Yorktown police department was another Eckhardt, but I don't
recall his first name.
The 1871 C. Eckhardt Building in
Yorktown - on the National Register
TE photo, July 2008
INA
wanted a relationship chart. Of course, Don wasn't related to
anybody. Hugo was from a family of Eckhardts that came to South
Texas from Russia in 1905. Mrs. Barth, who ran Barth's
Restaurant in
Kenedy, was also from that family. My grandfather Eckhardt
was originally from New Orleans. He moved to Texas in
1901. Mrs. Braun & Dr. Eckhardt were either 2nd or 3rd
cousins. The officer was a 4th or 5th cousin to them. Those
three were all descended from a Charles (originally Karl)
Frederick Eckhardt--which is my name--who landed at Powderhorn (Indianola)
in 1825 and, with John York, founded
Yorktown.
I am
related to the Eckhardts of
Yorktown and the
Hill Country, but way back in Germany. The 'Frederick' in
given names has been traditional in both lines since the 1700s,
when we had a common ancestor who was a secretary to Frederick
the Great. The traditional given names for boys in our line and
in the Yorktown line--are Karl (Charles), Georg (George),
Frederick, Artur (Arthur), Wilhelm (William), & Josef. However,
when my grandfather came to the
Austin area, he had no idea there were any Eckhardts any
closer than New Orleans. He even pronounced the name 'Eckert,'
and the family in Louisiana still does. However, there is a
family of Eckerts, also from the
Fredericksburg area, and he found his name was being
pronounced 'Eck-heart,' so we changed the pronunciation. |
