|
H. A. Eckholdt was a cavalry soldier in the American Civil War. He was a judge in Rochester and dean of the Minnesota bar for many years. His family immigrated to the US from near Oslo, Norway. IN MEMORIAM: HALFTAN ECKHOLDT & WALTER ECKHOLDT Memorial exercises held before the Honorable Vernon Gates, Judge of the District Court, in the court-room of the courthouse in the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota, on Monday, January 25th, 1932. Mr. Eaton: If your Honor pleases: At a recent meeting of the Olmsted County Bar Association a committee was appointed to prepare proper and suitable resolutions with reference to the death of our deceased brother, Halftan A. Eckholdt, and his son, Walter Eckholdt. Mr. George T. Allen was appointed chairman of that committee and I think he has a report to make to your Honor upon that subject. Mr. Allen: May it please the Court: I wish to offer the following resolutions in response: Halftan A. Eckholdt, long an active member of the Olmsted County Bar, died at Mt. Dora, Florida, February 20, 1931, aged 86 year. While his son, Walter Eckholdt, was a member of the bar and practiced for some time with his father, he did not long actively engage in practice. However, he was Register of Deeds of Olmsted County for 20 years and became a part of our professional family. His legal training contributed to his value as an official. He died June 28, 1931 aged 58 years. We pause on this occasion to do honor to the memory of both. The pioneer of this family, Mr. Halftan A. Eckholdt, was born in Norway in 1845. We are told his father was a "procurator" or lawyer, in that country. He came to America with his mother in 1850. They landed at New York, there they lived one year, then at the Ole Bull Colony at Williamsport, Pa. one year, again at New York five years. In 1857 they moved to Minnesota. They lived at Berlin, in Steele County, one year, at New Richland in Waseca County, five years, when in 1863 he enlisted in the Third Minnesota Regiment. He served one year as a private and one year as a Sergeant. He was honorably discharged at the close of the Civil War in 1865. He then clerked in Daniel's Grocery at Rochester two years, worked on a farm near New Richland one year, sold agricultural implements two years, again clerked in the Daniel's Grocery three years, when in 1873 he entered the law school at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated in 1874. He then opened a law office at Rochester, where he practiced his profession until 1915, when he retired and moved to Mt. Dora, Florida, where he lived until his death. In 1872 he married Adeline V. Lane. To them were born five children: Walter, Frank, Ella, Irving and Laura, all of whom survived him, His wife, Adeline, died in 1918, In 1919 he married Emma Flint. She survives him, and still lives in Florida. Both he and his first wife, Adeline, are buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Rochester. All three of his boys graduated from the law department of the University of Minnesota. Frank is practicing at Eustin, Florida, while his youngest son, Irving L. Eckholdt, enjoys a lucrative practice at Rochester, where he stands high among the members of this bar. Mr. H. A. Eckholdt won his way into the profession and through a successful career by hard work and by living an upright, temperate and frugal life. He experienced many hardships in the military service. He traversed the plains under General Sibley three times and participated in numerous conflicts with the Indians. In the last year of his service he advanced westward to the Yellowstone River. His education was gained by individual effort. When in the army he carried his grammar and arithmetic. While working in the Daniel's store he studied bookkeeping without a teacher and burned the midnight oil reading Blackstone. While thus gaining an income and pursuing his studies and going through law school he supported his family. The older members of this bar will remember him as a most active trial lawyer. He held the office of City and County Attorney two terms each. He gained and held a large clientage. He spoke English, German and Norwegian fluently. Among the lawyers who studied in his office were Frank B. Kellogg, Thomas Fraser, Joseph A. Bear, Chas. E. Callaghan, Edward Deacon and Gibson Lane, the latter being a brother of Mrs. Eckholdt. He was a devoted member of the Baptist Church and enjoyed fishing and boating. He made it a daily practice to go driving each morning, accompanied by his wife, before going to work. He was particularly characterized by his hospitality. He gave his children good assistance in gaining their education, and was rewarded by living to be loved and admired by his children, grandchildren and great-grand children. Walter Eckholdt, the oldest son of H. A. Eckholdt, is the only one of the children who has passed on. He married Carolina Hubbard, who survives him. They had five children; Dorothy, Margaret, William, Edith and Paul. Dorothy is the wife of Mr. Ross Gimbart and has two children, Margaret is the wife of Andrew Bratager, and has two children. William Eckholdt graduated from the St. Paul College of Law in 1929, after having earned his way through his course by working in a law office in St. Paul. He is now a rising young attorney connected with the firm of Bundlie & Kelly of that city. Edith and Paul reside at Rochester with their mother. Walter Eckholdt practiced for some time after his graduation with his father at Rochester, giving particular attention to abstracts and titles. He was also engaged in mercantile business several years, first at Douglas and then at Byron. Once elected Register of Deeds he was conceded to be a most excellent official and grow in the service. His wife, Caroline, was also an able assistant in the Register's office during his incumbency. Frank Eckholdt married Lidian Jacobs, they have four boys; Raymond, Donald, Victor and Joseph, all of whom reside in Florida. Ella Eckholdt married Harry Dimsdale, a civil engineer. They reside in Canada and have six children; Alfred, Alice, Harold, Marjorie, Kathleen and Elizabeth. Mr. Dimsdale fought in France and was wounded in the World War. Irving L. Eckholdt married Maud Hubbard. They have four children; Vernon, Alta, Starr and Virginia. They reside at Rochester. Laura Eckholdt is the wife of Lynn Johnson of Rochester. They have one child; Dorothy. Halftan A. Eckholdt passed a noble and inspiring career, not only as a lawyer but as a man. His son Walter was an able and obliging official, and as a man bore the respect and good will of all of our citizens. No greater monument could be erected, nor more eloquent memorial expressed in honor of these departed members than to note their sterling qualities reflected in the lives of their numerous descendants who without exception stand among our foremost citizens. Respectfully submitted, GEORGE J. Allen GOORGE W. GRANGER HENRY O. CHRISTENSEN Mr. Allen: I move, your Honor, that this resolution be adopted and spread on the minutes of this court and a certified copy given to the members of the families. Mr. Eaton: If your Honor pleases: It is not easy for one who was as closely associated with Mr. H. A. Eckholdt as I have been asked to speak at this time. It would be easier if I had known him only incidentally. I knew him intimately during his whole professional line in Rochester. My father was a justice of the peace, and at the time Mr. Eckholdt was admitted to the bar, the attorneys of Rochester did not have the business that they have now, the business was minor in its nature, and all lawyers, and the best of them, were not above trying cases before justice of the peace, and such was the experience in my father's justice court. Mr. Halftan A. Eckholdt, when he entered into practice in Rochester, had in his line of work many collections for machine companies. He had been a collector for them previously, I understand, and he was constantly before the justice court of my father. I then was a student studying law and very much interested in the profession, and I attended the trials held in my father's court, and also in this court whenever there was a session of court. Mr. Eckholdt, when he was graduated and was admitted to practice in 1874, was at once either appointed or elected city attorney for the City of Rochester and that brought him into court to a considerable extent. Frank B. Kellogg studied law in his office, and it is a good time right now to refer to the very great interest that Mr. Eckholdt had in young lawyers and young men who were desirous of studying law. He had many of them in his office, Frank B. Kellogg being the first one, and Mr. Kellogg was studying law in that office when I first became acquainted with him. He came from the farm to Mr. Eckholdt's office and also boarded in Mr. Eckholdt's family. Mr. Eckholdt almost took pity on Frank B. Kellogg and took him into his family on account of the lack of means, which Mr. Kellogg was at that time suffering from. Other young men went into his office for the purpose of getting knowledge of the law. Mr. Eckholdt, during those early periods before I was admitted to practice, was constantly in my father's court trying lawsuits, and in that way I came to know him before I was admitted. Finally I was admitted to practice, and my association with him after that was closer and more intimate, as was also that of Mr. Kellogg who was then my partner. Mr. Eckholdt, I wish to assure the court, was no mean antagonist. When you were in a lawsuit, with Mr. Eckholdt on the other side, you had to be "on your toes" and working because he was a man who was working continually. A man of great industry, a man of great search for the truth and the law, and especially in the trial of jury cases he was a man that left no stone unturned to find evidence that would aid his side of the case. He was not only courteous, but he was fair; he would never take a mean advantage of anybody. Time ran on, and we were associated in many cases. I was opposed to him in many cases and I found him to be a man whose word was, as we hear the expression often, as good as his bond. His word was absolutely reliable and I learned during the years in which he was practicing in Rochester to not only respect his great ability as a lawyer but to respect his industry as a lawyer and his integrity to the profession to which we both belonged. I recall one case, it was then the largest case that he or I had had at that time, it involved in the neighborhood of forty thousand dollars, if I am correct in the amount, and Mr. Eckholdt was the man that searched out the facts and the evidence for that case, and it was so perfect when we came to the trial, although we tried it out in two courts, seven or eight days in each court, that it was well nigh invincible, and I give him great credit for his work in that particular case. Other cases were the same. These various young men who studied in his office always gave him due credit for their preparation for the bar, and I have felt that Mr. Eckholdt, during his long professional career before this court, which lasted from 1874 until 1915, an unusual length of time, always had the respect of the court, the respect of the jurors and the respect of the people. It gives me great pleasure your Honor, to second the motion of the chairman of this committee. Mr. Fraser: This exercise is such that it brings to my memory much of the past, and the name of H. A. Eckholdt is a name which for forty-one years one would almost think of first among those who think of court and court practice. Mr. Eckholdt had certain dominant, positive traits that stand out like monuments to his character. I commenced the study of law when quite young, that is when I was very young. I was great at doing one thing at a time, and though I made up my mind to study law when I was ten. I very definitely had endeavors and occupations other than that until I sidetracked them definitely to take up that profession, and Mr. Eckholdt and all the lawyers of this county were nothing more than names to me until I actually took up the definite study of law. I remember first going to a lawyer's office to inquire about studying law. I asked Mr.. Hill of St. Charles if it would be practical for me to study in his office, and I think what he said there showed his basic character, as often a few words will give a deeper key into a man's character than long superficial effort. He said that a young man in a lawyers office got only what he went after; that it depended upon the young men who took up the work and not upon the lawyer. He said: "There is an opportunity here to learn something but there is not much of an opportunity for me to give you something." I waited two years longer and came to Rochester and went into Mr. Eckholdt's office, I was quite mature than. I had taught school four terms and had done considerable surveying. Although young, I had run about five hundred acres of farmland for several years on my own hook, and I was mature in my own judgment. I did not have much to say and I tested out every office in Rochester with the most careful examination before I went into Mr. Eckholdt's office. I went in there with a definite thought, whether I could master the science of law in that office. My first observation of Mr. Eckholdt was that he studied his books, he was continually with a book in his hand when there were no clients there for services. In all of my experience I never knew a lawyer who actually kept the books in his hand and open for work as Mr.. Eckholdt did, and I have had wide experience. I think perhaps there are some that got stuff out of books quicker, but Mr. Eckholdt could put his finger on a definite case for his general practice. His books were annotated until you could hardly tell some of them, whether they were notebooks or whether they were law books. He was an active practitioner at that time. He was in court a great deal, and his diligence and handiness in putting his finger on a case applicable was quick and spontaneous and resourceful and he was resourceful in the courtroom. Another dominant trait of Mr. Eckholdt was his kindness, and I would say in my wide experience I can hardly place my mind at this time upon a character that I have known who was so kindly. In fact, I used to think sometime in his office, among his family of students, that he was almost too indulgent. He would be working diligently at his books and yet allow somewhat an unruliness there, but it was hardly an office for anyone not a "book-worm" a person needed to be a "book-worm" in his office because he was always industrious, yet always kindly to everybody, and that kindliness was apparent to everybody everywhere; and I think of the six or seven boys who were studying in his office during the time I was there, and I was there practically four years. I think there was hardly a one but what he helped financially, and I think nearly all of them borrowed from him a hundred or two hundred dollars to get started. I had an advantage during all the time I was there as I was city engineer and county surveyor and had a source of income and I simply put my time in there when I was not surveying and therefore was perhaps longer in his office. He had the kindly regard of every student that worked in his office, and the kindly thoughts we had of him were always apparent afterwards. Mr. Eckholdt was a "Lone Wolf." He was an individualist. He was not clannish. He did not have, as most men in business, a lot of close, clannish "pulls" and associates. He never depended upon "pulls", as now-adays all too often we see lawyers using other influence than the facts and the evidence and the law to win their case. Mr. Eckholdt used nothing but the actual facts and the actual law and his own personal application to win his case. There never was a personal "pull." There was that respect for the court and the judge that he never went to them on the side. There was no "back door" law. He never went with some other lawyer to get some "pull" with somebody. If he went to another lawyer he went there and asked him his opinion or for a case or for a decision, but as far as "pull" is concerned this is one thing Mr. Eckholdt never used. He tried his cases alone. He was an individualist. He was a character by himself. He stood on his own feet, and as against that I never saw a man who met everybody who came in touch with him, enemy, antagonist or friend, who met them with such a kindly disposition. He never carried a grudge. He was always giving. He always had his checkbook out for a gift for somebody who came to his office; and yet he was careful and prudent and kindly. H. A. Eckholdt was himself. He wasn't anybody else. You know him not for one trait, but from dozens of traits, because he was himself all the time. He didn't try to build himself for somebody else. He built himself on his own idea of what was right and wrong and his own idea of character. He was versatile in the courtroom, he used every bit of material available, judge's opinions, court's opinions, he used all of those, and as Mr. Eaton has well said, the man who met him had to be "on his toes" all the time because Mr. Eckholdt used that material for his client's welfare, and but few of his clients ever had a reason to criticize him or find fault with him and practically they never did. He had the good will of his clients and held it. He was a worthy father of a worthy son. I can say of Walter Eckholdt that he was of a kindly disposition. He worked with my brother for a time. I knew him very well, intimately, closely. He had one trait that his father had, and that was service. Walter Eckholdt had no superior ever in this courthouse for service. H. A. Eckholdt was a man who gave full measure of his capacity as to service. I don't know that I ever met two characters who gave any fuller measure of service every time they were asked. I bow with respect to both of them, I am under much obligation to H. A. Eckholdt. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to have been in his office, for I saw a man standing out as a man in my early, plastic conditions. Mr. H. O. Christensen: Mr. H. A. Eckholdt practiced law here for some twelve or fourteen years after I came to Rochester and became acquainted with the various members of the bar. At the time I first came here he was very actively engaged in the trial of lawsuits, of jury cases and all sorts of cases. I remember him most for his tremendous energy. How that man did work and could work. It seemed that no effort was spared by him in the preparation of his cases or in what he gave in the trial of a cause. I can approve all that has been said by the others regarding his character, his treatment of opposing counsel and of people generally. He tried his cases and conducted his law business with the aim of discovering the truth and determining his cause without any aspersions or back-biting or personal differences with the parties or counsel on the other side of the table. I happened to be engaged in one case in opposition to him that continued in this court-room for two weeks. No one could ever have tried a case better than he did that or been more courteous to counsel who were opposed to him in the cause. He is an example to other lawyers in his industry and energy and the manner in which he did his work. And yet I never had the intimate and personal acquaintance with him that I had with Walter. Anyone that went back and forth between our offices downtown and the court-house for thirty years couldn't help but get to know Walter Eckholdt like a brother, and none of us will ever forget his unfailing courtesy and good nature and kindness and his disposition to be helpful and useful in his office. Nobody ever went to Walter Eckholdt, I will venture to say, for any sort of a service or accommodation but what they got it cheerfully and willingly. He worked far beyond his strength. He worked harder than anybody ought to with that kind of a test during the times when there was so much work in that offices and we all know that he spent his days and his evenings at work in order to get abstracts out that people were in a hurry for, and often all day on Sunday. He burned himself out with hard work, trying to do the work in his office, and yet he always had that unfailing cheerful and courteous way that all of us will always remember. Mr. R. V. Blethen: Your Honor: I did not have the good fortune of knowing brother H. A. Eckholdt I did not engage in the practice of law here at that time. From what I have heard said here it must be true that every word of commendation which has been said of him and of his son Walter was well earned. Mr. O. E. Hammer: I do not know that I ever was called upon to say a word for a better man than I am called upon to speak of now. I remember Mr. Eckholdt very clearly. I came to this county something like thirty-seven years ago and have practiced law continuously here since, and I know that in all of that time from the time I started here and up until the time that Mr. Eckholdt left that he was a man who was strictly honorable in everything that he undertook. His word was just as good as all of the stipulations that you could write. You never needed to worry about his signature. If he told you that he would do a thing he would do it, honest, with more than the usual amount of ability, thorough in his work, as has been said here by the different members of the bar who have expressed their opinion upon the subject; a man that was always dependable in every walk of life, a Christian, and irrespective of the fact that he was a good church member, on top of that he was a true, honest Christian, and by that I mean he was a good man, his heart was right. I do not remember in all of the time that he practiced law in Olmsted County of ever hearing anybody criticize his honesty or criticize his uprightness or use a single word of criticism against him either personally or in a business way, and I assure the court and the members of the bar of Olmsted County that it gives me great pleasure to be able to stand before you and say these words for Mr. Eckholdt, and I want to say on top of that that in the rearing of his family he has shown more success than a great many people have shown. Walter Eckholdt, as has been mentioned here now passed on, and was so truthfully said, that never did anybody apply to Walter Eckholdt for aid, where it was honest and reasonable to grant, that he did not grant it. He was a man that would stay up nights to accommodate you and do work to help you out any time and under almost any circumstances, and I believe that a large portion of the virtue of the family falls, in the first place, upon the head of it, and that the influence of Halftan Eckholdt will remain in this county for a long term of years, and when the lawyers of this county look back over the past they will give him credit for a great deal of their progress and a great deal of the good things that have occurred among the bar here. Mr. Theodora A. Schacht: Your Honor: I do not know that I can add anything to what has already been said in regard to the character of Mr. Eckholdt and his son Walter. I was admitted to practice in the summer of 1903, in June. That year I stayed at home on the farm. I did not come to Rochester until some time in September. I had, however, an occasion to go to Wabasha at one time to help some neighbors in a matter in the probate court. Mr. H. A. Eckholdt was the counsel on the other side, and that was my first experience in any court since being admitted to the bar, and I will say this that while, of course, Mr. Eckholdt had the best side of the case and won out in the lawsuit. I have ever since then had a great deal of respect for his ability and also for his kind treatment towards the younger members of the bar and the boys who were just starting out to practice. Mr. Oscar C. Ronken: Your Honor: I can't add much to what has already been said. I can only say that I had the opportunity of seeing Mr. Eckholdt at work in court at Mantorville on quite a number of occasions. I can only say that I know him and remember him as a good lawyer, as a kind and courteous fellow lawyer, and so far as Walter is concerned I do not think I could add anything to what has already been said except that I want to say that I concur in the sentiment that we all remember him for the unfailing courtesy with which he served us in all of our business in connection with his office, and he seemed to take pleasure in doing it. Mr. Wm. B. Richardson: May it Please the Court: It would be remiss in me not to say a few words at this times and yet I do not think there ever has been a time when words do not come to my mind less readily to say and tell you what I want to say. I have been closely associated and a great friend of both branches of this family, both of the Eckholdt family and the Hubbard family, I know Mr. H. A. Eckholdt when I was a young lad. My father was sheriff at that time, and I used to watch and see Mr. Eckholdt try lawsuits when I was a young chap around town here. I knew Mr. Eckholdt as a member of the G. A. R.. He was in the Grand Army of the Republic, as also was my father and I recall that many times Walter and Frank and I, and Mr. Eckholdt were always there at the Grand Army meetings, used to go up as young fellows to their meetings. I know him in court as a lawyer, and everything that has been said here has been justly said. He was a kindly Christian, hard thinking, hard-working man. He was a man, as Mr. Eaton has justly said, who was no mean antagonist in court. He thought right. He was honest with the court, and he was an honorable man in his dealings in life, and I never knew him to do anything but kindly deeds to his fellow men. Walter Eckholdt and I grew up together here in town. I knew his wife Lina Hubbard. I remember well when his first child was born and I was invited over there to his first birthday, and attended it, and for many years attended his birthday party. I was sort of one of the family there at the home for a great number of years. I knew Walter Eckholdt practically as well or better than any lawyer in this room or any person in this room outside of the family. He was a true and loyal friend. He was a man who gave to the people all the service that was in him. He never did anyone a wrong that I know of in my life. He was a kindly man. He was a man whose work showed for itself as register of deeds in this county, and I really believe that his place will be hard to fill. He was obliging, and it can be said of him that he was an honorable, upright as was his father before him. And I might add this of the Hubbard family. They were kindly men and women. Mr. Bunn T. Willson: My earliest recollections of the courtroom are associated with Mr. E. A. Eckholdt. As a boy I remember visiting the courtroom and seeing and hearing H. A. Eckholdt in the trial of cases and in his pleadings to the jury. My impressions were at that time that he was a very energetic man, that he took a large and important part in the trial work in this court and in the legal work of this community, and as I grew older and saw him and met him in his trial work I came to have a still greater respect for H. A. Eckholdt. I knew Mr. Walter Eckholdt as a boy. When he first ran for the office of Register of Deeds, I was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of probate judge, and I met him frequently in campaigning and there was a kind of a bond of sympathy and interest between us. He was a man of a mild, pleasing and friendly disposition, a very likeable fellow. As an official he was not only efficient, but he was faithful and most accommodating. He never failed to be most accommodating to anyone who had any business in his office, and I am grateful at this occasion to have an opportunity to pay my respects to these two men who were associated with this court and with the public offices of this county. Mr. James A. Carley: May it please the Court: I think my first recollection of hearing anything said in honor of H. A. Eckholdt was when I was a very young boy. My father came to Olmsted County in 1856 and lived on a farm in Oronoeo township, and he was acquainted with Mr. Eckholdt and with C. C. Willson. I remember when I began to talk of a desire, or to have a desire and to talk about it, of learning to become a lawyer, of my father saying to me at one time. If you could make as wise a man as C. C. Willson out of yourself or if you could be as good a fighter in court as H. A. Eckholdt you might well aspire to become a lawyer. After I was admitted to the bar and became acquainted with Mr. Eckholdt I appreciated, among other things, his great courtesy. Several times I had occasion to seek assistance and advice and went to his office and I was very much impressed with his apparent great desire to aid me and to help me. He appreciated my position as a young and struggling lawyer and my worry over what I was after and he went to the fullest extent to help me and to straighten me out. I had a similar experience to Mr. Schacht, except that I do not think that Mr. Eckholdt had the best side of the case. I think I really was on the best side of the case, but it didn't make much difference in the outcome, he licked me just the same. I learned, however, in the trial of that little lawsuit in justice court over at Elgin, that when I had a matter in court with Mr. Eckholdt on the other side that if I was not ready and prepared with the evidence and the law that I had better not appear. I remember of meeting him on two other occasions, one in the trial of a case in justice court at Plainview involving the purchase of a horse in which I was somewhat prepared and did succeed in prevailing upon my friend and fellow citizen over there to give me a verdict against Mr. Eckholdt's side of the case, but the case was appealed and a change of' venue was taken and the trial held over here. The other case was a case which brought out, in my mind, some of the things that have been mentioned here. It happened to be one of the class of cases in which Mr. Eckholdt had the reputation of being very proficient, a highway lawsuit. It was said of him that there wasn't any law that had to do with the highways in this territory that he did not know all about and that when you went into the trial of a lawsuit involving a highway or any law that had to do with highways, that you had better be ready, and I happened to see the file that he had in the trial of this case and all over that file were decisions that he had apparently had occasion to look up in the various trials of such cases that he had previously had. It was an experience to me, a good experience, and would be a good experience to any young attorney. He was the soul of accuracy and of courtesy. He would grant to the young attorney on the opposite side of the case every opportunity that could be his, and yet all of the time he was taking care, as he had a right to and as he ought to do, of the interests of his client. One did not have to meet him often to see and to realize and appreciate the kind of a man that Mr. Eckholdt was. I know him somewhat better just prior to his going away to the south, but I know that the things that have been said of him here have come from the hearts of those who have spoken and who knew him so well. As to Walter Eckholdt, he was one of my personal friends. I think I knew him well for the many years that he served here especially as Register of Deeds of this county. To me he extended so many courtesies, and so willingly. He was always ready to aid us. If we made mistakes in our papers, we oft-times did, Walter would quietly tell us in time so that we might correct them before they went on record. He was a splendid follow, a man whom I had a great deal of feeling and regard for, and all of the things that have been said of him as to his public service in this county are certainly well said, and I am glad to-day to offer these few words in honor and in memory and respect for these two citizens of this state who have passed on. Mr. Geo. W. Granger: If the Court please: It is rather difficult to add anything to what has been said, and I cheerfully and wholeheartedly endorse all of the sentiments which have been expressed regarding both of these man. It was my good fortune to commence to study law in Mr. Eaton's office more years ago than I like to think of, at the time that Mr. Eckholdt was in the prime of life and at the very heights of his profession. In those days there was no law school in this state, none nearer than Chicago, and the only one of moment was at Ann Arbors and only a few law schools in the United States and most of those who entered upon the study of law were doing so in offices. The first winter I studied law I think there were seventeen or eighteen of us studying in different offices in this city, mostly in Mr. Eckholdt's and Mr. Willson's office. I was the only student in Mr. Eaton's office. The boys who were studying would got together every week, usually in Mr. Eckholdt's office, as he had a large front room which was very convenient for us, and we would discuss the questions that we had been studying during the week, and had "moot" courts. Whenever Mr. Eckholdt knew that we were meeting he would come down and inject a few words and ask us a few questions that would puzzle us and keep us going until the meeting next week. He took a great interest in all of the students and in all of the young man. It was natural for him to do that, for I think he remembered the hardships of his early life. Personal matters, of course, come in at this time, and I recall some of the hardships which he underwent to obtain a legal education, at least of two instances of which he told me at one time. He was short of money and had to have some work in order to accumulate enough money to see him through the next year at school. Colonel Williams, whom some of the older men remember, was engaged in the implement business right across from the city hall, and Mr. Eckholdt had worked for him for some time. Williams had just obtained a new seeder, a new invention, and he wanted Mr. Eckholdt to sell it. Mr. Eckholdt was a natural born salesman, and he realized that the thing to do was to have the seeder as an exhibit, so he took the tongue out of the seeder and put in a pair of "fills" and hitched his horse to it, mounted it and rode through the county selling seeders, and he made a good thing of it. That was the year before he went to Ann Arbor. He told me also that the last six weeks before he graduated at Ann Arbor he carefully set aside the amount of money which he would need to bring him and his family, I think Walter was the baby then, back to Rochester, and for the remaining six weeks they lived on mush and milk, and that was all that he could buy. He was a worthy opponent in a lawsuit, and after you got through with a trial with him on the other side you knew that you had had a lawsuit. He entered wholeheartedly into every client cause when he believed it was right, and no hardship was too great for him to undergo in investigating the law or in looking up the evidence. Night and day were the same to him, but he would never violate his principles and he would not work on Sunday. Walter Eckholdt was in school here in Rochester at the same time that I was. In those days they finished the ward schools I think at the end of the fourth grade and the other grades and the high school were all down in the old Central School building, so that I knew Walter from boyhood up. I think he entered high school the fall after I graduated, if I remember rightly. During his vacations for several years he went out and worked on the farm for my father, and father always said he was the best man he ever had and was glad to have him come back every year. When he entered in the office of the Register of Deeds he, ably assisted by his wife brought new spirit into the office. Prior to that time the Register of Deed's office was a leisurely concerns. The client would leave papers for us to record and would want to know when he could got them, and we would say: "Oh ten days to two weeks or three weeks." It was done leisurely. He revolutionized the office of the Register of Deeds, and you could get a paper back within two or three days. He made a record in the office of the register of deeds that will be long remembered. THE COURT: The Eckholdt family has played a most important part in the life and the development of this community. The part played by the two who have left us should not be forgotten. H. A. Eckholdt was one of the leading practitioners in this court for a great many years. He was a real leader of the bar and of the community. Walter Eckholdt played a lesser part in the practice of the law. He was, however, a faithful public servant in a most important position, and he performed services, which both bar and court appreciated. It is highly fitting that we remember the services of these two men. It is therefore ordered that the resolutions here presented be received and filed, and a record of these proceedings be spread upon the minutes of this court and a copy be mailed to the surviving members of the family. HISTORY OF OLAISTED COUNT WALTER ECKHOLDT, register of deeds for Olmsted county, was born in Rochester, Minnesota, August 24, 1873. Halftan A. Eckholdt, the well-known Rochester lawyer, his father, was a native of Norway, and when a small boy was brought by his parents to the United States, first settling in Waseca county, Minnesota, where his parents died. Halftan A. Eckholdt received a good practical education in youth, married Adaline Lane, and coming to Rochester, embarked in the machine business. He subsequently took up the study of law and was graduated from the legal department of the Minnesota State University, since which time he has been practicing his profession in Rochester. Walter Eckholdt was graduated from the Rochester High School in 1891, read law in his father's office, and, entering the law department of the Minnesota State University, was graduated therefrom in 1896. He was associated with his father in practice about one year, then embarked in mercantile pursuits, at which he continued until 1896, when, having been nominated on the Republican ticket as county recorder of deeds, he was duly elected as such, and since January, 1906, has been occupying that position. In 1910 he was renominated for that office. Mr. Eckholdt is a Republican in politics, a believer in the Baptist faith, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Eagles, the Royal Arcanum, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Red Men, the Court of Honor, the Sons of Norway, and the Rochester Commercial Club. On July 8, 1897, he married Miss Caroline Hubbard, and the following named five children have been born to them; Margaret, William, Edith, and Paul. The new county officers elected in the fall of 1906 were: Clerk of the district court, George S. Hannon; register of deeds, Walter A. Eckholdt, and county commissioner, A. E. Hanson-all Republicans. Walter A. Eckholdt is a son of H. A. Eckholdt, the well-known lawyer of Rochester, where Walter was born in 1873. He was educated in the Rochester schools, attended the law department of the Minnesota University and graduated in 1896. He began the practice of law in Rochester, but abandoned it for merchandising, at Douglass and Byron, and was a salesman in Rochester. Halftan A. Eckholdt was born in Norway in 1845 and came to America when only five years old with his mother, who was a widow. He lived a few years in New York City and in Pennsylvania. Where he was for a while in the Norwegian colony, founded by Ole Bull. The family came to Minnesota in 1857 and lived first at Berlin, Steele county, and afterwards on a farm at New Richland, Waseca county; from there he enlisted in the Third Minnesota Light Artillery, and saw three years hard service in the campaigns against the Sioux, reaching the rank of sergeant. At the close of the war he came to Rochester and was employed in the grocery store of S. H. Daniels. He acquired his education by his own exertions and while working for a bare support. He graduated from the law department of Michigan University in 1874. Opening a law office in Rochester, he has obtained a large practice. He has served two terms as city attorney and is now commander of Custer Post, Grand Army of the Republic. His son, Frank Eckholdt is reporter for the tenth judicial district, with his residence at Austin, and his son, Walter, is register of deeds of Olmsted county. |
| MN Lt Arty 3rd Battery. Residence Berlin, Steele County, Minnesota. From Christiania [Oslo], Norway. Civil War: Age 18. Enrolled 12 Mar 1863. Mustered 1 May 1863. Private. Corporal. Wounded in Battle of Savage's Station, Virginia (29 Jun 1862). Promoted to Sergeant. Discharged from the service with the battery on 26 Feb 1866. Post war: Lived in Olmstead County, Minnesota, as W. A. Eckholdt. Sources: (MINN p800) (MCIW p678) (ULVESTAD p262) "Eckhaldt, Walftin A.". |