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It looks to me they m Lawrence, Douglas Co KS
Phyl
=====================
Lockley, Fred. "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the
Sea." Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 65.
FREDERICK EGGERT
Courage, self-reliance, intelligence and determination were the youthful
patrimony of Frederick Eggert, and with these assets he hewed his way through a
forest of difficulties, becoming one of the foremost merchants of Portland. A
broad-minded man and a good citizen, he was respected for his talents, admired
for his strength of character, and honored for his integrity. He came of sturdy
religious parentage. His father, John Heinrich Eggert, was born April 18, 1811,
in Lippe-Detmoldt, Germany, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Sophie
Wilhelmene Freitag, was born January 12, 1811, in Hanover, of the same country.
Coming to America as young people, they were married in Detroit, Michigan,
February 12, 1837.
Frederick Eggert was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 30, 1843, and died
in Portland, Oregon, April 26, 1918. In his early childhood his parents settled
in the vicinity of Freeport, Illinois, where at the age of three years he had a
long and severe attack of cerebro-spinal meningitis, which left him with the
handicap of a frail body, a weak heart and very limited physical strength. In
the spring of 1856 his parents went to Kansas, settling on a farm near Lawrence,
the first "free-state" town in that commonwealth, and there his limited strength
was strained to the uttermost in working on the farm, while he had less than the
average meager opportunity of the youth of that day in obtaining an education.
At the age of seventeen Mr. Eggert's active brain, and determined will led
him to decide upon a different career, and with that degree of resolution that
always characterized his long and useful life, he secured employment in a
general merchandise store at Lawrence. There his unfailing courtesy and genial
spirit won for him many life-long friends and through tireless energy and the
exercise of sound business judgment he laid the foundation for future success.
He was thus employed on August 21, 1863, and was sleeping in a room over the
store when at daybreak Quantrell, with his fierce Confederate raiders, fell upon
the town, which he sacked and burned. He left one hundred and sixty-five
citizens lying dead in the streets and among his victims was one of the owners
of the store in which Mr. Eggert worked. Frail and unprotected, he was about to
be shot, when one of the raiders for some unknown reason interposed, saved the
boy's life and did not desert him until he had maneuvered him out of harm's way.
Having decided to establish a dry goods business of his own, Mr. Eggert
boarded a railroad train for the first time on November 2, 1865, when he went to
Chicago to buy his first stock of goods. His abstemious habits, stern
self-denial and rigid economy, coupled with his business ability, sterling worth
and friendly nature won for him success, honor and influence in the mercantile
world, while at the same time he was a leader in religious affairs. He
contributed generously toward the support of the First Methodist church, of
which he was a faithful member, and he served on its official boards.
Mr. Eggert was married, September 1, 1873, to Miss Elizabeth Avery, M. D.,
a homeopathic physician, who was born in Oxfordshire, England, April 7, 1848,
and her parents, Thomas and Selina (Slater) Avery, were also natives of that
country. In September, 1853, the family went to Connecticut and in that state
Mr. and Mrs. Avery spent the remainder of their lives. They had seven children,
one of whom died in infancy. Their daughter Elizabeth was reared in Connecticut
and became a pupil in a boarding school. She attended the Ipswich Female,
Seminary, founded by Mary Lyon, and was graduated, February 24, 1870, from the
Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio. At that time very few women were
connected with the medical profession and Dr. Avery was the first of her sex to
be admitted to membership in the Kansas Homeopathic Medical Society. For a short
time she practiced in Ohio and later following her profession in Illinois, and
had an office in Chicago at the time of the fire which destroyed the business
section of that city. On May 1, 1872, she became a member of the Kansas Medical
Society and her ability placed her with the leading physicians of Lawrence. In
that city she met Mr. Eggert and continued to practice there until she left the
Sunflower state. Theirs proved an ideal union and for nearly forty-five years
they were permitted to enjoy unalloyed wedded happiness. Mrs. Eggert makes her
home at Hotel Mallory in Portland and a useful, well spent life has earned for
her a secure place in the esteem of all with whom she has been associated.
Seeking broader opportunities than those afforded by a university town, Mr.
Eggert turned to the west and after a visit to Oregon during the rainy season in
order to determine its effect upon his health, he decided to locate in this
state. He closed out his business in Lawrence and on February 22, 1876, returned
to Oregon. The late L. Z. Leiter, of the wholesale house of Field, Leiter &
Company of Chicago, gave him a letter of introduction to Murphy, Grant &
Company, the largest wholesale dealers in dry goods in San Francisco, and over
his own signature he wrote: "Mr. Eggert's credit is good for all the goods you
can persuade him to buy," thus proving his confidence in a man who, as it were,
had only fairly started on his business career. Settling in Albany and finding
trade conditions somewhat different from those in the east, he secured
employment with the late Samuel E. Young, at that time the leading merchant of
Linn county, and took charge of the dry goods department. During his six and a
half years in that position his business qualifications made a lasting
impression upon the pioneer residents of that place.
In the fall of 1882 Mr. Eggert came to Portland and on November 11 of that
year formed a partnership with Mr. Young and Walter E. Turrell, then in Mr.
Young's office but now associated with Turrell Brothers, of Seattle and Tacoma,
Washington. The firm of Eggert, Young & Company embarked in business at No. 109
First street as the successors of the Pacific Boot & Shoe Company and thus
became the proprietors of the oldest store, of the kind in the Pacific
northwest. It was started by Champlin & Hollabaugh and the firm of Cardwell &
Bennet were the next owners of the business, which was later the property of S.
M. Barr, who sold it to Mr. Eggert and his associates. At first he found himself
facing the most disheartening conditions but his indomitable courage and
enterprising business methods enabled him to overcome all obstacles and win
success. After three years he acquired the entire business, retaining the firm
name by mutual consent, and held the lifelong friendship of both of his former
partners. Afterward he was engaged in the retail shoe business in Tacoma and
Seattle in partnership with Walter E. Turrell and his brother, George J.
Turrell, and subsequently became associated with J. F. Kelly, A. Staiger and E.
Rice, employes, with whom he shared his prosperity until each in turn was able
to engage in business for himself. From time to time he joined with leading
business men of Portland in various enterprises.
In 1889 Mr. Eggert formed a partnership with Messrs. Treen and Raymond, of
Seattle, Messrs. Turrell, of Tacoma and Seattle, and his youngest brother,
Charles F. Eggert, who for several years had resided on a farm in the Waldo
Hills district of Marion county, and under the firm name of Treen, Raymond,
Turrell & Company they established a wholesale shoe business in Seattle. Three
months later the great Seattle fire reduced their store and stock to ashes. Mr.
Eggert lost heavily, not only directly, but also through his interest in a local
insurance company, which this and quickly following fires in Ellensburg and
Spokane swept out of existence. Immediately after the fire Mr. Eggert
established his brother in the retail shoe business in the unburned district and
thus founded the Eggert Shoe Company of Seattle. To his brother's four sons, who
from boyhood were connected with the business, Mr. Eggert sold his interest as
fast as they were fitted to assume responsibilities.
During a period of illness in 1897 Mr. Eggert found the climate of the Hood
River valley of great benefit and from Hon. E. L. Smith he bought a portion of
Beulah Land, to which he added by subsequent purchases one hundred and forty
acres, and built a summer home upon what is conceded by many to be the most
picturesque spot in the valley, naming the place Eggermont. He planted one of
the first commercial orchards, if not the first, in the Hood River valley and
was a pioneer in Hood River apple culture. The yield from his trees was so large
that he found it demanded too much of his time and in February, 1911, he sold
the place to the Eggermont Orchard Company.
On November 1, 1892, the Eggert, Young Company moved to the Hamilton
building on Third street in Portland, occupying the store room planned for Mr.
Eggert by Hon. H. W. Corbett, now deceased. Retail centers were gradually moving
westward and the firm's increasing business and clientele required more spacious
and modern quarters. In the course of time three employes, Jordan Purvine, W. B.
Brazelton and Miss N. B. Townsend, had become stockholders and since Mr.
Eggert's demise have succeeded to the management. As far as possible they have
continued along the lines instituted by Mr. Eggert, who during the nearly
thirty-six years of his business life in Portland had made for himself and his
firm an enviable place as an influential factor in the solid structure of
Portland as a mercantile center. The following tribute to Mr. Eggert's worth was
paid by one who had been associated with him in his office for seventeen years:
"Those who knew Mr. Eggert best were impressed by his democracy. Every man
coming in contact with him in a business way was given a hearing and if his
proposition was economically sound, he was received in a friendly spirit.
"A man seeking employment found in him a sympathetic listener whether or
not there was a vacancy in the corps of helpers. And to any boy˜struggling with
poverty and trying to make for himself a place˜it gave Mr. Eggert the keenest
pleasure to give a helping hand. His plan for doing that was to teach him the
value of money and the need for industry˜two branches of knowledge seemingly
neglected in this day. Once interested in a boy, his movements were closely
watched, and great was Mr. Eggert's disappointment if his teachings were
disregarded. He frequently quoted Lincoln's saying that God must have loved the
common people because he made so many of them.
"Another characteristic was his cheerful and sunny disposition. Blues did
not find an encouraging glance from him, and they speedily took flight from any
company of which he was a part. His friends came to him with a fund of funny
stories and they usually took with them an equal number in exchange; good,
wholesome, laugh-provoking stories˜this always in spite of failing health and
ofttimes in the face of serious weakness.
"Mr. Eggert stood for inflexible uprightness˜requiring the same of himself
that he expected in others. Nothing less than right characterized his dealings
with men. Having struggled with poverty himself and retained his integrity, he
knew whereof he spoke when he counseled men that honesty was not only the best
policy but the only policy. His frequently expressed wish was that the race
could realize the truth of the old Book's saying˜`The wages of sin is death.'
"His very presence created a clean atmosphere in business, for he would not
tolerate or excuse a deviation from the principles he believed in and knew to be
right. Possessed of good judgment and keen business insight, his advice was
frequently sought and always freely given. Many a widow and orphan have felt his
loss as a counselor and friend; without realizing it himself, he was
instinctively the friend of the friendless.
"And to those he called friend he was unswervingly true. Sometimes he was
imposed upon because he never believed ill of those to whom his allegiance was
given until he was forced to believe it. For those who betrayed a trust he had
only contempt, and the wrongdoer saw himself in a new and unflattering light
after an interview with Mr. Eggert.
"Those most closely associated with him in business miss his guiding hand.
His decisions were quickly made, his judgment unerring and his spirit kind. He
was a type of what might be called the 'old school' of business men˜those who
forged ahead in spite of handicaps˜and who conducted affairs of today on the
solid foundations learned in the early day. 'Continue thou in the things which
thou has learned,' was a text he found helpful both in material and spiritual
things, and so he built a life and a business upon that which would stand."
Another friend said of Mr. Eggert: "His success from every standpoint was
founded on character. He was a man of clean life and sterling integrity; his yea
was yea, and his nay, nay. In spite of frail health he was optimistic of soul
and cheerful in spirit. His cheery smile and kindly greeting were always helpful
and encouraging and after a little talk with him the world always seemed a
brighter place and life a little more worthwhile. He loved Portland and its
people; he loved Oregon, its snow-capped mountains, God's alabaster towers,' its
beautiful scenery and equable climate. He loved his country, and dearly prized
the honor of its flag. Less than two hours before he passed onward he held pen
in hand for the last time to subscribe for a very considerable amount of Liberty
bonds, of which he had previously taken an amount very large in proportion to
his resources.
"He loved his church. On coming to Oregon circumstances led him and his
wife to unite with the Congregational church, and no exigency of its needs ever
failed to receive from him a response to the limit of his means. He was deeply
religious by birth, training and temperament, and many ministers of the Gospel
were among his dearest life-long friends.
"He loved life, made the most of its sunshine, dispelled its shadows by his
optimism, bore its burdens with fortitude, scattering seeds of kindness' all
along the way. During his last days he had expressed gratitude for having been
granted five years of borrowed time beyond the allotted human span of three
score years and ten.' Even in declining health Mr. Eggert had with rare
exception spent a portion of each day at his office. Three days before the end
came his physical strength failed him and gradually waned until he entered into
rest and at the age of seventy-five years closed an unusually successful career,
leaving an unblemished record and a name honored at home and abroad."
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