Carey, Charles Henry. "History of Oregon." Vol. 2. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer Historical Pub. Co., 1922. p. 168-173 Includes Portrait FREDERICK EGGERT The Influences which shape the career of an individual are often remote and difficult to trace, but not so in the case of Frederick Eggert, a man of marked democracy of spirit, of kindly and generous disposition, of inflexible integrity and of high purposes. The foundations of his upright character were laid in the teachings of a sturdy, religious parentage. His father, John Heinrich Eggert, was born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, April 18, 1811, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Sophie Wilhelmene Freltag, was born in Hanover, Germany, January 12, 1811. They came to America in early life and their marriage was celebrated in Detroit, Michigan, February 12, 1837. Their family numbered four sons, of whom Frederick Eggert II was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 30, 1843, his life record spanning the intervening years until he passed away on the 26th of April, 1918, in Portland, Oregon. His three brothers survive him, but other children of the family died in infancy. Frederick Eggert was quite young when his parents removed from Milwaukee to Illinois, settling near Freeport, and there at the age of three years he suffered a long and severe attack of 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 the family home was established on a farm near Lawrence, the first "free-state" town in Kansas, and there his strength was strained to the uttermost in farm work, while he had less than the average meager opportunity of the youth of that day to obtain an education. When seventeen years of age his active brain, bright mind and determined will led him to decide upon a different career than that of the farmer and he obtained employment in a general merchandise establishment at Lawrence, where by diligence, unfailing courtesy and geniality he won friends whose friendship and loyalty to him have been one of his cherished possessions throughout the intervening years. His business experience constituted the basis of his later success. He was employed in a store when on August 21, 1863, while he was sleeping in a room over the store, Quantrell with his fierce Confederate raiders fell upon the town, sacked and burned it and left one hundred and sixty-five citizens lying dead in the streets, one of his employers being among the victims. Mr. Eggert, then a frail boy, was about to be shot when one of the raiders for some unknown reason interposed and saved his life and did not desert him until he had gotten him away from danger. On the 2d of November, 1865, Mr. Eggert determined to engage in business on his own account and made his first trip on a railroad when he went to Chicago to buy a stock of goods. That he won success is not a matter of marvel, for he practiced close application, stern self-denial and rigid economy and lived an upright, honorable life that commanded for him the confidence and respect of all who knew him. In the midst of an active business career he never neglected his religious duties but was a faithful member and generous supporter of the First Methodist church and occupied many official positions in connection therewith. On the 1st of September, 1873, Mr. Eggert was married to Miss Elizabeth Avery, M. D., a homeopathic physician, who was then located in Lawrence but who had formerly been a resident of Connecticut. For forty-five years they traveled life's journey most happily together and Mrs. Eggert was then left to mourn the loss of one who had been an ideal husband in his home relations. With the desire to secure broader business opportunities than were afforded in Lawrence, Kansas, Mr. Eggert came to the west and after testing the effect of the rainy season upon his health he closed out his business in Kansas on the 22d of February, 176, in order to become a resident of Oregon. He bore with him a letter of introduction from L. Z. Leiter of the wholesale house of Field, Leiter & Company of Chicago, to Murphy, Grant & Company, the largest wholesale dry goods dealers in San Francisco, and over his own signature Mr. Leiter wrote: "Mr. Eggert's credit is good for all the goods you can persuade him to buy." Establishing a home in Albany and finding trade conditions somewhat different from those of the east, Mr. Eggert found employment with Samuel E. Young, the leading merchant of Linn county, taking charge of the dry goods department. During the six and a half years which he spent in that position his business qualifications made a lasting impression upon the pioneer residents of that place. On the 11th of November, 1882, Mr. Eggert entered into partnership relations with Mr. Young and Walter E. Turrell, under the firm name of Eggert, Young & Company, and engaged in the boot and shoe business as the successors of The Pacific Boot and Shoe Company, thus acquiring the oldest store in that line in the Pacific northwest, their location being at No. 109 First street, Portland. Although conditions were very disheartening at the beginning his indomitable courage and business methods enabled him to overcome all obstacles with success. After three years Mr. Eggert purchased the interests of his partners in the business but retained the firm name by mutual consent and ever enjoyed the lifelong friendship of his former associates in the enterprise. Later he was for a time in partnership with Walter E. Turrell and his brother, George J. Turrell, in the retail shoe business in Tacoma and Seattle and subsequently became associated with J. F. Kelly, A. Staiger and E. Rice, with whom he shared his prosperity until each in turn was able to engage in business for himself. He was at various periods connected with other important business enterprises in Portland. In 1889 he 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 been on a farm in the Waldo hills of Marion county, and thus under the firm name of Treen, Raymond, Turrell & Company they opened a wholesale shoe business in Seattle. Their trade was increasing in substantial manner when the great Seattle fire destroyed their entire store and stock. Mr. Eggert lost heavily, not only directly but also through his interest in a local insurance company, which this and subsequent 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 gradually sold his interest as fast as his nephews were fitted to assume responsibilities. In 1897, for the benefit of his health, Mr. Eggert went to the Hood River valley and then purchased of Hon. E. L. Smith a portion of Beulah Land, to which he added by subsequent purchases one hundred and forty acres and built thereon a summer home on what is conceded to be the most picturesque spot in the valley, calling his 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. Because of the growth of his business which made greater demands upon his time and energies than he cared to give, he sold the place in February, 1911, to the Eggermont Orchard Company. On the 1st of November, 1892, the Eggert, Young Company removed to the Hamilton building on Third street, in Portland, for the firm's increasing business and clientele required more spacious and modern quarters. In due time three employes, Jordan Purvine, W. B. Brazelton and Miss N. B. Townsend, became stockholders and since Mr. Eggert's death have succeeded to the management, conducting the business as far as possible along the lines which he instituted, for during the nearly thirty-six years of his business life in Portland he had made for himself and the firm an enviable place as an Influential factor in winning for Portland its position as a mercantile center of the Pacific coast. An excellent characterization of Mr. Eggert was given by one who had been associated with him in his office for seventeen years and he said: "Those who knew Mr. Eggert best were impressed with his democracy. Every man coming into 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 away with them an equal number in exchange; good, wholesome, laugh-provoking stories - this always in spite of falling 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 ÔThe wages of sin is death.' "His very presence created a clean atmosphere in business, for he would not tolerate nor excuse 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 Ôold 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 days. ÔContinue thou in the things which thou hast learned,' was a text he found helpful both in material and spiritual things and he built a life and a business upon that which would stand." Another said of him: "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 worth while. He loved Portland and its people; he loved Oregon, its snow-capped mountains, ÔGod'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 his 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, Ôscattering seeds of kindness' all along the way. During his last days he had expressed gratitude for having been granted Ôfive years of borrowed time' beyond the allotted human span of Ôthreescore 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 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." ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in November 2006 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.