Eckford Township History
HENRY ECKFORD
March 12, 1773 to November 12, 1832
Henry Eckford was a naval architect, born in
Irvine, Scotland, March 12, 1773 who died in Constantinople (Turkey) on November 12,
1832.
He was apprenticed as a shipbuilder in Quebec in
1791 and moved to New York in 1796 where he introduced important changes and
took the lead in producing ships with strength and speed.
During the War of 1812 he was employed by the government to build
ships-of- war on the Great Lakes. Later he built the steamer
Robert Fulton that, in 1822, became the first ship to make a successful
voyage by steam to New Orleans and Havana.
After leaving the government, Henry built war vessels for European
and South American nations. At
President Andrew Jackson’s request, Henry submitted a plan to reorganize the
US Navy. Henry was about to
establish a professorship of naval architecture for Columbia College with a
$20,000 gift when he lost his fortune.
In 1831 Henry went to Constantinople and built a sloop-of-war for the
sultan of the Ottoman Empire, established a navy yard, and was about to
become chief naval constructor when he died.
Oshea Wilder, for whom Wilder Creek was named, was a surveyor and the
first resident of our township.
Wilder honored Henry Eckford, whom he had befriended in England, by naming
the new township for his friend.