Biography

In his early life, Eckert became interested in Telegraph technology, which later prompted him to move to New York City where he became a telegraph operator on the experimental communication line between New York and Washington DC. In 1852, owner of the Morse Telegraph Company J.H. Wade would appoint Eckert to superintend the construction of a telegraph from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Chicago, Illinois. This experienced opened him to opportunities during the Civil War, where he would be appointed by the Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A. Scott to operate the War Department's Military Telegraph, and briefly allow him to become an Army Major. He is first mentioned in Frances Adeline Seward's 1866 diary, where he is said to have called the Seward home in the evening of January 30.