O. C. Ecke

PROF. O. C. ECKE, superintendent of the city schools of Columbus, Kansas, and a prominent educator, was born in 1866, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a son of Henry and Dora (Rain) Ecke.

Henry Ecke was one of the three earliest settlers of Crawford County, Kansas, coming early in 1866, when pioneer conditions prevailed in what was then known as the Cherokee Neutral Lands. He cleared up a farm and cultivated it until 1871, when his death occurred, and his was the first burial in his section of the county. His widow still survives and resides at Walnut, in Crawford County, where several of her children also live.

Professor Ecke was a pupil in the early schools of Crawford County and later graduated from the Walnut and Girard high schools. Subsequently, he secured a State certificate as a teacher at Emporia. He has devoted his life to educational work, having begun to teach about13 years ago. Since then he has followed the profession continuously, meeting with the success which his scholarly attainments and earnest endeavors deserve. In 1895 he removed to Columbus, first in the capacity of ward principal. Then he became a high school teacher, and afterwards, was made city superintendent, a position for which he is eminently fitted, and which he has filled with dignity and efficiency for the past five years.

Professor Ecke married, in Crawford County, Hattie M. Culbertson, who was formerly a teacher in the Crawford County schools. They have one daughter, born in Columbus. Professor Ecke and wife are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Fraternally, the Professor is a Mason, and a Modern Woodman. His work in Columbus has been most satisfactory, and the high standard maintained by the schools of the city must, in a great measure, be attributed to his care, influence and encouragement. Personally, he commands the respect and enjoys the esteem of his fellow citizens.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Mike York, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 11/20/96.