Gardner Spangler Eichelberger (Phillip, John, George, John, George) was born on August 17, 1848 in St Louis, Missouri. He was the second youngest of eleven children to parents George Forsyth Eichelberger and Maria Gardner Spangler. Gardner was obviously named after his mother’s side of the family.
In 1850, the family is living in Carondelet, Missouri.
1850 Census – Gardner Eichelberger
Gardner’s father, George Forsyth Eichelberger, died just one year later and his mother Maria raised the family on her own. They can be found here in both the 1857 and 1858 Missouri Census records.
1857 Missouri Census – Gardner Eichelberger (On page 2)
1858 Missouri Census – Page 1 (Mother and siblings on page 2)
1858 Missouri Census – Page 2 (Gardner and siblings on page 1)
In the 1860 census, the family is still living in Carondelet, Missouri. Gardner is listed as an eleven-year-old student at the time.
1860 Census – Gardner Eichelberger
By 1870, Gardner is listed as being a railroad fireman at the age of seventeen. While his brother Albert lives just next door with his family, Gardner is the only wage earner living in the home. He is providing for his mother and six sisters all living in the home. At this time, the value of the family’s real estate is listed at $4,000.
1870 Census – Gardner Eichelberger
On November 19, 1873, Gardner married Mary Ellen Hickey (1857-1884). They had three children together:
- John Denis Eichelberger (1879-1943)
- Baby Eichelberger (died in infancy on 9/5/1882)
- William Gard Eichelberger (1883-1944)
In the 1880 census, Gardner is listed under the name George and living with wife Mary and infant son John. They are living on Third Street near what is now Elwood and Dover Streets. Gardner is listed as being an engineer for the railroad at the time.
1880 Census – Gardner Eichelberger
Gardner’s wife Mary died in 1884, leaving him with two young boys to raise. On June 8, 1886, Gardner married Jennie Marshall (1867-1919) in St Louis, Missouri. It appears that when Gardner remarried, he left his two sons with John and Ellen Gamache, their neighbors int he 1880 census. There doesn’t appear to be any familial connection between the Eichelberger’s and the Gamache’s.
Over the next twenty years, Gardner and Jennie had nine children.
- Walter Louis Eichelberger (b. 1888 – d.1947)
- Ophelia Eichelberger (b. 1889)
- Harry Eichelberger (b. 1892)
- Harvey Eichelberger (b. 1893)
- Sylvester L. Eichelberger (b. 1894)
- Bertha E. Eichelberger (b. 1899)
- Albert E. Eichelberger (b. 1904)
- Mary Eichelberger (b. 1904)
- George Eichelberger (b. 1908)
In the 1900 census, Gardner and Jennie can be found living at 113 Iron Street, near the corner of Iron Street and S. Broadway in St Louis, Missouri. The family is listed as renting from the Wilson family and their address is listed as at the “rear” of the Wilson address. Gardner lists his occupation as an engineer.
By 1910, the family is living in Graniteville Village, Iron County, Missouri, near present-day Elephant Rocks State Park. Gardner lists his occupation as an engineer of a locomotive. At the time, the Granite District of South East Missouri was booming. Granite was mined at the Graniteville Granite Quarries and hauled by trains to St Louis and the south. Gardner was one of the engineers of the railroad and had relocated his family to the area. Information and photographs of the Graniteville area can be found
here. Two of Gardner’s sons were also working at the quarry in Graniteville.
Gardner died at the age of 62, on March 4, 1918. The family was then living at 6703 Minnesota Avenue, St Louis, Missouri. His cause of death was Carcinoma of the Mouth and Neck which he had been diagnosed with six years before and arteriosclerosis which he had been suffering from for six months prior to his death. His son Harvey A. Eichelberger was the informant on his death certificate and still lived at home at the time of Gardner’s death. Gardner was buried at Mount Olive Cemetery on March 7, 1918.
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Sources:
Federal Census Records:
1) 1850: dwell/fam # 82/89; Carondelet, Missouri; George, Maria, Gard and family Eichelberger
2) 1860: dwell/fam # 686/690; Carondelet, Missouri; Maria, Gard and family Eichelberger
3) 1870: dwell/fam # 1110/1282; Carondelet, Missouri; Maria, Gard and family Eichelberger
4) 1880: E.D. 408; dwell/fam # 3/13; Gard, Mary and John Eichelbeger – also John and Ellen Gamache.;
5) 1900; E.D. 166; dwell/fam # 131/144; Gard, Jennie and family Eichelberger
6) 1910: E.D. 21; dwell/fam # 126/128; Gard, Jennie and family Eichelberger
Missouri State Census Records:
1) 1857: ward/block # 1/52; Carondelet, Missouri; Maria, Gard and family Eichelberger
2) 1858: ward/block # 1/52; Carondelet, Missouri; Maria, Gard and family Eichelberger
1918 Missouri Death Certificate – Gard Eichelberger – St Louis, Missouri
Missouri Marriages Index, 1766-1983; G. Eichelbarge [sic] and Mary Hickey
St. Louis, Missouri Marriages, 1804-76: Vol/Pg #: 16/35; Gardiner Eichelbarge [sic] and Mary Hickey
St Louis City Death Records, 1850-1902 – Infant of Gardiner Eichelberger
(NOTE: Gardner’s date of birth varies throughout all of the documents that he is mentioned in. The date noted above is the one that is most likely based on the various records found. Year of birth varies from 1847 to 1855 but always August 17th.)
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