Charley Eckhardt
1940-2015

The Art of Story Telling

A Personal Remembrance of
Charley Eckhardt

Thanks to Charley Eckhardt’s self-described “sidekick” John Tolleson, I learned of Charley’s death a few days ago. I never got to know Charley on a personal level, but over the years, I did get to visit him – whenever my travels took me anywhere near Sequin. - Ed.


Back when Texas Escapes was getting started - around 2001, I found myself in the library in Bastrop, Texas. In the Texana section, I found Charley Eckhardt. Not the actual man, mind you, but Charley’s book Tales Your Teacher Never Told You. The title was intriguing and irresistible.

On the flyleaf, it stated that the author lived in Seguin, Texas – a town not that far from where I sat. I had enjoyed the stories and set out to find Mr. Eckhardt; intent on convincing him that exposure in an then-unknown magazine on “the Internet” would provide him an appreciative audience.

Arriving in Seguin and inquiring at the library, I was directed to a barber shop just off the square. It was getting better and better. I imagined this was where Mr. Eckhardt held court, entertaining Seguin’s hairy and unshaven male population with ripping good yarns. I wasn’t too far off the mark.

The barber shop itself was bare bone. No cracker barrel or pot belied stove. It was two chairs if I remember correctly, and fewer cuspidors than one would expect. I introduced myself and asked Mr. Eckhardt if he spelled his name Charlie or Charley. “E-y”, he told me. Adding that “ie” is a woman’s perfume.

I wasn’t there 10 minutes when I learned that the corner a half block away was the “most famous intersection in Texas.” (Where the Old Spanish Trail crossed El Camino Real.) This was something else my teachers had not told me.

Charley said he’d consider my proposal after he did some homework. In 2006 we started running his column. On one visit I inquired about a ghost town in the vicinity and since it was near closing time, Charley locked up and escorted me to Sutherland Springs. After Charley’s description of the place in its heyday, I felt as if I had lived in Sutherland Springs in a previous life. I remember Charley taking me inside the town’s roofless bank to photograph a tree growing through the floor.

On another visit we had lunch at a restaurant where Charley was greeted by name – and we ate huge burgers that had been named in his honor. I got to hear how Charley had once eaten “Ma” Ferguson’s molasses cookies – served to him as a boy when he and his father visited Bell County after the former governor had left office. Charley said that it was probably Ferguson’s maid who had made the cookies – but he ate them in the Ferguson’s house, therefore… He also said they were the best molasses cookies he had ever eaten.

The name Eckhardt (with a few variations in spelling) is familiar in the German settled parts of Texas. Charley told me of a two-car traffic accident in Yorktown, Texas where each driver had the surname Eckhardt. But what makes the story worth telling is that the investigating policeman was also an Eckhardt.

Each visit with Charlie brought a new story. Or ten. I had asked him about his extensive research and he said that “being married to a librarian has been a tremendous help.”

Charley once brought up O. Henry’s incarceration (for embezzlement). While there have been repeated arguments about O.Henry’s innocence or guilt over the years, Charley knew he was guilty. How? Because Charley’s grandfather had been the bank examiner of Austin at the time. Whom are you going to believe? A short-story writer from New York City or Grandpa?

Early on, I had abandoned thoughts of taking notes when Charley spoke. I heard the story of Seguin’s headless ghost – as Charley pointed out his path from the passenger seat. It was on that same trip Charley told me of a more personal ghostly encounter – one that can still bring a chill.

As I remember it, the incident took place somewhere north of Austin when Charley was still a boy. He was on horseback; riding from point A to point B. Some delay had forced him to ride at night. He was riding carefully, but at a good clip. Suddenly there was a bolt of lightening in the distance which revealed a woman directly in front of him, carrying a baby in her arms. She was running and obviously in distress. Charley described her as wearing a 19th century dress. Too late to stop, both horse and rider passed through the woman and the child she held.

When the city of Seguin finally erected an equestrian statue of Juan Seguin, Charley, an authority of military equipment did an impromptu critique on the correctness of the statue, from the pommel to Mr. Sequin’s spurs. Charley had good words for the sculptor. But the highlight of that day was when he showed me a barely visible iron spike in one of the trees on the square. Charley explained this was a “beeve tree” where on market days, left over strips of meat from butchers would be hung here – made available to the people who couldn’t afford the “high-priced” cuts. Tangible proof of frontier charity and frugality, it’s soon to be forgotten - covered by the callus growth of the tree.

Our most memorable trip was one with Charley’s longtime friend John Tolleson when the three of us drove to San Antonio to see a reenactment of the arrival of the famed Texas Camel Corps. Charley, standing at the holiest shrine in Texas, was surrounded by living history and he was delighted. It was one of the rare occasions when I saw Charley smile. I got the feeling that he’d smile more often if people would just take the time to acknowledge the history that surrounds them.

He was a historian’s historian but he never let stuffy academic arguments get in the way of a great story. Plus, he gave a mean haircut.


An excerpt from his obit from the First Presbyterian Church of Seguin’s program revealed several facts I had not known. Charley preferred to talk about history more than himself.

The obituary from Charley’s funeral service is included here:

In Memoriam

Charles “Charley” Frederick Eckhardt
March 15th, 1940 - May 18th 2015

Books by C. F. Eckhardt