Mapes, Eckhart, Books, and History



            Many thanks to Mike Mapes, who took Emily and me on a tour of the Eckhart Public Library and Willennar Genealogy Center in Auburn. We stopped by to drop off the many historical photos we borrowed from him for the “Images of America: Albion and Noble County” project. I love being in libraries anyway, and I love history, and I’m also a fan of architecture, so it was a great afternoon … and we met some great people!

            This painting, badly taken with my cell phone, is “The Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia”, by Robert Grafton, which Charles Eckhart donated to the library. Eckhart was a member of Company A, 104th Pennsylvania volunteers, during the Civil War. After being discharged for health reasons he became a carriage maker and eventually donated toward Auburn’s library, YMCA, and park, among other things.


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