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Home |  Pre-1852 |  Genealogy |  People and Families |  Photo Galleries |  Links EDWARD FREDERICK EITELMAN

Profile Born: 30 Oct 1881 Cleveland, OH Died: 24 Jan 1961 Fort Worth, TX Parents: Michael A. and Elizabeth C. Eitelman Spouse: Mary Wesson (m.1905) Children: Alice Elizabeth, Mary Helen, Edward Frederick, Jr. Occupation(s): Farrier (shod horses), Blacksmith, Hardware Ed and Mary's Gallery Ed's Family Gallery Ed's Story of Salvation Cattleman's Magazine Profile

Ed was the youngest of four children born to Michael A. ("Grumpa") and Elizabeth Christine ("Lizzie"). Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1881, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, with his family in 1888. Michael worked with his brother, George Lewis Eitelman, in the blacksmith and horse shoeing business George had established in 1877. Their initial location, at 7th and Rusk (now Commerce), now lies in the heart of downtown Fort Worth. Sometime before World War I, they relocated the shop to Railroad Avenue (now Vickery Blvd.), Michael took over the business and renamed it "Eitelman and Son". Michael and Ed kept the business until about 1926, as automobiles replaced horses and carriages. Ed married Mary Tompkins Wesson in 1905, with whom he had three children: Alice Elizabeth (born 1907), Mary Helen (born 1910), and Edward Frederick, Jr., (born 1911). The family lived at 1510 S. Jennings in Fort Worth until about 1920, when Ed's mother Lizzie 'ordered' them to move into the house at 1812 College Ave., next door to Grumpa and Lizzie's house at 1816. [according to Fred Stockdale, Jr., Ed's grandson]. He resided at 1812 College until his death in 1961 at age 79. Devout Christians, Ed and Mary were members of various Presbyterian and other churches before founding, along with a handful of others, the McKinney Memorial Church in 1954. The first meetings of this new congretation met in their home on College Ave. In 1958, the congregation moved into its permanent home. The church is now one of the largest independent churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is currently (2003) building on their third new site. (www.mckinneychurch.com) Read Ed's story of salvation, as written by his daughter, Mary Helen Hults. Ed's career as a blacksmith and ferrier (one who shoes horses) was documented in a 1953 profile in The Cattleman magazine. [Click to read the article.] Although stout, Ed stood only 5'8" or so and had a good-humored, light-hearted side. His niece, Christine Hindle, recalls a typical joke he pulled when showing youngsters his room filled with mounted horns on the walls: "I was very small and he told me the rest of the animal was on the other side of the wall where there were some stuffed heads hanging. He was rolling when I went into the next room to check it out." ... to be continued. Please check back soon. Prepared by: Steve Stockdale, great-grandson

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