An Efficient Engineer, Part 2

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Last month I discussed Curtis, Perry & Ward—the company that operated the United States Assay Office in San Francisco in 1852 and 1853—and its decision to hire 24-year-old machinist John M. Eckfeldt to update the assay office’s equipment. Eckfeldt was the son of the Philadelphia Mint’s coin room foreman and a member of Adam Eckfeldt’s dynasty. His arrival to San Francisco in late 1852 brought the knowledge and skills of the Philadelphia Mint to the West Coast.

Six months after the mechanic’s arrival in California, Curtis, Perry & Ward was awarded the contract to run the U.S. branch mint at San Francisco. In late 1853 the assay office was expanded, and on April 3, 1854, it was reopened as the San Francisco Mint, where Eckfeldt’s machinery was used to strike U.S. coins for another two decades.

Eckfeldt & The Carson City Mint

In 1859 gold and silver were discovered on the eastern side of Mount Davidson in what is now Nevada. News of these discoveries set off a silver rush, and prospectors established mining camps throughout the region. Carson City, established in 1858, became a railroad hub, and in 1863, legislation was passed to establish a branch mint there. On July 7, 1866, the Daily Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City, Nevada, announced that “J.M. Eckfeldt, Melter and Refiner of the Branch Mint in [San Francisco], has been appointed by Secretary McCulloch a division superintendent of the construction of the new Branch Mint at Carson City, Nevada.” In less than a month, work began on the new mint, and local news outlets reported on Eckfeldt’s visits.

While Eckfeldt worked on outfitting the Carson City Mint, officials decided that the San Francisco Mint’s 6,000 square feet had become inadequate. In 1867 the United States purchased a lot at the corner of Fifth and Mission Streets in San Francisco and began plans to build a new 70,000-square-foot space. Just as groundbreaking for the facility began, news arrived that newly inaugurated President Ulysses S. Grant intended to appoint new employees at the highest levels of the San Francisco Mint. Despite a sterling reputation and years of service, Eckfeldt’s position as melter and refiner was given to one of his subordinates while he finished outfitting the Carson City Mint.

Moving Up

Once the Carson City Mint’s machinery was installed, Eckfeldt established a business producing metal wire and screens, but his time away from the mint would be short. In December 1872, he was called to Washington, D.C., and appointed superintendent of construction of new machinery at the mint. In February 1873, following the death of the mint’s superintendent of construction, W.P.C. Stebbins, Eckfeldt was appointed as his replacement. Three months later, he was reappointed to the position of melter and refiner at the San Francisco Mint. 

Running his business, overseeing the construction and outfitting of the new mint, and supervising the melting and refining operations at the San Francisco Mint proved to be too much for Eckfeldt. He began to complain of insomnia, and he “suffered acutely from an affection of the kidneys.” By October 1874, Eckfeldt was overcome with depression and anxiety. He confided to a friend that he had “no ambition for anything.”

A Tragic End

The Oakland Tribune reported on October 8, 1874, that when Eckfeldt 

[failed to] put in an appearance at breakfast as expected, his wife returned to him, but before reaching his room at the end of the hall, the smell of powder smoke attracted her serious attention. No report of a firearm had been heard. On entering the room, she found her husband dead from the effects of a pistol shot. 

Subsequent investigations into Eckfeldt’s life indicated that his business was thriving and failed to find any evidence of malfeasance at the mint. The second San Francisco Mint opened less than a month after Eckfeldt’s death, and some machinery that he built for it was reportedly in use into the late 20th century.