From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
publ. 1912, Page 1339-1340
 
WILLIS D. ECKERSON.  This gentleman is another of the old soldiers whom it is 
a delight to honor.  They are getting fewer and fewer in number and their 
march is not as quick and full of meaning and fire as it was fifty years ago 
when they were fighting for the perpetuity of the Union.  But it thrills one 
to see them in their old uniforms, with their tattered flags flying and their 
forms bent as they hobble along on their canes at reunions, or on Memorial Day 
or the Fourth of July.  And how interesting it is to hear them tell the story 
of the dreadful hardships they endured in the hospitals or on the harassing 
marches, or in the battles and skirmishes, or in the prison hells of the 
Southern Confederacy.  But their time is short now, so all persons should join 
in honoring them for the sacrifices they made when they were young and full of 
the love of life, but which was offered free on the altar of their country.  
Mr. ECKERSON's uncle David, one of our early pioneers, came to the lake 
district here when it was a wild stretch of forest and unknown to the outside 
world, or at least very little known.
 
Willis D. ECKERSON was born on January 24, 1847, at Ames, Montgomery county, 
New York, and he is the adopted son of David ECKERSON, of New York, who came 
to Wisconsin, and settled on a farm in Sharon township, Walworth county, in 
1849, having purchased the same from the government, and here, by hard work 
and perseverance, he established a good home and here the elder ECKERSON and 
his wife spent the balance of their lives, his death occurring in 1903, and 
the mother's in 1905, having attained ripe old ages.
 
The subject received his education in the district schools of Sharon township, 
and here grew to manhood.  Early in life he took up the trade of painter and 
decorator, at which he has become expert and his services have always been in 
great demand.
 
Mr. ECKERSON owns a beautiful modern home on the hill commanding an inspiring 
view of the city of Delavan and surrounding country.  Politically, he is a 
stanch Republican and is more or less active in party affairs.  He belongs to 
the Grand Army of the Republic.
 
Mr. ECKERSON enlisted in the Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry under Captain 
CRUMMEL in the Army of the Cumberland.  He was a good drillmaster and served 
as a private for three years.  The subject was in the following battles: Fort 
Donelson, Nashville, Fort Henry and Lookout Mountain.
 
On November 18, 1861, Mr. ECKERSON was united in marriage to Theresa STUPFALL, 
of Sharon, and they had two children, Mary Elizabeth, who died May 20, 1897, 
and Bertha E., at home.  The wife died June 30, 1906.  The family attend the 
Episcopal church and are very active in church affairs.
 
Submitted by Carol