Draft:Valentine Eckert

Valentine Eckert (1733 – December 1821) was "a Pennsylvanian distinguished in Revolutionary times, and one of the earliest judges to sit upon the bench after the formation of the United States government, having been made judge in 1784 of the court of common pleas of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and continuing in office for seven years".

"Valentine Eckert was born at Longasalza, in the Kingdom of Hanover, in 1733. He came to America with his parents in 1741, who settled in the Tulpehocken Valley at a point east of where Womelsdorf is now situate. He was naturalized in September, 1761. In June, 1776, he was one of the ten members of the Provincial Conference who represented Berks County in that important body; and in July following, he was selected as a delegate from the county to the Provincial Convention which was assembled for the purpose of framing a new government founded on the authority of the people. In 1776 and 1779 he represented the county in the Provincial Assembly. He was a resident of Cumru township and a blacksmith by occupation. He offered his services to the Government in the Revolutionary War, which were accepted, and he commanded a company of cavalry Associators for a time. He and his company participated in the Battle of Germantown, in October, 1777, where he was wounded. He was appointed Sub-Lieutenant of the county on March 21, 1777, and served in this office until his promotion to Lieutenant of the County in January, 1781. He continued to act as Lieutenant until the close of the war. While serving as Sub-Lieutenant, he also acted as a commissioner for the purchase of army supplies.

In 1784, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the county and occupied this office for a term of seven years, when, by the Constitution of 1790, a president judge of all the courts was appointed to take the place of the several judges. In the Pennsylvania Militia, he was brigade inspector for the county from April 11, 1793, for a period of 20 years. About the year 1816, he moved to the State of Virginia, and died at Winchester in December, 1821, in the 88th year of his age."

"Valentine Eckert, who was born in Longaselva, Hanover, Germany, in 1733, came to this country with his parents in 1740, and settled with them in the valley of the Tulpehocken in the western part of Berks County. After twenty-one years residence in this country Valentine Eckert became a citizen, and took a prominent part in the stirring events that led up to and culminated in the Declaration of Independence, and the overthrow of British domination. In June, 1776, he with nine others represented Berks County in the Provincial Conference, and in the following month was one of a delegation of eight members from Berks County to the Provincial Convention, that was convoked for the purpose of framing a new form of government, founded on the authority of the people, to succeed the old proprietary form. He was a member of the Provincial Assemblies of both 1776 and 1777. In the Revolutionary War, he commanded a company of cavalry, and was wounded at the battle of Germantown. He became sub-lieutenant of the county in 1777, and served in that office until he became lieutenant of the county in 1781. In 1784 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held office for seven years, when by the Constitution of 1790 a president judge took the places of the various judges. When very advanced in years, in 1816, he removed to the State of Virginia, where his death took place at Winchester, in December, 1821, when he was in his eighty-eighth year. His son, Peter Eckert, was engaged in farming and merchandising all his life in Berks County, near Womelsdorf, the family home."

"A petition from Valentine Eckert. of the county of Berks", The Pennsylvania Gazette (January 25, 1786), p. 2.

(check dates)