Edward Edgar Hartwick (September 6, 1871 – March 31, 1918) was an American soldier, businessman and namesake of Hartwick Pines State Park in the state of Michigan.

Family

Hartwick was born in

St. Louis, Michigan St. Louis is a city in Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census the population was 7,482. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It was ...

, on September 6, 1871, to Michael Shoat and Jane Augusta (Obear) Hartwick. Among his ancestors was a brother of

John Christopher Hartwick John Christopher Hartwick (January 6, 1714 – July 17, 1796) was an American Lutheran minister in Colonial America and founder of Hartwick College. Background Hartwick was a native of the dukedom of Saxe-Gotha in the province of Thuringia in Germ ...

, a Lutheran minister who emigrated to the United States from Germany in the early decades of the 18th century. Hartwick, New York, and Hartwick Seminary, now

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

, were named after him.

Military career

Hartwick's family moved to Michigan and he graduated from Grayling High School in 1888. A year later, in September 1889, Hartwick left Michigan to enroll at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. He graduated with high honors in 1893. Upon completing his schooling, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the 4th Cavalry and, shortly thereafter, transferred to the

9th Cavalry Regiment The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is not related to the 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was pa ...

, nicknamed the

Buffalo Soldiers Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in t ...

. He was to remain in the West until the outbreak of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

was to take him and the 9th to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. The following report was officially submitted following the action of July 1, 1898, before

San Juan Hill San Juan Hill is a series of hills to the east of Santiago, Cuba, running north to south. The area is known as the San Juan Heights or in Spanish ''Alturas de San Juan'' before Spanish–American War of 1898, and are now part of Lomas de San Ju ...

. An interesting account of the

Battle of San Juan Hill The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish fo ...

appears in Hartwick's biography in which he is quoted as saying, among things, "The above claim of Colonel Roosevelt is not true": The claim had to do with exactly when and how and why Teddy Roosevelt "led" the charge up San Juan Hill.

Private life

Hartwick left Cuba to return to Grayling and on October 19, 1898, married Karen Bessie Michelson. He resigned his commission effective July 1899. He became engaged in the lumber and banking industries in Grayling and soon prospered, eventually moving to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. He was a 32d degree Mason, having been a member of Jackson Lodge, No. 17, F. & A. M., Jackson Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M., Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T., Moslem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Detroit, and the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Valley of Detroit, Michigan. Major Hartwick's clubs were: the Detroit Athletic Club, the Ingleside Club, Detroit Golf Club, Bankers' Club of Detroit, Fellowcraft Athletic Club, and the Detroit Automobile Club. He held membership with the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, Detroit Real Estate Board, Detroit Board of Commerce, Detroit Real Estate Exchange, Exchange Club, Detroit Y. M. C. A., American National Red Cross, Detroit Retail Lumber Dealers' Association, Milwaukee Junction Manufacturers' Association, and was president and director of the Michigan State Retailers' Lumber Association.

Return to the military

Following the United States' entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Hartwick volunteered for service and was commissioned a major in the 20th Engineers. He sailed to Europe in November 1917. In March 1918, Hartwick became ill with meningitis and on March 31, 1918, at age 46, he died near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, France. He was buried in Talence Cemetery "with full military honors." On December 23, 1920, his remains were removed to Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Ten months later, in October 1921, a bronze monument was erected there in his honor. In 1927, his widow, Karen Hartwick, purchased more than of land, including the last of virgin pine in the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

of Michigan. Shortly afterwards, she donated the parcel to the state of Michigan in her husband's name. Thus Hartwick Pines State Park, the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, was named in his honor.Northup, A. Dale, ''Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery'', Arcadia Publishing, 2003. The Edward E. Hartwick Memorial Building museum within the park is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwick, Edward 1871 births People from St. Louis, Michigan American people of German descent Culture of Detroit 1918 deaths Deaths from meningitis People from Detroit Military personnel from Michigan United States Military Academy alumni American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Army personnel of World War I People from Grayling, Michigan United States Army officers Neurological disease deaths in France Infectious disease deaths in France Businesspeople in timber Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)