Ecton, George French
(born: 1846 - died: September 17, 1929)George F. Ecton was an enslaved man born in Winchester, KY, the son of Antonia and Martha George Ecton. He and a friend received forged freedom papers and made their way to Cincinnati, OH in 1865. They were employed as deck hands on the Sherman (ship).
Ecton soon returned to Cincinnati, where he was employed at a number of locations. He also came down with smallpox there but recuperated and began attending a school taught by Miss Luella Brown.
In 1873, he left Cincinnati for Chicago, where he managed the Hotel Woodruff dining room. While in Chicago, Ecton ran for office and was elected to a seat in the 35th General Assembly. He was also the owner of property worth $10,000.
Ecton married Patti R. Allen (b. 1855) in 1877; she was also from Winchester, KY. George died September 17, 1929 and is buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago [source: Illinois Death Certificate #rn26889].
For more see "Hon. George French Ecton" in Men of Mark, by W. J. Simmons and H. M. Turner [available full-text at Google Books]; Peter Wallenstein. "Pioneer Black Legislators from Kentucky, 1860s-1960s," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, summer/autumn 2012, v.110, no.3/4, New Perspectives on Civil War-Era Kentucky, pp.533-557.