ISHPEMING — Eben W. Fiske was different things to the residents of Ishpeming: Civil war veteran, dentist and most importantly, the city librarian for 15 years.

Fiske was born in 1923 in New Orleans, although that was not his home. His father, Eben Fiske, was a merchant who travelled to New Orleans frequently. The Fiske family was from Boston, Massachusetts and well off, as Eben W. was afforded the chance to go to college.

Fiske served for four years in the Union Army during the civil war with the 13th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in Virginia. He was an officer, a captain and during his spare time he was also an artist, filling several notebooks with pencil sketches. Those sketches, along with a tintype of Capt. Fiske reside at the Massachusetts Historical Society and there is a blog post, written in 2015 that has pictures of some of the sketches he made.

Fiske moved to Ishpeming around 1870, as his obituary stated he lived in Ishpeming for 30 years of his life. The downtown was just being built and it was an exciting time to live in the town. He set up his dentistry practice and may have been one of the first dentists to move to Ishpeming as the town was growing rapidly.

Around 1885 he gave up his dentistry practice as he was growing old and could not handle the work anymore. He was then appointed to the post of city librarian, which he held until shortly before his death. The term of the city librarian was for a single year; Fiske was appointed to this post 15 times.

“It was in this capacity (as librarian) that Dr. Fiske has been known to a majority of Ishpeming people. He has been a satisfactory officer, making the most of the appropriations for the library and keeping close track of the volumes in his charge. His acquaintance with the location and nature of the books in the collection was marvelous. He was always able to place his hands on any volume desired. With him missing from the library it will be necessary to rearrange and renumber all the books.” (Mining Journal, June 16, 1900)

“Dr. Fiske’s death is deeply regretted. He possessed a large circle of friends made during his connection wit the library and was one of Ishpeming’s most familiar figures.” (Mining Journal, June 16, 1900)

Fiske died on June 8, 1900 due to bronchitis, although there were other underlying conditions. Sometime before his death, he had to give up his duties in the city library. He had married late in life and left a widow and three young children. His widow, who was a temperance worker and suffragette, was able to apply for and receive his veteran’s pension.