Descendants of Jacob Heckman
Contributed by: Donna Nelson
Reminder from Donna, author of this piece:
"When using this information, please keep in mind that it has been
gathered from a variety of sources, most of which are acknowledged.
BUT, PLEASE independently verify any extracted information for
accuracy."
Generation No. 1
1. JACOB2 HECKMAN (JOSEPH1) (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".) was born April 08, 1794 in Botetourt county, Virginia, and died March 05, 1886 in Near South Bend, St. Joseph Co., Indiana. He married ELIZABETH DODD (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".) April 08, 1819 in Franklin County, Virginia, daughter of WILLIAM DODD and REBECCA GRIFFITH. She was born May 17, 1800 in Franklin Co., Virginia, and died April 24, 1864 in Galena Twp., LaPorte Co., Indiana.
Notes for JACOB HECKMAN:
History of LaPorte County
Chapman, 1880, p. 704
Jacob Heckman, one of LaPorte county's early pioneers, and the oldest person now living in Galena tp., was born April 8, 1794, in Botetourt county, Va., the son of Joseph and Catherine Heckman, of Irish descent, who moved to Ohio, where they resided until death. Jacob emigrated to Berrien county, Michigan, in 1827; in 1830 he came to this county, where he has done much in clearing the forest and advancing the interests of his neighborhood. He has been very successful in life, giving 160 acres of land and $200 to each of his 9 children, they paying him a total of $144 annually during his lifetime. April 8, 1819, in Franklin county, Va., Mr. H. married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of William and Rebecca Dodd, and their 9 children are: Theodoric, Charlotte, Catharine, Jacob S., Harriet, Elizabeth, Mary A., Martha and David L. Residence sec 16; P.O. Hesston
SOURCE OF MUCH OF THE DETAIL REGARDING JACOB & ELIZABETH HECKMAN FAMILY IS FROM "THE JACOB HECKMAN FAMILY, LAPORTE COUNTY, INDIANA" by: Agnes Merchant. Copy is at the Historical Society Research room, LaPorte Co. Historical Museum.
"Jacob Heckman was born April 8, 1794 in Botetourt Co., Virginia and died in St. Joseph Co., Indiana (at Aunt Charlotte Ammons) Mar 5, 1886; age 91 years, 10 months, 27 days. Jacob Heckman was a noted Bible historian.
Letter, written by Frank D. Lewis, January 17, 1936:
In the latter part of the XVII Century, six brothers named Heickman; Germans, came over to America, settling near Philadelphia. Some of them took the spelling of Hick and my grandfather took the name of Heckman.
One of the second generation removed to Virginia and he had a son named Joseph.
Joseph fathered a family of eight or nine. Betsey, Sally, Polly, Peter, Henry, Joseph, Jacob and others. Polly was the youngest. Peter died in southern Michigan. His wife was named Katy. She was very tall, near or quite six feet.
Joseph was extremely poor, and a fire left them houseless so that his son Jacob was born in a corncrib, in Bottetourt County, Virginia, on the 8th day of April 1794. The family spoke German and Jacob only learned English after he was some years old.
The trials of poverty created a love of thrift in Jacob and he determined to have something better than he had known.
After some -- well, perhaps observations, not to say exactly experiments, - in which he turned down or at least away from young women, who were what we not call "snooty" - I am telling the substance of what he told me - he proposed to and was accepted by Elizabeth Dodd - a young woman eighteen years of age and of English descent. They were married April 8, 1819, on Jacob's 25th birthday. Grandpap wore a coat made in the style of the times; trimmed with scarlet; I presume, and with brass buttons, on of which I still possess; ruffled shirt front; knee breeches, and silver buckles on his shoes. Two little niggers carried the train of grandmother's wedding dress.
Four children were born in Virginia - Theodoric - William - Charlotte, and Catherine. Then commenced the trek west; First to Ohio - Preble Co. where twins were born; our Uncle Jake (rest of letter appears to be missing)
Children of JACOB HECKMAN and ELIZABETH DODD are:
i. INFANT JOHN3 HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. Abt. 1841.
Notes for INFANT JOHN HECKMAN:
From "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte Co., Indiana", "Son died in infancy; was to have been named John. He was the eleventh child of Jacob and Elizabeth Heckman."
ii. THEODRIC AVY HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. February 24, 1820, Franklin Co., Virginia (Source: The Acorn Obituary, Jan 9 1903.); d. January 02, 1903, Galena Twp., LaPorte Co., Indiana; m. RACHEL PADDOCK, March 08, 1842, New Buffalo, Berrien Co., Michigan (Source: Ancestry Michigan Marriages to 1850.); b. March 27, 1821, Onondaga Co., New York; d. January 19, 1892, LaPorte Co., Indiana.
Notes for THEODRIC AVY HECKMAN:
History of LaPorte County,
Chapman 1880, page 695:
Subject: Galena Township
"The first school-house was built of logs on land of Theodoric Heckman, about 1836, and Amanda Armitage was the first teacher."
The Acorn, Three Oaks, Michigan, January 9, 1903
Mr. Ava Theodrick Heckman, an old resident of Hesston, died Friday, January 2, 1903, at the home of his son, Miller.
T.A. Heckman was born in Virginia, February 24, 1820, and was married to Miss Rachel Paddock in 1842. He settled in Galena township in 1835 and has lived in LaPorte county about sixty seven years. Mrs. Heckman died January 19, 1892.
One of his sons, Erasmus, is the Three Oaks township supervisor at the present time. His other sons are Frank and Ace. He also leaves two married daughters. Gallstones were the direct cause of his death.
The funeral was held in the Hesston church on January 5, conducted by Elder Black, of Rolling Prairie. Interment was made at Hesston.
The LaPorte Herald, Saturday, Jan. 3, 1903
"Theodore Heckman, one of the pioneer settlers of Galena township, died at his home Friday at the age of more than 80 years. He came to the township in 1835, with his father, Jacob Heckman. The funeral will be held at 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon at his late residence."
Notes for RACHEL PADDOCK:
From, "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana", by Agnes Merchant
"Rachel Paddock was born in Onondaga Co., New York March 27, 1821. She taught public school at the age of 15 years in the state of New York, then came with her parents Levi and Marinda Paddock to Indiana. She and her mother made the trip in a sailboat the length of the great lakes landing at Michigan City in 183. She taught public school in log schoolhouses in Michigan and Indiana. Receiving at first $1.50 per week, later $2.00 per week until she was married in 1842. Grandpa Paddock and his son, Asa, drove through from New York to Indiana and Michigan.
Grandma Paddock's maiden name was Croset. Rachel Croset wife of Asa Munn - Revolutionary War Soldier.
iii. WILLIAM D. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. January 26, 1822; d. December 30, 1836.
iv. CHARLOTTE R. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte
County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. March 04, 1824; d. December
14, 1908; m. (1) WILLIAM AMMONS; m. (2) JOHN COOPER.
Correction: Charlotte was married to John Cooper then William Ammons.
You can find many references to them in the census and other documents
in St. Joseph County IN. By 1900 Charlotte states only 2 of the 7
children that she has given birth, still survive.
v. CATHARINE S. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. July 26, 1826; d. May 31, 1899; m. WILLIAM A. HATFIELD; b. September 16, 1824, Nashville, Tennessee; d. 1905.
vi. JACOB S. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. March 25, 1829, Preble county, Ohio; d. June 24, 1914, Byron, LaPorte Co., Indiana; m. (1) LAURA K. MARSHALL, February 28, 1850; b. April 06, 1833, Onondaga Co., New York; d. August 04, 1894, Galena Twp., LaPorte Co., Indiana; m. (2) ELIZABETH A. "LIZZIE" AMMONS, February 16, 1898; b. September 25, 1862, South Bend, St. Joseph Co., Indiana.
Notes for JACOB S. HECKMAN:
History of LaPorte County
Chapman, 1880, page 704
Jacob S. Heckman, son of the preceding, was born in 1829 in Preble county, O.; came with his parents in 1835 to this tp., where he grew to manhood, receiving a common-school education. In 1850 he married Miss Laura Marshall, who was born in New York State in 1832, and of their 3 children Albert P. and Mrs. Frances J. Taylor are living. The former is a graduate of the LaPorte high school and has been studying medicine two years. His progress is very flattering. The subject of this sketch has followed farming thus far with extraordinary success; at present he owns 160 acres of the best-improved land in the valley. Residence sec. 20; P.O. Hatch's mill.
History of LaPorte County
Daniels, 1904, page 671-672
Jacob S. Heckman, who resides on section 20, Galena township, was born in Preble county, Ohio, March 25, 1829. His father, Jacob Heckman, was a native of Botetourt county, Virginia, born on the 8th of April 1794, and after arriving at years of maturity was married there on the 8th of April 1819, to Miss Elizabeth Dodd, who was born in Franklin county, Virginia, on the 17th of May, 1800. She was a daughter of William and Rebecca (Griffith) Dodd, both of whom were of English descent.
In the fall of 1828 Jacob and Elizabeth Heckman removed from Virginia to Preble county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1830 they made their way to Berrien county, Michigan, locating at Berrien Springs. Mr. Heckman assisted largely in laying out the town, and also in naming it. He remained there until 1835, when he removed where he continued to reside until the death of his wife, which occurred on the 24th of April, 1864, when she was in her sixty-fifth year. Mr. Heckman was one of the honored pioneer settlers of Galena township. There were no more than three or four families in the entire township when he took up his abode there. He entered a number of quarter sections of land. He gave to each of his children - nine in number - a quarter section, and in addition to this he owned other realty in Weesaw township, Berrien county, Michigan. He retained for his own use one hundred and sixty acres, and he also bought an eighty-acre tract covered with timber in addition to all the other farming land which he possessed. He was a very useful, active and influential citizen, and was a leading factor in the upbuilding of LaPorte county. As a prominent member of the German Baptist church he took an active interest in its work and contributed generously to its support. In politics he was a stanch Republican, and he left Virginia on account of the slavery question, believing the system of holding slaves in the south to be wrong. He also took a deep interest in educational work and served as a member of the school board. all that tended to promote public progress and improvement received his endorsement, and his efforts in behalf of the general good were far-reaching and beneficial. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charlotte Ammons, near South Bend, Indiana, on the 5th of March, 1886, in the ninety-second year of his age, and was laid to rest by the side of his wife in the Heckman cemetery in Galena township. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Heckman were born twelve children, nine of whom reached years of maturity. Sixty years elapsed between the death of the first child of the family and the last death in that generation.
Jacob S. Heckman was the fifth child in his father's family, and was but an infant when the parents removed to Berrien county, Michigan. When a little lad of six summers he accompanied them on their removal to Galena township, LaPorte county, and here he was reared, pursuing his education in a log schoolhouse, which was build upon his father's farm. As his age and strength increased he more and more largely aided in developing the fields and clearing the wild land, continuing to assist his father until his marriage, which occurred on the 28th day of February, 1850. He wedded Laura K. Marshall, who was born in Onondaga county, New York, April 6, 1833, a daughter of Noah and Ruth (Paddock) Marshall, who removed to Illinois from New York and afterward returned to LaPorte county, Indiana. Mrs. Heckman was the youngest of their seven children, six daughters and one son. She died August 4, 1894, leaving one son and one daughter, both of whom have since passed away. the eldest son, Albert P. Heckman, was a practicing physician at Reed City, Michigan, and died December 21, 1897, at the age of forty-four years. Mrs. Francis J. Fargher died June 3, 1898, in her forty-second year, and left three sons, Dr. James H. Fargher, Albert T. and George F. Her husband, James A. Fargher, died November 11, 1898.
For his second wife Mr. Heckman chose Elizabeth A. Ammons, and they were married February 16, 1898. She was a daughter of James and Anna (Calvert) Ammons, who were pioneer settlers of St. Joseph county, Indiana. Mrs. Heckman was born near South Bend on the 25th of September, 1862, the youngest in a family of four children, the others being Mrs. Isabella Heckman; Alwilda A. Zimmerman; and Albert Ammons. Mrs. Elizabeth Heckman pursued her education in the schools of South Bend, and is a lady of culture and refinement, well known in the community in which she resides and held in high regard by many friends.
At the time of his first marriage Mr. Heckman located on an unimproved farm situated a half mile north of the farm upon which he now resides. there he cleared and cultivated one hundred and sixty acres of land, doing most of the work himself. The valuable property which he now owns is the evidence of his life of thrift and industry. He rents the portion of his farm devoted to the cultivation of crops and is therefore enabled to enjoy a measure of rest in quiet retirement from active business cares.
Since casting his first presidential vote for Fremont in 1850 he has been a stanch Republican. He gave his support to Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and again in 1864, and his last vote was cast for William McKinley in 1900. In 1896 his was the first ballot deposited in his township. A prominent Mason, he belongs to Rolling Prairie Lodge, and enjoys the high esteem of his brethren of the craft. He has always been true to its teachings and its principles, and his worth as a citizen is widely acknowledged. Long a resident of the county, he is familiar with its history from pioneer times down to the present, and has watched its development from an unimproved region to its present advanced stage of civilization and prosperity.
Michigan City Evening News, June 25, 1914
Jacob S. Heckman of New Buffalo, Mich., died at the home of his niece, Ms. George Mann, near Byron, at 5 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. He was stricken with paralysis six weeks ago, from which he failed to rally. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, March 25, 1829, and came to Berrien county, Mich., with his parents in 1830. His father, Jacob Heckman, was one of the founders of Berrien Springs. He moved from there to Galena twp in 1833. He married Laura K. Marshall, Feb. 28, 1850. To this union two children were born, Dr. A.P. Heckman, who was a physician of Reed City, Mich., and who died Dec. 24, 1897, and Mrs. Francis J. Fargher, who died June 1, 1898. His wife died August 4, 1894. He again married, Miss Elizabeth A. Ammons, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Ammons, pioneers of St. Joseph county, Feb. 16, 1898. This union was a very happy one. He was a lifelong Republican. His first vote was for General Scott for president. He was a Mason, being initiated into the order in Rolling Prairie. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and held to that belief to the last, sincerely believing that Christ was his saviour and pleading not merits of his own, but came to him just as he was without one plea. Jacob S. Heckman was recognized as on of Laporte county's pioneers, ever to be trusted, and his word was as good as his note - loyal to the community in which he lived, to his country, family and above all loyal to his God. He leaves a wife, one brother, David, of Rolling Prairie, two sisters, Mrs. Mary A. Fuller of LaPorte and Mrs. Martha Woodmansee of Galena, and three grandsons, Dr. James F. Fargher of Laporte, Albert S. Fargher of Galena and George Fargher, Rolling Prairie. Services will be held at the residence of George Woodmansee, near Byron, on Thursday at 2 p.m., Rev. Nolan officiating, after which Mrs. Heckman's remains will be taken to South Bend for burial in Riverview cemetery, previous to which short services will be held at the residence of Dr. D.M. Calver, 223 East Monroe, at 11 a.m. Friday.
Notes for LAURA K. MARSHALL:
Michigan City News
August 8, 1894, Page 6, Col. 3
Mrs. J.S. Heckman died Saturday night at her home in Galena township. For three years she had been suffering with a cancer, from the effects of which she died. The funeral was held today from the White church.
vii. HARRIET M. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. December 15, 1830; d. May 24, 1910; m. PERRY MANN.
viii. ELIZABETH G. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. April 15, 1833, Michigan; d. September 07, 1910, Everett, Washington; m. URIAH LEWIS, August 20, 1854, LaPorte County, Indiana; b. November 11, 1828, Highland County, Ohio; d. July 26, 1888, Galena Township, LaPorte Co., Indiana.
Notes for URIAH LEWIS:
See article - Daily Republican
Tuesday, July 31, 1888, page 1
"THE LEWIS SUICIDE"
Obituary same issue as shown above:
Uriah Lewis, son of John Lewis and Eleanor Cadwallader, was born on the 19th day of Eleventh month, 1828, in Highland Co., Ohio. He came with his parents to LaPorte Co., Ind. in 1836. He married Elizabeth Heckman on the 20th day of Eighth month, 1854, and for the first ten years of his married life resided in Berrien Co., Mich. He was the father of four children, of whom but one survives him. He died last Fifth day, 26th day of Seventh month, 1888, and was laid away at the Heckman burying ground, Dr. Dakin officiating.
ix. MARY ANN HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. April 10, 1835, Michigan; d. October 18, 1932; m. WILBUR W. (M.?) FULLER, 1854; b. 1830, New York; d. 1904.
x. MARTHA MILLER HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. January 01, 1838, Indiana; d. December 30, 1928; m. JEHU L. WOODMANSEE, August 19, 1854; b. 1834, Ohio; d. Aft. 1880.
xi. DAVID L. HECKMAN (Source: "The Jacob Heckman Family, LaPorte County, Indiana by Agnes Merchant".), b. February 03, 1840, Galena Township, LaPorte Co., Indiana; d. June 08, 1921; m. MELISSA MORROW (Source: 1850 Census.), July 03, 1859; b. March 17, 1842, Galena Township, LaPorte Co., Indiana.
LaPorte County Indiana Cemeteries Main Page