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Heilman Family
HEILMAN. A number of the Heilmans of Armstrong county are descended from
Frederick Heilman, who moved into this region from Dauphin county, Pa., and
who was one of the sons of Peter and Elizabeth (Harter) Heilman, who settled
in Kittanning township in 1795-96.Peter Heilman, eldest son of Frederick, was born in July, 1819, on the home
farm, where he died Feb. 25, 1878. He was a prosperous farmer, and energetic
in business matters, operating a brick yard on his farm, and meeting with
substantial success in his ventures. In 1871 he was elected county
commissioner, being a member of the board which erected the Armstrong county
jail, which has the reputation of being one of the finest and strongest
structures of the kind in the United States. This building was completed in
1873, at a cost of $252,000. Its foundation is 24 feet deep, from the surface,
and 7 feet wide from the bottom. After his service as commissioner Mr. Heilman
devoted all his time to his own affairs. He had previously been school
director, and during the Civil war he served as enrolling officer. He was a
Republican on political questions. He was an esteemed member and liberal
supporter of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, which he served officially. By his
first wife, Susanna Helfrich, daughter of Anthony Helfrich (whose wife was
named Schutte or Shutt), he had three children, namely: Amanda, who never
married; Albert, who starved to death in Andersonville prison, while a Union
soldier; and one that died in infancy. His second, Elizabeth (Remaley),
daughter of Anthony Remaley, of Kiskiminetas township, was the mother of ten
chldren, viz.: James M., William M., Reuben (a hardware merchant), John F.,
George (who died aged twenty-one years), Frank (who died when eighteen years
old), Eliza (wife of Frank McClister), Edward (in the hardware business),
Charles C. (president of the Merchants’ Trust Company Bank, of Greensburg – he
spells the name Hileman) and Curtin A. (engaged as a furniture dealer at
Greensburg).Anthony Remaley, grandfather of Mrs. Peter Heilman, married a daughter of
Anthony Schaeffer, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and afterward clerk in the
State Senate. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Remaley had a son Anthony whose daughter
married Peter Heilman. The Heilmans worshipped at the old Heller Church, near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
William M. Heilman was born April 7, 1850, at Kittanning, and was
educated in the public schools of his neighborhood. When twenty-one years old
he began business as a contractor and builder, in partnership with his brother
J. M. Heilman, this association continuing until 1878, when another brother,
John F., came into the business, the firm name becoming Heilman Brothers. In
connection with their large contracting business the brothers erected a
planing mill, equipped it with modern machinery and appliances, driven by a
fifty-horsepower engine. An extensive business was carried on, the firm
contracting for and building houses in Armstrong, Westmoreland, Allegheny,
Butler and Venango counties. In 1909 the firm was incorporated as Heilman
Brothers & Co. Lumber Company, with William M. Heilman as treasurer. In
1905 Mr. Heilman was elected vice president of the Kittanning Plate Glass
Company, and in May, 1911, was elected president and general manager of that
concern, which offices he held at the time of his death. Employment is given
to five hundred persons. The plant is well equipped and modern in every
detail. Under the efficient and active supervision of Mr. Heilman the
company’s affairs were brought into excellent condition. In addition to these
interests, Mr. Heilman was a stockholder and director in the Fort Pitt Powder
Company. For a number of years he was a councilman of Kittanning, and he was
one of the first men to advocate the paving and sewering of the borough, and
through his persistence the improvements were made.On Oct. 13, 1874, Mr. Heilman married Emma L. Anderson, daughter of Robert
Anderson, and eight children were born to this union: Harry A.; Frank W.; Mary
A.; Blanche L.; Helen E., who was graduated from Washington Seminary in 1911
and is now in Vassar College, class of 1915. All these are living, three
having died in infancy. Mr. Heilman is a member of Blue Lodge No. 244, F.
& A. M., and Orient Chapter, No. 247, R. A. M., both of Kittanning, and of
Pittsburgh Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and Syria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.
During a European trip a few years ago Mr. Heilman enjoyed being a visitor to
various lodges in the different countries he visited. Probably few men have
had the opportunity to meet so many fellow Masons as he. While at Madeira,
Rome, various German cities, in Egypt even, he was the guest of the Masonic
lodges in those places. One spot of interest to which he made a special trip
was the stone quarry from which King Solomon secured the stone for the
building of the temple, so intimately associated with Masonic rites. During
this trip Mr. Heilman was accompanied by his eldest daughter. He was a
Republican in politics. Mr. Heilman died on the 16th day of June, 1914.
Frank W. Heilman, M. D., a physician and surgeon of Kittanning, was
born in that city Oct. 27, 1877, son of William M. Heilman. Like his brother
and sisters, Mr. Heilman first attended school at Kittanning, passing through
the grammar and high school grades. He then took up the study of medicine,
entering the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and being graduated
from that institution in 1902. For a short time he practiced medicine at
Kittanning, and then went to Europe to finish his medical training, taking a
course of studies at the University of Berlin, Germany, and in France, Italy,
Russia and England, spending five years abroad in all. Returning to Kittanning
in 1908, he resumed his practice. Dr. Heilman is one of the most skilled
physicians and surgeons of Armstrong county, and his practice is very large.The Heilman family is one of the oldest and best known in Armstrong county,
and its representatives have been and are men considerably above the average.
They are to be found in all the learned professions, occupying offices of
great responsibility, and active in commercial life. All of them have been
ready and willing to give time and attention toward the betterment of existing
conditions, and labored to bring about a moral uplift. It is such men as
these, and those whom they influence, who work out reforms, and maintain good
standards wherever they are found.Source: Pages 977-978, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed November 1998 by Joyce Sherry for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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