JOHN H. HECKMAN

JOHN H. HECKMAN has been connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad almost uninterruptedly for nearly forty years as one of its most valued and trusted employees.  For the past nine years he has been the General Freight Agent of the company.  He was born January 18, 1833 in Easton, PA., where his father, Herman S., was also born.  His grandfather, John Heckman, was a native of Dry Lands, Northampton County, this state, and on his settlement in Easton became a teller in the Pennsylvania Branch Bank.  Afterward for a number of years he filled a similar position in the old Easton bank.

   The genealogy of the Heckman family is as follows:  John Adam Heckman was born in Germany and came to America September 2, 1749.  His son, Adam, a native of Moore Township, Northampton County, PA. and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, married Elizabeth Kreider, a daughter of Conrad Kreider, of Kreidersville, Pa.  Their son, Jacob, was born in Moore Township, and married Mary Schneider.  The following is a brief account of the Schneider family: John Jacob Schneider, the first of the family of whom we have much data, was a resident of Selbach, Germany.  His son, Herman Schneider, was born in June, 1722, and immigrated to America from that country, May 27, 1749, arriving at Philadelphia, Pa., September 30 of the same year.  February 27, 1752, he married Ann Elizabeth Diltz, daughter of William Diltz, of Amwell, N.J.

   Peter Schneider, son of the above Herman and Ann Elizabeth Schneider, who was born February 5, 1753, at Easton, Pa. married at that place, August 27, 1780, Susanna Kichline.  Concerning the Kichline family we note the following: Col. Peter Kichline, who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, October 8, 1722, emigrated to America with his father, John Peter Kichline, arriving in this country September 21, 1742, and settling at Bedminster, Bucks County, Pa.  He was the first chief magistrate of the borough of Easton, Pa.  He stepped into line when the first indications of the Revolutionary struggle were seen, and was elected Colonel of a Pennsylvania regiment of riflemen, which did good service at the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776.  He had previously occupied the same rank in 1762, and had proved himself a brave and successful leader in the Indian War of 1763.  His daughter, Susanna, who, as stated above, married Peter Schneider, was born May 7, 1760 in Easton, Pa.   August 24, 1786, at Easton, was born to Peter and Susanna Schneider a daughter, Mary, who on reaching maturity married John Heckman, our subject’s grandfather.  To John and Mary Heckman was born a son, Herman S., father of John H. Heckman.

   The last-named was for several years a merchant in Easton, and afterward was a dealer in real estate and Secretary of the Warren Foundry at Philipsburg, of which he was one of the promoters.  He was extensively concerned in the building up of that place, and was a member of a syndicate which bought the three large Roseberry farms, on which was built the greater part of the city.  His death occurred in 1864 at the age of fifty four years.  First a Whig, he later became a Free-Soiler, as early as 1848, and on the organization of the Republican party became identified with it.  In religion he was a member of the German Reformed Church.  

The mother of our subject, Mary was born in Easton, and was a daughter of David Butz, a farmer and miller, who operated a flour and saw mill on the Bushkill River for a number of years.  Her mother’s father, John Herster, at the age of seventeen years wished to go as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but instead his father took his place and died in prison.  John Herster became one of the pioneer and leading business men in Easton, where he was prominent both as a merchant and a dealer in real estate.  Mrs. Mary Heckman is still living in Easton, and is enjoying excellent health, though over eighty-two years of age.

   John H. Heckman is the eldest of three children who grew to maturity and are still living.  His brothers, like himself, were patriotic and served during the late war in the Union Army.  William, who represented Bradford County in the Pennsylvania legislature, is now an engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, his home being in Buffalo, NY.  Edmund is a watchmaker of Easton.  Our subject was reared in Easton and attended Vanderveer Academy and Lafayette College.  Later he became a clerk in a general mercantile store in Easton and was also for a time in Bethlehem.  After learning telegraphy, in 1854 he became an operator in Mauch Chunk, where he remained for several years.  In 1855 he was made operator and agent for the Lehigh Valley Road, and since that time has served in other capacities.  In 1864 he was made Superintendent of Telegraphy, with headquarters at Easton, and five years later was made agent and dispatcher at East Penn Junction.  In 1875 he entered the general freight office at Mauch Chunk, and remained there until 1881, when he was promoted to the position of Assistant General Freight Agent.  Four years later he was made the General Freight Agent, which position he is yet holding.  In 1887 he came to South Bethlehem, at which time the offices were removed here, and this is still his home.

   While residing in Easton, in 1862, Mr. Heckman volunteered on the emergency call in Company F, Fifth Pennsylvania Militia, as a Corporal, and in 1863 was assigned as Sergeant to Company C, Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania Militia, under Col. M.H. Horn, of Catasauqua.  Mr. Heckman was among those greatly interested in securing the charter for the borough of Fountain Hill, where he resides.  Politically he is a Republican, and in the spring of 1894 was made School Director.  He is a member of Robert Oldham Post No. 527, G.A.R.; the royal Arcanam of Mauch Chunk; Easton Masonic Lodge and Chapter, of which he is Past Eminent Commander; and Lodge of Perfection at Scranton, Pa.

   In Easton, in 1858, Mr. Heckman married Emma O. Tice, having been a hardware merchant there.  They have had three children, but lost their daughter, Annie, who died at the age of fifteen years.  Mary E. is the wife of William L. Yeager, of Mauch Chunk; and Herman S., a resident of Buffalo, N.Y., is a locomotive engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  Mr. and Mrs. Heckman are members of the Church of the Nativity, and are highly esteemed by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance.