Friday, February 15, 2013

Origins of the Heckscher Family




"Origins of the Heckscher Family"
By Frank Heckscher
February 2013

The paper presented above has been prepared by our cousin Frank Heckscher in England. Frank has been tracing, studying and following the lines of the Heckscher family since the early 1990s.

Without a doubt he has probably met more Heckscher's in more places than any other living member of our family.

Ben Heckscher Jr.

A Footnote:
If you have any trouble viewing the document in the embedded Scribd reader, please click on this link to download a PDF copy of Frank's research:
"Origins of the Heckscher Family"

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901)


COURTESY OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
FINE ARTS LIBRARY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY


John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901)
Creator: Mathew B. Brady & Studio

Date: ca. 1857
Medium: Carte-de-viste photograph
Dimensions: 17 13/16 x 13 in.



John Gustave Richard Heckscher, known as Richard Heckscher, was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on August 6, 1822. He was baptized and later confirmed in the Lutheran Church.

He served in the banking house of E. Merck & Co., in Hamburg, and later in a similar capacity in Paris. He left le Havre (France) bound for America on March 18, 1844 on the French ship, the St. Nicholas.

He landed in New York City, at 8 p.m., on the 18th day of April, 1844 after a voyage of thirty-one days.

Here, in conjunction with his uncle, Charles A. Heckscher, he became interested in the development of anthracite mines in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

As the president of the New York and Schuylkill Coal Company, and manager of the Forest Improvement Company, he developed and operated numerous collieries at Heckscherville, Thomaston, Forestville, Minersville and other points in Schuylkill County.

Later, with his cousin August Heckscher of New York, he opened the Kohinoor collieries in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. It is said that he introduced many original designs and mechanical devices of great value in anthracite mining, and to a great extent revolutionized the method of conducting these operations with the originality and perfection of his system and organization.

Richard Heckscher was for many years President of the Lehigh Zinc and Iron Company, of Bethlehem Pennsylvania, and of Richard Heckscher & Sons Company, whose blast furnaces were in Swedeland, Pennsylvania.

Richard Heckscher was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in the Court of Common Pleas in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania on September 8, 1851.

He died on July 10, 1901 and was buried on July 13 in the family plot at Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.

His home of many years, at 260 South 18th Street in Philadelphia, still stands to this day.

A family tree of John Gustave Richard Heckscher
as prepared by John Marshall





John Gustave Richard Heckscher, age 23
Date: ca. 1845 / Medium: B&W daguerreotype

Provenance:
unknown origin; in the possession of Gustave Heckscher II at the time of his death. Photographic copy made in 2003.





Family of Richard and Lucretia Heckscher

Date: ca. 1886 / Medium: B&W photograph

(l-r, standing)
Ledyard Heckscher (1872-1951), Richard Percy Heckscher (1860-1903), Lucretia Stevens Heckscher (1882-1949), Gustave Adolph Heckscher (1869-1946)

(l-r, sitting)
Stevens Heckscher (1875-1931), Johanna Barbara Heckscher (1864-1930), John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901), Lucretia Ledyard Stevens (1830-1907), Maurice Heckscher (1865-1905)

Not shown: John Austin Stevens Heckscher (1858-1910)


Provenance:
Unknown origin; in the possession of Gustave Heckscher II (1914-2006) at the time of his death. Photographic copy made in 2004.





"The Heckscher Men of Philadelphia"
Date: ca. 1895 / Medium: B&W photograph / Dimensions: 9 ½" x 13 ½"

(l-r, rear)
Ledyard Heckscher (1872-1951), Stevens Heckscher (1875-1931), and Gustave Adolph Heckscher (1869-1946)

(l-r, front)
Richard Percy Heckscher (1860-1903), John Austin Stevens Heckscher (1858-1910), John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901), and Maurice Heckscher (1865-1905)

Provenance:
Unknown origin; in the possession of John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1909-1980) at the time of his death; by descent to his wife Anna Heckscher (1910-1996); Maurice Heckscher II.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Stevens Heckscher (1875-1931)


Stevens Heckscher, Age 7
Date: 1882 / Medium: B&W photograph / Dimensions: 4" x 6"

Provenance:
Unknown origin; in the possession of Lucretia Heckscher Harrison (1903-1982) at the time of her death; by descent to her son Joseph Harrison III; his daughter Lucretia Harrison.

Notes:
The photograph was taken at the Scholl studio, No. 1632 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia.





Stevens Heckscher, Age 21
Date: 1896 / Medium: B&W photograph / Dimensions: 4" x 6"

Inscriptions:
“Copy Vanity Fair, Philadelphia” (on the front)
“Stevens Heckscher 1896 age 21” (on the back, in the handwriting of Lucretia Heckscher Harrison (1903-1982), the daughter of Stevens Heckscher.

Provenance:
Unknown origin; in the possession of Lucretia Heckscher Harrison (1903-1982) at the time of her death; by descent to her son Joseph Harrison III; his daughter Lucretia Harrison.





Stevens Heckscher, Age 45
Date: 1920 / Medium: B&W photograph / Dimensions:

Provenance:
unknown origin; in the possession of Gustave Heckscher II (1914-2006) at the time of his death. Photographic copy made in 2003.




Stevens Heckscher
First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry
Date: unknown / Medium: B&W photograph

Provenance:
unknown origin; in the possession of Gustave Heckscher II (1914-2006) at the time of his death. Photographic copy made in 2004.



Sources:

A family tree of Stevens Heckscher
as prepared by John Marshall

Duane, Morris. 1979. Duane, Morris & Heckscher. Philadelphia: printed for the Firm only.
Book. 69 p.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Family Documents

Heckscher Family documents available on-line

Letters [of] Lucretia Ledyard Stevens Heckscher - Volume I
For the period 1840-1875
127 pages

Letters [of] Lucretia Ledyard Stevens Heckscher - Volume II
For the period 1875-1907
144 pages

Both volumes were transcribed and privately printed by Gustave A. Heckscher II in 1992.

Lucretia Ledyard Stevens Heckscher (1830-1907) was the
wife of John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901).



Other Heckscher Family Documents
(to be scanned and posted on this site, in time)


My First Venture in Poking my Nose into the World, A Diary by R. Heckscher, 1843-1845
John Gustave Richard Heckscher (1822-1901)
Original, in German and English
Boston. Privately Printed (in English). 1920.

Memoirs and Letters of the Heckscher Family
Stevens Heckscher (1875-1931)
Philadelphia: Privately printed.

Letters from Carl Martin Adolph Heckscher to J. G. Richard Heckscher, 1847-1857
English translation from the German original
Berlin, April 24, 1847
Altona, June 19, 1847
November 24, 1847
Hamburg, September 13, 1848
Altona, October 5, 1848
Altona, November 18, 1849
Altona, December 24, 1849
Altona, February 15, 1850
Vienna, March 21, 1857

Memoirs and Letters of the Heckscher Family, a Sequel
Maurice Heckscher (1907-2001)
Privately printed. 1997

The Way I Remember It, the Memoirs of Gustave A. Heckscher II
Gustave A. Heckscher II (1904-2006)
Privately printed. 2006



Reference Books held by the Family:

Memoir of Henry Armitt Brown, together with Four Historical Orations
Edited by J. M. Hoppin
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1880.

John Austin Stevens 1794-1874
Edtited by his grand-daughter Johanna Heckscher Burnham
Boston. Privately printed. 1920.

Erasmus Stevens and his Descendants
Eugene R. Stevens
Revised by Col. William Plumb Bacon
New York. Press of Tobias A. Wright. 1914

[The] Perkins Family
Augustus Thorndike Perkins
Boston. T. R. Marbin & Son. 1890.

Biographical Sketch of Ebenezer Stevens
John Austin Stevens
Boston. Privately Printed. 1920.

[Obituary of] Richard Heckscher 1822-1901
Boston. Privately Printed. 1920.

Stevens Reminiscences
John Austin Stevens
Boston. Privately Printed. 1920.

Family of Ledyard.
Notes of Stevens and Perkins Families.
Boston. Privately printed. 1920.



Other citations will be added in time.