HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



333 



or near the site of the Mennonite meet- 

 ing house at Blooming Glen, in Hill- 

 town township, Bucks county. He ren- 

 dered assistance to the patriots when the 

 Continental army was in and around 

 Philadelphia. In 1774, according to a 

 tax duplicate record, he was rated 

 among the list of taxables of Hilltown 

 township. The European branch of the 

 family fought alternately for and against 

 Napoleon, according to the fate of the 

 Alsace and Loraine provinces as deter- 

 mined by the fortunes of the Napoleonic 

 wars. 



Samuel (Detweiler) Heckler, grand- 

 son of George Heckler mentioned above, 

 whose father's name was also George, 

 was born in Lower Salford township, 

 Montgomery county, in 1803. After his 

 marriage he settled in New Britain 

 township, near the village of Greer's 

 Corner, where he resided for six years. 

 He then purchased a farm of about 

 one hundred and twenty acres in the 

 western part of Hilltown township, 

 where he resided until his death, which 

 occurred in the spring of 1884, at the 

 age of eighty-one years. He was a life- 

 long farmer, disposing of his produce in 

 the Philadelphia markets. He was very 

 successful, reared a family of twelve 

 children, and accumulated considerable 

 property. In religious belief he was a 

 liberal Mennonite, and belonged to the 

 church of that sect at Line Lexington, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania. In poli- 

 tics he was affiliated with the Whigs, and 

 later with the Republicans. He mar- 

 ried, in 1825, Anna Rosenberger, of the 

 vicinity of Norristown, Montgomery 

 county. Their children were as follow^s: 



1. Anna Eliza, unmarried, died at the 

 age of twenty-two years. 



2. George, unmarried, died in 1859, at 

 the age of twenty-nine years. 



3. Elias, married Rebecca Gerhart, of 

 Hilltown township, and died in 1900. 



4. Hester Ann, deceased, became the 

 wife of George W. Magargal, of Elkins 

 Park, Montgomery county. 



5. David R., married Amanda Kimbel, 

 of Buckingham township, in 1862, and 

 is now a prosperous farmer in West 

 Bedminster township, Bucks county. 



6. Jacob R., married Lydia Baringer, 

 of Hilltown township, and is now a re- 

 tired resident of Perkasie, Pennsylvania. 



7. Aaron R., married Sophia Rosen- 

 berger, of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, and is 

 one of the substantial farmers of that 

 township. 



8. Samuel, died in infancy. 



9. John R., mentioned at length here- 

 after. 



10. Samuel R., having served through- 

 out the great civil war as a volunteer, 

 married Rebecca Kimbel, of Bucking- 

 ham, and is now a retired farmer living 

 near Lansdale, Pennsylvania. 



11. Amanda, the widow of Charles 

 Massinger, deceased, of Chalfont. 



12. Franklin R., deceased, married 

 ]Margaret, daughter of Christian Meyer, of 

 Hilltown. 



John R. Heckler, son of Samuel Det- 

 weiler and Anna (Rosenberger) Heck- 

 ler, was born November 3, 1840, on the 

 homestead in Hilltown township. His 

 boyhood was passed in rendering assist- 

 ance on the farm, and at the same time 

 attending the subscription and free 

 schools. He taught a public school in 

 Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and after- 

 wards at Pluck's school house, in Hill- 

 town township for two years. He was 

 for some years afterward a tenant- 

 farmer, but in 1885 purchased one of his 

 father's farms, where he lived until 1892, 

 when he moved to Perkasie, Pennsyl- 

 vania. John R. Heckler married, in 

 1861, Victoria S. (Stout), daughter of 

 Tobias and Anna (Stout) Fluck of Hill- 

 town and the following children were 

 born to them: 



1. Calvin F. (christened Samuel Cal- 

 vin), mentioned at length hereafter. 



2. Allen Henry, born August 26, 1866, 

 married in 1891 to Elizabeth, daughter 

 of John D. Hunsberger, of Souderton, 

 one child, Sallie Lorene, being born in 

 1892. Mrs. Heckler's death occurred 

 shortly afterwards. Mr. Heckler mar- 

 ried again, in 1894, Kate Abele, of the- 

 city of Philadelphia, where he now re- 

 sides. Since 1888 he has been a foreman 

 of carpenters in the service of the Phil- 

 adelphia and Reading Railroad Com- 

 pany. Their children are: Calvin F., Jr., 

 deceased; Henry Frederick, and Ernest 

 Abele. 



Nari Franklin, the third son of John 

 R. Heckler, was born February 4, 1873, 

 in Hilltown, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and attended the common schools 

 and the Sellersville high school. In 

 July, 1888, he became a telegraphic stu- 

 dent with the Philadelphia and Reading 

 Railroad Company at Souderton, Penn- 

 sylvania, and afterwards served as a tel- 

 egraph operator of the Philadelphia and 

 New York divisions until October 24, 

 1895, when he resigned to enter the serv- 

 ice of the American Printing Company, 

 of New York City. On March 30, 1896, 

 he was employed by the Union League 

 of Philadelphia, as a stenographer, and 

 was gradually promoted until he was 

 appointed superintendent of that fa- 

 mous organization on IMarch 20. 1900, 

 which position he still retains. He is an 

 active member of the Baptist church, 

 and was married to Alberta Lorene, 

 daughter of John G. Fritz, of Lafayette, 

 Montgomery county, and has one child, 

 John Franklin, who was born July 12, 

 1806. 



Calvin F. Heckler, son of John R., and 

 Victoria Stout (Fluck) Heckler, wa« born 

 on the Heckler homestead in Hilltown 

 township, Bucks county, June 12. 1864. He 

 received hi^ preliminnry education in the 

 common schools of the township, after- 



