The Old Country
The Hickmans                                                            by Donald Roger Hickman

Previous                     Contents Page/Search                             Next

1. The Old Country


At a point in European history around 1100 A.D. when surnames were first required, it was common to select a name indicating the person’s location or occupation.  Thus John in England who lived where apple trees grew became known as John Appleby.  Jacob in Germany who milled grain became Jacob Mueller.  In our case, Heckmann was selected to indicate a family living at the edge of the village.  Today, “living on the edge” indicates a state of keen excitement, as from danger or risk.  As we shall see, this certainly applied to our early ancestors.

The village of Mörzheim, Germany, is nestled in a shallow valley just east of the Haardt Mountains and about 12 miles west of the great Rhine River.  The village was established in the year 724. It is just south of the city of Landau in what is now the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.  In the period of time we’re interested in, it was a part of what is known as the Palatinate (in German, der Pfalz), one of the most fought over and devastated regions in world history.  France and the German states battled over it constantly.

The year 1674 was no different.  Young Ottilia Mangold had married Georg Jacob Heckmann, our 7th great-grandfather, not long before.  But now the French were coming again and she found she was pregnant with their first child.  Reports were coming in that villages were being burned to the ground.  They hurriedly got their things together and set off for the village of Annweiler, about 8 miles to the west and somewhat protected by the mountains.  Annweiler was known as a safe haven for refugees and the Heckmanns decided to go for it.  They arrived safely and soon after, Georg Friedrich Heckmann was born and on the 23rd of October was baptized at the Annweiler Reformed Church.  Records there mention that the parents were in flight from war or plague and were lodging there temporarily.

The baby was not our direct ancestor (his brother was), but this little story serves to illustrate the environment of 17th century Europe.  For many years, the German states were a part of the Holy Roman Empire.  But, after Martin Luther’s arrival on the scene, the “Lutherans” spread his teachings far and wide and no area embraced them more than the Palatinate.  John Calvin and his Reformist followers were also welcome there and the Palatinate became a focal point of Protestantism.  The devastating Thirty Years War of 1619 to 1648 was about politics, possessions and religions, and the Palatinate paid dearly for its Protestant churches and beliefs.  A quarter of a century after the end of that dismal period, King Louis XIV declared war on the Palatinate, and his troops again marched to the Rhine River, burning and pillaging as they went.  The Heckmanns had made a wise move.

It’s not known how long the Heckmanns stayed in Annweiler.  The Mörzheim Church book was destroyed in all the turmoil sometime before 1685 and the earliest recorded births appear after that in the new book.  We know that Ottilia and Georg Jacob had at least six more children but we only know the exact baptism dates for the last four, which took place in Mörzheim.  So they did return but somewhere in the meantime their son, our 6th great-grandfather, Peter Heckmann was born, probably about 1682.  Georg Jacob’s known family group looks something like this:

 

Family of Georg Jacob Heckmann

Georg Jacob Heckmann born 1648, died 19 Dec 1704 in Mörzheim, Germany, married Ottilia Mangold born 1654, died 10 Jan 1733 in Mörzheim

Children:
1. Georg Friedrich Heckmann born 23 Oct 1674 in Annweiler, Germany
2. Peter Heckmann born about 1682, died after 1724, married 21 Apr 1711 to Margaretha Schäfer born 1688, died         20 Oct 1746 in Mörzheim

3. Catharina Heckmann born 1684, died 27 Aug 1759, married

     28 Jul 1707 to Hans Heinrich Zittel

4. Hans Jacob Heckmann b: 22 Dec 1686 in Mörzheim

5. Anna Margaretha Heckmann born 22 Dec 1686 in

    Mörzheim, died before 1688 in Mörzheim   

6. Anna Margaretha Heckmann born 12 Dec 1688 in

     Mörzheim, died about 1746 in Mörzheim

7. Andreas Heckmann born 17 Jun 1691 in Mörzheim 

 

Tales were now circulating about some people leaving for the New Land.  Apparently a fellow named William Penn was starting a colony across the ocean and he was asking people to come and help settle it.  The Queen of England was making it known that she would help those who wanted to go to Pennsylvania.  In 1709, along with all the other trials and tribulations of living in the Germanic states, the winter was an extremely cold one, colder than most people could ever remember.  German peoples rushed to the ships to sail for England and the Queen quickly became sorry she ever brought up the matter.  The people were told to stop coming because England was swamped by the large numbers.  Peter Heckmann in Mörzheim probably gave the matter more than passing notice.  He was in his late 20s by then, but his father, Georg Jacob, had died in 1704 and the property had to be taken care of.  Besides, he had his eye on a young lass named Margaretha Schaefer.  They were married on April 21, 1711 and settled down to raise a family:

 

Family of Peter Heckmann of Mörzheim

Peter Heckmann born about 1682, died after 1724, married 21 Apr 1711 in Mörzheim to Margaretha Schäfer born 1688, died 20 Oct 1746 in Mörzheim

Children:
1. Johann Conrad Heckmann  born 24 Dec 1712 in Mörzheim, died 15 Jan 1714 in Mörzheim

2. Anna Catharina Heckmann born 20 Mar 1717 in Mörzheim
3. Hans Jacob Heckmann born 29 Aug 1718 in Mörzheim, died after 1778

married Maria Eva Kessler died after 1778

4. Maria Margaretha Heckmann born 18 Oct 1720 in Mörzheim       

married  30 Apr 1743 in Mörzheim to Conrad Gummel   

5. Elisabetha Heckmann born 22 Apr 1722 in Mörzheim

6. Hans Conrad Heckmann born 23 Dec 1724 in Mörzheim,

died about 1798 in Loudoun Co., VA

married about 1752 in Frederick Co., MD to Christiana _____ born about 1730, died about 1772

married between 1773 – 1790 in Loudoun Co. to Susanna _____            

 

Even when the village of Mörzheim was not being targeted by marauding armies, it was so close to the larger town of Landau that its history and environment were largely dependent on it.  Landau became a bastion of the French Kingdom.  It became an almost impenetrable fortress but that didn’t stop the forces of the German States or the Dutch or the Swedes from trying to overthrow it.  It stood as a French Island in the middle of the German Palatinate.  There were battles and skirmishes throughout our period of interest, which unfortunately affected the hapless farmers of Mörzheim and other surrounding communities.  Invading armies would enlist the farmers for support in their battles.  The farmers had no choice.  Horses were taken, livestock were used, food was confiscated, and in some cases the farmers were expected to fight on the side of the invaders.  Some of them fled to the forests to live off the land, but that was extremely difficult to do.  If the French were driven out, they would reconnoiter another day, mount the battle again, swoop down on the farmers and command their help, take control of Landau again, and re-inhabit the fortified city for another 10 years or so.

But it wasn’t just during the period we’re talking about.  The conflicts actually go back several centuries and continued on up to the regimes of French King Louis XIV, Napoleon, and the World Wars I and II.  Mörzheim and the rest of the Palatinate were unfortunately located in the thick of things.  The border with France, Alsace region, is but 11 miles away.  As a result of this “I’ve got it, no you’ve got it” shifting back and forth, maps of different periods show unique combinations of French and German place names.  On a current map, the city of Zweibrücken (German for Two Bridges) lies on the western Palatinate border with Saarland.  On a map of 1760, the city is labeled DeuxPonts (French for Two Bridges).

With all of these conflicts, it is difficult to imagine villagers carrying on their daily lives.  But somehow they did.  Mörzheim was a wine village.  The Romans had introduced vineyards to the village several centuries before.  Grapes were always an important crop, but the vineyards existed along side the other crops and the livestock.  Today, the village is surrounded by vineyards, as are most of the other villages in the area.  It is the second largest wine producing area in Germany.

A German farm will not be found isolated out in the country like they are in the United States.  To this day, the farmhouses and barns are in the village, generally on the perimeter so that if you go out the front door, you are in the village streets.  If you go out the back door, you are in the fields.  But in the old days, the house and the barn were one and the same, the family living with the livestock. 

The first child of Peter and Margaretha Heckmann was Johann Conrad, born on December 24th, 1712.  At this point it seems advisable to review the naming practices of these families.  The first name, usually Johann but not always, was the religious or Christian name in honor of a biblical figure.  The second name was the given name and the one that the person was known by.  In this case, the child would not have been called Johann at all; everyone would call him Conrad.  The same was true for girls.  A common first, or Christian, name would be Anna or Maria followed by the real name, Catharina, Elisabetha, etc.  Sometimes in documents the Christian name would be omitted, as in our Peter who was most likely originally Johann Peter.

So Johann Conrad Heckmann was born, but he was not our Conrad.  Sadly, as was so often the case in those days, the uncertainties of life caught up with this little Conrad, and he died just after his first birthday, on January 15th, 1714.  The rest of the children followed in orderly fashion, Anna Catharina in 1717, Hans Jacob (honoring his grandfather, no doubt) in 1718, Maria Margaretha in 1720, Elisabetha in 1722, and the last child we know of, one Hans Conrad (old German spelling Chonrath) Heckmann, our 5th great-grandfather, on December 23rd, 1724.

  What, another Conrad!?  Yes, it was not uncommon in the event of a child’s death to name a subsequent child in his or her honor.  It was done in the case of Conrad’s Uncle, Hans Jacob, who had a twin sister, Anna Margaretha, who did not survive for very long.  Two years later a new daughter was born and named Anna Margaretha again.

Note that the second Conrad was born one day short of exactly 12 years after the first.  This may well have been taken as a sign by the parents that the new child was to be named Conrad, or even that the new baby was a reincarnation of that first child born a dozen years before.  He was baptized on Christmas Day and the sponsors were Conrad and Fronica Fichtenkampf, the same as for the first Conrad.  Was Hans Conrad the last child?  We don’t know for sure, but his birth is the last one recorded for this family in the church records.  Mother Margaretha was only 36 at that time and didn’t die ‘til 1746.  It’s possible that father Peter died shortly after 1724.  There is no record of his death in the church records, but he certainly wouldn’t have justify the family to emigrate or for any other reason.

These people referred to as farmers were actually toiling under a system called serfdom.  They were serfs, who did not own their own property but leased it from their Lord and Master who taxed them and whose permission was required for such things as moving or marrying, etc.  They could be taxed on what they produced or if it were a bad year a basic tax on the property would be levied anyway.  Taxes were also imposed for special projects, such as a new water duct or village well, for example.  In spite of how it sounds, the people were able to manage a decent living in most times and this system was probably not the major reason per se for the massive emigrations of later years.  Within this system, there were roughly 3 categories of peasants:

a. About 2 to 5% had the big farms, of which probably only small parts were owned by them and larger parts leased from a Lord or church or a monastery.  These farmers had the important village positions, such as mayor, village judge, etc.  Innkeepers and millers were also fairly well off.

b. The largest group, 60-80% were the common farmers who leased land, worked hard, and usually were able to have a modest standard of living.  Most of them had a sideline such as smith, cartwright, cooper, tailor, shoemaker, etc. that was often handed down from father to son.

c. The third group was the day laborers that worked for other farmers for day wages.  They were very poor and tended to have lots of children.

Conrad’s older brother Jacob would have been in line to take over the family property.  Either that or it would have been divided up between them.  Either way, it would be no bonanza for Conrad.  After all the wars and the hard times, people were gradually returning to the villages and the populations were again increasing because the birth rate was high.  Some Dukes and Princes even advertised in Switzerland and other lands to come to their Duchy or State to till the soil.  But as populations increased, crop production did not, due to a lack of sufficient clover and fertilizer.  Economic hardship became common.  Serfdom was no picnic, but there’s no denying the primary reason for the steady increase in emigration to America was opportunity and the hope of economic improvement.  It’s likely that stories coming back from the New Land were beginning to sound better and better.  Relatives received letters telling how it could be done.  William Penn’s agents periodically made the rounds of the villages, recruiting young men to go to Pennsylvania.  Agents for ship captains urged them to emigrate and told them how the money could be raised if they didn’t have enough.

Did Conrad Heckmann have enough money to do such a thing?  Clearly, the answer is no.  For one thing, permission was required from the Lord and a 10% charge for manumission was assessed.  In other words, you had to pay for your freedom to go.  You had to prove that you had no debts that would become a burden to the Lord after you justify, and if you justify without permission your property and/or future inheritance would be confiscated.  In addition, of course, money was needed for the boat trip down the Rhine River as well as for the big ship for the ocean voyage.  Nevertheless, emigration from the German States continued to increase.  In the Palatinate the year Conrad was born, a decree ordered the confiscation of property of those who emigrated without authorization.  It didn’t seem to help, and decrees had to be issued again in 1752, 1764 and 1779.  In 1752, the decree stated:

 

“For some time now, it has been observed with great displeasure that Palatines emigrated to Pennsylvania and to other American States.  This decree orders that all recruiting for emigration, even in a disguised form, is a punishable offense.  Suspicion of recruiting for emigration falls in particular on returnees who visit relatives or are here on ‘business trips’.  Such suspects are to be accompanied by watchers at their expense.  Authorities are to work against emigration by warnings, threat of punishment, and by making it more difficult to acquire money by the sale of personal property or by inheritance.  Subjects are not allowed to cross the borders of the Empire under the penalty of having their property confiscated.”

   -- Elector Karl Theodor

 

By 1748, Conrad and his oldest sister Catharina had been thinking about the New Land for quite some time.  One contributing factor might have been that Thomas Schley, the local schoolmaster at the Reformed Church, had emigrated in 1744.  It is alleged that he justify with up to 100 families of Calvinists (Reformists) and Huguenots (French Reformists).  This is probably an exaggeration, but because of Schley’s position it might have been a large group.  He became a well known settler in Frederick County, Maryland, helping to establish the town of Frederick and building one of the first houses there.  There is no doubt that word would have gotten back to Mörzheim about the possibilities in that Colony.  Then Margaretha, their mother, died in 1746, possibly contributing to their unrest.  And by now, brother Jacob had married a girl from Wollmesheim just a mile or two down the road and he had moved to that village.  He wasn’t interested in America.  Conrad and Catharina had very little money for such a venture.  How would they ever get permission to leave?

In Richard Hofstadter’s book, America at 1750 – A Social Portrait, he quotes writer Arthur Young:  “Men who emigrate are, from the nature of the circumstances, the most active, hardy, daring, bold and resolute spirits, and probably the most mischievous also”.  Conrad, the youngest child, was probably all of that.  Hofstadter says that the author “was suggesting that the most venturesome or visionary, the most impatient and restive under authority, the most easily alienated, the most desperate and cranky, were the most ready to leave, giving at least the initial population of the American colonies a strong bias toward dislike of authority.”

One spring morning in that year of 1748, when the sun rose over the Rhine as usual, it’s golden rays slamming against the hills of the Haardt mountains to the west, the peasants arose to greet the new day, milking their cows and tending their chores.  Everything seemed normal as they bustled around to their tasks.  Normal except for one thing:  Two people who should be there, were gone.  Conrad and Catharina had run away!

Previous                     Contents Page/Search                             Next