Click the image for more info.  
 

The Statue of Liberty National Monument was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
It served as a beacon calling immigrants from all over the world to pass through her ports and settle in the new country.  By 1891, there were 44 states in the Union.  Click the Flag for more about the statue.

    
   

THEY CAME WITH A DREAM

    

 

In 1891, five members of the Heck family traveled from Baden, Germany to Antwerp, Belgium and boarded the SS Noordland.  Mathew and Catherine Heck (with two sons and a daughter) saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time on May 14th, 1891.  They had left their families in Germany.

Click either image for more info about the ship they used for the journey.

  

         

Passenger List
 

  
Click the thumbnail image on the left for a full page view of the passenger list for those who arrived in New York on May 14th, 1891.     Math Heck is listed age 50. Cath is listed age 52.  Peter was 24 years old, Marg was 20 years old, and Math, Jr. was 14 years old.

Clicking these images bypasses the index of families.  To get back here, use the back button on your browser.  

   Katheriine and Mathew
   

PLACES WHERE THEY LIVED

    

DuBois 		  

Mathew moved to DuBois.  His oldest son, Peter, moved back and forth between DuBois and Nason.  My Grandfather, Ted also lived in both places as different times.  My father was born in DuBois but made his home on a farm in Nason.  That farm was purchased by Ted in 1945.

  


Nason
   

PLACES WHERE THEY WORKED

    
  They came to the US with skills that enabled them to live off the land with no outside assistance.  They bought farms and paid for those lands with their own sweat and blood.  When the farms were waiting out the winter, they worked in coal mines providing the necessary means to heat their homes and feed their families.  Living in the new country was a challenge but they survived and multiplied.  They built villages, towns, and cities to build on a way of life that had not previously existed in the lands where they chose to live.  Click the images.  
   

PLACES WHERE THEY REST IN PEACE

    
  Most of the first generation Americans in the Heck family lived near DuBois, Ashley, Tamaroa, and Nason all of which are in the state of Illinois.  Most of them are buried in the cemeteries near those towns.  Their descendants scattered across the US and can be found in many states.  Some have been found and some are still unidentified. The cemeteries located in the Places page of this web site are only a few with the primary focus on the first generations to settle in the US.  Click either image to visit the cemeteries.  
   

COUSINS AND THE FAMILY INDEX

    
 

Have you ever wondered how granny figured out that you were 2nd cousin once removed from someone you know.  We've got the definitions. Click the thumbnail image on the left  to determine your own relationships with those you know.

  

Click this image or the arrows below to proceed to the index of families that merged with the blood line that began in the United States with Mathew and Catherine.
 


 
   

AND LIFE GOES ON

    
Click here to learn about those who have helped with this site  
This site would not be possible without the assistance of many relatives scattered around this country. Click the trading Information Link on the left to learn more about the creation of Heck Family Forest.