Bios: Rev. George C. Heckman, D.D., LL.D.: Easton, Northampton County, PA

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Biographiesfrom - "Proceedings of Pennsylvania-German Society Volume XII, 1901

Rev. George C. Heckman, D.D., LL.D.

	Rev. George C. Heckman, D.D., LL.D., was born in Easton, Pa., on January 26, 1825,
and was of German descent on both sides of his family, his ancestors being among the
first emigrants to locate in eastern Pennsylvania.
	After attending the schools of Easton he entered Lafayette College in 1841,
graduating from the same in 1845.  Immediately thereafter he entered Princeton
Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1848, but was licensed to preach
on August 4 of the preceding year.
	His first charge was at Port Byron, N.Y., in 1848, where he continued over eight
years.  He next, in January, 1857, accepted a call to a missionary field in
Wisconsin, remaining at Portage and Janesville for a period of four and one half
years.  In 1861 he moved to Indianapolis, Ind., as pastor of the Third Presbyterian
Church, now known as the Tabernacle Church.  During the Civil War, upon invitation of
Colonel King, of the Ninth Regiment, United States Regulars, he acted as volunteer
chaplain of that regiment.  Later he became sergeant of a company of Indiana
minute-men, formed wholly of clergymen, which, however, was not mustered into active service.
	As a man of pleasing address and much personal magnetism, a deep thinker and
versatile writer, his sermons attracted much attention and he received numerous
calls from different parts of the country.  Among these he was tendered the
presidency of Hanover College, also a charge, in Easton, Pa., the church which he
attended in youth, but he felt constrained to decline both of these to accept a call
to the State Street Church, of Albany, N.Y., in 1867.  Finally, however, he was
persuaded to act as president of Hanover College, in which position he continued for
nine years.
	In 1879 he became pastor of the Avondale Presbyterian Church, in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and continued there until 1887 when he was invited by the General Assembly of the
church to serve for one year as Secretary of the Century Fund, in connection with
the centennial anniversary held in 1888.  Upon the expiration of these duties he
accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church, of Reading, Pa., in 1889, where he
served faithfully as its pastor until his decease, the latter year of two in the
capacity of pastor emeritus.
	Besides being the president of Hanover College, during which time he cleared it of
long-standing debt and added $100,000 to its endowment fund, he served on its Board
of Trustees.  He was also a Trustee of Lafayette University, Easton, Pa., and for
many years on the Board of Home Missions and the Board of Publication of the
Presbyterian Church, and sat in its General Assembly twelve times.
	Dr. Heckman was a fluent writer and contributed a number of articles to various
papers and magazines. He was a man of sterling Christian qualities, beloved by all;
a good citizen and a true patriot, whose loss will be sorely felt by all with whom
he was associated.
	On June 11, 1850, he was married to Josephine A. Davis, a daughter of Josiah Davis,
of Easton, Pa., who, with the following children, survive him: Mary Snyder, wife of
Rev. D.B. Banta, a minister from India; William C., assistant superintendent of the
railway postal service; Charles C., attorney-at-law of Indianapolis, Ind., Anna F.,
residing at home; John Claude, of Evansville, Ind., and Frederick C., of Reading,
Pa. Two other children, George Clarence and Josephine D., are dead.
	Dr. Heckman was a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, through his
great-grandfather, Lieut. Col. Peter Kichlein, of Easton, Pa. He became a member of
the Pennsylvania-German Society at its organization on April 15, 1891, and was
actively and continuously identified with its work until his decease, serving as its
president during the year 1894.
	His death, due to heart failure, occurred at 9:30 o'clock on Wednesday morning,
March 5, 1902, at his home on Green Terrace, in Reading, Pa. H.M.M.R.