Barbara Heck

BARBARA (Heck), Bastian Ruckle and Margaret Embury had a daughter named Barbara (Heck), born 1734. In 1760, she got married to Paul Heck and together they have seven children. Four of them lived until adulthood.

Normally the subject of the biography is a major participant in significant instances or has presented unique thoughts or suggestions that were recorded in a documentary format. Barbara Heck however left no documents or correspondence, so any evidence of such in relation to the day of her wedding is not the most important. There is no primary source that could be used to trace Barbara Heck's motives, or her actions during most of her time. It is still an important figure for the beginning of Methodism. Biographers must establish the myth, describe the story and identify the individual who is enshrined within.

A report by the Methodist historian Abel Stevens wrote in 1866. The growth of Methodism throughout the United States has now indisputably put the names of Barbara Heck first on the list of women in the ecclesiastical history of the New World. Her accomplishments are based more on the importance of the cause that she has been involved in than on her private life. Barbara Heck was involved fortuitously in the inception of Methodism throughout both the United States and Canada and her fame is based in the natural nature of an extremely popular organization or movement to celebrate its origins so that it can strengthen its sense of tradition and connection to its past.