Barbara Heck

RUCKLE BARBARA (Heck) b. Bastian Ruckle as well as Margaret Embury had a daughter named Barbara (Heck) born in 1734. In 1760, she got married to Paul Heck and together they raised seven kids. Four survived until adulthood.

In most cases subjects have participated at important occasions and had unique thoughts or opinions which are documented on paper. Barbara Heck did not leave writings or letters. The evidence of the date of her wedding was a secondary issue. There are no surviving primary sources through which one can trace her motivations and her conduct throughout the course of her lifetime. She has nevertheless become an iconic figure in the early years of North American Methodism history. It is a case where the job of a biography is to debunk the myth or legend and, if that can be done, describe the person that was enshrined.

Abel Stevens a Methodist Historian recorded the event in 1866. Barbara Heck is now unquestionably the first woman to be included in the time of New World ecclesiastical women, thanks to the progress achieved by Methodism. It is due to the fact that the story of Barbara Heck must be mostly based on her contributions to the great cause, and her name remains forever connected. Barbara Heck, who was without intention a part of the founding of Methodism both in America and Canada, is a woman who is famous because of the tendency for a successful organization or movement to celebrate its roots to strengthen its sense of the continuity and history.