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Archiver > PHILLY-ROOTS > 2012-02 > 1329407643


From: "Betty Ann Tyson" <>
Subject: Re: [Phly-Rts] Heller/Stephan
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:54:03 -0500
References: <CAMuUXPL2arycGpsELBu2mNt2wEpywosYJVr2MkP_FtUxK+dvaw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAMuUXPL2arycGpsELBu2mNt2wEpywosYJVr2MkP_FtUxK+dvaw@mail.gmail.com>


Diane,
We have recently learned about August and Meta Heller who lived in the
Philadelphia area in the early 1900s. We have loads of information about
the Heller family. Everything you mentioned matches what we have found.

August was reportedly one of 22 children, and we were told he came with
his brother Wilhelm Heller in 1894. This information came from the family
of Wilhelm or William who now live in the Spring City, PA area. You can
search for the ship manifest, and the ages of the two immigrants match what
we know of August and William. They were from Saxony, Germany. Earlier
Robert Meyer came to the U.S. in 1886 and his second wife was a Heller.

Many of the Germans worked in the dying/weaving/hosiery business in
Philadelphia. When Robert Meyer died in 1922, he was the president of
Apex hosiery, which was the largest hosiery company in Philadelphia. His son
William Meyer took over the business upon Robert's death.

In 1907 Ferdinand Heller, August's brother, immigrated to Philadelphia along
with his wife Clara (Vogt) Heller and their seven children. They soon moved
to Royersford where Ferdinand set up the Royersford Needleworks factory to
produce needles for the full-fashioned hosiery factories.

I did not know of the marriage license application. I'm glad you mentioned
the address that they gave, 234 Tioga Street, Philadelphia. This is the
same address that Ferdinand gave for his sister that is listed on the
ship manifest when he came in 1907. He named his sister as Ernestine Vogel.

Her full name is Ernestine Wilhelmina Heller Schindler Vogel. (Took a while
to piece together her history!) I also saw the Thayer St. address listed on
August's death certificate, which is I printed from FamilySearch.org, so now
I know that this document refers to the August Heller in this family line.

There are many documents online for the people I have mentioned. Check
passport applications, death notices, ship manifests, etc. I have posted
a long list of people from our family lines who were buried in Greenmount
Cemetery. All of Robert Meyer's family is buried there including an older
Heller couple. (Have not yet been able to confirm that Robert's wife is
their daughter and the younger Ferdinand's brother; she may be a niece.) The
Heller couple in the Meyer family grave plot are
Ferdinand F. Heller, born Dec. 20, 1831, died 1898, age 68, and
Auguste-Pauline Heller, b. March 10, 1834, died 1904, age 70.

I'll send more information in emails to you.
Betty Ann Tyson


-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:] On Behalf Of Diane McCue
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 8:55 PM
To:
Subject: [Phly-Rts] Heller/Stephan

Hello:
I am new to your list. Trying to find out more about my husbands' Great
Grandparents. The couple in question are August (sometimes Frederick or
variations) Heller b. 1868 in Germany, and Meta A Stephan b 1879 in
Germany. They were married in 1901 in Philadelphia and had 2 children--
Meta E b. 1901 and Erwin b 1903. August died Nov 7, 1908 and is buried in
Greenmount Cemetary. On their marriage license application their address
is 234 Tioga St (no east or west listed). Some later correspondence has
them at 165 W Thayer St. These addresses, along with the cemetary, seem to
be located close together. They were both listed as millworkers on the
marriage license app, or in August's case, a weaver in the city directory.
The area they lived in appears to have had a lot of textile mills at one
time. After August' death, Meta moved with her children to Fort Wayne IN,
where the rest of her family resided. She is on the 1910 census here, and
worked at Wayne Knitting Mills.
I know very little about August or his family in Philadelphia, when/where
he came to the US, or where he lived in Germany. It is a family mystery
how Meta A ended up in Philadelphia when the rest of her family was in Fort
Wayne. I would greatly appreciate any suggustions on how I should proceed
from here to find out more about August Heller. Thank you for any help you
can offer!
Diane M
Fort Wayne, IN


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