This Week in Frick-Heckman History

Heckman, often spelled Heckmann in German records, connects our surname with the hedges and enclosures of the old German landscape. These living boundaries marked property and helped protect cultivated ground and settlements. The name is most commonly explained as “the man by the hedge,” referring to someone who lived beside an enclosure or held enclosed land. “Hedge tender” is another interpretation sometimes offered, while some surname references suggest a gatekeeper. We have not established which meaning first applied to our own Heckman ancestors. I often hear it suggested that Heckman is an Americanized spelling of Heckmann, but it is interesting to note that the first Heckman in North America in our line signed his name with one 'n' when he took oaths upon his arrival in Philadelphia.

Heckman spellings Heckmann and Heckman are closely related forms; Hekman is a Dutch variant. Hickman can appear as an English surname in its own right, but it can also be a misleading index spelling in our research. Charles Heckman’s 1925 marriage was indexed as Charles Hickman, while the original record reads Charles Heckman. That is a reminder to check the document before assuming an ancestor changed his name.

Our Heckman origins trace to the Palatinate area of the Holy Roman Empire in modern day Southwest Germany. Our family left Europe before Germany was united. They would have referred to themselves as German, but more in a cultural sense, not necessarily in the sense of a nationality.

Frick In German, Frick commonly developed from a shortened form of Friedrich, the name we know in English as Frederick. Its older Germanic elements mean “peace” and “power,” often rendered “peaceful ruler.” A separate Swiss origin connects some Frick families with the town of Frick in Aargau. Adjacent to the town is the Fricktal or Frick valley. The Fricktaler Chriesiwäg (Cherry Tree Trail) is a scenic, themed hiking trail in the Frick Valley; the trail is famous for its breathtaking cherry blossoms, turning the rolling hills into a sea of white and pink flowers in mid April to Early May. Given Kathi's Frick ancestors were part of the Landis - Frick - Funk community of Swiss Brethren in Bucks County, it is fairly certain this is our origin.

Frick spellings Related forms include Fricke, while Friccius and Frickius are Latinized forms found in historical records. These names are useful search leads, not proof that every bearer belongs to one family. Our own Charles Franklin Heckman and Albert Downing Frick used the familiar Heckman and Frick spellings on their 1940 draft cards. The records connecting people across generations give those names their particular meaning in our family history.

Henry Clay Frick, the steel and coke industrialist, had Swiss ancestry and a Mennonite family background. The Frick Collection’s biography confirms his Mennonite origins. He was born in West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1849. That makes him an interesting comparison with Kathi’s Swiss Brethren family background. It does not establish a relationship to Kathi’s Fricks or an origin in the town of Frick or the Fricktal. Those connections would require a documented genealogical chain, but certainly our Fricks and Henry Clay Frick come from a common extended community.