Magdalena Heller

GEDCOM Source

@R703013215@ Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,60592::0 1,60592::327729

GEDCOM Source

@R703013215@ U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,60525::0 1,60525::101089876

GEDCOM Source

@R703013215@ U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,60525::0 1,60525::101089876
daughter of Michael Heller and his wife Magdalena.

Evidence seems to point to Michael Heller called Oil Mike and Magdalena Buchecker as her parents. Magdalena's 1788 Lower Saucon United Church of Christ baptism record says her father was Michael Heller Junior. The same entry was made on the baptismal information for Tobias Heller in 1790 and it's known that his father was Oil Mike. There is also a Lower Saucon UCC Confirmation record (Mar. 1806) for a Magdalena Heller who was 18 and Tobias Heller who was 16 and their father was Michael Heller. The original hand written entry clearly specifies it was Oil Mike. That blurb wasn't transcribed over to the typed up copies of the record.

So why Junior? I think the confusion with the "Junior" is because Alt Vater Mike had a son named Michael (Creeker Mike) and the assumption has been he'd be Jr.. Oilich Mike was also called Michael the Younger and the German would be Junger and was often written as Junior. Then there's Oil Mike's veterans burial card to consider. He fought in the Revolution and served in the same company with other Michael Heller's. On his burial card he is called Michael junior. The information on that card (cemetery, plot, row) is definitely the final resting place for Oil Mike who was not a junior.

If her church burial record is accurate it appears that Magdalena had a son named Solomon who lived for only 17 days and was also buried on Sept. 6, 1812. The burial records at 1st Reformed Church in Easton, Pa. link the names of Magdalena Heller & Solomon (he's called "of kind") and shows that each was buried in Saucon township. Since Magdalena is buried in Lime Kiln, it's very likely Solomon could have been interred there as well and possibly with his mother. There is no mention of this child or a father on Magdalena's gravestone so Solomon could have been born out of wedlock. Some secrets really do get taken to the grave - RJH* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 9 2023, 3:47:11 UTC