Barbara A. Bickel
by Jan Whitaker, October 2021
Barbara Bickel was an unknown great great grandmother to me. Her husband’s last name, Heleine,
was one known in the family but not the Bickels. For context, Barbara was the mother of Henry
Grant Whitaker’s wife, Maggie Heleine.
Barbara was a farmer’s daughter which was quite common for this
generation of women. Born in December 1826 or 1828 (as listed on
her gravestone) to David Bickel and Catherine Danner in Holmes
County, Ohio, she was the sixth child of eight. Her oldest brother,
David, was eighteen years older than she. In between the siblings
were Jacob, Elizabeth, Jacob Augustus and Thomas. After Barbara
came Benjamin and Mary Ann.
The family name itself has quite a history. According to some online
history, it may have started as Picklesteimer, but changed to Pickle
when the German ancestors arrived in America. Eventually, it
morphed to Bickle or Bickel. Barbara’s name also had its challenges
with names on records: Bickle, Heleine, Barbara Ann Bishel, Barbary A. Hilene, Barbary Heleine,
Barbary Hellene, Barbara A Bickle Heleine, Barbara Hillian (in David Bickle’s will).
It is possible they were Lutherans or Reformed Lutherans. The first Lutheran meeting was held in
the home of Thomas Bickel, likely Barbara’s uncle, near New Bedford, Ohio. Its name became Zion
Church July 15, 1823.
First Evangelical Lutheran and German Reformed Congregations of New Bedford, Coshocton
County Ohio.
Holmes County formed out of Coshocton, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties.
From: History of villages, people, places in eastern Holmes County, by Clarence Troyer, 1975.
Like Cassie Stuck’s large family, the Bickels were land holders with many brothers establishing
their families in the Holmes/Coshocton County area.
In the 1850 agriculture census in Mechanics Township, Holmes County, the Bickle families were
well represented. It is assumed that the David Bickle in line 16 is Barbara’s father. They held quite a
productive farm worth many dollars! Samuel is a nephew. All the others are David’s sons.
Some time before 1858, the David Bickel family moved to Bartholomew
County, Indiana, county seat Columbus. There is a land transfer from David
Sr to Nicholas Mullett, 50 acres, and John King, 70(?) acres, in 1858,
transferring their Holmes County property. Barbara doesn’t appear as living
with the family on the Holmes Ohio 1850 census, so it is possible she is
living with another family in the Holmes area.
MARRIAGE TO JOHN PAUL HELEINE
Barbara eventually joined the family because she married John Paul Heleine in November of 1858
in Bartholomew County, Indiana. Prior to 1858, John Paul was on the 1850 census in Montgomery,
Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was an immigrant from Hessen, Germany, his occupation was
listed as a mechanic.
Barbara’s mother Catherine died about 1861 and her father joined her in 1863. David Bickel’s will
was filed in Bartholomew County in 1861, and names Barbara as receiving $200 after the death of
his wife and when the executors has presented his will. Since Catherine died before him, he added a
codicil making his youngest daughter Mary Ann his inheritor, giving her full discretion for
distribution of his estate. However, the codicil doesn’t specify the distribution of the estate to his
other children named in the first will. The full will was presented in Shelby County, Indiana in
1863. His burial place is unknown.
Paul and Barbara had six children, beginning in 1860. Her
third child, John, born in 1863, died in 1864, 1 year and 7
months old. He and his paternal grandmother were buried in
Johnson County, in the Atterbury Cemetery. The children
were: Catherine (1860 – 1900), George Washington (1861 –
1942), John (1863 – 1864), Daniel (1865 – 1922), Thomas
Jefferson (1867 – 1953), and Margaret ‘Maggie’ (1869 –
1918) .
Paul and Barbara remained in Union Township,
Bartholomew County, until sometime around 1877 when
Barbara buys some land in Illinois. They appear in Melrose
Township, Clark County, Illinois on the 1880 census. It is
here that the family meets the Whitakers, which leads to the
subsequent marriage of their daughter Maggie to Henry
Grant in 1888.
LAND OWNERSHIP – MELROSE TOWNSHIP
Through the 1870s and at least until
1892, Barbara was the land owner of
the family. It is possible this is
because John Paul was never a
citizen. Her first land purchase was in
September 1877, three lots she
bought for $30 from Samuel Sneed in
the town of Darwin, Melrose
Township, Clark County, Illinois.
In October 1879, she and Paul sell these lots to Angelina Wallis for $45, a 50% profit.
In 1880, Barbara made a very large land purchase for $1200. Not shown on the record below is the
location of this land: Section 13. This W1/2 of the SW1/4 is 80 acres. The final payment of $800
was made in April 1883, with a downpayment upon purchase and interest payments between 1880
and the final payment, when the deed was registered.
Purchase registered:
Deed registered:
By 1892, Barbara had transferred this land to Catherine and purchased an 80 acre block southwest
of this property.
Melrose Township Map - 1892
END OF LIFE
When John Paul died in 1897, Barbara remained in Clark County with her son Daniel (1900
census), living near her oldest daughter Catherine. Barbara died in 1910 and is buried in Bailliff
Cemetery in West Union, Clark County, Illinois, next to her husband.