Barbara Heck

BARBARA RUCKLE (Heck). Bastian Ruckle married Margaret Embury in Ballingrane, Republic of Ireland. The couple had seven kids but only four of them lived until adulthood.

In most cases subjects have participated in important events and has expressed unique thoughts or ideas that are recorded on paper. Barbara Heck did not leave any letters or written statements. In fact, the evidence for the day she married was secondary. It is impossible to reconstruct the motives of Barbara Heck's behavior through her whole life, based on the primary sources. However, she has become heroized in the beginning of North American Methodism theology. The biographer must define the myth, explain the story and identify the individual whom is honored within.

Abel Stevens, a Methodist historian in 1866, wrote about this. Barbara Heck's humble name is now indisputablely top of the listing of women who have been a major contributor to the life of the church in New World history. This has been because of the rise of Methodism within and around the United States. Her reputation is more based on the importance of the cause she was connected to than the personal lives. Barbara Heck's involvement in the beginning of Methodism was a fortunate coincidence. Her fame can be attributed to the fact that a popular organization or group will honor their past so that they can maintain connections to the past and be rooted to it.