Barbara Heck

RUCKLE BARBARA (Heck) b. Bastian Ruckle (Sebastian) as well as Margaret Embury, daughter of Bastian Ruckle (Republic of Ireland) and married Paul Heck (1760) in Ireland. The couple were blessed with seven children. Of these, four were born.

The person who is the subject of the biographical piece is typically someone who played a key role in significant historical events, or has developed unique ideas or proposals that have been captured in written form. Barbara Heck however left no notes or letters, and there is no evidence to support such claims since the date of her marriage has no significance. No primary source exists that can be used to reconstruct Barbara Heck's motives or actions during most of her lifetime. Her name is still considered a hero throughout the history of Methodism. In this case, the biographical task of the biographer is to establish and interpret the myth and, if it is possible, to identify the true person who was enshrined into the myth.

It was the Methodist historian Abel Stevens wrote in 1866. Barbara Heck is now unquestionably one of the pioneer women in the time of New World ecclesiastical women, because of the advancements that was made through Methodism. Her accomplishments are based more upon the importance of the cause she was involved in than on her personal life. Barbara Heck's involvement in the beginning of Methodism was an incredibly fortunate coincidence. Her fame is due to the fact that it has become a natural habit for extremely popular movements or institutions to exalt their historic roots to maintain ties with the old.