Shelby  County  Indiana
Biographical  Sketches

Jasper  N.  Heck

           One of the progressive agriculturists of Shelby county is Jasper Newton Heck, who was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, January 10, 1843, the son of  John and  Margaret (Mayhugh) Heck.  John Heck was born in Virginia and reared in Pennsylvania, and came to Shelby county, Indiana, in the fall of 1854, from Montgomery county, Ohio, locating five miles southwest of  Shelbyville, where he bought a farm and where he died about three years afterwards, aged sixty-three years.  Prior to coming to Indiana he lived in Ohio for about forty years.  He was married in the Buckeye state and all of his children twelve in number, an equal number of boys and girls, were born in that state.  He was a successful farmer, a Democrat and a member of the Methodist church.  The names of the children in his family were as follows:   William died when eighty-one years old;  Mary is deceased; Nancy is also deceased;  Malinda lives in Shelby county, as did also Catherine prior to her death; George, John, Jacob, Lucinda and Naomi, are all deceased; Jasper N., of this review; F. Marion lives in Norristown, Indiana.
          Margaret Mayhugh, the maiden name of the the mother of these children was born in Maryland.
          Jasper N. Heck was eleven years old when he came to Shelby county, Indiana, with his parents, having received some early education in Ohio, which he continued in Shelby county, obtaining a good text-book training for his day. On February 28, 1864, he was married to Lavina E. Mitchell, daughter of Fielding and Mary (Alley) Mitchell. She was born November 29, 1847, in Shelby county. Her father, a North Carolinian by birth, was one of the early settlers in Shelby county. Her mother was born in Decatur county, of which her people were the earliest settlers. The Alley family was one of the prominent ones of both Decatur and Shelby county. Mrs. Heck was the seventh child in order of birth in a family of twelve children. She and Mr. Heck were married in Shelby county, and to them four children have been born, namely: William S., born May 9, 1865, and died in 1895; Charles E., born April 27, 1868, married Maggie Shoup, of Liberty township, where they now live, being the parents of one child, Chester C.; Anna B. was born October 7, 1870, married Franklin P. McKay; they live in Liberty township and are the parents of three children, Mabel C., Unice Herthey and Lois May; Ida M., the youngest child of Jasper Heck and wife was born October 18, 1873, and is living at home.
          Mr. Heck has carried on general farming in a most successful manner, and he has been an extensive breeder of Berkshire hogs for a period of thirty-five years, having exhibited at the county and local fairs for thirty years, where his fine stock always attracted a great deal of attention, being the finest of their kind in this locality. However, for the past three or four years he has not engaged in the hog business very extensively, but he still carries on general stock raising in connection with his farming. He has lived on his present place since 1867. It is located in section 21, Liberty township, and he has one of the finest homes in the county. It is in the midst of attractive surroundings, is modern and elegantly furnished. He has made very extensive improvements on his farm, which now ranks with the best in the county. He was always interested in the Shelby County Fair Association and was one of the original stockholders in the same, and he did much to make it a success.  He has long been regarded as one of the public-spirited and substantial men of the county.  He has been very active in Democratic politics of his township and county and for three terms he served in a very able manner as Trustee of Liberty township.  He was a member of the Grangers while that organization existed in this county.  He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Rush county.
          Mr. Heck is one of the best known men in Shelby county. His name was associated for a great many years with the fair association, which he helped to organize, and his hogs were prize winners at the fairs for a quarter of a century. He has always been regarded by those who knew him best as an industrious, honest and public-spirited citizen.
Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana by Edward H. Chadwick, B.A., assisted by well known local talent, B.F. Bowen & Co, Publishers: Indianapolis, IN, 1909, pages 775-776.


          Jasper N. Heck  came to this township in 1867, where he purchased eighty acres of land on Conn's Creek, where he lived until 1887, when he moved to his present home where he now owns 167 acres of good land.  He was reared in this county, but was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, January 16, 1843.  His father,  John Heck,  came to this county when Jasper was but four years old.  Mr. Heck engaged in the breeding of Berkshire hogs, and is one of the leading breeders of the State.  He is also raising Short Horn cattle.  He is a Democrat, and served as Township Trustee for three terms.  He was married February 28, 1864, to  Miss Lorina E. Mitchell,  of Shelby Township, who was born November 29, 1847, a daughter of  Fielding and  Mary (Alley) Mitchell.  By this marriage four children were born:  William S.,  born May 9, 1865,  Charlie E.,  born April 27, 1868,  Anna B.,  born October 7, 1870, and  Ida M.,  born October 18, 1873.  Mr. Heck is one of the representative farmers of his State.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Chicago: Brant & Fuller, 1887, "Liberty Sketches,"  page 687
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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