A Grand House and A Legacy
Family history is important to me. I feel a sense of belonging to a valuable legacy by knowing who did what in my family. Its not the grandeur that they lived in that is important to me, it certainly is fun to see but its what they did for society and how they handled themselves in life that matters. The Legacy.
I have shared with you the legacy of my Great great grandmother, Francis "Fannie" Heckbert and shared her obituary with you. Now a bit about one of her sons. Edwin Ernest Heckbert. He was a Harvard law school graduate. Having a practice in Portland Maine until the fatal accident of his 12 year old son. Daniel had been carried on the shoulders of a servant and accidentally dropped. They reserved a train car and took him to Boston to the hospital there but he died. After this, Edwin and his wife Georgiana moved to Portland Oregon. She became a rather well known artist in the Pacific Northwest. They had another child who just recently passed away at the age of 91.
As I was reading her obituary today, I thought about her life, her contribution to society and how it keeps on going, generation after generation. Maybe it struck me about the importance of how we raise our children and what example we set, as it doesn't stop with us, or our children. It carries on to generation to generation. For me, my great great grandparents example still a vital part in how I live my own life now.
My own grandparents so influenced by their parents and their lives influence on me and even on my children and yet to another generation as it comes along.
Here is a picture of Edwin Heckbert as a young man, and pictures of his home in Portland Maine, scans from a book so a bit fuzzy, but still you can see the wonderful Victorian influence on how it was decorated. The house burned to the ground in the late 1970's.
Looking to the past, gives us a glimpse of who we are today.
Edwin Ernest Heckbert born 1870
His home on Danforth St Portland Maine
The reception hall of the house
The drawing room
Comments
Oh my goodness, I am so excited that I discovered this. I’ve done searches in Edwin before and for some reason have never found your blog page. He is my 2nd great grandfather. We were very close to his daughter, Mary Lawrence. A cousin and myself actually moved in with her during the last few years of her life to help take care of her, so she could remain in her home. To this day she remains one of my most favorite people I ever had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with. But she never told us how her brother passed away. I would love to talk with you more about the family. Again I’m so very grateful to have found your blog.