The Dallas Journal, Volume 49, 2003 Page: 3
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Lindley/Heisel Bible Library Research Project
* Willie Teo. Heisel was born Wills Point Texas A.D. Feb 12th 1879
* Ruth Heisel was born in Dallas Texas A.D. Sept 26th 1882
Deaths:
* Ruth Heisel departed this life Dec. 15th 1886
* Adam Heisel Sr. departed this life 17 of August 1914
* Elmyra Georgia Lindley Heisel departed this life May 3 1917 (Wife of Adam Heisel Sr.)
Handwritten note: "Mrs. Adam Heisel (nee Georgia Lindley) was born and raised in the state of Georgia
she was the daughter of Louisa and William B. Lindley, received her education at Richland Ga. But
received a diploma in Lumpkins Ga. Was married to A to this union four children was borned two
daughters and two sons the daughter is Mrs. R. V. Fullerton who lives near the old homestead the sons are
Adam H. Jr. and William B Heisel all of Dallas come to Dallas in 1877 bought and built next to the corner
which is now C. T. Roans. Then as fond of (illegible) Having lost fortune in fire and bank failures we
thought to exchange the property for a farm which has been nearly forty years. Adam Heisel Sr was borned
in Germany come to America quite young after traveling the world over he settled in Southern Georgia the
climate being so congenial. This is correct Mrs. Adam Heisel."
* The Bible also contains several condolence notes and cards along with a seven-page eulogy entitled
"Little by Little."
* The final page of the Bible contains this handwritten note: "Georgia Randolph County William B.
Lindley His book do not friend for fear that gallows may be your end."
While this may seem like a lot of information, it is really no more than many of us have when we begin
researching our own families. The questions were "Where do we begin? How do we start?" Since Adam and
Georgia Heisel lived in Dallas, we decided to research their family first. Because the Bible contained a death notice
for Conrad Heisel, we assumed there was a family connection between the two Heisel men, so we then
concentrated on locating and documenting Conrad Heisel. Lastly we completed the project by looking at the
William Lindley family of Georgia and Alabama. Even though this article is written in chronological order, we
actually performed our searches to reconstruct the families by moving backwards in time. The project spanned
approximately three months; the DGS Journal deadline prevented us from continuing our research.
Adam Heisel Family
Generation No.1
We located a record of a "Mr. A. Heisel" arriving at the port of New York City on the 14 April 1854 on the
U.S. Mail Steamer Hermann.3 The Hermann sailed from Bremen, Germany to New York City making an
intermediate stop in Southampton, England. While the passenger's age (22 years) matches Adam Heisel's age, the
passenger was listed as a "merchant" from Prussia4 while the Bible data indicated that Adam Heisel was from the
village of Kustendinger, Wurtemberg, Germany. A young man named Adam Heisel became a U.S. citizen on 23
November 1864 in New York City.5 The index record stated that Adam Heisel was employed as a shoemaker,
former nationality was "King Wurtemberg" and that he lived with Friedrich Koch, a shoemaker, at 61 Sixth Street
in New York City. Was this "our" Adam? We do not know because, while the brief biographical sketch written by
his wife, Georgia Heisel, indicates that her husband "...came to America quite young after traveling the world...,"
we located Adam Heisel in 1860 in Stewart County, Georgia. Why would Adam Heisel appear in Georgia in 1860
but travel to New York City four years later and become a citizen there? Perhaps it was just wanderlust on the part
of a man as yet unencumbered with too many responsibilities. Unfortunately we have been unable to answer this
question.
As mentioned above, after much searching, we located Adam "Heilsel" in Lumpkin, Stewart County,
Georgia6 on the 1860 U.S. census enumeration. Adam Heisel was employed as a shoemaker, age 28, living with the
family of J.G. (Johan George) Singer,7 a "master mechanic" from Germany, his wife Louisa (Messner) Singer 8 and
their eleven children.9
We have searched diligently for Adam Heisel on the 1870 census enumeration without success. We
searched in Georgia and New York (in case he was the "Adam Heisel" naturalized in 1864 in New York City)
under variant spellings of Heisel, but we did not locate Adam Heisel in 1870. The next time we found him was inEufaula, Alabama (just across the border from Stewart County, Georgia). There, on 24 January 1875, Adam Heisel
married E. (Elmyra) Georgia "Lindsey." 10 The Henry County Register, however, announced "Mr. Adam Heisel and
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Dallas Genealogical Society. The Dallas Journal, Volume 49, 2003, periodical, June 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth186862/m1/7/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Genealogical Society.