Springfield-Greene
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HENRY M. HECKART. For a period of thirty-four years the name of Henry M. Heckart was a synonym in Springfield and this section of Missouri for high-class jewelry, for he maintained an extensive jewelry store here during that period, and was known as one of our leading business men and a friend to the Queen City on every occasion, and his influence for promoting the development of the city along material and civic lines was most potent, yet this was done in his usual quiet, unobtrusive manner, for he was not a man who sought the limelight of publicity, merely endeavoring to lead a useful life as a citizen and win success along legitimate lines, and although he was compelled to rely upon himself entirely from boyhood, he exercised such discretion and perseverance as to bring to him a large measure of prosperity, and he will long be missed from the commercial circles of the city and county.
Mr. Heckart was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1855. He was a son of John and Nancy (Pool) Heckart, both natives of Pennsylvania, of Dutch ancestry, both being old families of the Keystone state. The father of our subject devoted his active life to the lumber business. He and his wife grew to maturity in their native state, where they received such educational advantages as the early-day schools afforded, and there they were married, but the latter part of their lives was spent in Missouri, where they died. To these parents eight children were born, five of whom are living at this writing.
Henry M. Heckart grew to manhood in his native city and there received a limited education in the public schools. This lack of early training, however, was subsequently made up by contact with the business world and by wide home reading. When but a boy he decided upon the jewelry business as a life work, and began in this line in a modest way in Marshfield, Webster county, Missouri, and there got a good start. Seeking a larger field, he came to Springfield in 1878 and established a jewelry store, which gradually grew in volume of business with advancing years until it became one of the most extensive and best known in southwestern Missouri. He remained on the public square all the while, and at the time of his death his was the oldest business of its kind in Greene county. He carried an extensive, carefully selected and up-to-date stock of everything found in the large jewelry stores in the important cities of the country. He also maintained a repair department in which only artisans of the highest skill were employed.
Mr. Heckart was married, December 26, 1878, to Belle Jarrett, who was born in Sedalia, Missouri. She is a daughter of Edward and Rebecca (Jones) Jarrett, both parents natives of Huntsville, Alabama.
To Mr. and Mrs. Heckart two children were born, namely Bessie, born January 8, 1880, died November 27, 1891, and Harry E., born May 29, 1884, married Maurine McClintock, and they make their home in Los Angeles, California, where he is engaged in business.
Henry M. Heckart was a home man and a business man, and therefore cared little for political life. He was a-member of Grace Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was an active worker and for a number of years was a member of the board of trustees. He was a man of honest principles and good habits and was respected by all who knew him during the more than three decades that he lived in Springfield and conducted his jewelry store. His death occurred November 17, 1912.
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