G.M. Heck Stoves and Tinware

 From the 1860s through the 1880s, the G.M. Heck Stoves and Tinware business was in operation at 725 Market Street in downtown Sandusky. (Around the middle of the first block of East Market Street today.) In the picture above, you can see that Mr. Heck’s business is next door to Theodore Goessling’s grocery store at 727 Market Street. 

George Michael Heck was born in 1836 in Baden, Germany. He came with his parents, Samuel and Magdalina Heck, and several siblings to the U.S. when he was about ten years old. An article in the June 2, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that G.M. Heck was “an expert mechanic with a thorough knowledge of the tin and stove trade.” In January of 1868, he married Lena Gilcher, the daughter of Peter Gilcher. On June 1, 1898, Mr. Heck died of influenza, at the age of 62. Members of Sandusky Lodge, No. 669, I.O.O.F. attended the funeral of Mr. Heck. The flag at the Odd Fellows’ Temple was at half-mast in his honor. Funeral services for Mr. Heck were held at his residence, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery.