The New International Encyclopædia/Heck, Barbara

HECK, Barbara (1734-1804). One of the founders of the Methodist Church in America. She was born, of German parentage, in Ballygarry County, Limerick, Ireland, a district which early felt the influence of Wesley's preaching. She and her husband, Paul, came to America in 1760, and in 1766, with Philip Embury, organized a Methodist society in New York City. The building of the famous old John Street Methodist Church was due, in great part, to her tireless energy. During the Revolution the Hecks retired to northern New York, and finally to Canada, to be among Loyalists. They founded the earliest Methodist society in Canada.