Members of the public and descendents of Conrad Heyer, the first son born to German immigrants settling in Waldoboro, gathered Aug. 18 for the opening of new exhibit on the Heyer family at the Waldoborough Historical Society.
Jean Lawrence, the society president, said the exhibit is meant to honor Conrad and members of the family. “You will see all kinds of things related to the Heyer family and the many branches of it,” she said.
Included in the exhibit are a portrait of Heyer, a chair with a corn husk seat he used to sit in, and from other generations of the family a handmade pin-cushion, a handmade box, several hooked rugs, and a bedspread.
Around a third of the roughly 35 people in attendance for the exhibit opening raised their hands when Lawrence called out for Heyer’s descendents.
“We are just delighted that you could come today to be with us,” Lawrence said.
As part of the exhibit opening, Val Skov played two hymns on violin which Lawrence said Heyer likely sang as part of the choir at the German church in West Waldoboro.
“Music was very important to him,” she said.
The hymns were Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” from 1529 and “Now Thank We All Our God,” of which the music was composed in 1647 and the words written in 1663, Lawrence said.
William Blodgett, a former president of the historical society, gave a short presentation on Heyer’s life.
Heyer was born in 1749 and lived to be 106 years old, dying in 1856, Blodgett said. Heyer’s life spanned from when Waldoboro was a frontier settlement to the period just before the Civil War when Waldoboro was entering its prime as a shipbuilding community, Blodgett said.
“Life was pretty tough” at the start, particularly since the German farmers that arrived did not find much of the housing they were promised, Blodgett said. Heyer’s own father, Martin Heyer, did not survive his first winter in Waldoboro, succumbing to starvation and exposure before Conrad was born, he said.
Heyer enlisted in 1775 and was present for the battle at Bunker Hill. He was a member of the advance guard in the crossing of the Delaware, and survived the winter at Valley Forge with George Washington, Blodgett said.
After returning to Waldoboro following his four years service, Heyer was likely a farmer, Blodgett said. In 1818, Congress granted pensions to veterans of the Revolutionary War, including Heyer, who lived another 37 years.
Even after age 100, when Heyer was living with a daughter in Nobleboro, he walked the roughly seven miles to the German church in Waldoboro, Blodgett said.
When he passed away, over 5000 people, including several bands, marched from the Waldoboro Village to bury him at the church, and a monument to Heyer was erected by the town, Blodgett said.
One reason why the historical society started on the Heyer exhibit this year was Conrad Heyer’s chair had been kept at the Nobleboro Historical Society and was given to Waldoboro earlier this year, Lawrence said.
“We are so grateful to have it,” she said.
The return of the chair to Waldoboro renewed a dream for a Heyer exhibit in Richard Wallace, a descendent of Heyer and the only remaining charter member from when the Waldoborough Historical Society was founded in 1968, Lawrence said.
Wallace had been saving items for such an exhibit, and within the last month the items were packed up and brought over to the society, she said.
“This today is Richard’s dream come true,” Lawrence said. “We are honoring Conrad Heyer, and the historical society is honoring you,” she said to Wallace, presenting him with a plaque for his donations and over 40 years of service as a trustee.
For more information on the Waldoborough Historical Society and its museum, visit http://waldoborohistory.us.
