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HARRY J. HETER, SECOND COUSIN TO ELEANOR'S MOTHER
June 11, 1979 A letter from Harry J. Heter to Marvin W. Heter was photocopied
and forwarded to Eleanor. Marvin W. Heter was the son of Uncle Wylie, and a first
cousin to Eleanor. Harry J. Heter was born September 29, 1880 in Bellevue, Ohio
and was 98 years old when he wrote this letter. He was the son of George W. Heter
and Clara Acker, the grandson of John Heter and Lovina Harper, all of Bellevue,
Ohio. John was the brother of Jacob Heter, who migrated from Ohio to Kansas
in 1878 with his wife Lucetta Gambee and three of their children, including
Thomas Jefferson Heter (Eleanor's Grandfather Heter). Thus, George W. and Thomas J.
were first cousins. Harry J. and Norma (Eleanor's mother) were second cousins.
June 11, 1979 Harry J. Heter describes a second migration from Ohio to Kansas, this
one in 1884. His father, George W. Heter, "and several other prosperous young farmers
moved to Peabody, Kansas" in Marion county, 60 miles east of Sterling, as the crow
flies. George and Clara Heter (age 44 and 40) appear in the 1900 census for Peabody,
Marion, Kansas with two children: Harry J. (age 19) and Georgia (age 3). In the 1910
census George W. Heter are divorced; Clara has custody of Georgia; all three are living
in Bluff, Sumner, Kansas; Harry J. and Lavinia Heter are listed in Cottonwood Township,
Chase, Kansas, with no children. In the 1920 census, George W. Heter, divorced, is a
lodger in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Clara Heter is listed as a widow living in Erie,
Huron, Ohio; Harry J. Heter, married, is a lodger in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri.
In 1930 he is living in Kansas City with his wife Lavinia, with no children.
June 11, 1979 Harry J. Heter writes that his father owned a 500-acre farm and an
"implement-harness shop in Peabody." In 1909 his father and mother "sold all business
and moved back to Bellevue, Ohio." Harry's sister Georgia (sixteen years younger,
consistent with the census records) married John Broker; in the 1930 census they are
listed in Oak Harbor, Ottawa, Ohio. George W. Heter died in 1928; Clara Acker Heter
died in 1958; both are buried at Bellevue Cemetery, Huron County, Ohio. Harry does
not mention their divorce.
June 11, 1979 Harry J. Heter writes that his grandparents, John Heter and Lovina
Harper, had seven daughters and three sons. Harry worked in the Kansas City Union
Railroad Station for 24 years (consistent with the census records). He retired at age
65 (c. 1945) and moved to his farm 25 miles southwest of Emporia, Kansas, and lived
there until his wife's health failed. He moved to Cottonwood Falls, Chase, Kansas,
c. 1966. Harry J. Heter died on October 13, 1979, and is buried at Cottonwood Falls.
Left: May Dewey (Eleanor's Grandmother Phillips)
Middle: Eleanor Louise Phillips (on the day she married Philip Hutt)
Right: Norma Celia Heter, Eleanor's mother (my Grandmother Phillips)
  
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