Helman (Hellmann, Hellman)
From Germany, the Hellmanns came to the Cleveland area and changed their name to Helman to Americanize it. "Grandpa Helman" and his grocery store are in the memory of the oldest "cousins" and the building is today located in the center of restoration activity. Many of the descendents of Ernst H. Helman and Louise Schefft meet yearly in the summer for the "Helman Reunion."
Last modified 10/13/2006
Hellmann Immigrant Ancestors
Heinrich Ernst Hellmann and Elizabeth (Walker) Hellmann
Henry Ernst Hellmann (Heinrich/Henry, also Hellmann/Helmann/Helman) was born around 1816 in Hanover, Germany. He married Elizabeth Walker and they had a large family of 10 children. In 1870 he was a farmer by trade in Independence, OH, and owned real estate worth $3360 as well as $550 worth of personal property (Census, 1870). He died in 1895 and is buried at St. John's Cemetery in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Elizabeth H. Walker was born in 1822-1824 (various reports) in Hanover, Germany. She immigrated in 1849 (Cleveland Press, 1919) and lived on Granger near Turney Road (Cleveland Press, 1919). She married Henry Ernest Hellman and they had a large family of 10 children. The 1910 Census reported that at age 87 she lived by herself in South Newburgh, spoke German as her main language and could read and write, and rented her farm. Earlier, she lived on a farm on Turney Road. An article about her appeared in the February 18, 1919 Cleveland Press.when she was a candidate for the 1919 Cleveland Press "Oldest Man and Woman in Cleveland" contest. She had 10 children, 7 of whom were living in 1910 (Census, 1910), although the Cleveland Press article reported that she had 8 living children in 1919. She died 4 Mar 1919 at the age of 97, and is buried at St. John's Cemetery in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Their Children (Census, 1870):
Henry, b. ~1855 in Ohio
John, b. ~1857 in Ohio
Ernest H., b. Sept 1859 in Independence,
OH, m. 24 Dec 1883 Louise Schefft. m2nd. Sophie M. Borges. Died 1939.
August, b. ~1862 in Ohio
Emma, b. ~1863 in Ohio
Fred, b. ~1867 in Ohio
(others)
Ernst H. Helman and Louise (Schefft) Helman
Ernest H. Hellmann
[Variously listed as "Ernst H." and "Ernst A." (erroneously).
Middle name Heinrich or Henry. Last name also spelled "Helman",
"Hellman". Known in family stories as "Grandpa Helman".]
Born in September 1859 in Independence, OH to parents Henry Ernest
Hellmann and Elizabeth H. Walker, both German immigrants. Married
24 Dec 1883 "by publication of Bans" to Louise Schefft
in Cuyahoga County, OH. In the year after his marriage, he was listed
in the city directory as being a foreman and living at 1403 Harvard, but
by 1886-87 he owned a grocery store at 2646 Warner Road, at Turney Road
and Warner Road (which he owned for many years and passed on in the family).
In 1900 and 1912 he was living at 8413 Beeman Street in Cleveland, OH,
and in 1900 had as a boarder 22-year-old Gustave Ehlert b. Nov 1877. He
married again after Louise's death, to Sophie M. Borges (b. ca.
1850 to Henry Tonsing and Elenor Blase) on 10 July 1912,
at St. John's Church by Reverend Weidner. He died in 1939 and is buried
in St. John's Cemetery in Garfield Heights, OH.
Louise Schefft
[Public documents sometimes list her as "Luise" or "Louisa"
but (like others in her family) her name was Americanized over time. Last
name spelling varies as "Schefftt", "Scheft", "Scheefe".
Family lore has Ernest Schefft and Matilda Schifflin as her parents, but
public documents and records in the Garfield Heights Historical Society
support the following information. "Thank you!" to genealogist
Gordon Poley for callilng this to my attention.]
Born in April 1861 in Grafton, WI to parents Ludwig/Louis Hans Friederich
Joachim Schefft/Scheefe and Sophia Marie Magdalena Gudke/Gaedke/Gadt,
who came from Mecklenburg, Germany to Wisconsin in 1854. Louise was one
of at least 11 children. The first 5 of her siblings were born to father
Ludwig and his first wife in Germany. Louisa and her family moved from
Grafton, WI to Ohio some time in the 1870s. She was married 24 Dec 1883
to Ernest Hellmann in Cuyahoga County, OH "by publication
of Bans". She died Monday, 27 Feb 1911 and is buried at St. John's
Cemetery in Garfield Heights, OH
|
They had 6 children: 1. Josephine M., b. Oct 1884, m. Paul Ebert. |
 This portrait was taken around 1900. Top L-R: Arthur, Josephine, Alma. Bottom: Louise, Edwin, Leona, Verna, Ernst H. |
 Click on photo to see larger version. |
"Grandpa Helman" owned a grocery store on Warner Road across from the point where Turney Road enters it (now Cleveland, Ohio.) The building still stands. The area immediately around the old store is currently under a plan for restoration and development by the Ohio Canal Corridor and the Slavic Village Development group. The old store is very near the Mill Creek Falls and the proposed museum in the historic Brilla House, and only a few block from the old town center of the now-extinct Village of Newburgh. Click here to see a 1913 map.
 |
|
This
is the delivery wagon used for both the Helman grocery store and
the meat shop next door (they cooperated for delivery.) The wagon
says "E.H.Helman, Meats & Grocery" and on the roof
brags, "BOTH PHONES."
|
 |
|
We
are also fortunate to have a photo of the inside of the store. Grandpa
Helman wears an apron, with customers on his right and family workers
on his left. On the original, you can read some of the products
they sold - "Martin's Fried Cakes" are on the counter
next to the case.
|
|
Click on the photo to see a larger version. This is the Helman Grocery Company building - the one on the right. Grandpa Helman worked in concert with a butcher who occupied the center space between the buildings. The buidling on the left appears to be vacant at this time. The date of this photo is unknown, but it is worth noting that there are electrical poles and wires running to the buildings. These buildings look much like this today and are being restored beautifully as part of the Slavic Village and Mill Creek Falls restoration.. |
