Major Frederick Steidinger Heiskell 1786-1882

Frederick Steidinger Heiskell was born in 1786, the son of Frederick and Catherine (Von Steidinger) Heiskell. He was born in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. When a child, his parents moved from western Maryland to Shenandoah County, Virginia. He learned the printer's trade in the office of his brother, John Heiskell, in Winchester, Virginia, and then moved to Knoxville in December 1814. After working as a journeyman printer for two years, he established the Knoxville Register in 1816, in partnership with Hugh Brown, his brother-in-law. On July 17, 1816, he married Eliza Brown, daughter of Joseph Brown, an early Washington County sheriff. In 1836, Frederick Heiskell sold the Register to Col. W. B. A. Ramsey and Robert Craighead and moved to a large farm ten miles west of Knoxville that he named "Fruit Hill." He lived there until 1880. His wife died on November 10, 1851, and he then married Mrs. Alice Gale (Armstrong) Fulkerson of Rogersville (widow of James L. Fulkerson) , on July 21, 1853 in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

Frederick Heiskell was active in politics, being elected to the state Senate for three terms. His correspondents included Andrew Jackson, Felix Grundy, Hugh Lawson White, John Bell, and many other political leaders. Heiskell served on the Knoxville Board of Mayors and Aldermen from 1825-1831, and served as mayor in 1835. He became a close friend and political ally of such nationally prominent men as Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and James K. Polk. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Andrew Jackson in the contest with John Quincy Adams, though he broke with Old Hickory in the presidential campaign of 1836. He supported Hugh Lawson White for president rather than Jackson's hand-picked successor, Martin Van Buren. Frederick became a tireless campaigner for public education and civic improvement, backing his editorial support with service on countless boards and commissions. He was one of the founders, and for many years treasurer, of the Knoxville Public Library. Heiskell was a trustee of East Tennesse College, now the University of Tennesse. He also served as a trustee of the Knoxville Female Academy and its successor, the East Tennessee Female Institute, from 1827 until his death. He died on November 29, 1882 at his Rogersville residence, where he moved after selling his farm in Knox County. In addition to his political activities, Frederick Heiskell was the president of the Tennessee Press Association in 1836 and was referred to as the father of Tennessee journalism. He features in the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame .
There is a biographical sketch of Frederick S. Heiskell in the book, Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Frederick and Eliza had the following children:

Old Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee. Mentioned in Tennessee Cousins: a history of Tennessee People by Worth S. Ray (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984) p. 91.

Frederick S. Heiskell

*FREDERICK S. HEISKELL, 1837.
Born at Woodstock, Virginia, 1787. Removed to Knox county, Tennessee. Printer. Editor and farmer. A proprietor and Editor of the Knoxville Register, 1816-1834. State Printer for many years. Member and Treasurer of first board of Trustees of Knoxville Female Academy, 1827; Charter Trustee, 1829; Secretary of Board, 1829-1842; President of East Tennessee Female Institute from 1876 to his death. Appointed Trustee of East Tennessee College, 1837. Senator from Knox county, 1847-1849. Died in Knox county, 1883. Source: University of Tennessee Record: presidents and trustees. No. 5 University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, 1898:243.