Barnett Hecklin (c.1864-1928) was born in Volozhun, Vilna, Russia and immigrated to the United States in the early 1890s. He initially settled in Rhode Island where he married Annie and eventually had six children: David, Ida, Louis, Sarah, Jennie, and Rose. The Hecklins moved to Spartanburg about 1910. Barnett Hecklin operated Hecklin Bros. with his younger brother, Samuel Hecklin (1876-1951), from 1911 until 1913, when Samuel left to open Sample Shoe Store. Barnett Hecklin continued to work as a shoemaker under the name B. Hecklin until about 1926, when he opened Family Shoe Store.