Heinemann Mercantile

John Heinemann (1872-1922) is believed to be the first Jewish merchant to open an establishment in Andrews, South Carolina and the first business owner to build a brick structure on Main Street. John Heinemann was born near Andrews to farmer and Prussian immigrant John Heinemann (1835-1880) and his wife Clara Gamble Heinemann (b. 1850). After spending the first few decades of his life farming and moving about Georgetown and Williamsburg Counties, John entered into a partnership with merchant Samuel McClary and salesman William Hanna sometime before 1910. John, Samuel, and William opened a store near Lane and lived above the store together until John married May Belle Flagg (1887-1939), the daughter of engineer and machinist Jacob Claudius Flagg (1839-1932).

Together, John and May Belle (also spelled Mabell) moved to Andrews and welcomed two children, John Claudius (1913-1976) and Clara Belle (1918-1999). By 1920, John is listed in the U.S. census as a dry goods merchant working under his own account. It was likely around 1912 that he built the brick store on Main Street, which was known decades later as “the pink building.”¹ When he retired, John sold the business to two Jewish businessmen who, to the best recollections of future generations, were named Joe and Paul Tiddler.

¹ “Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral History Interview with Jerome Moskow,” by Dale Rosengarten, Mindell K. Seltzer, and Norton M. Seltzer, College of Charleston Libraries, 1995, https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:64129.