American family of remote Spanish and modern German origin, the record of whose early history is fragmentary. The first authentic record of any member of it in the United States is the signature of Henry Hyneman to the oath of allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania in the year 1779.
Born in Holland, whither his progenitors had fled from Spain. He was a contemporary of Henry Hyneman. At an early age Elias emigrated to America and settled as an inn-keeper and general merchant in a Pennsylvania country town, where he remained until his marriage, when he removed to Philadelphia and engaged in commerce. He was the father of thirteen children.
Prominent freemason; born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1808; died in New York March 4, 1879; eldest son of Elias Hyneman. On attaining manhood he left home and earned his living as tutor in country schools. Returning to Philadelphia in 1834, he became interested in freemasonry, and four years later he joined the order as member of the Lafayette Lodge of Philadelphia, being elected master in 1840. At one time he was also a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Hyneman was the founder (1849) of the Order of Druidesses, and the author of its ritual. In 1852 he established "The Masonic Mirror and American Keystone," which he edited until 1860. He was the author of "The Fundamental Principles of Science" and of several works on masonic subjects, the chief among them being "The Origin of Freemasonry" and "Freemasonry in England from 1567 to 1813." In 1845 Hyneman was one of the members of the Jewish Publication Society of America.
Hyneman had eight children, among them being Leona Hyneman, who married Jacob Lowengrund, and, under the stage name of "Leona Moss," became a talented actress. Another daughter was Alice Hyneman, authoress; born in Philadelphia Jan. 31, 1840; contributor to "The North American Review"; "The Forum"; "The Popular Science Monthly"; and the author of "Woman in Industry," a treatise on the work of woman in America, and of "Niagara," a descriptive record of the great cataract and its vicinity. She married twice; her first husband being Henry Rhine of Philadelphia; her second, Charles Sotheran of New York.
Benjamin Hyneman, the representative of another branch of this family, who married Rebekah Gumpert, left his home in the pursuit of his vocation and was never seen afterward.
Authoress; born in Philadelphia Sept. 8, 1812; died Sept. 10, 1875. A non-Hebrew by birth, she embraced Judaism, and became devotedly attached to her new faith. She was a regular contributor to "The Masonic Mirror," published a volume of "Tales for Children," and wrote essays descriptive of the women of the Bible and the Apocrypha. She also published a number of poems under the titles "The Leper and Other Poems," "The Muses," etc.
Born in 1837; died Jan. 7, 1865; son of Benjamin Hyneman. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a volunteer in Company C, Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, being mustered in on July 26, 1861. Accompanying his regiment to Virginia in 1862, he served with distinction there, and was promoted sergeant. He was present at the battle of Gettysburg, and took part in that of the Wilderness, but was subsequently taken prisoner during a cavalry raid in the vicinity of Petersburg, Va., June 29, 1864. He owed his capture to acts of heroism—surrendering his horse to a wounded comrade whose beast had been shot under him, and giving his own shoes to a barefooted, wounded fellow soldier. Taken to Andersonville, Ga., he was imprisoned in the stockade there, and within six months died of disease accelerated by insufficient food and by exposure in unsanitary quarters. His remains were taken to Philadelphia for burial.
The first member of the German branch of the family concerning whom any data have been preserved; born in Germany in 1804; died Jan., 1886. He emigrated to the United States, and there married Adeline Ezekiel of Richmond, Va.
Born in Richmond, Va., Aug. 5, 1843, and accompanied his father, Isaac Hyneman, to Philadelphia in 1850. He enlisted in the army Aug. 14, 1862, and was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg. On recovery he was assigned to the United States Army Signal Corps—temporarily in April, 1863, and permanently on Aug. 17 of the same year. Hyneman took part in the battles of Chancellorsville, Brandy Station (where he was wounded), Gettysburg, Mine Run (where he was again wounded), Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Five Forks, Petersburg, and Appomattox Court House, and was present at the surrender of Lee. He was mustered out of service June 24, 1865.
A few years after the war Hyneman joined the First Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and took part in subduing the riots at Susquehanna Station and Hazleton. When the Veteran Corps of the First Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard was formed, Hyneman joined it. He was elected first lieutenant April 19, 1880, and quarter-master, with the rank of captain, in 1883. He resigned April 17, 1891. During the railroad and mining riots at Pittsburg, Scranton, and Wilkesbarre during July and August, 1877, he raised two companies of National Guards of Pennsylvania, and commanded Company G, Twentieth Regiment. In 1889 he was appointed aide-de-camp, with rank of colonel, on the staff of Gen. William Warren, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Painter; born in Philadelphia July 27, 1849. At an early age he showed a taste for drawing. He studied art for eight years in Germany and France (1874), and in Paris became a pupil of Bonnat. Hyneman exhibitedat the Salon of 1879 a painting entitled "Desdemona," which was subsequently shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Two years later another painting of his, entitled "Juliet," was exhibited at the Salon, and afterward in New York city at the National Academy of Design. He won the silver medal at the American Art Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1902. Hyneman's chief work has been portrait-painting. Among his imaginative works may be mentioned "It Might Have Been," representing a young girl in contemplation, and "Marguerite in Prison," a scene from "Faust."
Lawyer; born at Philadelphia May 26, 1854; admitted to the bar of that city June 2, 1877. He was a member of the board of managers of Mikve Israel congregation 1879-1901, and parnas 1887-90; member of the board of trustees, Jewish Theological Seminary at New York, 1886-1902, and of the board of trustees of Gratz College, Philadelphia, 1894-1900; president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association, Philadelphia, 1880-82; and officer of The Hebrew Education Society, Philadelphia, 1894-1900.