The Heilner family were German Jewish immigrants to the United States. The family descended from Aron Heilner (1802-1891), a Jewish teacher, and his wife Magdalene Hirsch. They had four sons and three daughters; their sons Sigmund and Seligmann moved to America in the 1840s and 1850s.

Sigmund Heilner (1834-1917) was a German immigrant and an entrepreneur.

Sigmund Heilner was born on August 13, 1834. Sigmund Heilner was the second son born to parents Aron and Magdalene Heilner in Urspringen, Germany. Aron Heilner believed that Sigmund would be the one to go to America and extract the Heilner family out of poverty. At the age of 19 Sigmund left to travel to America and eventually meet up with his older brother Seligmann who was already there. Sigmund set sail to America in July of 1853. Shortly after arriving in New York City, Sigmund moved to Washington, D.C where he worked until his brother Seligmann was able to send Sigmund $200.00, the amount needed to make the journey to the West coast. Sigmund boarded a steamship travelling a route that took him around the tip of South America, Cape Horn, and into the port of San Francisco where he proceeded directly onto Crescent City, California to meet Seligmann.

The two brothers worked hard to send money back to their family in Germany. Sigmund quickly learned that selling goods to the miners was more advantageous than standing in cold creeks prospecting for gold. Sigmund immediately settled in Browntown, Oregon where he opened a small store. Retailing became the main thrust of his business life. In 1860, Sigmund briefly entered the freight forwarding business in Crescent City. As goods began to be delayed and hard to forward due to winter storms at sea, the business began to fall. In December 1860, Sigmund abandoned the trade and returned to his store in Browntown. In 1865 Seligmann and Sigmund bought a gold mine in Jackson County, Oregon (now Oakland, CA). However by February 18, 1867 the mine had completely failed and resulted in the brothers declaring bankruptcy. Sigmund began peddling and selling goods along with his own paintings. He then went to Portland, Oregon where he worked for the Alaska Fur company. Shortly after, he moved to Brooklyn, California where he put together the means to build a little store which later burned down. For a brief time Sigmund returned to Germany to see if there was a place for him there. However, Sigmund quickly learned that like Seligmann, the brothers did not want to share their business, the very businesses Sigmund and Seligmann had, in great part, funded. In addition, Sigmund realized that he was now accustomed to the unrestricted life of America and after a month returned to Portland. Sigmund met Clara Neuberger in Portland and were married on June 14, 1874.

In 1872 Sigmund and his brother Seligmann reunited to build a stone store in Sparta, Oregon. The two brothers, once again, sold goods and supplies to miners. In 1876 Sigmund left the Sparta store to Seligmann and Clara and Sigmund moved to Baker City, Oregon. It was there where Sigmund and Clara settled. Sigmund opened one of Baker's first stores and became a generous means of support for his family. In addition to operating his retail business, Sigmund became heavily involved in real estate, buying and selling extensive property in the town and county of Baker. He became the Baker banker. In addition, he was a State insurance agent, rancher, owner of Mammoth mine, built and owned the Baker theater, a fine artist, owned and ran timberland. He was elected mayor of Baker. Sigmund and Clara together had four children, Jesse Seligmann Heilner (1875), Joseph Jacob Heilner (1877), Mildred Heilner (1879), and Sanford Heilner (1883). Although Sigmund died on September 7, 1917, his success was passed on to his children as his son and two nephews continued running the Heilner store. Though with many hardships, Sigmund Heilner never gave up on the idea of success and as a result he created a comfortable life for his family. Sigmund's acute awareness of the importance of maintaining family history has allowed his descendants to have a deep insight into his life and times.

Claire Rose Heilner Freedman (1933- ) is a genealogist. Claire Rose Heilner Freedman was born April 21, 1933. Claire developed a love of family history from her mother. As a child she would play under her mother's "genealogy table" as her mother would do family history research and tell Claire stories of her ancestors. Most of her young life was spent in Baker, Oregon where she was educated until her junior year in high school. She then transferred to a girl's school in Tacoma, Washington where she completed her high school years. After attending college at University of California, Los Angeles, Claire married Eugene Freedman and moved to his native New York. They had five children. When the last child went to junior high school, Claire attended New York University, earning her master's degree in history and an archival certificate in Archival Management and Historical Editing. She became proficient in family history research and used her skills in helping others. Claire's husband, Eugene Freedman, passed away in 2020. Claire was a resident of Provo, Utah, as of 2012.

Sanford Joseph Heilner (1936-1985) was an entrepreneur and genealogist. Sanford Joseph Heilner was born on April 21, 1936, to Sanford and Marion Yancey Heilner. He was raised in Baker, Oregon. In 1956, when he was 19, he was called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Stuttgart, Germany. While there he learned to love not only the German people but the German language. As always he learned it perfectly and used it throughout his life. Upon his return from his mission, Sanford completed his college education at Brigham Young University, married Margaret Madsen, had a family, and became successful in his professional life. Around 1977, he decided to teach himself to read Old German script in order to translate over 1000 family letters. He and Margaret visited Germany several times to facilitate this project. Sanford died October 26, 1985, at the age of 49.