The Hessians of York County more than mercenaries
Artist Lewis Miller produced these drawings (and one below) and 19 others of York County residents in the 19th century who were former German soldiers fighting for the British in the Revolutionary War. Descendents of these Hessians live in York County today. (These drawings courtesy of York County Heritage Trust.)
Jonathan Stayer, profiled in a recent post State Archives, made a interesting contribution to York County history in his 1988 master's thesis. Its title explains why: "The Hessians of Lewis Miller: Assimilation of German Soldiers in America After the Revolution."
Artist Lewis Miller captured a group of these German mercenaries on paper, and Stayer researched and wrote about them. Today, Stayer heads the reference section of the State Archives, part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Generally, these "Hessians" were deserters from the German armies, who found their way to York County, according to Stayer. Some of them, such as Leonard Baumgardner, served in Armand's Legion of the Continental Army after leaving his German unit.
Some of the Hessians stayed behind at war's end and, aided by a predominant German culture, assimilated into the fabric of York County life.
One of the most prominent Hessians, Frederick Valentine Melsheimer, a chaplain, became a noted McAllister's Town - later Hanover - minister. He gained national stature in entomology for his study and collection of insects... .
Charles Godfrey Bollan Wintersmith, a former Hessian prisoner, married an American cousin, Mary Elizabeth Spangler, said to be 'a most remarkable and romantic coincidence, in which truth was indeed stranger than fiction.'
Other Hessian names, many now Americanized, included: Baumgardner, Cramer, Hartwig, Henicker, Herbst, Schaffel, Sleeger, Stein, Stengel and Youngker.
I've speculated elsewhere something I'll repeat here: What if the descendents of these Germans served as guards of fellow countrymen at Camp Stewartstown, York County's World War II POW camp? Camp Stewartstown.
Now, that would be an interesting research project.
Jonathan Stayer · April 3, 2007 12:12 PM
There were no "Hessians" at Camp Security, and certainly, none of Lewis Miller's "Hessians" was incarcerated there. Camp Security held only British prisoners for the most part.
John Harpst · April 19, 2008 10:03 PM
Johann Heinrich Herbst was my gggg-grandfather; captured w/ Burgoyne at Saratoga, marched as a POW to Boston's Winter Hill and marched again (w/ the proposed destination of Virginia) as the Redcoats approched Boston. Researchers claim the Hessians were encouraged to take the oath of Allegiance and 'fall out' in the Germanic areas of Pennsylvania to save on costs. At least one of his progeny also married a Spangler. The Battle of Gettysburg started on the Herbst farm and encompassed the Spangler, Trostle and other related farms. (Good article by Jim McClure and his postulate on descendents is intriguing.)