Franklin and Marshall College Library
Special Collections
Johannes Schwalm Historical
Association Collection
Introduction
Complete
inventory
Instructions for submitting an inquiry
Researching your ancestor
Contacting
or visiting us
Introduction
Franklin and Marshall College
has been designated the public repository for the research collection
of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association
(JSHA) an organization dedicated to the history of "Hessian" soldiers
from the German principalities of Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck,
Brunswick, Anhalt-Zerbst, and Ansbach-Bayreuth who served as auxiliaries
to the British crown during the American Revolution (1775-1783) and
who became citizens of the new United States after the war. Available
to interested researchers are family history materials, journals, monographs,
and manuscripts documenting German-American families, history and culture.
A complete inventory of the collection can be viewed here.
The collection does not have information concerning "Hessian"
or German immigrants who came to North America outside of this context,
either earlier in the 18th century or afterward, nor do we have original
German military or church records.
(Please note that Franklin
and Marshall College does not administer the JSHA
certificate program, publish the JSHA's journal The Hessians:
Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, publish
the website jsha.org or otherwise have responsibility for fulfilling
the mission of the JSHA. All inquiries not related to the research collection
as listed should be directed toward the
JSHA)
Instructions for submitting an inquiry
Due to the volume of requests,
we cannot conduct cold searches for the name of an ancestor "thought
to have been a Hessian". View our inventory
of the collection for the name of your ancestor. If there is a specific
file of interest we can make copies of it for you (see photocopy
policies). Due to heavy interest in the collection, please allow
four to six weeks when submitting an inquiry. The Archives and Special
Collections staff will do everything possible to reply in a timely and
accurate manner.
If your ancestor is not on our inventory we cannot
provide any additional information and, regretfully, questions of this
type will not be answered. (Please note that in many cases the material
that we do have on file does not contain much more than what is listed
on the JSHA's online registry
or in published profiles and articles in the JSHA's Journal.
This is especially the case concerning a Hessian's German origins and
antecendents in which we have very little information.) When looking
for a name not in our inventory or in the JSHA registry/journal,
standard sources that you should consult via your local library or interlibrary
loan include:
Auerbach, Inge and Otto Froehlich. HETRINA (Hessische Truppen
im Amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskrieg = Hessian Troops in the American
Revolution) 6 vols. Marburg : Archivschule Marburg, 1972-1987,
a listing compiled from original German records of all who served
from the principalities of Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, and Waldeck.
DeMarce, Virginia Easley. Mercenary troops from Anhalt-Zerbst,
Germany, who served with the British forces during the American Revolution
McNeal, Ariz. : Westland Publications, 1984.
DeMarce, Virginia Easley. The settlement of former German auxiliary
troops in Canada after the American Revolution : a monograph
Sparta, Wis. : J. Reisinger, c1984.
Merz, Johannes Helmut. Guide to help you find your Hessian soldier
of the American revolution [Hamilton, Ont. : J.H. Merz, 2001]
Merz, Johannes Helmut. The Hessians of Upper Canada Hamilton,
Ont. : German Canadian Historical Book Pub., c1997.
Merz, Johannes Helmut. Register of German military men who remained
in Canada after the American Revolution Hamilton, ON, Canada
: German Canadian Historical Book Pub., 1995, c1993.
Reuter, Claus. Brunswick troops in North America, 1776-1783 :
index of all soldiers who remained in North America Bowie, Md.
: Heritage Books, 1999.
Smith, Clifford Neal. Brunswick deserter-immigrants of the American
Revolution Thomson, Ill. : Distributed by Heritage House, 1973.
Smith, Clifford Neal. Mercenaries from Ansbach and Bayreuth,
Germany, who remained in America after the Revolution Thomson,
Ill. : Distributed by Heritage House, 1974.
Smith, Clifford Neal. Mercenaries from Hessen-Hanau who remained
in Canada and the United States after the American Revolution
DeKalb, Ill. : Westland Publications, c1976.
Smith, Clifford Neal. Muster rolls and prisoner-of-war lists
in American archival collections pertaining to the German mercenary
troops who served with the British forces during the American Revolution
DeKalb,, Ill. : Westland Publications, 1974-1976.
Staedtler, Erhard. Die Ansbach-Bayreuther Truppen im Amerikanischen
Unabhängigkeitskrieg 1777-1783 Nürnberg : Kommissionsverlag
Die Egge, 1956, listing those who served from the principality of
Ansbach-Bayreuth and those who deserted.
Search for libraries that
have these items.
Researching your ancestor
Please understand the staff cannot conduct research concerning specific
soldiers. For professional genealogical services, please visit the Johannes
Schwalm Historical Association's primer for genealogical research at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/halschwalm/jshaprim.html
You may also try the following sources for information on your ancestor:
The county or local historical society and/or library in the area where
your ancestor settled may have local histories, genealogies, cemetery
registers, obituaries, newspapers, etc. that document your ancestor.
County or municipal government offices such as the Recorder of Deeds,
Register of Wills, etc. and local and regional church archives are another
major source of documentation. For Hessians who settled in Pennsylvania
who were likely members of the Reformed or Lutheran Churches the Evangelical
and Reformed Historical Society and Lutheran
Archives Center at Philadelphia may be helpful.
Information on Hessian ancestors before they settled in North America
may be available in German archives. Information concerning persons
from the prinicipality of Hesse-Cassel (the area supplying the majority
of troops known as "Hessians") may be found at the Hessisches
Staatsarchiv in Marburg, Germany. Information about Duchy of Braunschweig
(Brunswick) soldiers may be found through the Niedersachsisches
Landesarchiv in Hannover, Germany. Information on Ansbach-Bayreuth
troops may be found through Die staatlichen
Archive in Bayern.
Information on Hessians who settled in Canada may be found at the
Library and Archives Canada, the
Archives Nationales Quebec, and the Marilyn
Adams Genealogical Research Centre of the 7th Town Historical Society.
Information on Hessian units in the service of Great Britain including
information on ship transport may be found at the
British National Archives.
Additional sources of information on Hessian troops in general in the
American Revolution can be found at the Sons
of the American Revolution library,
David Library of the American Revolution,
U.S. Army Military History Institute, the
Clements Library at the University of Michigan, the
Library of Congress, the New York
Public Library, the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, and through your local library. The website AMREV-Hessian
mailing list may also be helpful.
The Archives and Special Collections of Franklin and Marshall College
also maintains several other collections relating to German-American
culture and history which can be viewed at this
link.
Contacting or visiting us
Inquiries relating
directly to the JSHA research collection can be directed to:
Archives and
Special Collections
Shadek-Fackenthal Library
Franklin and Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster, PA 17604-3003
or by e-mail to:
Christopher.Raab@fandm.edu
Mike.Lear@fandm.edu
or by phone at: 717-291-4225 or 717-358-4433
Visiting in person:
All persons are welcome to schedule appointments to visit
the Archives and Special Collections to conduct research in person
using the collection. However, since the collection is secondary in
nature and there is limited information available on specific soldiers,
it is not recommended that persons make a special trip from long distances
just to use the collection, as they are likely to be disappointed. In
general, the collection is more helpful to those beginning their Hessian
soldier search and those seeking information on the soldier's life in
North America than for those who already have a great deal of information
or are looking for information on their prior life in Germany.
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