Dear friends of the AMREV-HESSIANS list: I subscribed to gain some history about the 'Waldeck Line Road' and the 'Hessian Line Road' which are located near Bear River East, N.S., the birth place of my wife. To say that John grew on me from there is an understatement. Consequently, I decided to conjure up a personal visit with John at his home in Hamilton. Hmmm! How should one go about that? Aha! I'll purchase his Hessian's of Nova Scotia book and a Hessian plaque (to donate to the Annapolis Valley Historical Society) and pick the items up at his home, that's what!! Save the postage costs? Right!! When three of us left John's home that day, after a two hour visit filled with lots of laughs and great Hessian stories, all we could do was shake our head in wonderment at the contribution to Hessian history John has made. His vast and organized library is mind boggling. A few weeks back I purchased eleven Hessian pins to be given as gifts to strangers of Hessian descent that I might come across in my travels across the province of N.S. I have been carrying two of them around with me ever since they arrived in the mail. John's spell on me continues to this last day before his retirement. This afternoon my wife and I drove to the home of a lady in Blockhouse, N.S., to purchase a copy of an Aulenbach genealogy book. We had never met the lady before. A half hour after making our acquaintance she remarked out of a blue moon that she was a direct descendant of Hessian soldier Johann Philipp Aulenbach. After briefing her on my acquaintance with John and his Hessian book she brought out a book titled "Acadia and the Acadians" published 1890. She knows of only two other copies in existence. Chapter XXVIII is titled "One of the Hessians" which contains the autobiography of her ancestor John Philip Aulenbach. The second paragraph is as follows; "Then I proceeded with the Hessian troops, bought by King George III, to England. There I was chosen Trumpeter of the Seventeenth Regiment of Light Dragoons and sailed with them to America, where we arrived after a long voyage, October eighteenth, 1776, near New York Lighthouse. During the eight years that followed I served as Trumpet Major in the campaigns in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia or Eastern Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, and through the whole of South Carolina. I received my discharge in 1783 at New York, and went to the newly-founded town, Shelburne, in Nova Scotia." Yes, I gave her a pin although John's Hessian book states her ancestor can be classified as a German Military Man, but not a Hessian. At 80+ she still chops her own kindling wood so it would be much more difficult to have her return the pin than it would be for the gold medal of a discredited Olympic athlete. And yes John, I know I did not mail you a copy of the picture I took of you that first day we met at your home. May I deliver it personally to your home? To save the postage. Right?? Good luck and may God bless you and your wife, Les Sinclair P.S. Happy retirement. The clock just struck midnight.