John - Thank you for the information. It never occurred to me that Heinrich could have changed his last name. I have sent to see if he is listed in the Hetrina volumes. His first son's birth is listed in the German Presbyterian Church Cohansey (located in Upper Hopewell Twp., NJ) as follows: "Johannes, son of Heinrich Bitters, a Hessian soldier, and Elizabeth, b. Dec. l, 1784". I thought it odd that they would indicate in a church record that he was a Hessian soldier unless maybe that was his occupation at the time. I am curious if you have ever come across Hessian soldiers marrying while still being active participants in the Hessian army during the Rev. War. From what I have read, most of them married after deserting. Carolyn Bartee

Hello Carolyn, a little correction, if you have followed the postings on this list, you will notice that the Ansbach-Bayreuth troops are NOT listed in Hetrina, so this man I mentioned cannot be found there. Another clarification, if one was called a Hessian soldier by his neighbours or enemies, didn't mean he still was serving as such. It was a label all of them carried to their last day in life, even if they had served in some patriotic units after their desertion from the 'Hessians'. Once a Hess, always a Hess! But there is nothing wrong with your searching the Hetrina volumes, there was one BITTER (Arnold), there may have been others, serving in other Hessian units. As a last but equally important advice to you, I would recommend very strongly to search for the name BITTER on the Rootsweb Surname Board BITTER http://boards.rootsweb.com and type in Bitter, you will find it very entertaining and rewarding. That's it for me, good luck in your search, keep your mind open, Cheers, John Helmut Merz. From: <carolyn172@webtv.net> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 12:30 PM > > John - Thank you for the information. It never occurred to me that > Heinrich could have changed his last name. I have sent to see if he is > listed in the Hetrina volumes. > > His first son's birth is listed in the German Presbyterian Church > Cohansey (located in Upper Hopewell Twp., NJ) as follows: "Johannes, son > of Heinrich Bitters, a Hessian soldier, and Elizabeth, b. Dec. l, 1784". > I thought it odd that they would indicate in a church record that he > was a Hessian soldier unless maybe that was his occupation at the time. (Note - no such occupation at that time in U.S.A.) > > I am curious if you have ever come across Hessian soldiers marrying > while still being active participants in the Hessian army during the > Rev. War. From what I have read, most of them married after deserting. > > Carolyn Bartee