My ancestor Stophel Auckerman may have been a Hessian soldier who was in SW Pa. during and after the The Revolution. His children were born in Va. and Pa., the last one in about 1790 reportedly in Pa.. Does anyone know if Hessian soldiers might have been connected to the Brethren? I have read that many or most were Protestants. ***************** a prominent one - - The first Brethren Elder to move to Virginia was Elder Jacob Miller (1773 - to Franklin Co VA). He preached in German. He was accompanied by a William Smith, who preached in English (he was advanced to Eldership in Virginia, by Elder Jacob Miller). With Elder John Garber, of the Flat Rock Church (1775), these were the 3 most important Brethren in early Revolutionary Virginia. Jacob Miller moved to Dayton OH, about 1801. At the settlement of his estate (1816) was a William Smith, who almost certainly was the afore William Smith, preacher, now Elder Most of the children of Elder Jacob came here to the Four Mile (just across the state line in Indiana territory). We also have records here of two William Smiths, one of whom likely was this same person. The Elder William Smith (William Rose Smith), moved west (land records say he moved from Union Co IN - the Four Mile), to the Raccoon Creek church, Putnam Co IN, about 1826 (with the Potter John Miller family), and died there - in his 80s - about 1839. His wife (?1st wife) was Nancy Henderson, full sister to Sally Henderson, wife of Tobias Miller, half sister to Phoebe McClure, wife of Potter John Miller (both sons of Elder Jacob Miller) and to Isabella McClure, wife of William Crawford, best friend of Potter John - all of the Four Mile Church. The story of William Rose Smith, as followed by a descendent, Janie Smith, with help from Southern Virginia History, is that William Smith was a medical doctor in the British Army, under General Cornwallis, as they invaded the Carolinas and Virginia to end at surrender at Yorktown (1781). It is probably from there that Williiam Smith followed some of the Bedford Co Militia back to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Franklin Co Va. (He was between 20 and 30 years old at the time of the surrender, and refused repatriation to Canada.) His children were born in Franklin Co VA, came west to Putnam Co IN - and scattered further in Brethren migration. Mention of Elder William R Smith is in the History of the Church of the Brethren in Indiana, by Dr Otho Winger, under the Ladoga Church. This is a summation of a paper on Elder William Rose Smith (by Janie Smith and myself) (that has been submitted to Brethren Roots, but so far has not been published). *************** But please - The Hessian troops were engaged in battles in the coastal areas from Boston to Maryland, possibly even to the Carolinas. Your Stophel Auckerman likely Moved West to the Pennsylvania frontier, but it would have been After the Revolution. The Brethren were in southwestern Pennsylvania years before the Revolution, and there was considerable migration to those areas after the war. I have seen mention of a number of the Hessians, who simply refused to return to Germany, disappeared from the British Army, and are found in various locations in the colonies. Some had been captured and there were others who had surrendered . In an 1801 marriage certificate, John Auckerman (son of Jacob and Elizabeth Auckerman - ?Gettysburg PA) was married to Mary Hole, at Williamsburg, Hamilton Co OH (now Clermont Co OH), by Jacob Miller, MG (Minister of the Gospel - which adds some confusion in my findings on Elder Jacob Miller) This is the Elizabeth, who deserted her husband and came with a Frederick Nunt to Columbia (sw corner of Cincinnati now) in 1789, with her children (son John, and 2 younger daughters), per an ad ran by Jacob Aukerman in the Frederick MD Newspaper. These were the earliest Brethren family I have found in Ohio. Due to the Virginia Bounty Lands Survey, they moved up to the Dayton area, where Elizabeth was in turn deserted. She lived with John and Mary at their farm at Gratis OH, and is buried at Eaton OH. I have found 3 Hessian Generals with the name Rummel (Prussians) who were in the British Army, but my ancestor was in Lancaster Co PA several decades before the Revolution. There is a possibility of a connection with a former Hessian soldier, who was living at Thurmont MD and my ancestor George Rummel, then at Gettysburg (letter by a Lawrence Rummel to a brother - another George Rummel, an Inn Keeper at Gettysburg [both Hessians?], about his daughter moving up there - c1800). Yes - I am certain there were 2 George Rummels in Gettysburg PA - in 1800 - that this was Not My George Rummel. Mine lived on a farm east of Gettysburg (the "Cavalry Field" of the Battle, "Rummel's Farm") - had to investigate it though. Merle C Rummel

The Hessian's were part the army of Cornwallis. They came down from New York to Charleston, and followed Cornwallis up to Yorktown. They fought at the battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina. My AWOL Hessian ancestor left Cornwallis at Yorktown, about a month before the battle ended. Bill Thomas