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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | OCTOBER 2016 15 By Dick Roppé, Resident For years I've had in my possession a color copy of a document — in German — called a fraktur. It's basically a hand-colored certificate indicating a birth or baptism and often referred to as German folk art. It shows the birth of my 3rd great-grandfather, Peter Rückert, on 11 March 1785. His father was Simon Rückert and his mother Susanna Meyerin. Both are German surnames. Genealogy is all about research and documentation with a little luck tossed in. The initial information I had indicated that Simon's parents were English and Simon was born in America. This didn't make sense to me. So, I started digging. I found that Simon and Susanna lived in Lovettsville, Virginia. Lovettsville was a large German settlement. I also found that the Lutheran minister at the time of Peter's birth was shown on the fraktur. So, how did Simon, with a very German surname, wind up in a German settlement? I also found church records that showed he died in 1793 at the age of 40 and was buried at the Lutheran church cemetery in Lovettsville. This would have put his age at 23 in 1776. Why, you ask, would 1776 be relevant? It was time to look for some dots to connect. I knew historically that King George III was short on troops to send to the colonies while having to deal with other "neighborhood" conflicts. At this time Germany was divided into many "states" each having princes or margraves who had their own armies that they would "rent" out. George needed some help so he hired the margraves' troops. The troops came from several areas of Germany, including Hess. The term Hessian became an inclusive name applying to all German troops sent to America to fight for the British. Historically these troops have been mislabeled as mercenaries. They were under the rule of the margrave (who was paid handsomely by the British) and really had no choice but to go where sent or face serious consequences. From exulaten.com: In Ansbach territories, no subject could leave the country or marry without permission. Drunks, debtors, political troublemakers and rebels were (often) forced into the ranks along with peasant farm boys if not more than sixty years old and "of fair health and stature." About 18,000 "Hessian" troops arrived in North America in 1776-77, including the small and often unwilling army of Ansbach-Bayreuth. By the end of the war over 30,000 German troops had been deployed to fight in America. This was a formidable number in that the British had a total force of about 56,000. Simon Rückert is shown in records as being attached to the Ansbach regiment. Charles Alexander, the Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth, "loaned" a total of 2,353 soldiers to the British one of whom was Simon. These troops were initially incorporated into General Howe's army in New York. Later in the war they were with General Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown. During the Revolution, the Americans, with General Washington's approval and encouragement continually offered incentives for Hessian soldiers to desert. This enticement included 50 acres of land for regular soldiers and 1,000 acres for a colonel. This offer was not extended to British soldiers. Of the estimated 30,000 Hessian troops roughly 5,000 Hessians remained in America or Canada, 8,000 were killed with the remainder returning to Germany. On Oct. 15, 1781, four days before the British surrendered at Yorktown, Simon Rückert deserted. Hessians that deserted in the last months of the war were generally considered immigrants and integrated well into German-speaking communities. The German settlement at Lovettsville is about 120 miles from Yorktown. Circumstantial as it might be, it is my opinion that Simon Rückert was indeed a Hessian. I rest my case. Making a Case for Simon Above: Peter Rückert fraktur Hessian Soldier

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