Posted on 05/28/2025 2:59:09 PM PDT by DFG
That's on my mother's side.
My father's parents were immigrants (1914). It's my paternal grandfather's paternal grandfather who was born in 1780--he never came to the United States. His son (b. 1835) was an employee on a merchant ship and once was in New York harbor but never lived in the US. He was 59 when my grandfather was born.
Millard Fillmore inspired the comic strip Mallard Fillmore.
The Revolutionary soldier who died in 1822 was Scots-Irish and his obituary says he was a Presbyterian. His father and brothers signed a petition in support of religious freedom in Virginia (where the Church of England was the established church)--my ancestor had moved to a different part of the state so did not sign.
Yeah, I’m in the SAR in Northern VA but I’m not active. I get their email all the time.
My mothers side came later. they came in time for the civil war.
I think that a lot of American history is being buried and covered over. The geneologies serve as portals to the older america that is gone and not really remembered much. Sadly the reason is that fewer and fewer american have ancestors from those ages. so stories pf those ages are not also family stories for many if not— most americans.
Interesting. My revolutionary war ancestors were all palatinate germans. When George Washington went over the delaware many of his troops were of german extraction. they actually talked to the Hessians across the lines.
the officers were usually presbyterian scotts irish. So my father’s family converted to prebyterianism —but its not clear when that happened. my revolutionary war ancestor hosted amish gatherings in his barn. That barn and his stone house is still standing in Juniata County, PA.
My family stayed presbyterian until the 1970’s when the presbyterians formed the PCUSA and that denomination went liberal. then everyone bailed out.
the SAR in northern vA is a mix of english scots irish and palatinate germans.
Why is that a big deal to you? You think past slavery is some sort of black mark? You sound like some idiot liberal.
Slavery is a normal historical institution found in most cultures at some stage. Western culture outgrew it first, leading the world as usual. It’s no big deal, though Americans seem to imagine that it is.
Slavery was natural to Americans AND to Africans. Get over it.
My mother's mother's grandparents were immigrants before the Civil War. But the only relatives that I know actually served in the war were descended from the colonial era Americans. Some were on one side, some on the other, depending on where they lived.
I had a great-great-grandmother who was a Hessian—she was born in Grossauheim which is listed as in Hesse-Cassel on one census and as in Hesse-Darmstadt on another census. But I don’t know how long her family was there (she was born in the 1830s) or if any served as mercenaries in the American Revolution. I think “Hessians” was used loosely—they were sometimes from other parts of Germany.
Yes. I don't think the article mentions that his grandfather - the 10th U.S. president - served in the government of the Confederacy and when the former U.S. president died he was buried with the flag of the Confederacy on his coffin.
so I asked AI what part of germany the hessians who fought in the revolutionary war are from. this was the answer.
The German mercenaries known as “Hessians” who fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War primarily came from the state of Hesse-Kassel (also spelled Hesse-Cassel) in what is now central Germany. Hesse-Kassel was the most militarized and prominent of several small German principalities that provided troops to Britain, and it supplied more than half of the approximately 30,000 German soldiers hired by the British—about 18,000 men.
The term “Hessian” became a general label for all German auxiliaries in British service, but besides Hesse-Kassel, smaller numbers of troops came from other German states such as Hesse-Hanau, Brunswick, Anhalt-Zerbst, Anspach-Bayreuth, Waldeck, and Hanover. However, the overwhelming majority were from Hesse-Kassel, which is why the name “Hessian” stuck as a collective term.
At the time, Germany was not a unified nation but a patchwork of independent states, and Hesse-Kassel’s ruler, Landgrave Frederick II, had a longstanding practice of renting out his well-trained soldiers to foreign powers as a source of state revenue. The Hessian troops were known for their discipline and military prowess, and their significant presence in the British ranks made them a notable force throughout the conflict.
As an honorable mention: his big brother Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. (1925–2020).
So it does. :)
I knew that. I assumed the other commenters were making light.
Also, these kinds of comments take away from interesting threads.
There often are thread that one can make silly comments too, have fun with; this isn't one of them.
I met the gentleman several times in the late 90s early 2000s.
We did Civil War reenactments on his property at Fort Pocahantas. After the day’s events he would ride around the Union and Confederate camps in a golf cart and chat with us reenactors. Talked to him on numerous occasions.
I hadn’t been aware that Pocahontas had any children, so I checked. She and John Rolfe had one son Thomas Rolfe, and Thomas had a daughter who the line is descended from.
“Slavery was natural to Americans AND to Africans. Get over it.”
Are you mad?
Are you, or just uneducated? Slavery is a natural institution grown from man’s nature. ALL societies practiced some form, and all major religions endorse it.
Then man’s reason discovered alternatives and developed the rights of man. This was the next stage of progress, making slavery obsolete. But PRIOR to that, slavery was absolutely natural. Africans were some of the biggest slavers!
Study history man, learn about the world and from whence we have come.
Both your posts are insulting and snarky. I was commenting on the constant mention of race in news stories and you started ranting. Poor impulse control.
“Having children into old age was a family trait, as President Tyler was 63 when Lyon was born.”
It’s rarer for women to have children at an older age, due to menopause.
I didn’t see any mention of the ages of the wives, but I’m assuming there were big age differences.
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