Lingelbach Heritage

History of Lingelbach and Hesse

Chronicle of Lingelbach (Deutsche) - A short history of Lingelbach by Adam
Reußwig, who was a schoolteacher in the village from 1937 until 1940. In addition to a
brief account of the origin, history and statistics of the village, Reußwig provides an
account of each of the village's twenty-four farms from 1780 to the time of writing.

Hesse in the Wikipedia - An overview of the history and geography of the modern
state of Hesse, with links to its counties and cities, along with external links to
valuable sources of information.

A Brief History of Hesse - A very readable synoptic history of Hesse by Peter
Kessler, from the 1st century to the present day.

A Land Called Hessen - An online directory of maps of Hesse and Germany.

Rulers of Hessen - A list of rulers of Hesse from the earliest recorded times to the
present, showing the ever-changing configurations of this territory.

Hessians and the American Revolution

At the time of his marriage, Henrich Adam Dippel, the grandfather of Nicolaus, was
identified in the marriage register as a member of "the Laudable Regiment von
Donop." Further exploration has revealed that Adam was an enlisted man in von
Steins' Compagnie, which served in the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen on the side
of the British during the American Revolution. Adam is likely to have seen action at
the battles of Flatbush and White Plains, the capture of Fort Washington and the
battle of Trenton, on Christmas 1776, where he appears to have been captured by
George Washington's troops, since he was listed as being a prisoner of war the
following year. After being reunited with his regiment, he would have served in the
defense of Québec City before the regiment was ordered back to New York in 1781,
where it remained until returning the Hessen-Kassel in 1783.

Infanterie Regiment von Donop - A living history re-enactment group that
recreates the life and times of typical Hessian soldiers that served in North America
during the Revolutionary War. This website contains a wealth of information about the
Hessian auxiliary troops and their activities in North America.

Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen - A group of "living historians" who portray the
men and and women who served in the German auxiliary during the Revolutionary War,
focusing on the research and history of the Laudable Hessian Fusilier Regiment von
Knyphausen.

The Hessians and Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War
- A complete online version of Edward J. Lowell's definitive 1884 account of Hessian
paricipation in the Revolutionary War.

Johannes Schwalm Historical Association - A nonprofit organization dedicated to
researching those German auxiliary troops (generically called Hessian) who remained in
America after the Revolutionary War and were the progenitors of many thousands of
Americans living today.

The Old Barracks Museum - Located in downtown Trenton, next to the New Jersey
state house, the Old Barracks Museum is an educational center for Colonial and
American history. A silent witness to the Battle of Trenton, it is here (or near here)
where Adam Dippel is presumed to have captured as a prisoner of war during the
American Revolution.

Genealogical Resources

Uwe Porten and Genealogy Germany - In researching the Dippel and Gemmer
families' German roots, I was fortunate to discover Uwe Porten, a professional
researcher in Bingen, near Frankfurt, who specializes in genealogy and history. He is a
competent, thorough and trustworthy professional whom I am happy to recommend to
anyone without reservation! Check out Uwe Porten's website to learn about the
comprehensive list of services he offers to family historians with German roots.

FamilySearch - One of the best genealogical databases on the Internet,
FamilySearch is a good place to begin (or continue) your search for ancestors. This
service is free of charge, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. I check for new records every few months and, oftentimes, I'm rewarded with
one more bud or twig for the family tree! However, I have also found errors in some of
the records I've found here, so care needs to be taken to verify any information
found at this site. In addition to normal transcription errors, I've found several spelling
errors (of both names and places), errors of date, and linkage errors (since some of
the amateur genealogists supplying information are not always as careful as the
should be). Free downloads are available of Personal Ancestral File, a basic software
program which is more than adequate to most researchers' needs.

Castle Garden - Before Ellis Island, Castle Garden was the gateway through which a
large number of immigrants passed on their way to the United States and Canada. It
operated as America's first immigration center from 1855 to 1890. The Castle Garden
database offers free access to the immigration records of more than 11 million people
who immigrated between 1820 and 1892, including most immigrants' name, age,
occupation, place of origin and the name of the ship on which they arrived. More than
100 million Americans have at least one ancestor who passed through Castle Garden!

Ancestry.ca is a subscription service which is a good (albeit expensive) source of
digitized original vital records, including birth, marriage and death registers, census
returns, and other documents. Some genealogical software comes with a free
one-year subscription to Ancestry.ca, so check your software before paying!