THE WALDECKERS

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Sometimes encouragement to research a subject can come in unexpected ways. After a presentation to a local historical society, one of the attendees told me she had an old drawing she would like to present to me.   We arranged to meet again when she gave me a print that mentioned Waldeckers with Hessians and Loyalists.

Waldeckers at Old St. Edward's Church 

The Waldeckers who settled in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia had served in the Waldeck Regiment created in the Principality of Waldeck, Germany. In the summer and fall of 1783 these soldiers settled on the Waldeck Line on lots of land varying between 100 and 300 acres.  This settlement was in the western part of the Township of Clements and neighbouring it was a settlement of Hessian soldiers who had also been disbanded.  The largest group of Germans fighting along with the British in the American Revolution were Hessians, primarily from Hesse - Kassel and Hesse - Hanau in modern day Germany. These two settlements were formed on lines parallel to each other and two miles apart.

In 2003, H. Millard Wright, who had been born in Deep Brook, Annapolis County, where his grandfather's farm ran from the Annapolis Basin to the Waldeck Line, authored an informative book entitled Nova Scotia Waldeckers. 

H. Millard Wright Book 

The names of the Waldeckers identified in Nova Scotia Waldeckers were: Frederick Suh, Erdmann Zenecke, John Turger, Michael Schlauderbech, Johann George Tuchscheer, John Weissenborn, Thomas Schnieder, Franz Ziegler, Nicholas Wagner, Christopher Baker, Peter Hamm, George Krause, Johannes Kuhn, Frederick Ludwig Boehme, Johann Peter Muller, Anton Hartman, Michael Fitzer, Kasper Pickel, Kasper Klauhold, Phillip Roehling and Jacob Buehler.

There had been 1225 soldiers from Waldeck who served as part of the German auxiliary troops (often called Hessians) hired by Great Britain. Out of this number approximately 720 died during the conflict.

The  Old St. Edward's Church at Clementsport was built in part by the contributions of these people. However, the inhospitable nature of the land and lack of government support led to the inevitable failure of the Waldeck settlement.  Today, the Waldeck Line Road has only a few houses.

Waldeck, Annapolis County 


Further Reading:

Nova Scotia Waldeckers by H. Millard Wright, published in 2003

The Waldeck Settlement in Nova Scotia by Brian McConnell, UE, published by UELAC in 2020

Old St. Edward's Church & the Loyalists by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2021


Historian; Genealogist; Author; Member of United Empire Loyalists ' Association of Canada, Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, Ontario Genealogical Society, Ulster Historical & Genealogical Guild (Life)

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