Georg Gebhard “Gaspard” Nieding
A short biography on the life of Georg Gebhard “Gaspard” Nieding, a German "Chasseur" Soldier who came to North America to fight alongside the British in the American Revolutionary War. He settled in Canada, marrying Angélique Gagnier (or Gagné).
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Gaspard Nieding & Marie Angélique Gagnier
A German "Chasseur" Soldier in Canada
Georg Gebhard “Gaspard” Nieding, son of Henry (likely Heinrich) Nieding and Magdalene Kienten, was born circa 1753 in Gelnhaar, Hanau. Today, Gelnhaar is part of the town of Ortenberg in Hesse, Germany. The village of Gelnhaar is located 9 km north of Büdingen and was referenced as early as 1187.
Location of Ortenberg in present-day Germany (map data ©2020 Google)
Church of Michaeliskirche in Gelnhaar neighbourhood of Ortenberg (2017 photo by Wikimedia Commons author Tilman2007)
The Hesse-Hanau Chasseurs
In 1776, Gebhard was recruited as a soldier and chasseur (literal translation: hunter; Jäger in German) in the Hesse-Hanau Jäger Corps regiment (HJA 1) headed by Lieutenant Colonel Karl Adolf Christoph von Creutzburg.
At the start of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), alliances were created between the United Kingdom and several German principalities. [At this time, the German Empire was composed of some 300 principalities, electorates, duchies, margraviates, landgraviates, bishoprics, abbeys, seigneuries and free towns.] The Germans agreed to dispatch troops to North America to assist the British Army in the war, whose numbers were inferior to that of the colonies they were fighting. In return, the UK would financially compensate the German principalities. In 1776, such an alliance was created with the territory of Hesse-Hanau, whose capital Hanau was located 25 km east of Frankfurt, and 40 km south of Gebhard's hometown of Gelnhaar. Wilhelm I, the count of Hesse-Hanau and nephew to King George III of Great Britain, agreed to send over 2,000 soldiers organized into four regiments: one comprised of foot soldiers, one artillery company, one light infantry corps and one ranger corps.
"Hessian Jäger Soldiers in America" (artist unknown, Hessian State Archives)
Outdoorsmen, hunters and foresters
Watercolor of a fusilier from Hessen Hanau Erbprinz Regiment, painted by Friedrich von Germann in Canada in early 1777. Wikimedia Commons.
In 1777, Britain requested that an additional corps of Hesse-Hanau soldiers be formed: the chasseurs, or Jäger Corps. The French word chasseur and the German word Jäger mean "hunter". The soldiers recruited into the Jäger Corps were said to be outdoorsmen, hunters and foresters. They were all volunteers. The British specifically requested this type of men because it was believed they would fare better in the harsh North American environment and the hunters would make better marksmen. Some were game wardens in the noble or royal forest preserves in Germany.
That same year, Gebhard and the Chasseur regiment of Hesse-Hanau left Hanau under the command of Colonel Von Creutzbourg and travelled to the Portsmouth, England. From Portsmouth they sailed across the Atlantic and arrived in Québec in the spring. While many German troops were deployed for active fighting in the Thirteen Colonies, most of the Hesse-Hanau regiment remained as garrison troops in Canada, protecting the border in present-day Québec and Ontario. From the port at Québec, the troops crossed the north bank of the St. Lawrence River to Montreal and Lachine. They were confined to La Prairie, L’Assomption, Terrebonne and Pointe-Lévy, among others. It's been said that during the American Revolutionary War, 1 in 22 people in Québec was a German soldier.
In 1783, once the war was over, the German troops were given the choice of settling in Canada or returning home. Gebhard decided to settle in Québec, where he adopted the name “Gaspard”. Over half of the German soldiers originally sent over to the New World decided to settle there.
As one Hessian officer commented, "Although seeing little real war, they led a wholesome life in the Canadian woods, rivalling the Indians in their long marches, hunting and fishing, and enjoying life much more than the German soldiers at home or in the southern colonies."
Making a Home in Laprairie
Gaspard married Marie Angélique Gagnier (or Gagné), daughter of Marc Gagnier and Marie Catherine Barault, on 19 Feb 1787 at the church of Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine in Laprairie, Québec [today spelled La Prairie]. He was about 34 years old; she was 24.
“Old Fortified House at La Prairie”, 1885 painting by Henry Richard S. Bunnett (Wikimedia Commons)
The couple settled in Laprairie and had at least 8 children there:
Marc Gaspard Niding
Marie Angélique Niding
Marie Marguerite Niding
Jean Baptiste Niding
Louis Niding
Marie Catherine
Marie Louise Niding
Julien Niding
Georg Gebhard “Gaspard” Nieding died at the age of about 64 on 3 Feb 1817 in Laprairie, where he was buried in the parish cemetery the next day. Marie Angélique Gagnier (or Gagné) died at the age of 74 on 28 Mar 1837 in Laprairie, where she was buried two days later.
A German Legacy in Québec
Today, roughly 10,000 French-Canadians have a German soldier as an ancestor. The following surnames all lead to German soldier ancestors: Arnoldi, Bauer, Berger, Besner, Besré, Black, Brown, Carpenter, Caux/Claude, Eberts, Frédéric, Grothe, Hamel, Heynemand, Hinse, Hoffman, Hunter, Inkel, Jordan, Koenig, Laître/Lettre, Lange, Lieppé, Maheu, Matte, Nieding, Olivier, Pave, Piuze, Pétri, Plasse, Pratte, Rose, Rouche, Schenaille, Schmidt, Schneider, Steinberg, Stone, Trestler, Wagner and Wolfe. Some of these surnames were simply translated from German into French or English, while others went through a more complex transformation.
As author, historian and descendant Jean-Pierre Wilhemy put it best:
"And so, generations pass, taking with them into oblivion the memories of their forefathers' hardships, hopes and freedom. New generations are left with only a surname for a legacy, a name whose spelling time has reshaped more than once, camouflaging the country of their origins and their ancestors." [our translation]
Transformation of the Surname Nieding
The German pronunciation of “Nie” is the same as the French “Ni”, so most documents for Gaspard and his children list his surname as “Niding” instead of “Nieding”. Some of Gaspard’s descendants eventually adopted the surname “Dedine”.
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Sources and further reading:
Claude Crégheur, “Les Chasseurs de Hesse-Hanau", Patrimoine et histoire des seigneuries de Lotbinière, Volume 9, numéro 2, Jul 2016, BAnQ numérique (http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/)
Virginia Easley DeMarce, excerpt from "The Settlement of Former German Auxilliary Troops in Canada After the American Revolution", http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mcdanielshowland/genealogy/html-fr/zellman.txt.
Anik Laflèche, “Canada and the German mercenaries of the American Revolution”, Library and Archives Canada Blog (https://thediscoverblog.com/2018/01/18/canada-and-the-german-mercenaries-of-the-american-revolution/)
Louis-Guy Lemieux, "Histoire oubliée : 10 000 Québécois ont des ancêtres allemands", Le Soleil, 8 Jul 2001, pages B1, B3, BAnQ numérique (http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/).
Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy, "Christian Ernst D. Wilhelmi : les mercenaires allemands au Québec au XVIIIe siècle et leur apport à la population", Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française, vol. XXXIII, No 4, Dec 1982, 275-288.
“Gelnhaar, Wetteraukreis“, Historisches Ortslexikon (https://www.lagis-hessen.de/en/subjects/idrec/sn/ol/id/12063).
"Nieding, Georg / Gebhard (* ca.1753)", Hessian troops in America (www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/idrec/sn/hetrina/id/75323).
“Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca), marriage record for Gaspard Needing & Marie Angelique Gagné,19 Feb 1787, Laprairie, Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine; citing original data from Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.
“Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca), burial record for Gebhard Niding, 4 Feb 1817, La Prairie, Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine; citing original data from Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.
“Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca), burial record for Angelique Gagnier dite d’Aubugeon, 30 Mar 1837, La Prairie, Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine; citing original data from Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.