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Dedicated to the Memory of 

Johann Helmut Merz
John H. Merz

Many of you reading this knew John and some of you will be learning about John here. John was born 1924 in Germany and died in the afternoon of 24 March 2006, in his sleep. His wife and daughter Connie were at his side. 

John suffered a stroke in the early part of November 2005 and had good and bad days fighting to get his strength back. Sadly to say he lost his battle and we his friends and Hessian researchers will suffer the loss along with his family.

Once during his fight Connie wrote; "He enjoys when I read his mail to him and has tears of joy that people are thinking of him. He is certainly thinking and missing all of his friends."

He was a German soldier in WWII. Captured and sent to a POW camp in the United States. After his return to Germany, he married Emma, the love of his life for 60 years. He moved to Canada where he raised his family. He was a loving father to Inge Parada and her husband Tony, Norm and his wife Joanne, Connie Harper and John Merz Jr.

His avocation and passion was to enlighten us with pride and knowledge of our Hessian heritage. He spent years researching the Hessian soldiers that chose to stay in the United States and Canada. He shared this knowledge with all who asked. John started the AMREV-HESSIANS LISTSERV at Rootsweb.com back in 1998. He wrote and published books on the Hessians. He personally answered thousands of emails both on the list and privately. He spent hours transcribing the old German script into English, French and German. He even was involved with memorial services, presenting Hessian research information to organizations in Germany, Canada and the United States.

On this website you will find many of his works and additional information from other researchers. Hopefully, we will continue to grow and make information available for the new and old Hessian researchers. In this way, we can continue to honor the memory of John's devotion to the history of the Hessian and their involvement in the growth of two vital nations.

This website was created to help Hessian descendants and historians with their studies of Hessians that remained in North America after the American Revolutionary War. It was intended to be an adjunct to the AMREV-HESSIANS LISTSERV. Unfortunately, the LISTSERV no longer exists but it's searchable archives remain here. A Facebook group was started in 2020 after the listserv shutdown. Click here to join the AMREV HESSIAN Facebook group.

We suggest that you read John's articles on the Revolutionary War. His articles are very informative, and the more you learn about what went on and where, the better you can understand what your Hessian had to deal with. You can find his articles at the Articles link in the tool bar below.

Additional contributions of information are welcome from anyone; but require a listing of your resource (s) with the information. We want the information found here to be as accurate as humanly possible.

Lest we forget!



John Merz Memorial Page
by his daughter Connie

Hessian pin & pendant

NEW!   "Hessians, German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War"
By Friederike Baer
2022 Oxford University Press
Available at Amazon.com here