Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-09-12
SKELETON OF A HESSlAN.
The Strange Catch of a Fisherman
at SInnipink Lake, New York.


The bones and boots and other parts
OF deceased Hessian soldier who came
over ere as ahireling of England, were
fished out of Sinnipink Lake on
August 10th, after lying at the bottom
OF that body of water for a century and
a quarter. Whatever else may be said
about this man, it is certain that he
died with his boots on, for the enor-
nous boots he wore were the most CON
spicuous feature Of the strange mass
OF bones, seaweed and bits of uni
form which George Flood brought
to the surface Of the lake on the end
of his line.
With Assemblyman Louis f. Goodsell
and James Taggart of Newburg and
Joseph Miller and Ebenezer Likely, he
had been camping in the lake, which
is in the centre Of places of Reyolu-
tionary interest in Rockland and
Orange counties, this State. Here
was fought the battle Of Fort Mont
gomery, and here it was that Fort
Clinton was taken.
In both of these engagements the
Hessians took prominent part. They
were burly ruffians who hired them
selves out to any of the powers willing
to pay for their services
The British, apparently feeling tho
hopelessness of subduing the Ameri-
cans single handed, hired lot Of Hes
SLAMS, and it is curious fact that this
contract, entered into with the object
OF destroying American liberty, laid
the foundation of the great fortune Of
the Rothschilds, originally Hessian
family, then engaged in pawnbroking
and banking on small scale.
A large number of the Hessians, how
ever, paid dearly for their temerity in
coming to America. During the Revo-
lutionary war they were even more
hated than the English.
The presence of the Hessians in this
country led to the adoption of two
words into the American vocabulary.
One was "Hessian, term of con
tempt, signifying treachery and deceit
of the lowest kind.
The other was 'Hessian boots, -
taken from the enormous boots these
soldiers wore, which came un over
their knees and were a curiosity to the
sturdy American patriots. Even at the
present day high boots Of this kind are
called "Hessian boots in many of the
rural sections of the Eastern States,
where the memory of these old-time
adventures has been handed down
from father TO son.
The dead Hessian whose bones were
found in Sinnipink Lake less than two
weeks ago was easily identified by his
boots 1t is still considered wonderful
at Doodletown, where the remains of
this Revolutionary soldier were taken,
that the boots should have survived
CaE H. s.aA -
for SO long. On these boots of the dead
soldier were found the spurs, and these
had sunk deep into the leather at the
heel.
There were five bullet holes in the
skull. George Flood had been one of
the most successful of the fishermen,
and when his hook caught in the
skeleton he thought at first that he
had good bite. He did not know
that dead Hcssian was at the other
end of his line.
Flood could not get the hook loose.
Finally, with the help of his friends,
he succeeded in pulling the skeleton to
the surface. When it came in contact
with the air it went to pieces.
The bones were then gathered up and
placed in the corner of the boat. The
bottom was then dragged and the great
cavalry boots were fished up, with the
spurs still clinging them. An enor-
nous cavalry sabre vas also brought to
the surface. This was recognized by
the fisherman as find" of the high
est interest.
Joe Miller was, however, the most
excited. He is the local coroner. As
such it is his duty TO "sit" upon
every corpse, bones or body found
in the neighhorhood, and after duly so
sitting to determine how the deceased
came to his death, whether by his own
hand or by that of people unknown.
The case of the dead Hessian imme-
diately recommended itself to Mr..
Miller. He proposed that an inquest
be held on the remains. 1t was only
after consider BILE argument that Coro-
ner Miller coulu ne induced TO abandon
this project.
1t was pointed out to him that, first,
the Revolution having been successful,
the deceased had come to his death in
a lawful manner, being killed IN battle
against the people of these United
States; second, that his name and cir
cumstances being unknown, it would
be impossible TO hold proceedings over
his remains; and, third, so much time
had anyhow elapsed since his death
that all those implicated therein had
long since ceased to live, and such an
Investigation could do no good.
In the face of these arguments Coro-
ner Miller abandoned the projected in
| quest and went back to the lake to fish
for more Hessans. In this he was
| joined by several other antiquarians,
but thus far no more Hessians have
been brought TO the surface.
What to do with the remains was
the next question, and it is still agi.
tatlng the wiseacres of Doodletown.
Every patriot and son Of patriot wants
part OF the bones or bit of the boots,
but the general sentiment is in favor of
giving the bones decent burial.
The memories of the Revolution
having softened with time there is no
luminosity against this particular He's
sian, and many expressions of pity
have been heard in the neighborhood
for he who died so far from his native
land in a fight that did not concern
him in the least. He was very big
man, as is shown by the skeleton, and
must have looked imposing on horse
BACK, with his enormous boots and
great Hessian cap.
The capture Of Fort Montgomery was
in reality victory for the Hessians,
who did most of the fighting, the
British coming up afterwards TO claim
the glory. The Hessians being unable
to speak English and being hired sol
diers anyhow, easily got left in the an
mails Of history
Their bones, however, testified to
the amount Of fighting they did in
these engagements Hessian bones
were for many years after the Revolu-
tion found all over the scenes of battle