Francis Peter Byer32 was born Abt. 1745 in Germany, and died Bef. 1845 in Madison Co, NY. He married Sarah Byer.
Notes for Francis Peter Byer: His real name may be Heinrich Beyer of the Brunswickers Regt.v.Rhetz, (Germans who fought under Burgoyne). This man , a 20 year old baker by trade, escaped on the 25 Oct 1777 a few days after the surrender at a place called Great Barrington. That's the last heard of him. The escapees seldom traveled alone, running in small groups. All Germans at that time were called Hessians.
BIOG:from "Pioneer Sketches of Madison Co, NY" BYU Lib book F127.M2 T87 "FRANCIS BYER: Eaton, Revolutionary War Vet, Served in Tryon County. Wife, SARAH, d. 27 Jan 1846, age 100. Buried at Morrisville. Lived in County prior to 1804." Nicholas Byer's father, Francis, was a Hessian soldier, Rev.War."
BIOG: from "History of Madison Co, NY, Mrs. L.M. Hammond, 1872" Eaton, Mad.Co. p.299 - "A few settlers located at Eaton Village soon after Mr. Morse built his mill (c.1806) NICHOLAS BYER, a blacksmith, was one of the first. His father (FRANCIS BYER), who lived here also was one of Burgoyne's Hessians in the time of the Revolution(Rev.War). This fact was noted by the Rev.War Patriots who were his neighbors".
MILITARY-RESIDENCE:from Hamilton NY Library Scrapbook, VIII(Second Series) 1978: "Clippings & Shavings": Newspaper reprints of interest. "The Hessian, Peter Byer was always an outsider in Log City, but in his time his son, Nicholas Byer, the village blacksmith, became a substantial citizen. The father and son moved to the new village shortly after Joseph Morse erected his mill on the swift flowing Eaton Brook shortly after 1800. There were only six other log houses in the community. Peter Byer was one of Gen Johnny Burgoyne's Hessians who had surrendered at Saratoga. Some of the hard-shelled revolutionary patriots who had fought in that battle and later migrated to Log City, never did forget the war was over until Peter died."
MILITARY-HISTORY: from the World Book, p.592: "BURGOYNE, JOHN, 1722-1792, was a general, Rev. War and a writer of plays. In 1777, he submitted a plan to the British government for invading New York State from Canada, and making contact with the British troops at New York City. He was then given command of an army. Although his Hessian soldiers were defeated at Bennington, VT, he advanced with his troops by way of Lk.Champlain to near Albany but his communications broke down and he was surrounded by a much larger American army under Gen.Horatio Gates. After a battle, Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga on Oct.17, 1777. This battle induced France to join the U.S. as an ally in the war and has been called one of the 15 decisive battles of history." from World Book,P.204: HESSIAN, a name given to the 30,000 German soldiers hired by the British to fight the colonists during the Rev.War in America. They were called Hessians because many of them came from Hesse-Kassel in W.Germany. The Hessians were sold men into military service, paid about 25 cents a day. Princes who sold their services pocketed a large bonus from the British. The Hessians were not particularly interested in the war but were well trained and fought well. Their performance in the Battles of Long Island, Fort Washington, Brandywine, Newport, and Charleston caused the American troops to fear and respect their fighting ability. The defeat of the Hessians at Trenton on Dec.26, 1776 boosted American morale. Some Hessians were won over to the American cause and deserted the British Army."
HISTORY: from THE HESSIANS, many Hessian soldiers were given the choice of staying in America and establishing a new life here, as there was no occupation for them in Germany due to peace time. This may have been Peter Francis Byer's choice.
BENNINGTON BATTLEFIELD, NY, 2003: Gen. John Burgoyne's german soldiers were mistakenly called Hessians by the Americans, but were really Brunwickers commanded by Lt.Col. Freidrich Baum.
From http://www.americanrevolution.org/hessindex.html, April 19, 2003 THE HESSIANS and the other GERMAN AUXILIARIES OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR by Edward J. Lowell, Harper and Brothers Publishers, New York 1884: "Much has been made of the fact that seven thousand French soldiers and nineteen thousand French seamen assisted the United States in the siege of Yorktown, but we have forgotten that a force of between fifteen and twenty thousand Germans served for seven years against us; that more than twenty-nine thousand were brought to America for this purpose; that more than twelve thousand never returned to Germany."
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle/hessians.html, April 19, 2003 THE HESSIANS During the American Revolution, Germany was divided into over 300 principalities. Many of these tiny countries supplied soldiers to the British army in its fight against America, but by far the largest group came from Hesse-Cassel. As a consequence, during the war and ever since, all of the Germans fighting with the British were lumped together and called Hessians.
The Hessians' services were bought and paid for by George III, who simply did not have enough soldiers in his own army to supply the needs of his commanders in America. German soldiers had served many European nations in a similar fashion for years, but they were not true mercenaries. Most of the Hessians received no compensation for their services beyond their daily bread. It was the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, Frederick II, who made off like a bandit in his dealings with George III. He sold the services of 12,000 Hessians to the English at [sterling]7 4s. a head.
In total, nearly 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British in North America. Once there, they discovered a thriving German-American community of almost 200,000 people. For many Hessians, the possibilities in this rich, new land with its growing German population was a great enticement to desertion---a fact that Americans worked hard to promote with promises of free land for Hessians willing to switch sides. An estimated 5,000 Germans stayed in this country, when their fellow countrymen returned home.
US Census: 1800: NY State, Francis Buys, Dutchess Co and Nicholas Buys 1810: NY State, F.Byers in Niagra Co, Byer A. Madison Co, N.Byer Madison Co 185.
More About Francis Peter Byer: Military service: Bet. 1775 - 1780, Hessian (Brunswicker), Bennington VT, Gen.J.Burgoyne.
Children of Francis Peter Byer and Sarah Byer are:
Francis Peter Byer (b. Abt. 1745, d. Bef. 1845)
Notes for Francis Peter Byer: