Monadnock Moment No. 096

Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation - 1763 to 1820

John Buckley, Hessian

Johan Buchler was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany in 1756. Young Johan was well educated and lived in comfort in Germany because of the success of his father's soap making business. At the age of 20 years, however, he learned that his name was included in the draft of Hessians sold to England to serve in the army against the American colonies in the Revolutionary War. Johan fled from home to escape the service, but was caught at the German border and shipped to England. From there he was sent to Canada to join Burgoyne's army.

He served until October of 1777 when Burgoyne surrendered his entire army after its disastrous defeat at Saratoga. The Hessian prisoners were sent to detention camps in central Massachusetts. Johan soon escaped and headed north into the woods of New Hampshire. He arrived at Jaffrey in about 1778 and decided to stay. It was obvious that he was a Hessian and he was viewed with suspicion, but he made no trouble and minded his own business.

Someone in town discovered that Johan was a cabinetmaker. The Jaffrey meetinghouse had been sitting unfinished for three years and the Hessian was hired to complete the paneling and finish the inside of the building. His reputation spread and he was hired to work on other meetinghouses and did other cabinet work.

Johan decided to stay in Jaffrey permanently. He soon changed his name to John Buckley, bought some land, built a house, and married a local girl by the name of Peg Dunlap. He eventually bought a 100 acre farm, continued his cabinet making business, and he and Peg raised a family of seven children. Former Hessian prisoner of war John Buckley became a successful farmer and businessman in Jaffrey. He passed away in Jaffrey in 1817 at the age of 61 years, thousands of miles from his native Germany.