Re Ressians, years ago when we lived in NJ, my father told me of a group of people living on the north Jersey/PA or NY border called the Jackson “Whites”. He said these were AWOL Hessian soldiers who hid in the back woods and ended up marrying/? Indians and escaped/owned? Black slaves.
Family history, my grandfather was a marine engineer in Bismarck’s navy. Apparently he did not like what he felt was the direction of Bismark’s policies, so he and my grandmother emigrated to the US, probably later 1880s. Here he served as chief engineer on several major ocean liners, and in WW1 had an important role in converting a big liner into a troop carrier. Bismarck may have kept peace for 40 years, but his aftermath resulted in the horrible bloodbath of WW1, which then resulted in WW2. Rather ironic that my grandfather in leaving what he thought was a bad situation, acted against it decades later.
Bismarck also gave us the welfare state. As German Chancellor he wanted to head off the socialists’ calls for nationalization of industry. His idea was to found a welfare state provided health care, accident insurance and pensions if the socialists would leave the ownership of industry in the hands of the industrialists, his allies.