Articles about emigration

Over the centuries, many people have left the Netherlands to try their luck abroad. Most of those people ended up in the United States. These articles give background information about the emigration from the Netherlands, with the focus on the 19th century emigration to the United States.

Hesselink, Gerrit and Willemina Mennink

Gerrit Hesselink and Willemina Mennink emigrated from their farm in Aalten to Wisconsin. They were relatively well-to-do and established a thriving farm that still exists today. … [Read more...]

Schreurs, Jan Hendrik and Janna Geertruid Oonk

Jan Hendrik Schreurs and Janna Geertruid Oonk came from Winterswijk and emigrated to the United States in 1846. In 1898, their descendants held a reunion. On this occasion, a short account of their lives written by their son John William, was published. Because this account gives much background information on the reasons why people emigrated, the entire account is copied here. For the sake of legibility, headings have been added (no headings were present in the original account). … [Read more...]

Kastein, Jannes

Jannes Kastein was one of the many children who left the Netherlands when their parents emigrated. He settled in Alto, Wisconsin. He was married to Engelina Gravestein who had also emigrated as a child. … [Read more...]

Geerlings, Gerrit and Aaltien de Vries

Gerrit Geerlings was a member of the Secession in the Netherlands and involved in the creation of many new Seceder churches. He emigrated to the United States together with his entire family of seven children. Unfortunately, they ended up on the vessel Phoenix which took them across the Great Lakes but perished off the shores of Sheboygan. The Geerlings family was one of the luckiest (or should we say, "least unlucky") families on board, because only two of the children were lost while … [Read more...]

Start of the secession

The Afscheiding (Secession) was proclaimed by Rev. Hendrik de Cock in 1834. He was the minister of the Reformed church in Ulrum. In his eyes, the Dutch Reformed Church had become too liberal. He wanted the church to go back to the old ways. His way of preaching inspired a lot of people, and he drew large audiences with his ceremonies. … [Read more...]

The seceders emigrate

The bad economic circumstances, together with the bad situation for the Seceders led two prominent ministers of the seceders, Rev. Brummelkamp and Rev. Van Raalte, to the idea of emigration. … [Read more...]

Anthony Brummelkamp

The most important figure in the Secession of the Gelderland Reformed church was without a doubt Anthony Brummelkamp. … [Read more...]

Winterswijk emigrants – Huppel

List of emigrants from the Winterswijk hamlet of Huppel. This list is not complete. … [Read more...]

Winterswijk emigrants – Kotten

List of emigrants from the Winterswijk hamlet of Kotten. This list is not complete. … [Read more...]

Winterswijk emigrants – Meddo

List of emigrants from the Winterswijk hamlet of Meddo. This list is not complete. … [Read more...]