1\ o LIBRARY OF CONGRESS D0D137HH4^A ACOBVANDERZEE THE HOLLANDSES OF IOWA HEKRV ]'ETKR SrHOLTK THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA BY Jacob Van der Zee STJOHOa }T?tT?n YHViaH PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA IN 1912 BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA BY Jacob Van der Zee PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA IN 1912 BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA o >l 1 1 ) k I EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION The author of this volume on The Hollanders of lo wa was admirably fitted for the task. Born of Dutch parents in The Netherlands and reared among kinsfolk in Iowa, he has been a part of the life which is portrayed in these pages. At the same time Mr. Van der Zee's education at The State University of Iowa, his three years' resi- dence at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and his research work in The State Historical Society of Iowa have made it possible for him to study the Hollanders objectively as well as subjectively. Accordingly, his book is in no respect an over- drawn, eulogistic account of the Dutch people. The history of the Hollanders of Iowa is not wholly provincial : it suggests much that is typi- cal in the development of Iowa and in the larger history of the West : it is "a story of the stubborn and unyielding fight of men and women who over- came the obstacles of a new country and handed down to their descendants thriving farms and homes of peace and plenty." Benj. F. Shambaugh Office of the Superintendent and Editor The State Historical Society of Iowa Iowa City Iowa AUTHOR'S PREFACE This monograph purports to be a history of ori- gins and a sketch of present-day conditions in the principal Dutch settlements of Iowa. It is a study of immigration and colonization rather than a de- tailed account, year by year, of what has been in most respects a community life of commonplace respecta- bility so characteristic of all large bodies of for- eigners in America. In other words it is a series of chapters in the history of the Hollanders of Iowa. The story of the first years of the Dutch settlements in Marion and Sioux counties is one of suffering willingly borne: it is a story of the stubborn and unyielding fight of men and women who overcame the obstacles of a new country and handed down to their descendants thriving farms and homes of peace and plenty. The history of the Hollanders of Iowa typifies the development of the American West and the spread of the American nation : it is full of details character- istic of the large rural settlements of European im- migrants in America. It is a pleasure to trace the 7 AUTHOR'S PREFACE streams of immigration which have contributed to produce the American conmaonwealth. The Hol- landers have shown a permanent interest in Ameri- can affairs and institutions; they are now closely identified with the best interests of democratic gov- ernment; and with respect to the qualities requisite to success in agriculture they are surpassed by no other class of immigrants from Europe. Of the movement of Dutch immigrants into the State of Iowa, with a statement of causes and of the singular experiences which the Dutch pioneers under- went, no full or connected account has hitherto ap- peared in the English language. Concerning the Dutch settlements of Iowa the writer found much widely scattered material. From time to time frag- mentary sketches written in attractive style have ap- peared in English newspapers, magazines, and county histories ; but the most valuable and authori- tative information is to be obtained from news- papers, pamphlets, and books in the Dutch language. To all these sources the writer has very largely re- sorted and to them he is greatly indebted, as nu- merous notes and references will show. Desirable biographical data relative to Dutch pioneers have been almost entirely relegated to the notes and references for the fairly obvious reason that if the writer had undertaken to insert such AUTHOR'S PREFACE material in the text, lie would have found himself engaged upon an endless and ungratifying task. The writer wishes to acknowledge the assistance which he received from many gentlemen (especially Mr. H. P. Scholte and Mr. A. J. Betten) now living among the Hollanders at Pella and in Sioux County : they very generously gave him access to newspaper files and rare Dutch books, copies of which The State Historical Society'' of Iowa has not been able to add to its valuable collection of materials in the Dutch language. Thanks are due also to the editors of newspapers (mentioned in a separate chapter) for their willing submission to inconvenience while the writer was engaged in his researches: to all these and to other persons the writer is grateful for many courtesies. Especial thanks are due to Dr. Dan E. Clark, Assistant Editor of The State Historical So- ciety, for numerous suggestions, for corrections in the manuscript, and for the index. Finally, this vol- ume would not have appeared if the writer had not been a Eesearch Associate in The State Historical Society working under the direct encouragement of its Superintendent, Professor Benj. F. Shambaugh. Jacob Van dee Zee The State Historical Society of Iowa Iowa City 1 CONTENTS I. Eakly Dutch Settlements in the United States 15 II. Dutch Immigration after 1664 . . 25 III. Holland in the Nineteenth Century 30 IV. Why Dutch Emigrants Turned to America 37 V. The Journey to America ... 42 VI. From Baltimore to St. Louis in 1847 48 VII. The Reception of Scholte and the Dutch in America .... 54 VIII. The Choice of a Home in Iowa . . 57 IX. The Arrival of the Hollanders in Iowa 65 X. Marion County and its Farms in 1847 70 XI. The Establishment of the Dutch Community ..... 73 XII. Years of Privation and Subsequent Relief 82 XIII. Hopes and Disappointments . . 86 XIV. Early Promotion of Immigration to Pella 94 XV. Twenty-five Years of Dutch Immi- gration to Iowa .... 101 11 12 CONTENTS XVI. Prosperity at Pella . . . 106 XVII. Encouragement of Dutch Immi- gration BY THE State . . . 115 XVIII. A Bee-hive Ready for Swarming . 122 XIX. The Investigation of Northwest- ern Iowa in 1869 . . . 127 XX. The Choice of Sioux County . 132 XXI. A Glimpse of Sioux County in 1869 136 XXII. The Platting of Orange City . 140 XXIII. Henry Hospers and Immigration TO Sioux County . . . 150 XXIV. Locust Ravages and Years of Hardship 160 XXV. Twenty-five Years of Growth in the Orange City Colony . . 179 XXVI. The Expansion of the Dutch Ele- ment IN low^A .... 192 XXVII. Political Beginnings Among the Hollanders in Marion County . 208 XXVIII. Participation by the Hollanders in Elections .... 219 XXIX. Politics in Sioux County . . 235 XXX. The Dutch Press in Iowa . . 245 XXXI. Pioneer Schools Among the Hol- landers ..... 256 XXXII. Christian Schools . . . 266 XXXIII. Public and High Schools , . 271 XXXIV. Central University of Iowa . . 276 CONTENTS 13 XXXV. NoRTHWESTEKisr Classical Acad- emy 280 XXXVI. Early Religious Life Among the Hollanders in Iowa . . 287 XXXVII. The Dutch Reformed Church in Iowa 294 XXXVIII. The Christian Reformed Church in Iowa . . . 305 XXXIX. Religious Life of the Holland- ers IN 1910 .... 310 XL. Community Life Among the Hollanders in Iowa . . 317 Appendix A. — Letter from Hen- DRIK BaRENDREGT TO H. P. Scholte 339 Appendix B. — The Attitude of the Hollanders of Iowa Dur- ing THE Boer War . . . 349 Appendix C. — The Dutch Lan- guage 363 Notes and References . . 369 Index 429 PLATES Portrait of Henry Peter Scholte frontispiece Portrait of Henry Hospers . opposite page 150 EARLY DUTCH SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES TowAEDS the close of the sixteenth century began the protracted struggle of a handful of brave people against the seemingly invincible power of the wealth- iest nation in the world. How the descendants of the liberty-loving Batavi of Roman times, dwelling like their forebears in the same lowlands of the Rhine delta, defied and humbled the armies and navies of Spain ; how these hardy Hollanders pros- pered in the midst of war and finally won national independence and high position in the world — these are the noteworthy facts which make the story of the Golden Age of Holland a classic in historical litera- ture and a cause of pardonable pride to every man with Dutch blood in his veins. ^ Contemporary with the period of the highest glory of the Dutch Republic, when art, learning, industry, commerce, religious toleration, and democracy flour- ished side by side as nowhere else in Europe, when little Holland's name was heard in every quarter of the globe, New Netherland came into being in the Western Hemisphere. Dutch merchants, moved by visions of commercial gain, fitted out a little ship in charge of Hendrik Hudson to search for that un- 15 16 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA known but alluring northwest sea-passage to China and India, the discover}^ of which had defied and baffled the most daring navigators of the age. Thus Hudson steered the Half Moon westward, not to Cathay, but into the river which later received his name. This incident proved to be the real beginning of Dutch interest in the American continent; and thereafter merchants began to ply between the In- dians of America and the markets of Europe, for the trade in furs and peltries gave promise of much profit. Approximately all the region which lies between the Connecticut and the Susquehanna rivers was claimed by the Dutch as their exclusive preserve for purposes of trade ; but nothing was done to validate this claim until 1624, when the first band of some thirty families emigrated from Leyden and made settlements on Manhattan and Staten islands and at Fort Orange (now Albany).^ These Walloons, who had formerly fled from religious persecution in the Belgic Netherlands and were not thoroughly Dutch except in religious belief and loyalty to the Republic and who now forsook the city of their adoption to try their fortunes in the wilderness of a New World, came as the special charges of the West India Com- pany, to the decrees of which they were subject in all commercial and political affairs. Although the Company's charter contained a pro- vision relative to "the peopling of the fruitful and unsettled parts" of New Netherland, there appears to be little evidence that the Company was ever EARLY DUTCH SETTLEMENTS 17 really sincere in promoting emigration from Hol- land except as a means to its chief end — the mo- nopoly of trading rights. During the early decades of the seventeenth century Dutch ships scoured the high seas in search of Spanish ships, for the spoils of war were preferred to the less remunerative and nobler work of planting a colony in the wilderness.^ Wlienever it was rumored that a truce was about to be declared, the directors of the Company petitioned the States-General of Holland to desist on the ground of the damage which they had done to the enemies of the republic ; and when peace was at length conclud- ed with Spain in 1648 the Company became perma- nently crippled. During the early history of New Netherland the growth of the Dutch population even for purposes of trade was insignificant. As a matter of fact condi- tions in Holland were quite unfavorable to the pro- motion of colonization. While economic and re- ligious causes brought thousands of English to a new England, labor was well rewarded in Holland and religious toleration prevailed in the Dutch provinces. Conditions such as these did not induce emigration to a strange land where the outlook was so uncertain. Furthermore, the Dutch inhabitants in the Hudson Eiver region had not only found very scant means of livelihood, but they also worried much about the dangers from Indians and foreign enemies. The Company, moreover, declared that protection was possible "at a greater expense than the apparent gains to be derived therefrom seem to justify. ' ' * 18 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA To direct Dutch settlers to New Netherland the States-General, urged by the West India Company, adopted a novel measure. By a charter of freedoms and exemptions large tracts along the Hudson River were granted to Dutch burghers who offered to pro- cure a certain number of persons to cultivate the land. This revival of the feudal system of land- holding by patroons proved to be a worthless expe- dient: Dutch inhabitants of America continued to look to the fur-trade as their main source of wealth ; and the patroons, instead of concerning themselves with agriculture, ''diverted their energies and means in competing with the company for a share of the Indian trade." ^ This colonization policy tended to retard the settlement and prosperity of New Nether- land, so that down to the year 1634 a few forts were the chief centers of life — Fort Orange and Fort Amsterdam on the Hudson, Fort Good Hope on the Connecticut, and Fort Nassau on the Delaware. In 1638 the States-General of the Dutch Republic complained that the population of New Netherland was not increasing as it should ; that, indeed, the colo- nists appeared to be decreasing in numbers and to be so neglected by the West India Company that if the matter were not at once attended to foreign princes and potentates would entirely overrun the colony. This was a serious complaint, but it brought no tan- gible results aside from a resolution to "assist in making and enacting such effectual order regarding the population of New Netherland, and thereunto invite all good inhabitants of these Netherlands by EARLY DUTCH SETTLEMENTS 19 such inducements and pre-eminences as ... . they shall resolve to offer to all colonists" who wished to emigrate to a land where they might ex- pect great profits from farming.** Under Governor Kieft conditions in New Nether- land assumed no better aspect. It is true that when trade with the Indians was thrown open to all in 1639 a new era began in the history of the colony, communicating a decided impulse to its settlement and to the increase of population, for fresh colonists came not only from the fatherland, but Englishmen came also from Virginia and New England.^ It may be that free farmers at Esopus, New Paltz, Schenec- tady, and on Long Island experienced a certain de- gree of prosperity ; but the Indian trade attracted a large number of people who cared little to acquire a permanent domicile in New Netherland: they came for big profits and sacrificed honest dealing with the Indians in order to realize their ambition. They abused the privilege of free trade and provoked the Indians to a series of massacres extending over nearly three years. For several years the Dutch inhabitants of New Netherland maintained themselves in a most miser- able and destitute condition: they appealed in vain to the States-General for aid, and they failed to ob- tain from the West India Company such supplies as were most urgently required for their support and protection,^ Wlien in 1644 comparative peace had been restored upon the high seas the Company was urged once more to facilitate emigration from Hoi- 20 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA land by promising to credit prospective colonists with ocean passage to America and by introducing farm servants and negroes to promote agriculture. More- over, New Netlierlanders were instructed not to scatter but to live together as did the New England- ers in order to protect each other. In 1649 the people of New Netherland addressed to the States-General of Holland a long petition, enumerating the causes of their colony's wretched condition and proposing certain remedies. First of all, the petitioners complained very bitterly of the inhuman cruelties, tyranny, and misgovernment of the servants of the West India Company — especial- ly Director Kieft. The Directors, they declared, had always been the chief obstruction in the path of pro- gress because they preferred to secure for themselves large profits from the fur-trade rather than to pro- mote solid agricultural prosperity, which alone could guarantee the survival of their colony in America. Indeed, they had listened more often to interested than to sound advice and had given New Netherland so evil a reputation that not only prospective colo- nists were frightened from setting out to try their fortunes in such a country, but scores of dissatisfied settlers returned to Holland on account of the un- suitable government, the scant privileges, the extor- tionate prices, and the heavy impost duties. The pe- titioners called attention also to the superabundance of petty traders and pedlers, to the need of farmers, to the destitution of the inhabitants in general, and to the insufferable arrogance of the Indians. EARLY DUTCH SETTLEMENTS 21 The inhabitants of New Netherland proposed, among several remedies for the evils of their colony, the abolition of duties and the free conveyance of poor people from Holland. Their humble petition to the States-General was summed up in these words : Whenever your High Mightinesses will be pleased to take this Province under your gracious safeguard, and al- low your Fatherly protection for this Country and its granted privileges to be made public and manifest through- out the United Netherlands, then would many be attracted towards this Country, from which, on the contrary, every one is discouraged by the Company's harsh proceedings and want of means.^ There is no evidence, however, that the Dutch government ever thereafter took an active interest in the welfare of her American colonists — except in 1656 when the States-General ratified the condi- tions of an agreement between the West India Com- pany and the city of Amsterdam, offering very good encouragement to prospective inhabitants of the city's colony on the Delaware River." It was not until after 1652 that agricultural settlements began to grow in New Netherland, owing to the influx of Walloons, Huguenots, and Waldenses from Europe and Puritans from New England." During the naval wars between England and Holland the province of New Netherland lay quite defenceless, and Governor Stuyvesant's appeals to his profit-loving, money- grabbing superiors went unheeded. Whatever else may be said about the English capture of the colony in 1664, it is fairly evident that a change of masters 22 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA was not especially distasteful or disadvantageous to the Dutch colonists : they had little to lose and much to gain/- Of the cosmopolitan population of fifteen hundred persons in New Amsterdam in 1664 more than one- half were Dutch. The same is true of the three thousand inhabitants in 1674 when the Dutch re- gained the colony for a short period of ownership. The entire population of New Netherland when trans- ferred to the English is variously estimated: eight thousand is considered a liberal figure. Of these colonists in 1664, and of the twelve thousand in 1674, two-thirds were probably Dutch, while most of the remainder were English. Agriculture was then be- ginning to prosper, while trade was profitable and was extending farther inland. Gradually, and es- pecially under a Dutch king on the English throne, the two chief elements of the population of New York merged and fused because they found a community of interest as colonists, entertained a common hos- tility towards France, and worshipped God in much the same way. In 1667 it was reported that there were three towns and fifteen villages, '' besides divers extensive Colonies, bouweries and plantations"; while in 1673 the province consisted of three cities and thirty villages. ^^ It must be admitted that Dutch emigrants were by no means successful as colonizers in America. They were never numerous enough to enable Holland permanently to play a great part in the history of American colonization. To be sure, the Dutch were EARLY DUTCH SETTLEMENTS 23 at that time not an emigrating but a trading people ; and yet the failure of their American colony in the seventeenth century should not be attributed wholly to their character as a nation of seamen and traders. That they have always preferred to cultivate domes- tic virtues rather than a love of conquest and adven- ture there can be no question." It has been asserted that the Dutch could never have peopled a continent, on the ground that after forty years of possession '^of the fairest part of America they numbered but ten thousand", while the Puritan colonies of New England contained fifty thousand.^^ That this fact should demonstrate the utter incapacity of the Dutch for colonization and their lack of fitness to found a colonial empire does not necessarily follow. Widely different conditions prevailed in England and Holland. Nor is it diffi- cult to explain why the Dutch came chiefly to trade, while the English came to build homes. At that period in the world's history there was no particular reason why large numbers of Dutch emigrants should forsake their European homes to entrust themselves to the uncertainties of a foreign land : as long as civil and religious contentment reigned in Holland the people did not care to live elsewhere. Dutch colonization in America was really a cir- cumstance attendant upon the religious and political struggle between The Netherlands and Spain. Only large numbers of colonists bent upon economic and religious independence could have coped successfully with the Indian population of New Netherland. The 24 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA few thousands of Hollanders who ventured to cast in their lot with the New World suffered much from the lack of protection which had been promised to them. All this was to be expected from a commercial cor- poration actuated wholly by the love of wealth ; and so when the Dutch colonists became incorporated into the British colonial empire they had no sufficient excuse for showing a vigorous spirit of nationality. The English Puritans who had sought the shores of America for conscience sake were people of property and education: from sheer necessity they had been compelled to leave their homes and to adapt them- selves to the rigors of frontier life. Everything con- duced to the spread of the English into America; while in the case of the Dutch the same causes and incentives were almost entirely lacking. n DUTCH IMMIGRATION AFTEE 1664 It is common knowledge that during the colonial period the English-speaking population of America was constantly reinforced by fresh accessions of people from the British Isles, and that to-day the American nation is dominated by Anglo-Saxon in- fluences. Equally worthy of note is the fact that, although for over a century and a half after the Eng- lish conquest of New Netherland the immigration of Hollanders from Europe had practically ceased, at least so far as the number of arrivals can be ascer- tained, the eight or ten thousand Dutch colonists of 1664 nevertheless throve and flourished in the val- leys of the Hudson and the Mohawk rivers in New York and in northern New Jersey and Delaware. There the seeds of a Dutch population took firm root and grew vigorously, as is shown by the history of the one important institution which the United States has inherited from New Netherland — the Dutch Reformed Church.^" The influence of Dutch ideas as exemplified by the continuity of the Reformed Church has never been absent in those eastern States where the Dutch origi- nally settled. As a matter of fact the American descendants of the original Dutch settlers have 25 26 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA shown that they are tenacious of the customs and ideals which their church organization and home life have preserved and handed down to them. This more than anything else disproves the assertion that early Dutch colonization was but an episode or an event of trifling importance in American colonial history/^ Probably no better light can be shed upon the growth of the Dutch element in the United States than that which comes from the history of the Dutch Reformed Church — though of course it would smack of presumption to infer that all descendants of the early Dutch have maintained the church connection of their fathers, or that all Dutch immigrants to America have united with the church. Bearing in mind the fact that Hollanders are endowed with a strong feeling of national pride and are pretty gen- erally partial to ancestral ways and beliefs, it is natural to assume that wherever the Dutch have come together to live they have retained their national in- stitutions, traits, and traditions whenever practi- cable. When English domination began in New Nether- land there were eleven Dutch churches : four on Long Island at Midwout (Flatbush), Amersfoort (Flat- lands), Breuckelen (Brooklyn), and Gravesend; one at Bergen, New Jersey; one at New Amstel (New Castle), Delaware; and five in New York at Manhat- tan or New Amsterdam, Fort Orange (Albany), Esopus (Kingston), Haarlem, and Bushwyck. De- spite the amalgamation of Dutch and English which DUTCH IMMIGRATION AFTER 1664 27 ensued, the Hollanders remained predominant in the population of New York and continued to speak their native langTiage in the Reformed Church for almost one hundred years ; while the Church itself, depend- ing to a large extent upon the state church of Hol- land, looked in that direction for its ministers until 1772 when national ties were finally broken.^^ For many years after 1664 the Dutch carried on a successful struggle in New York for the preserva- tion of their religious liberty and church organiza- tion, and owing to the oppressions of English gover- nors many emigrated and formed congregations in the valleys of the Raritan and the Millstone in north- ern New Jersey, a region which on account of its si3iritual prosperity has come to be known as ''the Garden of the Dutch Church". Here the people afterwards established a college and a theological seminary. At the end of their prolonged fight against the attempt to foist the Anglican Church es- tablishment upon them, the Dutch could boast of an increase from eleven churches in 1664 to thirty-four in 1708.^'' From such feeble beginnings in 1664 under par- ticularly trying conditions, although the political in- stitutions and language of the Dutch were in course of time almost entirely wiped out and supplanted by those of the English, the Dutch Reformed Church in America developed and prospered until by the year 1840 it comprised a membership of several hundred churches in the States of New York and New Jersey ; while a few scattered congregations existed in Penn- 28 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA sylvania, whither a stream of emigration from New Jersey had started towards the close of the eight- eenth century. Descendants of Dutch ancestors took a prominent part in the westward movement which set in after the close of the Revolutionary War. They were among the pioneers of western New York and of Kentucky, whence it is said "as from a hive, colonies swarmed off into southern Ohio and In- diana. ' ' Indeed, the names of Dutch pioneers can be found throughout the American West. At the same time it would be quite impossible to determine the number of descendants of the original Dutch colo- nists of New Netherland.^" There may have been a slight movement of people from Holland immediately after the peace treaty of 1783, but there is no government record of immigra- tion prior to 1821. Conjecture places the number of immigrants to the United States before 1820 at about 4000 annually, and of these the Hollanders can not have counted more than a small fraction. Statistics indicate that for the first two decades of the record only 2500 Hollanders arrived at American ports, but for the years 1841-1902 inclusive The Nether- lands contributed more than 135,000 immigrants to the population of the United States.-^ To be sure, this is a small percentage of the 20,000,000 foreigners who sought American shores; but the Hollanders and their descendants have been a desirable and wel- come factor in promoting the development and pros- perity of the country. During the more recent years the Hollanders DUTCH IMMIGRATION AFTER 1664 29 have formed large communities in the upper Missis- sippi Valley — chiefly in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin — though thousands have found homes also in New York and New Jersey. Census returns for 1900 gave these seven States the largest number of foreign-born Dutch, though every State and Territory in the Union contained some Hollanders in its population.^^ Other indexes suggestive of the numerical strength of the Hollanders in various States of the Union are recent church year-books. While the number of foreign-born Dutch in New York and New Jersey is comparatively small, it appears that of nearly 700 congregations of the Reformed Church in America the former State has over 300, and the lat- ter 125. Then follow Michigan with 62, Iowa with 50, Illinois with 33, South Dakota with 20, Wisconsin with 15, Minnesota with 11, and Pennsylvania with 10. Kansas, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, Washington, Ohio, Indiana, South Caro- lina, and Maine have a few churches each. Further- more, there are about 200 congregations of another denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, planted for the most part in the western States and therefore more solidly Dutch than the Reformed Church congregations, whose membership, in the East especially, consists by no means exclusively of Hollanders.^* Ill HOLLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY The causes which brought about the extraordinary migrations from Europe to America during the nine- teenth century were primarily economic. No cor- responding period in the world's history illustrates more forcibly the well-known simile that population is like a fluid : when the saturation point is reached, emigration is the natural consequence. During the first half of the century the population of nearly every country in Europe reached such density and laborers became so plentiful that the masses of the people were forced to seek a way of escape from degradation and starvation. In The Netherlands during the early decades of the nineteenth century social conditions were as un- favorable generally as they were everywhere else in Europe. There, religious and economic factors joined hands and caused thousands of discouraged and dissatisfied people to long for a New World. A closer view of the history of Holland reveals the motives which contributed to bring about the first extensive emigration of Hollanders to the primeval forests of Michigan and the virgin prairies of Iowa and other western States.-* Upon coming to the throne of Holland in 1814 30 HOLLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 31 William I at once turned his attention to the state church which had suffered much humiliation at the hands of Napoleon and the French and which was therefore eager to return to royal favor at whatever cost. He approved a set of general regulations to be used by a central board for administrative purposes. These regulations prescribed the maintenance of the creed as embodied in the Dutch Confession of f^aith, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Doctrinal Rules of the Synod of Dort of 1618. Church government was placed in the hands of a general synod composed of delegates from provin- cial synods, whose selection was to remain under royal control. Ecclesiastical property was trans- ferred to the state; and the clergy were henceforth to receive their salaries from the state exchequer, thus being bound to the king by spiritual and finan- cial ties. Furthermore, the clergy were to be edu- cated at the three universities of Utrecht, Leyden, and Groningen, whose theological professors were by law declared state officers, since they were chosen, appointed, and salaried by the government. Thus the Presbyterian form of church government was reduced to an oligarchy under the king's patronage.^^ Irregularities in the Church and deviation from its doctrines were conspicuous enough to alarm the orthodox, conservative Christians throughout the country — especially when the general synod, en- dowed with autocratic powers, did nothing to lessen existing grievances. At length in 1834, under the leadership of a few clergymen, scores of people se- 32 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ceded from the state church and formed small con- gregations. The seceding clergymen were Henry de Cock, Henry Peter Scholte, Anthony Brummel- kamp, S. van Velzen, G. F. Gezelle Meerburg, and Albertus C. van Eaalte.-'' Of this group of men, all of whom were excommunicated from the Church, Scholte was undoubtedly the foremost figure. In- deed he has been called the ' ' Father of the Separa- tion", and he it was who later led hundreds of his fellow-countrymen to the State of lowa.-^ But King William was a man who would not al- low his pet schemes to be overridden. It is almost incredible that a government of the nineteenth cen- tury should have stooped to bitter religious persecu- tion — especially in Holland so long famed for her tolerance and freedom of worship. One can not help marveling at the petty nature of the measures taken by the Dutch government to suppress the Separatist movement. Though Scholte and his colleagues were declared unsuitable and unworthy to preach, they were by no means deserted by their congregations. Nor did they desist from preaching. The result was that everywhere small congregations were formed and the new Separatist church became definitely es- tablished. In their endeavors to restore purity of doctrine and to preach God's Word, the Separatist clergymen were hindered in every possible way. Under cover of an article of the Code Napoleon forbidding as- semblies of more than twentj^ persons without a license from the local authorities, the government HOLLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 33 used every means to disperse Separatist meetings, whether held in barns, in the open air, or in private houses. Thus the police took a hand in breaking up local gatherings; and numerous Separatists were prosecuted and punished with fines or imprisonment. Worst of all, wherever the new movement claimed an especially large number of adherents, the govern- ment used its authority to quarter troops in order to overawe the people and prevent mutiny.^^ The Separatists had, moreover, to suffer all the penalties imposed by law. Scholte, one of their leaders, could write that he had experienced military watches, imprisonments, and the payment of fines and court costs amounting to $3200. But even more intolerable were the taunts and ridicule heaped upon the Separatists by other inhabitants of The Nether- lands. Scholte complained that he had been derided, hit with stones and fists, and when hundreds of hands were raised against him he had heard the excited mob cry out, "Kill him, kill him!" ^^ Despite the government's relentless persecution, the religious beliefs of the Separatists spread until they were finally recognized by royal decree in 1839. Seven years later, however, two of their leaders still loudly exclaimed against local government officials who employed every means to postpone the granting of permission to preach as the new law obliged them to do and who, furthermore, received the encourage- ment of ''nearly all who call themselves noble and religious" — although some would gladly have granted what the law enjoined had they not felt 34 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ''that thereby they would fall into disfavor with au- thorities higher up." Even as late as 1846 the com- plaint was sometimes heard that citizens were being dragged into court and fined for tlie misdemeanor ' ' of using their houses for the worship of God with- out the government's authority, and for preaching the name of Christ crucified" to more than twenty persons.^** In the minds of the Dissenters there was one other object of prime importance, namely. Christian education. Everywhere arose a crying demand for the improvement of the system of popular education ; and yet those who wished to take tlie pains and bear the expense of organizing Christian schools were hindered by the local authorities. They desired the privilege of educating their children in their own schools inasmuch as the state offered only a general education in morals, which neither Jew nor Roman Catholic might refuse. But the government looked upon special schools with unconcealed disfavor and forbade the founding of such institutions.^^ Just how much effect the religious beliefs of the Dissenters had upon their chances of earning a live- lihood can not be stated with certainty. That these people were oppressed, despised, and cast out there can be little doubt. But even so, the mass of laborers in Holland at this time lived upon the verge of star- vation. Wlien a small farm was placed on the mar- ket for rent or for sale, a score or two of men found it a suitable opportunity for speculation. When a house was to be built, a score of carpenters offered HOLLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 35 bids. These and many other instances indicate that economic conditions were extremely bad throughout the country. The masses of the people were being crushed by a system of taxation devised to liquidate the enor- mous national debt which had been heaped up from years of war. Many branches of industry and com- merce had disappeared, although others continued to thrive. Hundreds of ordinary workmen lost their means of earning bread. Even skilled artisans com- plained of the lack of labor during the busiest season of the year. There was as a consequence so much competition in the labor market that wages were re- duced to pathetically low figures. Workmen, upon whom children and sometimes relatives depended, sought in vain for an opportunity to make so much as a bare living. Brought to the point of stealing, thousands hoi^elessly surrendered themselves to be supported by the state. Eight million dollars were annually expended upon them by the Dutch govern- ment; while private benefactions were at the same time enormous. National deterioration was daily being aggravated by the lamentable undermining of trade, the decrease of wages, unscrupulous competi- tion, and exhaustive taxation. ''The third estate is disappearing, the capital of the rich increases, and day laborers very often fail in their most serious en- deavors to find either regailar work or bread. ' ' Scholte declared that though the condition of his fatherland did not yet make emigration inevitable he was forced to acknowledge that if a change were not 36 THE HOLLANDERS OP IOWA soon effected a Christian would find it impossible to engage in any business without offending his con- science. He could not close his eyes to the increasing poverty of his fellow-countrymen: from the picture of their struggles and privations he could find no relief.^^ IV WHY DUTCH EMIGRANTS TURNED TO AMERICA Such was tlie condition of tilings in Tlie Netherlands that thousands of people lived from hand to month, the prey of poverty and hunger, stupefied by the hopelessness of securing the necessities of life, and barely enabled through the gifts of the well-to-do to drag out their wretched lives. At the same time many of these unfortunate persons were hopeful and eager to find a place where they might obtain a liveli- hood, lead quiet lives of honesty and godliness, and educate their children in the principles of religion without let or hindrance. The leaders of the Sepa- ratists looked forward to a life of freedom in a land where man would not have to wait for work but where work awaited man, where people would not rub elbows by reason of the density of population, and where God's creation would welcome the coming of man.^^ When social forces such as these, mostly beyond human control, began to operate with increasing power the Dutch people were not slow to recognize the truth that emigration was absolutely necessary. The seriousness of the situation dawned upon all thinking men — especially upon state officials, who 37 38 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA feared that unless the stream of emigration could be directed toward the Dutch colonies their country would suffer an enormous drain of capital and hmnan lives. Accordingly the attention of prospective emi- grants was called to the Dutch East Indies — chiefly to the advantages of the rich island of Java, ''that paradise of the world, the pearl in Holland's crown". The religion of the Dissenters, however, was re- sponsible for turning the balance in favor of some other land. To them Java was as a closed door. Be- side the fear of an unhealthful climate towered the certainty of legislation hostile to their Christian principles and ideals. Moreover, could poor men afford the expense of transportation thither and could they feel assured of getting land or work in Java? State officials, men of learning, and men of business from several parts of the country were sum- moned to an important conference at Amsterdam to discuss the whole emigration movement. The Sepa- ratist leaders were asked why they should not remain Netherlanders under the House of Orange by remov- ing to the colonies just as the people of the British Isles found homes in the English colonies. Two Separatist ministers appealed to the government to direct the flood of emigration toward Java by prom- ises of civil and religious liberty. But the attempt to secure a free Christian colony in Java produced only idle expectations.^* Then it was that the people turned their eyes away from the East toward the United States of North America, a land of freedom and rich blessings WHY THE DUTCH TURNED TO AMERICA 39 where they hoped to find in its unsettled interior some spot adaptable to agriculture and thus rescue themselves from the miseries of a decadent state. To the discontented, ambitious Hollander was pre- sented the picture of a real land of promise, where all things would smile at him and be prepared, as it were, to aid him. It was said that '^ after an ocean passage of trifling expense the Netherlander may find work to do as soon as he sets foot on shore ; he may buy land for a few florins per acre ; and feel secure and free among a people of Dutch, German and English birth, who will rejoice to see him come to increase the nation's wealth." Asserting that they could vouch for the truthfulness of this picture, as based on the positive assurances and experiences of friends already in America, the Separatist clergy- man-pamphleteers openly declared that they would not hesitate to rob Holland of her best citizens by helping them on their way to America. Of the people and government of the United States, Scholte, who was destined to lead hundreds of his countrymen to the State of Iowa, at an early date cherished a highly favorable opinion, which he expressed as follows : I am convinced that a settlement in some healthful region there will have, by the ordinary blessing of God, ex- cellent temporal and moral results, especially for the rising generation. . . . Should it then excite much wonder that I have firmly resolved to leave The Netherlands and together with so many Christian relatives adopt the United States as a new fatherland? 40 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA There I shall certainly meet with the same wickedness which troubles me here; yet I shall find also opportunity to work. There I shall certainly find the same, if not still greater, evidence of unbelief and superstition; but I shall also find a constitutional provision wliicli does not bind my hands in the use of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God ; there I can fight for what I believe without being disobedient to the magistrates and authorities or- dained by God. There I shall find among men the same zeal to obtain this world's goods; but I shall not find the same impulse to get the better of one another, for compe- tition is open to all ; I shall not find the same desire to re- duce the wages of labor, nor the same inducement to avoid taxation, nor the same peevishness and groaning about the burden of taxation. There I shall find no Minister of Public Worship, for the separation of Church and State is a fact. There I shall not need to contribute to the support of pastors whose teachings I abhor. I shall find no school commissions nor school super\dsors who prohibit the use of the Bible in schools and hinder the organization of special schools, for education is really free. I shall find there the descendants of earlier inhabitants of Holland, among whom the piety of our forefathers still lives, and who are now prepared to give advice and aid to Hollanders who are forced to -come to them.^' Scholte, however, never claimed to be a refugee from the oppression of the Old World. He left Europe because the social, religious, and political condition of his native country was such that, accord- ing to his conviction, he could not with any reason- able hope of success work for the actual benefit of WHY THE DUTCH TURNED TO AMERICA 41 honest and industrious f ellowmen. Very many mem- bers of Scholte's emigrant association felt certain that they and their children would sink from the mid- dle class and end their lives as paupers, if they re- mained in Holland. Later emigration to America was in no small de- gree due to a cause which has always operated in inducing people to abandon their European homes. After a period of residence in America, Hollanders, elated by reason of their prosperity and general change of fortune, very naturally reported their de- light to friends and relatives in the fatherland, strongly urging them to come and share their good luck instead of suffering from want in Holland. They wrote of higher wages, fertile soil, cheapness of the necessities of life, abundance of cheap land, and of many other advantages. If one's wages for a day's work in America equalled a week's earnings in Holland, surely it was worth while to leave that un- fortunate country. Such favorable reports as these were largely instrumental in turning the attention of Hollanders to the New "World as the one great land of opportunity.^® V THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA No SOONER had the ferment caused by over-popula- tion, scarcity of work, and religious discontent shown its effect in the stir of jjeople desirous of finding re- lief in the New World than certain leaders arose to give advice and directions. Chief among these were the dissenting clergymen van Raalte, Brummelkamp, and Scholte, who as pamphleteers and speakers ex- erted a powerful influence upon the emigration move- ment. They perceived the perils which might flow from indiscreet and indiscriminate emigration, and accordingly they cautioned prospective emigrants against removing to America without all necessary information. Among the numerous dangers which they foresaw and most earnestly pointed out were settling in the fatally hot marsh and rice lands of the slave States and scattering among English-speaking people — two disadvantages which were capable of rendering Hollanders extremely miserable. In view of such risks the Separatist clergymen not only urged the formation of emigrant associa- tions, but assisted in their organization in various parts of Holland. These societies, which consisted of the heads of families and other members of church congregations and which were not limited to Dissen- 42 THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA 43 ters, were formed to procure funds to defray the expenses of emigration and to serve their members in every possible way. Profane, immoral, or intem- perate persons were not admitted to membership. Avowed atheists, skeptics, and Eoman Catholics also were excluded. Those members who could command the means were expected to take charge of one or more poor but w^orthy persons or families desiring to emigrate. The leaders at once began to search for a region in America with temperate climate and one from which the inhabitants might easily transport their products : there the emigrant associations might sep- arately or jointly establish themselves. In advocat- ing the purchase of sufficient land in one locality the members of the associations had their own personal interests at heart. They wished to make scattering impossible, to prevent their colony from becoming the hiding-place of those who desired to escape their creditors ; and they hoped to secure themselves against undesirable persons in general. But first of all they determined in this way to provide for their own form of religious worship. Christian education, and prompt medical attention.^^ In associations, therefore, the clergyman leaders saw strength — ' ' eendracht maakt macht. ' ' The reason which moved such clergymen as van Eaalte and Scholte to encourage people to emigrate in bodies was traceable to the intimate relations existing between them and their congregations. For many years they had striven and suffered together. 44 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA and at the price of much self-sacrifice they had in some measure realized their aspirations. Would not this whole gain be rendered of no account if the Dis- senters spread themselves among strangers in a strange land, and would they not be as sheep without a shepherd? ''That they had the courage, in the interests of their followers, to break the chains whicli bound them to the fatherland is to the honor of Seholte and van Eaalte, and sets the stamp of up- rightness on their intentions." Thus the destinies of pastors and flocks became linked together.^® After much discussion of the subject of emigra- tion at informal gatherings and also in Seholte 's periodical devoted to tlie religious views of the new sect, a formal meeting was called in the city of Utrecht in the month of August, 1846. An emigrant association was formed of nearly seventy well-to-do families, mostly from the province of South Holland. Later many more families from other provinces joined, so that the society is said to have had one thousand three hundred members.^® A committee of delegates selected from various congregations of Dissenters to draw up rules to govern the emigration movement convened at Utrecht on September 4, 1846. Wlien they computed the amount of land which the association was prepared to buy it was found that the members had subscribed for the purchase of twelve square miles of territory. Later the pur- chase of much additional land was authorized. During the summer of 1846 certain members of the Utrecht association decided to undertake the THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA 45 journey to America as soon as possible. Although they had not yet determined which part of the United States would be most suitable for settlement, these Hollanders, numbering thirty persons young and old, being the first emigrants who later founded homes in the State of Iowa, bade farewell to their friends and fatherland on October 2, 1846. This little band of people paved the way for the exodus of Hollanders the following spring. As fore- runners of Dutch emigration to the Middle West of America, in company with home-seekers from other parts of Europe, they set sail from Eotterdam. After being detained by a three days ' storm in the English Channel their ship was steered into the North Sea along the eastern coast of England and around Scot- land, and thence, with favorable wind and weather they completed forty-five days of sailing and set foot upon American soil at New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 19, 1846. Hendrik Barendregt, the leader of the party, in a letter to Scholte from St. Louis dated December 14, 1846, praised and thanked the Lord "who has shown us day by day that He is with us and out of his abundant love has led and saved us, and given us strength, even more than we could ex- pect." He described the five-thousand-mile water journey, and on conditions in the Mississippi Valley he made many intelligent observations which afford- ed much instruction and information to oncoming emigrants from Holland.*^' (See Appendix A.) At the last meeting of the Utrecht association, which was held on the 25th of December, 1846, the 46 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA members adopted a constitution, elected H.P.Scholte and A. J. Betten president and vice-president re- spectively, and chose as council J. F. Le Cocq, G. H. Overkamp, A. Wigny, and J. Rietveld, with I. Over- kamp as secretary. They fixed upon late March or early April in 1847 as the best time for their depar- ture to the New World. ''^ The first to disembark up- on American shores in the spring of the year 1847 were Scholte and his family, who had left Rotterdam and traveled by way of London and Liverpool to Bos- ton, arriving on the steamboat "Sarah Sand" early in the month of May after a journey of thirteen days." When the time came for the great body of mem- bers of the Utrecht association to take final leave of relatives, friends, and the fatherland and set out for a country of which they knew comparatively nothing, four three-masters were chartered to convey them to America. The "Nagasaki" left Rotterdam on April the 11th with over two hundred persons on board; and at about the same time the ships "Maasstroom" and "Catharina Jackson" set sail with about one hundred and ninety-seven and one hundred and sixty- nine passengers respectively; while the "Pieter Floris" departed from Amsterdam with men, wo- men, and children numbering about two hundred and twenty- two. In all there were approximately one hundred and sixty families, and these together with many unmarried persons comprised a total of over eight hundred individuals.*^ Their leaders were A. Wigny, Rev. A. J. Betten, G. H. Overkamp, Isaac THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA 47 Overkamp, J. F. Le Cocq, H. Y. Viersen, J. Rietveld, and J. Smeenk, two of whom were assigned to each ship to exercise general supervision and to take turns in coiiducting daily religious services on ship- board. Seven or eight weeks were consumed in making the ocean voyage to America. Despite terrible storms and such discomforts as awaiting one's turn to cook meals on the ship's stove, general peace and satisfaction reigned in the community life on board the sailing-vessels. Though the time passed without serious mishap, two adults and eighteen children found graves in the Atlantic. Several children were born. The emigrants looked forward patiently and hopefully to better things to come in the New World, and during these weeks upon the water they were enabled to become better acquainted with one an- other : their interests became more closely identified and their aims became more clearly defined. The four little ships finally cast anchor in the harbor of Baltimore, Maryland — the first late in May and the last early in June. Much happiness prevailed when the Hollanders beheld American shores, for it meant the end of a tedious ocean trip. Thus the first large organized body of emigrants who forsook the intolerable conditions of The Neth- erlands willingly submitted to inconvenience and suf- fering in order to find a better life in America ; but they were to experience still greater discomforts and griefs before finally establishing themselves upon the prairies of lowa.^* VI FROM BALTIMORE TO ST. LOUIS IN 1847 As PRESIDENT of tliG Utrecht emigrant association Scholte preceded liis flock to America, landing at Boston two or three weeks before the little fleet of sailing-vessels entered the harbor of Baltimore. He visited Albany, New York City, and Washing-ton in search of all kinds of information that might be use- ful and necessary in determining where the proposed colony of Hollanders should be established, and of his experiences in eastern States he later wrote a de- tailed account.*^ It was a part of Scholte 's work to investigate the best means of inland transportation for the Hol- landers who were coming. He was thus enabled to come into touch with a class of persons all too com- mon at that period in the history of immigration to the United States. These ''Iddnappers and deceiv- ers", like bands of hungry wolves, stormed each in- coming ship of European emigrants. In their schem- ing attempts to gain the foreigner's confidence, they manifested the utmost concern in his welfare, warned him of the danger of falling into the snares of liars, and offered to conduct him to a good lodging place and to explain the best and cheapest mode of travel in America. 48 FROM BALTIMORE TO ST. LOUIS IN 1847 49 Every transportation office at American ports was said to have such men in its service. As a means of exploiting the purses of foreigners the sys- tem proved to be so insidious that Scholte could not confidently recommend a reliable office. He later urged emigrating Europeans to be prepared to speak English, and above all, to familiarize themselves with North American conditions before leaving their homes, so that they might personally study and in- vestigate steamboat and railway connections in America. Scholte naively observed that these "ronselaars" at American ports had become "so accustomed to see incoming ships filled with half-starved Irishmen or ill-smelling Germans that the rumor of the coming of so many Hollanders, with money in their pockets and clean looks besides, goaded their zeal anew to give chase after what people here have already quite generally learned to call 'willempjes'." Among the men whose appetite for these ten-florin gold pieces or ' ^ little Williams ' ' had suddenly been whetted were many Hollanders who were acquainted with the per- sonal history and circumstances of some of their on- coming countrymen or were informed by allies equal- ly concerned in Holland. Scholte wrote from Iowa that one could form no adequate conception of this branch of industry in American harbors: ''a man should almost be able to read their hearts if he wishes to be secure from paying toll in one form or another to this host of unofficial officers." Aroused by what he had learned of the American 50 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA commercial world in the ports, and especially at New York City, Scliolte recognized the necessity of meet- ing the vessels which bore his followers ; and when he received the glad tidings that one ship had reached its destination and later that the others were in sight, he hastened by rail to Baltimore where he "could rejoice in the safe arrival of those with whom I should henceforth live in common." *'^ Baltimore, then described as a large city with hundreds of ships anchored or moored in its harbor, and chickens, hogs, and cattle running loose upon its muddy streets, shocked the Hollanders who were ac- customed to seeing orderly, well-kept highways in city and town and gravel roads throughout the country. Wearied by weeks of monotonous sailing, they expected to see a picture more attractive than that which presented itself at their introduction to *'the land of promise". The journey overland they hoped would be more pleasant and more varied; but their first impressions were frankly disappointing. The sight of a bustling sea-port with ill-kept streets and make-shift buildings unpleasantly checked any rising enthusiasm. Americans had not in a long time seen foreigners who appeared so neat and brought so much property with them. Various newspapers reported the ar- rival of the Dutch emigrants; and some accounts ''were so exaggerated that one would almost believe the treasures of Peru had been transported to the New World in the boxes and baskets and packs of these people from Holland, which gained strength in FRO]\r BALTIMORE TO ST. LOUIS IN 1847 51. many places because the Hollanders usually had to exchange their gold money in order to pay for things." The latter circumstance was also instru- mental many times in persuading Americans "to charge us more than they were accustomed to take from Irish or Germans." " Early in June, 1847, the Hollanders commenced their journey from Baltimore into the American in- terior, finishing the first stage by rail as far as Co- lumbia, Pennsylvania, a town which lay at the junc- tion of two railroads and a canal. Indeed, people traveled from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh by what was then called the Pennsylvania Canal and Port- age Railway — for the construction of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad from Harrisburg was not begun until 1847 nor completed until 1854. At Columbia the immigrants were packed ''like herrings" into canal-boats and conveyed nearly two hundred miles up the beautiful valleys of the Sus- quehanna and Juniata rivers with their great wooded ridges and picturesque scenery to Hollidaysburg at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains. From there they had the unique experience of being ''portaged" up the mountain slope: they were placed in cars, drawn up a series of inclined planes by stationary locomotives, and passing through a tunnel near the mountain-top, they were let down inclined planes on the western slope to Johnstown, a distance of nearly forty miles. Thence they continued by canal down the Conemaugh Valley for over one hundred miles to Pittsburgh.*^ 52 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Having arrived at Pittsburgh from beyond the Alleghanies, the Hollanders continued westward by a route equally historic, the Ohio Eiver, which in those days was the principal means of communication be- tween the East and the Mississippi Valley. Steam- boat traffic on this river was then just at the begin- ning of its greatest prosperity. Through this so- called "Gateway to the West" the Hollanders reached the Mississippi Eiver, which they ascended as far as St. Louis, having covered one thousand miles by steamboat. Three weeks were consumed in this journey over- land to St. Louis. Although the newcomers saw much wonderful scenery and marveled at young America's gigantic strides, they found American methods of travel very unpleasant and fatiguing. Mothers of large families of young children were driven almost frantic. Indeed, the hearts of all the immigrants were constantly filled with anxiety. Nearly three months of ceaseless motion on the jour- ney from their homes in Holland to the American in- terior had severely tried their patience, and enough had happened "to extinguish their last spark of poetrj'. ' ' *^ The immigrants were thankful to stop for a breathing spell at St. Louis, for they deemed it best to wait until a site should be found for their colony. All received a glad welcome from the small band of countrjTuen who had already passed several months in St. Louis. For so many people not enough dwell- ings were to be found at once ; accordingly, wooden FROM BALTIMORE TO ST. LOUIS IN 1847 53 sheds were hastily constructed to accommodate them. Then early in July, 1847, in a ''booming" frontier city of thirty thousand people, they set about to look for work, "wherein some who like to work were very successful, while others who had formed a picture of America like children have of Gocagne were less for- tunate in finding what they did not seriously seek. ' ' Of the eight hundred emigrants who left Holland twenty lost their lives upon the Atlantic, and four are said to have died on the journey from Baltimore. "At St. Louis, however, the number of deaths was larger. The unusual experiences of the trip, the cramped quarters at St. Louis, the extraordinary heat in that rapidly growing city, the irregular and care- less consumption of food and drink, and the disre- gard by some of Dutch cleanliness caused illness and consequent death. ' ' ^° VII THE EECEPTION OF SCHOLTE AND THE DUTCH IN AMERICA At Boston Scliolte remained just long enough to give his family a few days of rest after the ocean journey. Here he soon perceived that Americans were not only frank in their friendliness but also genuinely concerned about the emigration from Holland. At the same time he records that he failed to find a community of spiritual belief in ''that capital of American rationalism." Scholte next went to Albany where he was openly welcomed by the good Christian people of the city and given an opportunity to preach the gospel to the Hollanders who had but recently arrived from Eu- rope and to the older inhabitants who either could still speak Dutch or merely recalled that it was the language of the founders of their city and State. To Scholte it was a striking experience to be asked im- mediately to preach God's Word in one of the prin- cipal churches in a land where he was a stranger, ''while", as he writes, "in the land of my birth most public places for the worship of God were closed to me, and even those who in their homes called me brother in Christ would not have dared to allow me to take charge of services in their churches ' '. Such was the kindness which he received at the hands of 54 RECEPTION OF THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 55 ministers in and near New York City and at Pitts- burgh that when he wrote about it later, he con- fessed: "Had I not been bound to our Association, I certainly could not have withstood the pressure of persons who urged me to stay in the State of New York and once more to hold regular services in the Dutch language." Everywhere among the Christian people of Amer- ica it appears that Scholte discovered a hearty and wide-awake interest in the emigration from Holland. "I believe", he wrote, "that in general they cherish a too lofty opinion of us. In their conversation and newspapers we are represented as resembling the God-fearing Pilgrims who first settled in the United States. They regard our coming to this land of civil and religious liberty as one of God's blessings on their country. . . . Oftentimes a sense of shame and embarrassment comes over me when I stop to look at myself and our Association, and then con- sider the high thoughts which people entertain of us, and see that, while the Germans who come here are less highly esteemed, the Hollanders are held in hon- or and are often placed on an equality with Ameri- cans. ' ' And Scholte could testify that the Hollanders re- ceived favorable treatment at the hands not only of individual Christians and Christian churches, but also of State officials and State assemblies. For, he said, "I myself had an experience of this sort at Al- bany, where the legislature had just convened and I wished to look on for a moment. Recognized by one of the members, I was compelled to take a seat in the 56 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA midst of them. How different from Holland! In the land of our birth branded and treated as a de- spised congregation, misunderstood by everyone, shoved aside, trampled upon and bruised ; in the land of strangers and above all in its most respectable part, honored and treated as a costly gift of God to improve their country ! ' ' At St. Louis where the Americans did not under- stand the Dutch language and had scarcely thought of Hollanders before, the immigrants were just as cordially welcomed as in the East; and so long as they remained in the city, a Presbyterian congrega- tion allowed them the free use of a spacious base- ment room for regnilar Sunday services, providing heat when necessary, and even helping the needy sick. The Hollanders were also permitted to take ad- vantage of the instruction in English afforded by the Presbyterian Sunday-school. Of their reception in America one of the Hol- landers afterwards wrote: "With none too much praise can one speak of the good- will, accommoda- tion, and direct aid with which the Dutch emigrants met at places where they stopped, not least at St. Louis." As for their willingness to help and kind- ness to oblige, Americans were said to put the Hol- landers to shame, and Scholte could say in conclu- sion: ''In this way America speaks and thinks, in this way America treats the Hollanders who were so oppressed in their native land in matters civil and religious that they were forced to leave. That God has done for us"." VIII THE CHOICE OF A HOME IN IOWA Before the departure of Scholte and his association from Holland another leader of the Seceders, van Raalte, had established a Dutch settlement in the State of Michigan. Van Raalte wrote to his former fellow-countrymen in Europe that he preferred Mich- igan to Iowa or Wisconsin because his colony lay near the large cities of Milwaukee, Racine, and Chicago, and the Illinois Canal. It was therefore conveniently situated for eastern and southern markets ; besides, railroads were spreading throughout the State, and the large areas of government forest land, though very cheap, were very valuable. Van Raalte further asserted that the climate farther south was very un- healthful, and that upon the unanimous recommenda- tion of trustworthy men he had been obliged to look away from Iowa to Michigan as his choice. As his reasons for selecting timber lands he urged that they were more healthful than fresh-plowed prairie, and demanded from people of small means smaller ex- penditures of money at the beginning, since they yielded lumber for houses and barns, abundance of work for many classes of artisans, good crops from the clearings, and rich grass for dairy farming." Van Raalte expressed a hope that his friend 57 58 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Scliolte would also conduct his association to Michi- gan rather than to Iowa, where he felt convinced the Hollanders could not do so well. Indeed, when Scholte was at New York he received information from the little band of Hollanders at St. Louis that van Eaalte had invited them to come to Michigan, but that after some correspondence and the inspec- tion of other lands they had decided not to accept his invitation. Teunis Keppel, one of their number who had been appointed in Holland as a member of the committee to investigate various localities in the American interior, had made a trip to Michigan in order to make a personal examination and prepare a faithful report on conditions there.^^ During the short time which he spent in cities of the East, before he joined his association at Balti- more, Scholte did not forget the colony founded by his colleague in the woods of Michigan. Indeed, he was forcibly reminded of it when collections of money were taken up in the churches of New York to enable the Michigan Hollanders to build a saw-mill. Not only did Easterners not recommend to him the Dutch settlement of Michigan, but a friend who had jour- neyed from Wisconsin to see Micliigan with his own eyes wrote to Scholte at Albany, alleging that he had been so unfavorably impressed that he returned at once to "Wisconsin.^* Scholte turned his attention away from the Michi- gan colony as a desirable region because it lay too far north, because it was destitute of suitable roads and sufficient arable land on account of the dense THE CHOICE OF A HOME IN IOWA 59 growth of timber, and lastly because it lay too near the Indians and was too far removed from other set- tlements of whites. He expressed his conviction that the farmers who had spent their lives in the level hay- lands and grain-fields of Holland could not accustom themselves to the unusual battle with forests nor find pleasure in the constant presence of tree stumps in their meadows and cultivated fields. As early as May, 1847, Scholte had convinced himself that Iowa or a part of Illinois would be most suitable, but he judged ''that a good locality is recommended by tell- ing not what people may do there but what they have done and are doing".^^ In coming to the conclusion that his colleague's site for a colony was ill-advised, Scholte assured the people that he did not wish to detract from the re- ports concerning the fertility of the soil in Michigan, nor from the value of the timber land, nor ''from the pleasure of hearing the warble of birds in the cool shade of virgin forests"; but he had experienced enough of real life to know that stumps of trees were disagreeable obstacles to farmers. Besides, he felt certain "that the Hollanders who were coming to North America were more prosaic than poetic and consequently thought not so much of pleasing their eyes and ears as of buying suitable land for farms, the easier to cultivate, the better." He knew per- fectly well that the farmers who made up the major- ity of his association were eager to own pastures for dairy purposes, to use plow and harrow on the soil, and not at all inclined "to prefer ax to spade or to 60 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA become dealers in wood." And in answer to van Raalte's favorable report on the healthfulness of Michigan, Scholte averred that while he was read- ing some newspaper testimonials at New York adver- tising a certain kind of pills he came across a letter from the Michigan colony praising the pills and or- dering more, and he thereby became "convinced that people there as everywhere else in the world had to wrestle with indisposition and disease!" ^® The rumor of the coming of so many well-to-do Hollanders preceded Scholte, and no sooner had he reached America than he was stormed from all sides with offers of land so alluring that he was not sur- prised, he said, if unsuspecting foreigners fell into the snares prepared by speculators. But Scholte was not to be tricked into jeopardizing the future peace and happiness of his followers. Consequently he went to the trouble of investigating as carefully as possible all the opportunities offered by various States. By means of letters of recommendation given him by the American consul in Holland and with the help of influential friends he was enabled to get abundant and reliable information. At "Washing- ton the government officials surprised him by their civility and general willingness to serve: they not only answered his questions, but "all free of cost" presented him with printed documents and later sent him a set of maps showing the location of saleable government lands. Scholte declared that while he was gathering in- formation in the older States he frequently heard the THE CHOICE OF A HOME IN IOWA 61 remark that it would be extremely difficult to find unoccupied lands for his people unless they were willing to be cut off from intercourse with all human beings except the Indians. He judged that the at- tention which they had directed toward the western States as a result of previous investigations con- ducted in Holland was excellent evidence of God's guidance." Not until the whole association had reached St. Louis was the last step taken to decide where the Hollanders should build their homes : a committee of investigation, consisting of Scholte, Isaac Overkamp, John Eietveld, Teunis Keppel, and Gerrit van der Pol, set out from St. Louis to select a suitable site for the settlement. There were extensive areas still open to occupation in the States of Iowa and Illi- nois, but they were so far removed from wood and water as to be quite ill adapted to foreigners unac- customed to American pioneer ways. The committee of ''spies", however, resolved to examine the Iowa lands first, and in case good lands were not available there to visit northern Illinois.^^ The nearest saleable lands in southeastern Iowa lay in what was called ''The Half-Breed Tract", es- tablished in 1824 by the United States government in Lee County for the half-breeds of the Sac and Fox Indians and later sold by them to other persons. Scholte had already conferred with the leading men of a New York land company which owned a large portion of this tract, with the result that he had be- come suspicious of their title. Accordingly, after 62 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA making a close examination of the state of land titles, the committee was convinced that most of the pos- sessors were not owners and that a purchase from them would only expose the Hollanders to the un- pleasantness of law-suits.^^ The committee thereupon resorted to the United States Land Office at Fairfield, Iowa, where unsold government lands could still be bought or *' preempt- ed" at $1.25 per acre. Scholte presented a letter of introduction to Ver Planck van Antwerp, a Knicker- bocker who happened to be tlie government Receiver at the Fairfield office. Mr. van Antwerp showed the committee of Hollanders maps of Iowa indicating- unsold lands. He also informed them that the best areas had already been occupied and that, although many of the first settlers had not yet paid the gov- ernment, they were nevertheless protected in their rights because they had worked to bring their claims under cultivation.^" Scholte once more exhibited his qualities of lead- ership when he persuaded the members of the com- mittee that instead of buying the land of settlers who had clear titles and who would, therefore, be loath to sell their farms except at very high prices, the Hol- landers should buy out the pioneers who had not yet secured clear titles to their claims. As Scholte had once before expressed it, "a good locality is recom- mended by telling not what people may do there, but what they have done and are doing". While the other committeemen went to inspect the country around Fairfield and gain all possible THE CHOICE OF A HOME IN IOWA 63 information from the inhabitants, Scholte busied himself with maps in the Land Office. Incidentally he applied to Mr. van Antwerp to recommend a guide — some man who had dealt with American pio- neers in the neighborhood and was therefore ac- quainted with them. Shortly afterward, while at- tending a child's funeral, Scholte met a Presbyterian minister, through whom he came to know a Baptist who had been engaged for nearly six years as a mis- sionary preacher or circuit rider among the pioneers of southwestern Iowa. This man was Rev. M. J. Post. When he learned who Scholte was and what he wanted, Mr. Post at once recommended two localities in Iowa as suitable for the proposed Dutch colony, and consented to act as a guide for the committee. On July 29, 1847, before any rumor of their plan could precede them, the committee and guide drove across country from Fairfield a distance of nearly seventy miles to the northeastern corner of Marion County. Scholte later gave the following report of the committee's operations : We began straightway [on Thursday] with the man at whose house we had dinner at noon, and with him agreed upon the price of his farm, reserving the right to give him a definite answer not later than one o'clock Saturday, be- cause we wanted to be assured of the other farms first. He gave us a short list of the various settlers, and by constant riding before darkness set in we had every farmer's promise to sell at a stipulated price. Some whom we did not well trust were bound by cash payments in the presence of wit- 64 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA nesses. Our work, however, was now but half done, for we had to have access to the Des INEoines River also. Early- Friday morning we rode thither ; there too the settlers sus- pected nothing, and after coming to terms with each one separately by evening we had bound them all till Monday. Saturday we appeared at the appointed time and place, when wa-itten contracts to be executed within one month's time were signed by them as sellers and by me as pur- chaser. . . . On Sunday I heard two excellent sermons by our guide and agent; on Monday we signed contracts with settlers near the river; and on Tuesday we commenced our journey back to St. Louis, to convey to the membere of our Associa- tion the glad tidings that we had found a good place for our homes, and to make preparations for the departure of a first column.^^ IX THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLLANDERS IN IOWA On July 4, 1846, an Iowa author of note gave expres- sion to the following thought : "Here we behold the emigrant crossing the majestic river with the bible, the axe, and the plough — emblems of peace, pros- perity and power. You may point me to Caesar, to the armies of Alexander and Napoleon, triumphant with the laurels of victory; yet history never pre- sented a spectacle half so sublime as the long train of mo\dng emigrants, going forth to consecrate the pathless prairie to freedom and a lofty civiliza- tion."^- The man who penned these words was thinking only of the trains of covered wagons which bore emigrants from Ohio, Indiana, and the States farther east. He made no reference to the fact that at that very time Europeans were crossing the ocean to try their fortunes in the western country. No sooner had the five committeemen reported their work to the expectant Hollanders at St. Louis than amid general rejoicing they prepared to journey northward. All were eager to reach the end of their tedious travels — all were ready to establish perma- nent homes upon American soil in a neighborhood which they could henceforth call their own. But 65 66 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA impatience did not overwhelm their discretion. In- asmuch as nearly nine hundred persons would find it very difficult to subsist in an almost wholly unpeopled country and since very many of them were engaged in profitable labor at St. Louis, it was deemed most advisable that only the larger part of the emigrant band should go ahead and prepare for the coming of those who were left behind. Some five or six hundred of the entire body of Hollanders, therefore, bade good-bye to their coun- trymen and to the Americans who had helped them during their enforced sojourn in St. Louis. They took passage on a Mississippi River steamboat and within two days reached Keokuk, the ''Gate City of Iowa ' '. Here they were met by a large concourse of curious persons — some attracted by the rumor of the coming of so many foreigners and others actuated by a keen desire to supply possible needs at extor- tionate prices. Here also the Hollanders performed the sad duty of burying the bodies of three of their number who had died since leaving St. Louis. Shortly after their arrival at Keokuk the immi- grants were greeted with a deluge of rain which very perceptibly dampened their ardor and delayed their preparations; but after a number of the party had purchased horses and wagons and other things neces- sary for the journey, bag and baggage were loaded upon the great rumbling wagons of that pioneer day, and then commenced the final lap of a long and wearisome journey half-way across the continent. M ARRIVAL OF THE HOLLANDERS IN IOWA 67 Some of the little army of invasion rode, while others were obliged to be content with walking.^^ As they journeyed from the highly romantic po- sition of Keokuk at the foot of the rapids of the Mississippi River up one of the richest valleys of the West and along the ridge road on the divide between two heavily timbered rivers, the Hollanders beheld a beautiful stretch of green country, the haunt of In- dians but fifteen years before and a part of which had been occupied by settlers for only three or four years. As these emigrants from Holland traversed Ma- haska County just before reaching the site of their future colony, they were observed with interest by a pioneer woman who has preserved the following pic- ture of them: And when they came along the road with various kinds of teams, we gazed in wonder at their quaint and unfamiliar appearance. Their dress was strange to us. Women were perched on high piles of queer looking chests and boxes and trunks, many of them wearing caps, but no bonnets. Some of the men, and women too, wore wooden shoes.*'* At last they halted upon the site selected by the committee, being followed a little later by the wagon train of baggage. This was late in the month of August, 1847. Great must have been their disap- pointment to find that only a pile of boards and two poor log-houses marked the spot where they were now to settle. The contract which Scholte had pre- viously made with certain Americans for the con- struction of fifty log cabins and for the delivery of a 68 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA certain amount of lumber before the association ar- rived from St. Louis had not been carried out at alL To a people fresh from the older civilization of Europe, the entire absence of satisfactory accommo- dations and conveniences must have been especially disheartening. To be sure many of them had been accustomed to rural life in Holland, but that life represented a continuity of development since the early years of the Christian era. They had left a soil which had been subjected to cultivation for near- ly two thousand years, and they had lived in houses which though small were at least comfortable. Now they were to learn what it was to grow up with a new country — what it meant to conquer a wilderness. "Imagine a number of bakers, tailors and shoe- makers, painters, office-clerks, business managers and such like, who had all their lives been used to the city life of Europe — some of whom hardly knew what a cow or pig looked like, nor had the slightest knowledge of farm implements; who had left neat and comfortable homes and had never known or seen others — imagine such people suddenly transplanted to an open prairie, with here and there some timber, seeing nothing but grass, trees and sky, and finding no protection against the elements!" And the Dutch historian added : ''It takes but a few lines to tell it, but to live it is something wholly different. ' ' It was indeed a unique experience for these Hol- landers to come from a foreign land, where they had spent their lives closely confined in cities and towns and on small well-kept farms, to the solitude and iso- ARRIVAL OF THE HOLLANDERS IN IOWA 69 lation of life upon the American frontier. They had now arrived upon the boundless expanse of the prai- ries of Iowa to partake of all the hardships incident to the struggle with a new and strange environment. But if in that summer of 1847 the Hollanders in- dulged in no spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm, it was because they could not realize the tremendous latent possibilities of a region which was destined to be transformed into one of the garden spots of Iowa. If the face of nature, as they saw it then, presented none of the features characteristic of their trans- atlantic fatherland's peasant and urban life, it did not lack the qualities necessary to provide ambitious Europeans with all the material advantages of life. Among the Hollanders who were now to begin years of struggle in Iowa were people ''who had the habits and preferences of a well-ordered life in cities of habitation, where the current of existence was tran- quil and regular except when disturbed by the storms of war or religious persecution", while others "were for the most part peaceable farmers, whose ideal of earthly felicity was the well-filled barn and the com- fortable fire-side. ' ' '" MARION COUNTY AND ITS FARMS IN 1847 The Hollanders found that the claims and govern- ment lands which their leader, Scholte, had pur- chased lay in the northeastern corner of Marion County in Jefferson and Lake Prairie townships. From the highest point they beheld a vast expanse of undulating prairie covered with long wiry grass and wild flowers, dotted here and there with little groves of native timber, sloping gently toward the dark and heavily timbered valleys of two large rivers, the Skunk and the Des Moines, which flowed southeast- ward and parallel about ten miles apart. Under a clear slry the landscape extended for many miles in every direction. Then too were visible some of the crude log cabins and other little buildings of the widely-scattered homesteads of American pioneers, and small fields of Indian corn and other grain en- closed in the picturesque, zigzag rail fences of that primitive day.*"' Marion Count}' lay in a vast stretch of comitry which had been ceded by the Indians to the United States government in 1842. This immense area, known as ' ' The New Purchase ' ', was not thrown open to homeseekers until May 1, 1843, after the Indians had in silence once more vanished further to the 70 MARION COUNTY AND ITS FARMS IN 1847 71 westward. On the lOtli of June, 1845, Marion Coun- ty was established ; and though it constituted one of the fairest portions of the Territory of Iowa in April, 1846, it could claim a population of not more than fifteen hundred souls. Its only considerable town was Knoxville, the seat of justice.''^ In 1847 Iowa City was the State capital, while Fort Des Moines, the future seat of government, had but recently been evacuated by United States Dra- goons. The Hollanders had come, therefore, to live upon the outskirts of civilization at a time when the vanguard of hardy pioneers advancing to conquer the great American West had just reached and occu- pied the central portion of the State of lowa.^^ Here upon the western American frontier Scholte secured the title to eighteen thousand acres of excel- lent land, a very small part of which consisted of the scattered farms of the original settlers, and the remainder of government land, much of which was covered by warrants issued to veterans of the Mexi- can War as remuneration or reward for military service. A wealthy citizen of Keokuk aided Scholte in buying up these land-warrants for one hundred and sixty acres at from $80 to $100 apiece. Other government land was purchased at $1.25 per acre.°^ When Scholte and his colleagues visited Marion County to investigate its possibilities, they had only limited authority from the association and insuffi- cient association funds. Scholte, however, did not hesitate to act upon his own responsibility. He pur- chased not only government lands and the farms, but 72 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA also crops, stock, and other personal property, being glad to supply from his own purse the necessary money for that purpose because he perceived "the excellent quality and exceptional fertility of the soil and the facility of cultivation "/° Scholte took precautions to make his payments of money directly to the United States government in order to be assured of the title to the claims. Thus he insured himself against deceitful speculators. Of course he paid the original settlers, who numbered about thirty, what they demanded as a reasonable return for their improvements on the land. From the amount of purchase-money and the government price he was able to calculate how much the land would cost per acre and what each subscriber's share would be. Lots were drawn to fix the order of land- owners and the numbers of the sections to which each owner was to be assigned, whereupon a sur- veyor could proceed to measure oft' the areas for which the members of the association had subscribed in Holland." Such were some of the steps prelim- inary to the realization of Dutch community life in Iowa. I XI THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DUTCH COMMUNITY Neaely six hundred foreigners in an unsettled conn- try must have presented a scene of great bustle and industry in the late summer and autumn of 1847. First of all they had to provide immediate shelter of some sort; and then they proceeded to erect more permanent, substantial dwellings as a necessary pro- tection against the rigors of an approaching Iowa winter. Of the inadequate quantity of lumber which they found they constructed simple sheds which af- forded cover to many families. Other families were housed in the log cabins and other buildings of the American settlers who vacated their homesteads as quickly as possible. But a majority of the immi- grants commenced house-keeping in this wild land much after the manner of primitive people. Shortly after their arrival on September 2, 1847, the Hollanders engaged a surveyor to lay out eight blocks of a new town. Later more space was added ; and for many years the streets and the avenues bore the names which Scholte gave them. The streets were called Extension, Addition, Columbus, Wash- ington, Franklin, Liberty, Union, Independence, Peace, South End, University, and Oskaloosa; while 73 74 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA the avenues were Entrance, Inquiring, Perseverance, Reformation, Gratitude, Experience, Patience, Con- fidence, Expectation, and Accomplishment. In Hol- land it appears that Scholte had prayed that God would "prepare for His people another PELLA, and let the motto of its inhabitants be in truth : In God is our hope and refuge. In Deo Spes Nostra et Ref ugium. ' ' Pella was platted in order that all persons who wished might build houses at once.^- Despite the lack of sufficient ready lumber, the first Dutch city- builders in Iowa showed their practical, workday character by using whatever materials nature fur- nished close at hand. They received an early visit from an Iowa tourist who had lectured with success in various parts of England. This gentleman no- ticed that "the men in blanket coats and jeans were gone", and that a race of broad-shouldered men "in velvet jackets and wooden shoes" was there, "re- joicing in the antiquitj'' of nearly a month." He saw most of them living "in camps, the tops covered with tent cloth, some with grass and bushes, the sides barricaded with countless numbers of trunks, boxes and chests of the oddest and most grotesque descrip- tion that Yankees or Hawkeyes ever beheld." " The Hollanders, however, were not satisfied with dwellings so crude, so characteristic of a lower stage of civilization, like Indian tepees. They quickly constructed "dug-outs" or "sod-houses" — so-called because their interior lay partly below and partly above the surface of the ground. Earth was removed ESTABLISHMENT OF DUTCH COMMUNITY 75 to the depth of a few feet, and blocks of tough prairie sod several inches thick were then piled up to com- plete the upper portion of the walls. Roofs con- sisted simply of branches covered with prairie or slough grass, straw or reeds ; while doors of sack- cloth and interwoven twigs, and chimneys built of sod blocks completed the sombre exterior of what came to be called "Strooijen Stad" (Straw Town). Despite the appearance of these early homes, which indicated a partial but compulsory reversion to a more primitive state of nature, these sod houses in many cases served as human habitations for near- ly two years. As makeshifts against exposure to all sorts of wintry weather, these inelegant quarters stood until their occupants were better able to erect more sanitary and substantial houses ; and although never entirely water-proof, they provided a consid- erable measure of comfort and satisfaction, partly due no doubt to the mildness of the first Iowa win- ter.^* Later on, as lumber became more plentiful, frame buildings, both cabins and barns, gradually sup- planted the temporary, unsanitary shacks and hovels. Like true American backwoodsmen, the Hollanders quickly learned to thank their rivers for the incal- culable advantage of forests of fine hard-wood trees. They found that their settlement embraced a quan- tity of excellent timber sufficient to supply all needs. But during the early months and years the supply of lumber to be obtained from American-owned saw- mills on the Des Moines River was so limited and 76 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA the demand so great that Scholte availed himself of the water-power of the Skunk River, installed ma- chinery in a mill of his own, and thus early in 1848 began to manufacture lumber for the Dutch colony." In 1856 the growing city of Pella, beautiful- ly situated on a high and spacious prairie plateau, presented a pleasing view with its rows of simple, wooden houses, interspersed with a few red brick dwellings. Hollanders in the fatherland during the nineteenth century were accustomed to living in brick houses; they shrugged their shoulders and pitied those Americans who were forced to live in flimsy, wooden structures; but inhabitants of Pella declared that they needed no pity because they had learned to find a combination of comfort, conveni- ence, and even beauty in these neat, little dwellings, which were in many respects so desirable that as "to style and general taste they did not need to bow before the low brick cottages of Europe. ' ' ^® Although the city of Pella grew and developed like any other frontier town of the early days, city- building by the Hollanders was not the primary ob- ject of their coming to Iowa. Most of the people were farmers, and even those who had never tilled the soil found such abundant opportunity to become farmers that from the beginning the Dutch colony of Marion County was distinctively an agricultural community. It is true, as someone has said, that "a new land offered the opportunity, a wild land presented the necessity, a rich land held out the reward, to men who were eager to do something." ESTABLISHMENT OF DUTCH COMMUNITY 77 That farming was the first thing to come into notice among the Hollanders as furnishing the best and surest prospects was a matter of course. One man after another, upon getting possession of land, ''as quickly as possible harnessed all his united strength to make the earth yield up her rich treasures." ^^ Families of Hollanders entered the homesteads vacated by their first American occupants and at once set about to care for the stock and crops. There was abundant work for all hands to do. Besides the building of cabins and barns, the newcomers busied themselves with general farm duties. They soon dis- covered the truth of the general American newspaper report that they had settled in one of the best parts of Iowa: they found a soil suitable for the growth of all kinds of products when once the tough prairie sod was broken. On the farms which Scholte had bought grew excellent summer and winter wheat, oats, buckwheat, flax, hemp, and Indian corn, as well as vegetables of fine quality. In the timber grew wild fruits in profusion.^^ For the live-stock, which American pioneers cus- tomarily allowed to roam loose upon the open prairie and in the timber summer and winter, the Holland- ers provided some sort of shelter. They were es- pecially pleased with the rich milk of the American cows ; and they early convinced themselves that they could produce butter and cheese which not only com- pared favorably with the best in Holland, but also promised to be of incalculable value to them because the butter and cheese of their American neighbors 78 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA were quite generally bad and sometimes unfit for con- sumption. Indeed, the making of butter and cheese became a considerable industry during the early years, and ''Iowa Cheese" became famous in the St. Louis market, commanding the highest price. Not only was dairy-farming a popular occupation from the start because the Hollanders had brought all the secrets with them from Europe, but stock- raising also became profitable in the course of time. Especially did the foreigners learn the value of one of America's staple products, the hog, which they had always looked upon as a comparative curiosity in Europe and now came to regard as an asset char- acteristic and typical of western farm-life. Indeed, early Iowa pioneers allowed their hogs to run loose in the woods, thus foraging for themselves and re- quiring no attention until they were ready to be fattened when Indian corn was so abundant that they could be quickl}^ prepared for market and sold in the shape of ham, bacon, and lard.^^ Most difficult for the Hollanders was the task of learning to accustom themselves to the demands of frontier life. Transplanted from Europe to the west- ernmost point reached by American home-seekers, dwelling upon that ' * irregular, imaginary line which separated their farm lands and the unused West", they suffered more than Americans who lived under similar circumstances. They missed the ordinary household comforts of Holland and many of the ne- cessities of life, but from the experience of early years they learned to imitate their American pioneer ESTABLISHMENT OF DUTCH COMMUNITY 79 neighbors. Slowly they adapted themselves to their strange environment and a wholly different standard of living; and they soon realized that the problem for them to solve was how to become self-sufficient when their supply of Dutch money gave out. The Hollanders were not long in discovering that the articles which they had been accustomed to buy ready-made in Holland were manufactured by Amer- ican frontiersmen from the products of the soil — as for instance bread and other food-stuifs, candles, and woolen and linen cloth for home-made clothing. In the absence of plows some used spades at first and waited patiently until they could obtain such agri- cultural implements as plows, harrows, and wagons from their Pella blacksmiths who worked night and day; and even then many lacked money enough to purchase the necessary horses or oxen and machin- ery. It was therefore a difficult problem to make progress without ready money. Scholte observed that American pioneers got along without much money: "Only when they get money into their hands by selling their claims do they begin to buy, and in that event they are general- ly liberal in giving or paying. The American people in general understand how to make money, as is well known, but they also have the inclination to be gen- erous in giving it away. That parsimony which is sometimes called stinginess is not a reigning evil with them. They do not turn over a dime four times, as the saying goes in Holland, before spending it, 80 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA and therefore they get rid of money more quickly, oftentimes too quickly for some Hollanders." ^° Great must have been the awe with which Iowa's first Dutch settlers regarded that picturesque, no- madic element of the American frontier population, the backwoodsman, who could generally be found upon the crest of the human wave which filled the empty places of the West. These adventurers pre- ceded the rush of emigrants westward, staked out their claims, hunted and fished, cleared and worked some acres of soil for a year or two until the coming of others to their neighborhood. Then, to escape the pressure of advancing emigration, they sold their clearings at a profit, packed their simple belongings into heavy, canvas-covered wagons drawn by horses or oxen, and from pure love of freedom proceeded farther westward to resume their life in the woods or on the plains.*^ Scholte, leader of the Dutch immigrants in every branch of activity, set up a lime-kiln and a brick-kiln at an early date, thus furnishing labor to masons. Bakers, tailors, shoemakers, painters, office clerks, business managers, and others — all were represent- ed ill the Pella population, but most of them found their trades and occupations superfiuous among peo- ple of simple tastes. Hence they adapted them- selves to the situation by learning to till the soil as a means of support. But ''the hands of many who were city bred and skilled in everything but agricul- ture went wrong when it became a question of making a living on the naked prairie." ESTABLISHMENT OF DUTCH COMMUNITY 81 In the month of March, 1848, Scholte wrote as follows : The ordinary day's wages is fifty cents for the laborer, one dollar for the artisan. In general the Hollanders know very well how to receive American wages; some are not ready to acquire the American habit, that is, to work fast. A few, who do not care for work and imagine that people can get a living in America without exertion, find them- selves badly deceived, since here too God's universally es- tablished rule applies : In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread. Four men returned from here to St. Louis, men of whose wrong principles people here are generally convinced. Two of them, after gadding about for some time and molesting the colony, ended by entering military service in Mexico. A few other persons, who seem to have thought that by means of a magic wand one could cause suitable houses to rise up out of the ground just as in fairy tales, complained of the hardships, as the people of The Netherlands may have noticed in their newspapers; but these have already expressed their grief for being so obstinate, and now enter- tain opposite opinions. Some now own land and stock, but their quantity of money has diminished so that they shall have to learn for the first time how to succeed in the Ameri- can way, that is, to do much with little money : whether this art can be learned quickly and well, the future will tell.^- Unacqiiainted with the language, pioneer condi- tions, and ways of America, the first Dutch settlers of Iowa plodded along with the grim determination and patience characteristic of their nation, and grad- ually but painfully submitted to frontier American- ization. XII YEARS OF PRIVATION AND SUBSEQUENT RELIEF During the first four years of their history in Iowa the Hollanders underwent many novel experiences, but nothing more disastrous than the winter of 1848-49. Unfamiliar with the extraordinary ex- tremes of Iowa weather, they had deceived them- selves into believing that the mild winter of 1847-48 was the rule and not the exception. They had con- tinued to work outdoors with bare hands, and had paid little attention to their live-stock which ran loose in the woods and on the prairies. In the spring of 1848 they had been introduced to a genuine Iowa windstorm with its attendant havoc and destruction : buildings in course of construction were razed to the ground. Thus began their ac- quaintance with storms of cyclonic severity. After passing a favorable summer and reaping a harvest sufficient to supply the colony's needs, without having taken precautions to provide food and shelter for their stock, they suddenly found themselves in the midst of a winter such as few lowans have ever endured before or since. From November in 1848 to May in 1849 snow covered the ground at an average depth of three feet, and for weeks the temperature remained twenty degrees below zero. 82 PRIVATION AND SUBSEQUENT RELIEF 83 Unprepared for this intense cold, Dutch farmers lost much live-stock and with the utmost difficulty husked a small quantity of their snow-covered crop of Indian corn. Fuel was scarce and difficult to obtain, while journeys to the mill were tedious and burdensome. Then in the spring of 1849, to aggra- vate the winter's disastrous losses, came the flooded rivers and miry sloughs from which half-famished animals were too weak to extricate themselves.'*^ Financially the Hollanders were on the whole practically destitute in 1849. Even those who had pursued farming with good results considered them- selves poor in the midst of plenty, because they lacked a convenient market for their surplus pro- ducts. So great was their discouragement that many thought seriously of giving up and seeking a more satisfactory location. Then relief came in two unexpected ways. During the year 1849 about two hundred and fifty Hollanders came fresh from Europe to seek homes in Pel I a. Many of them were members of the asso- ciation organized in Holland in 1846, and it is said that their hearts were in Pell a after Scholte and the eight hundred found land for the colony. Very many of them were well-to-do, and some at once bought out American pioneers who had refused to sell their farms to the first Dutch settlers. The arrival of so large a body of newcomers meant the consumption of surplus products and this in turn brought money into circulation. Many adopted and stimulated bus- 84 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA iness life in Pella, paid cash for what they bought, and also made loans to the needy. If the coming of so many Hollanders helped to infuse new spirit into the Pella community, even more of a godsend was the mad scramble of Ameri- cans westward to reach the California gold fields, reports of the finding of which spread like wild-fire in the autumn of 1848. In the spring of 1849 com- menced the rush of Easterners, which proved to be a veritable "El Dorado" for the Hollanders of Mar- ion County. For a period of three months cov- ered wagons rumbled ceaselessly through Pella, and though the gold fever soon subsided, for a number of years a steady stream of emigrants continued to flow through Pella, some in search of gold in Cali- fornia and Colorado, others, like the Mormons, to build homes in Oregon and Utah. An eye-witness, a Hollander, thus described the ''call of the West and the lust for gold" as evinced by the caravans which came from the East by the road through Pella: They came in all sorts of ways. Many wagons were drawn by six, eight or ten yoke of oxen. Some were drawn by cows; most people had two teams of horses or mules hitched to their decorated covered wagons, which were gen- erally provided with stoves, and no one lacked fire-arms ex- cept the man who undertook the journey with a Avheel- barrow whereon he bore his supplies. If we had not seen it with our own eyes, we should have doubted the truth of this. He had his place in the long train of wagons and made way for no one. "We noticed later that the wheel- PRIVATION AND SUBSEQUENT RELIEF 85 barrow man arrived in California. The train of wagons was many times so long-drawn out as to fill the entire street from east to west. The number of well-behaved persons among the trekkers was very small ; most of them were coarse and disorderly. Those who remained on their Iowa farms and furnished the fortune-hunters with necessary food and other articles gained immense profit from the thirst for gold. One Dutch farmer who lived upon the Iowa route declared : We sold the trekkers to California all we had, and bought up more from our neighbors who lived farther from the road. "We sold a bushel of corn for one dollar, a bushel of oats for one dollar, a bushel of wheat for one dollar, 100 pounds of hay for one dollar, everything for one dollar: that was easy to remember. A yoke of oxen brought from $50 to $55 ; a cow from $20 to $25. The trekkers, however, could stand it. Some had cooks and negro servants. A man from Davenport came with 350 head of cattle. He had two more herds of the same size, altogether 1,000 head, on the way.^* Thus it will be seen how marvelous was the influ- ence of newcomers from Holland and of ''forty- niners" from eastern States. The former came to begin life anew, and providing for their various needs revived the zeal and industry of the Dutch set- tlers who had struggled hard for over a year in town and country. Gold-seekers left much money among the Hollanders who did not hesitate to charge them what were extortionate prices for that day. XIII HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS One of the principal drawbacks, if not the great- est, of early frontier life in central Iowa was the absence of convenient markets and suitable means of exporting farm products or importing articles for farm and liousehold use. Neither railroads nor steamboats had yet reached Marion County. The only agency of regular communication with the outer world at first was a United States post- route and post-office. When the Hollanders arrived upon their newly-purchased lands, the American set- tlers were accustomed to get mail at an office on the Des Moines River, but when the postmaster sold his farm to Scholte, his office came to an end. "Recog- nizing the need of a post-office," wrote Scholte, "with the other members of our Council I wrote at once to Washington requesting, with an assignment of rea- sons, that the old office and route be removed to Pel- la, at the same time recommending a competent per- son for the postmastership. We received a speedy and favorable reply and the necessary authoriza- tion." The Hollanders were thus enabled to obtain mail twice a week from the eastern States and from relatives in The Netherlands. They also received assurance that another post-route to the county seat 86 HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS 87 would be relocated in such a way as to pass through Pella.^' But in the matter of establishing commercial and trade relations with such distant markets as Keokuk and St. Louis the Hollanders, like most other lowans, experienced no little inconvenience. To be sure, their agricultural products found ready consumers in the increasing population of their neighborhood — a cause which continued to afford a market at every man's door for two or three years. But when they had surplus products, such as grain and pork, or if they had money and desired to raise their standard of living, they needed access to larger markets. The city of Keokuk, one hundred and twenty miles away, situated at the foot of the Des Moines rapids of the Mississippi River, had become one of Iowa's most considerable ports and places of busi- ness. Steamboats for the transportation of passen- gers and merchandise plied regularly in large num- bers between New Orleans, St. Louis, and Keokuk, where goods destined for points farther north had to be unloaded and conveyed over the rapids in light keel-boats. In the early development of the vast resources of Iowa the Mississippi River came to be the most im- portant agent. As the main avenue of trade, it placed the pioneers of Iowa in direct touch with the markets of the world. Grocery supplies, farm im- plements, mill machinery, dry goods, and hardware were shipped by sea from New York City to New 88 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Orleans and northward, or by the Ohio Eiver route to St. Louis, and thence to the Iowa country. The most reliable means of communication be- tween Keokuk, the ''Gate City of Iowa", and Pella was the State Road — an excellent highway running along the ridge between the valleys of two rivers. In 1848 this road was extended by law to include the nearest and most direct route to Fort Des Moines. And until about the year 1865 this thoroughfare was used for the transportation of Pella products to Keokuk and St. Louis and of manufactured goods to Pella. As a means by which merchandise could be received and produce exported the overland route was long and tedious ; at the same time the Holland- ers found it better than the roads of Holland, except after heavy rains. Under ordinary circumstances they paid seventy-five cents per hundred pounds of freight, and $1,121/4 per hundred pounds when the road was at its worst.^" Shortly before the Dutch settled in Marion Coun- ty Congress gave ear to the agitation in Iowa in favor of the improvement of the Des Moines River. Farm products of the Des Moines Valley had in- creased to such an extent that some rapid export route became absolutely necessary. Accordingly, in 1846 the government took what at the time promised to be one of the most important steps ever taken to develop Iowa's resources: all alternate sections of land in a strip five miles wide on each side of the Des Moines River from its mouth to its source were granted as an appropriation to provide for a system HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS 89 of slack-water navigation from Keokuk to Fort Des Moines." One year after Congress made such munificent provision for the internal development of Iowa, Scholte and his association of Hollanders indulged in the expectation that, since one-half of the distance to be made navigable had been surveyed and the sites for dams and locks had been selected, the expense of transportation to and from Pella in the future would be greatly lessened and the means of transportation would be facilitated. Hardly had the town of Pella been platted when Scholte was requested by his American neighbors to lay out another town to be called Amsterdam. To this request he assented by selecting some land on the banks of the Des Moines River at a point where the stream was easily forded, where a dam and lock would later be necessary, and where a considerable harbor was expected to grow up on account of its position half-way between Ottumwa and Fort Des Moines. When the river should once be made navi- gable for ships and steamboats, this town promised to become the port of Pella and vicinity ; ' ' the recol- lection of what Holland's Amsterdam once was and of what the American Amsterdam (now called New York) is coming to be induced us to give this place in Iowa the same name, since it was both of Dutch origin and also intended for trade." And it was also hoped and suggested in 1848 that as soon as regular navigation became possible on Iowa's great- est river, a small body of water, called Lake Prairie, 90 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA east of Amsterdam would present unusual opportu- nities for the construction of factories run by water- power. Two years later, in 1850, a store opened at Am- sterdam ; many people bought lots and built houses ; while two brick-kilns and a lime-kiln made the town temporarily of some importance. But in the midst of promise came the memorable floods of the spring of 1851. A blight settled upon the hopes and pros- pects of the promoters of the young city when they began to perceive that the improvement of the Des Moines River w^as an ideal never to be realized. High water at once revealed how stupendous and im- practicable was the task of rendering the Des Moines River navigable. Furthermore the position of Am- sterdam upon the river's banks proved to be un- healthful : this fact retarded its growth. Indeed, the great Dutch name is no longer on the map of Iowa : only corn fields mark the spot where Amster- dam was expected to rise.^® Although steamboating on the Des Moines River continued to appeal to lowans of that day and sev- eral boats succeeded in navigating the uncertain channel at different times, as a means of transport- ing produce to southern markets the river route failed dismally to satisfy the needs of the settlers. The man who probably ranked next to Scholte as the most public-spirited citizen among the early Dutch settlers in Iowa was A. E. D. Bousquet. He met with serious reverses in his efforts to make the Des Moines River a suitable outlet and waterway. In HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS 91 the flood year of 1851 he and other Pella merchants conceived the idea of shipping great quantities of corn down-stream in flat-boats to St. Louis. Their venture was only partially and accidentally success- ful and their plan was henceforth abandoned as im- practicable. Two years later Bousquet organized the Des Moines Steamboat Company, and again he met with disappointment. It was written of him that he ' * loved the new country in which he had cast his lot ; for its prospects seemed golden to his eyes. He had considerable means .... and deemed it the better part to spend his money in developing the country rather than in buying great quantities of land and making himself rich by advancing prices . . . . 'If I should do this I should be as great a curse to my community as the eastern specula- tors !' " He also undertook to lay a plank-road from Keokuk to Pella, and is said to have completed from twenty to twenty-five miles.®® Railroad agitation in the years immediately fol- lowing Iowa's admission into the Union reached the Hollanders of Marion County and led to no little speculation among them. They prided themselves on the advantageous situation of their colony when it became generally known that Pella was to be only fifteen or twenty miles southwest of the recently chosen site for the State capital. Certain State com- missioners had been appointed with authority to se- lect a place nearer to the geographical center of the State of Iowa than Iowa City then was. 92 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Inhabitants of the Des Moines Valley had been especially interested in the removal of the seat of government from Iowa City, and as a consequence of the general dissatisfaction and agitation the com- missioners caused five sections of land near the southern boundary of Jasper County to be surveyed, platted into lots, and sold at public auction during the latter part of October, 1847. They called the new capital Monroe City. The Hollanders, who perceived the advantage of living so near, were great- ly disappointed when the work of the commissioners was later rendered null and void. Wlien the agita- tion in favor of relocating the State Capital revived the Hollanders themselves for many years petitioned the State legislature to locate the seat of govern- ment at Pella, Scholte offering to donate land to aid in the construction of State buildings. After Monroe City had beeu selected as the site for the new capital of Iowa, talk of a railway from Dubuque to Council Bluffs became more insistent, causing the Hollanders to hope and believe that Wliitney's proposed railroad across the continent would either pass through or at least very near Pella. Further hopes were raised when dissatis- faction was expressed concerning the situation of the county seat at Knoxville, Indeed, many Ameri- can settlers urged this as a reason why Scholte should lay out the town of Amsterdam, convinced that if the matter ever came to a vote the people would un- doubtedly select this place as the seat of justice.^" Such were some of the hopes and aspirations of HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS 93 the Dutch inhabitants of Iowa during the first five years of their residence in the State. In every in- stance time revealed that anticipation was more pleasant than realization; but despite their disap- pointments the Hollanders plodded along and grew in strength and numbers. XIV EARLY PROMOTION OF IMMIGRATION TO '^41 PELLA Most memorable in the history of emigration from Holland to America are the years 1846 and 1847 be- cause they mark the beginning of an exodus which has never abated and which resulted in the founding of the prosperous Dutch colonies in Michigan and Iowa. Thousands of Hollanders have since found homes in all of the north central States. An exami- nation of census statistics reveals the fact that in 1850 there lived in Iowa 1108 foreign-born Holland- ers, 2077 in 1856, 2615 in 1860, and 4513 in 1870. These figures are by no means surprising; indeed they are rather disappointing when compared with those for Michigan. The northern State succeeded in luring more than twice as many Dutch immigrants to her forests as Iowa attracted to her fertile prairies during the same period. One reason assigned for Michigan's large Hol- land-born population is the fact that the families which followed van Raalte were for the most part poor but ambitious people, and for such it was easier to get a start in Michigan than in Iowa. Financially the Hollanders of Iowa were better off: Scholte is said to have led 'Hhe flower of the Dutch emigra- 94 EARLY PROMOTION OF IMMIGRATION 95 tion of that day". The vast majority of Dutch im- migrants were destitute and therefore were com- pelled to settle where they could get lands for almost nothing. Michigan's boundless timber tracts fur- nished the majority of the poor laborers and peas- ants with just what they wanted, while Iowa's prairie lands in the neighborhood of recent settlements were not within reach of their depleted purses.^^ Another reason for the extensive settlement of Michigan by Hollanders as compared with that of Iowa is probably to be found in the nature of the two leaders themselves and in the character of what may be called their advertising methods. It is a noteworthy fact that both men encouraged their fel- low-countrjTuen to flee from the Old World and come to a land where the honest workman was openly wel- comed and easily enabled '*to earn and eat his own bread ' '. Early in 1847 van Raalte wrote a lengthy letter to a friend in Holland describing the colony which he had just founded. The letter was printed in the form of a pamphlet entitled "Holland in America, or The Dutch Colony in the State of Michigan", and it was offered for sale to the Dutch public. Van Raalte furnished an excellent account of his new home, his reasons for selecting timber land, a state- ment of general economic conditions in America, and he suggested the best routes of travel for prospec- tive Dutch settlers. Incidentally he declared that trustworthy men had unanimously urged him to go to Wisconsin or Michigan rather than to Iowa, 96 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA where much sickness prevailed owing to an unhealth- ful climate. In short, the pamphlet was an excel- lent advertisement written in attractive style and intended to convey the information which prospec- tive emigrants needed.^- In March, 1848, Scholte wrote his first letter from Pella and had it published in pamphlet form to be sold among the people of Holland. He told about reading van Raalte's account of the climate of Iowa, and went on to say that when he arrived in America he obtained an entirely different impression. After informing the people of Holland how well he and his followers had been received in America he explained why he preferred Iowa to Michigan. He asserted the claims of Iowa and expressed the brightest hopes for the development of his colony in Marion County. To Scholte 's credit it may be said that though he was aware that attempts were being made in Holland to exalt Michigan above Iowa, not by producing sim- ple facts but by gi^^ng false colors to affairs and conditions, he never undertook to detract from the strength of Michigan's appeal, gladly admitting that friends who wrote from that State were quite satis- fied with their choice. As to his own object in publishing letters about the Pella settlement Scholte said that he desired to give a short but truthful account, neither colored nor filled with a description of the wonders of Iowa. "Always repelled by exaggerated reports from Amer- ica", he wrote, ''I am now all the more opposed to them, because I have seen the tragic results of such EARLY PROMOTION OF IMMIGRATION 97 excited writings in the miscalculations and disap- pointments of our people upon coming face to face with realities. You doubtless must have read many letters which revealed a picture more attractive, more stimulating to the emotions than mine; but I feel obliged to tell the truth, the whole truth, and noth- ing but the truth, without giving it a color of my own. I shall not invite you to leave Holland and come to us : you have to know and to decide that for yourselves." Scholte wrote his letter of March, 1848, with a view to attracting the attention of Holland's wealthy Christians. Thousands of oppressed persons wanted only the opportunity to make a living, but they lacked the means necessary to pay the expense of a journey to America. Scholte therefore called upon the rich to do their duty — to help the poor by fur- nishing the necessary money at reasonable interest, and thus enable them to get a foothold on American soil. In November, 1848, appeared Scholte 's second letter from Pella, with contents just as interesting and encouraging as those of his first pamphlet. But the people of Holland were frankly warned not to be unduly influenced by what he wrote: they were urged to come of their own accord, upon genuine reasonable grounds and without unreasonable antic- ipations — for in the latter case they would be dis- appointed like certain mischief -making persons who, after leaving Pella, had settled in St. Louis and there 98 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA advised all newcomers from. Holland to go to Miclii- gan.^^ Scholte chronicled the arrival of many families at Pella. They had experienced all sorts of tempta- tions and allurements before they finally reached Iowa. At New York and other places, such as Buf- falo, they met persons who did their utmost to fright- en all Hollanders away from Iowa and to lure them to Michigan. This policy was pursued not only by men directly interested in the Michigan colony, but also by the agents of speculators in that State who held vast areas of land for sale. These speculators, finding themselves unable to sell to Americans, tried in every possible way to induce foreigners to settle in Michigan, hoping thus to increase the value of their own lands. Somebody advised Scholte to station an agent at New York in order that he might better spread relia- ble information among incoming Hollanders, but he made this characteristic reply: *'I could not decide upon such a practice, because I was firmly convinced that the growth of our Colony was not dependent upon the efforts of human beings, that I had given sufficient information in Holland about our Colony, and therefore I would leave the rest to God's guid- ance." Scholte, therefore, contented himself with giving a short account of the social, political, and religious conditions at Pella, general information relative to the journey to America, advice as to what might be brought from Holland, a statement of the I EARLY PROMOTION OF IMMIGRATION 99 prices of lots at Amsterdam and Pella, and a sum- mary of the routes leading to Iowa. Hollanders of that day were recommended to take the easiest and cheapest route direct to New Orleans during the spring or autumn; or, upon arriving at New York they could take a steamboat to New Or- leans and another up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, whence they could proceed to Keokuk, Iowa. The most advantageous overland route lay from New York to Buffalo, Erie, Beaver, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. It was also possible to go by way of Buffalo, Chicago, and the Illinois River. During the summer of 1848 a railroad was completed be- tween Sandusky and Cincinnati so that homeseekers could travel by steam all the way from New York to St. Louis.^'' The Governor of Michigan at this time urged that everything possible be done by the State legislature to extend to the colony of Hollanders not only tokens of welcome and encouragement but also evidences of the State's fostering care. Much was thus done to direct immigration to Michigan. Iowa, the youngest State in the Union, made no organized effort to at- tract settlers to her vacant lands until many years later, though the General Assembly did not hesitate to make a concession similar to that made by Michi- gan, allowing the Hollanders a township organiza- tion of their own.^^ Newspaper men in Holland, favorable to the gov- ernment of their day, were not ashamed to publish articles in which emigrants to America were placed 100 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA in a false light, while certain Christian people of Hol- land are said not to have refrained from creating a wrong impression as to the character of the people who were emigrating. Despite all attempts to stop the movement toward America, the time for emigra- tion was ripe, and every year since 1847 Hollanders have emigrated to Iowa. XV TWENTY- FIVE YEARS OF DUTCH IMMIGRA- TION TO IOWA Early in the spring of 1848 most of those who had been left to spend the first winter at St. Louis took leave of their generous American friends, engaged passage on a steamboat to Keokuk, and after spend- ing nearly three weeks on the way, owing to heavy rains and impassable roads, joined their fellow-coun- trymen at Pella. During those first years the Pella colonists exerted every effort to procure the trans- portation from Holland of all the members of the as- sociation formed at Utrecht, and they succeeded in inducing many to leave the fatherland during the years 1848 and 1849 — some coming direct to Iowa, others stopping for a time at St. Louis.^** For the year 1849 there were recorded the names of two hundred and fifty Dutch immigrants who later settled in Iowa. They suffered the same hardships as their predecessors on the six weeks' ocean voyage, one man losing three children by death before he could reach Iowa. Many of the immigrants did not come straightway to Pella, but broke the journey by tarrying in eastern States. Very many of them were persons of wealth and education, accustomed to lead- ership in Holland. Cordially welcomed to the modest 101 102 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Pella homes they began life in the West with a degree of comfort unknown to the first comers of two years before. These immigrants were a desirable addition because they brought the capital which alone could assure further progress in the colony. The years 1850, 1851, and 1852 brought very few Hollanders to Pella. The national census figures for 1850 gave practically all' the Holland-born inhabitants of Iowa, 1108 in number, to Lake Prairie Township in Marion County."^ Especially noteworthy in the history of immigra- tion to nearly every part of Iowa were the years im- mediately following 1852. This is true also of Pella and vicinity, since the largest accessions to the Hol- land-born population of Pella were recorded during that period. In 1853 and 1854 there came nearly 100 and 250 Hollanders, respectively, while the names of 270 persons were added to the list during the year 1855, 330 in 1856, and 135 in 1857. In the month of May, 1856, Scholte expressed him- self as follows on the subject of immigration : We had this week a good addition to our population by emigration from Holland. Able-bodied men and healthy women and children have arrived with the intention of mak- ing Pella and the surrounding country their home. The majority are not rich, in money, nor do they come out of the poor-houses or jirisons of the old country. They are just the people we need, rich in physical power, and willing to work and to improve the country. . . . We congratu- late the State of Iowa upon such additions to their popula- tion. A large proportion of the inhabitants of Pella and TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF IMMIGRATION 103 Lake Prairie Township are foreigners by birth .... but you will hardly find a place less obnoxious to a decent American-born citizen. More emigrants are on the road from Holland to Pella. Americans from older States, too, seem to have some preference for this part of the State, and are investing their money in real estate in Pella and vicin- ity. We are very well pleased with our share in the immi- gration, which materially promotes our interests. Not only real estate is rising moderately, but every kind of business is increasing, and we have no doubt but eastern merchants are already convinced that it is not unimportant to have connections with Pella. A glance at the census returns for 1856 reveals a foreign-born population of 2119 Hollanders in thirty- one counties of Iowa. It is of passing interest to note that the cities of Burlington and Dubuque con- tained about twenty-five Hollanders each ; that Peru Township north of Dubuque had thirty-seven ; while Keolruk, the ''Gate City of Iowa", had almost one hundred and fifty. Fourteen hundred and eighty in- habitants of Lake Prairie Township told the census enumerator that their birthplace was "The Nether- lands", while forty-four answered that their birth- place was "Friesland" (a province of The Nether- lands). This reply may be taken as characteristic of "De Vrije Vries" (the free Frieslander), for he has always shown a strong feeling of national pride and independence. Ever since that da}' a neighborhood northwest of Pella in Summit Township has been called ' ' De Vriesche Buurt ' '. As early as the year 185G the Dutch immigrants 304 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA had begun to find the original place of settlement, Lake Prairie Township, too small for their accommo- dation. Many were forced to locate in the townships immediately to the westward, either as independent farmers or as hired men and domestics on the farms of American settlers. Not only did this advance spread westward in Marion County, but it also ex- tended eastward into Black Oak Township of Mahas- ka County, where dwelt about ninety Holland-born settlers. Southeast of Marion lay Wapello County, where the census returns gave Green and Columbia townships twelve and seventeen Hollanders respec- tively. It will thus be seen that the Dutch were securing a foot-hold not only in Iowa's larger east- ern cities, but also in townships adjacent to the site of the original settlement.®^ New accessions to the Pella colony for several years after 1858 were almost negligible. The Dutch chronicler preserved the names of only 30 persons for the three years 1858-1860, and recorded the arrival of only 71 newcomers during the years of the Civil War. The United States census returns for 1860 gave Iowa 2615 Holland-born inhabitants. Wlien peace had been restored, immigration revived and 44 Holland- ers came in 1866, 69 in 1867, 53 in 1868, 315 in 1869, 67 in 1870, 46 in 1871, and 7 in 1872. According to the United States Census for 1870 thirty-five Iowa counties contained no foreign-born Dutch, forty-one of the remainder had less than fif- teen each, and twenty-three had more than fifteen. Benton County had 29 Hollanders, Butler 21, Du- TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF IMMIGRATION 105 buque 111, Grundy 56, Hardin 46, Humboldt 44, Jack- son 746, Jasper 33, Jefferson 38, Lee 258, Mahaska 318, Marion 2077, Muscatine 185, Plymouth 15, Polk 21, Pottawattamie 16, Scott 46, Sioux 133, and Wa- pello 55. The number in Dubuque County had in- creased since 1856, as had also been the case in Lee County. But especially significant were the increases in Jasper and Mahaska counties to the north and east of Marion County. Plymouth and Sioux, adjacent counties in northwestern Iowa, now showed a Dutch population for the first time. The number in Wapel- lo County had also increased, while the number as- cribed to Jackson County can not be accounted for. Lake Prairie Township in Marion County contained a Holland-born population of 1892 ; while a majority of the 3066 native-born inhabitants were Dutch by descent. One-tenth of the foreign-born Dutch in the United States in 1870, or a total number of 4513, lived in the State of Iowa.®® XVI PROSPERITY AT PELLA The years of the decade from 1850 to 1860 were years of prosperous trade conditions in the Pella colony. With an abundance of work, high wages, and good prices for produce, few people complained of poverty. Townspeople and farmers, all began to realize profits from their investments after many years of waiting. From year to year the city of Pella spread out in every direction. Although unfamiliar at first with the soil and with American agricultural implements and unused to the severity of the climate, Dutch far- mers by their zeal and industry rapidly attained to a prosperity such as they never could have achieved in The Netherlands. In meager circumstances when they left Holland, many became in America men of considerable wealth.^"" Pella, however, was not destined to remain a place of settlement for the Dutch alone. A German with his family accompanied the Hollanders from St. Louis in 1847 and at once engaged in business. He was followed by other enterprising Germans, many of whom as business men played a noteworthy part in improving and building up the city. Moreover, a few French families came to Pella. ^"^ One of the greatest boons to the city was the de- 106 PROSPERITY AT PELLA 107 cision of the Iowa Baptists in 1853 to found a college in Pella. Central University, as it was called, at- tracted numerous families of Americans. Indeed, by the year 1860 so many Americans had found homes at Pella that the population of the city was about evenly divided between Dutch and Ameri- cans/"^ Not all the original American settlers of Lake Prairie Township sold their claims to the Hollanders in 1847. A number, moreover, remained in adjoin- ing townships until they sold out to newcomers from Holland, when they entered business life in Pella. The Hollanders were thus enabled to come into close relations with American farmers and American busi- ness men — neighbors who gave generously of their store of knowledge gained from years of experience in pioneer methods and ways. Many American farmers gladly furnished lodging to those of the first immigrants who needed it, and many Hollanders by working as hired men for Americans obtained an acquaintance with the methods of American agricul- ture which stood them in good stead when they be- gan farming for themselves. The names of the origi- nal American settlers were long held in grateful re- membrance among the first Dutch pioneers."^ In 1856 certain letters were written in Dutch on ''The Hollanders in Iowa". They contained a very complete account of the resources and condition of Iowa, and were apparently intended to attract emi- grants from Holland by giving them to understand just what sort of a State Iowa was. The writer. 108 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA whose name has always been shrouded in mystery, described Pella in 1856, informed his fellow-coun- trymen about the progress of the youthful Dutch colony, and assured them that in America more than anywhere else in the world every man could find work to match his talents and enjoy life according to his industry: employment was open and inviting in every branch of activity, and agriculture was re- munerative and profitable. He showed the certainty of reward which had attended the efforts of indus- trious Dutch immigrants in a fertile country where land was abundant and therefore cheap, and where the wealth, dignity, and power of the government were based upon the prosperity of the people. Pella resembled all the towns of this western wil- derness for many years and had no easy time estab- lishing and maintaining physical orderliness. Scholte's English garden was famous throughout the countryside for its beauty, and people came miles to see it. His walnut grove became the place where an- nual old settlers' reunions were held. Garden Square with its pretty shade trees was also attrac- tive ; but in general the log cabin or frontier stage of society prevailed for many years among the Dutch settlers in both town and country. It has been well said that "nature's ways are different from man's ways ; she is reluctant to submit to his control ; she does not like to have her hair trimmed and her gar- ments confined; she even communicates to man, in his first struggles with her, a little of her own care- PROSPERITY AT PELLA 109 lessness, her own apparently reckless and wasteful way of doing things." In 1855 Johnson County and Iowa City were con- gratulated at Pella for having taken the commend- able step of voting in favor of a "hog law", whereby owners were compelled to keep their hogs locked up or run the risk of seeing them impounded. An edi- tor at Pella bemoaned the fact that Marion County had no such law and that Pella was not incorporated as a city, and added: "It is a great drawback to this and other inland towns that stock of all kinds throng the streets, gi\dng the town limits the appear- ance of a monstrous stock farm." One year later the same writer made the following announcement: "The only corporate building is a hog pen, in the western part of the city, for the use of the City Mar- shal, to shut up the snoring and grumbling loafers about town." The "Gelderschman" author of the letters of 1856 explained how the Hollanders had grown pros- perous in farming and business in America and re- ferred to the recent growth of population. He told of the incorporation of the city of Pella and of the first election of city officers — all of whom were Dutch except the mayor and three councilmen. A German was then justice of the peace ; an American and two Hollanders, Scholte and Henry Hospers, were notaries public; and a Hollander was post- master. In 1856 Pella prided herself on three church con- gregations — Baptist, Methodist, and Christian Re- 110 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA formed. Poor-house there was none. The Pella Ga- zette was edited and published by Seholte and Edwin H. Grant. Americans owned the hotels. Of the doc- tors, three were Americans and two were Hollanders. Druggists were evenly divided between the two. Nine out of fourteen stores and four out of seven blacksmith shops were Dutch-owned ; while Germans monopolized the hardware business. Besides ordi- nary artisans there were two Dutch wagon-makers, three coopers, several wooden-shoe-makers, while car- penters were legion. Pella also claimed several saw- mills, three on the Des Moines River, two near Pella, and one on the Skunk Biver. Two new corn-mills now relieved farmers from hauling their loads long distances. Three brick-kilns and two lime-kilns were also mentioned, and in conclusion the writer said of Pella: "We pride ourselves on not having those pest-holes, saloons, in our midst." About this time a citizen of Pella, looking back over the years since the Hollanders had come to Iowa, wrote these lines : About eight years ago the spot where I am now sitting down to write appertained to a farm, then occupying a por- tion of the place where Pella now stands. How different the appearance of the surrounding country at that time from what it is now ! Tlien two poor log houses might be seen on the ground which constitutes the town of Pella. The great- est part of the surrounding prairie was lying waste, with only here and there a solitary farm, established by some of the first pioneers who settled in the center of the State. Now here is our flourishing town, favored with a pictur- PROSPERITY AT PELLA 111 esque and promising situation, and vieing in population, prosperity, and above all, in neatness, with the most thriv- ing places of Central Iowa. The time when we had to be satisfied with the mere ne- cessities of life is gone. Our dwellings have ceased to be subservient to the single purpose of sheltering us from the inclemency of the weather, and both the outward and in- ward appearance of many of them bears the marks of re- fined taste. Furniture, suited to the wants of refined civilization, is taking the place of the simple necessaries, which were used in the first stage of a new settlement, and our stores fur- nish us not only with the comforts, but also with the luxu- ries of life. Those of our citizens who are afflicted with sickness, can obtain anything that is capable of relieving their pain in two thriving drug-stores, and such as are thirsty for knowl- edge may gratify their taste by calling at as many book stores and a public library. The Preparatory Department of a University, which is being established by the commendable efforts of some of our most worthy citizens, offers a chance for thorough educa- tion in the various branches of science, and, to crown the whole, a paper, favored with an extensive patronage, an- nounces the results of our enterprises, advocates our inter- ests, and guides our endeavors to improve our social and moral conditions. It is no less gratifying to cast a glance at the lands which surround our town. The country, wliich is spread out before my window, and which eight years ago exhibited nothing but one monotonous green plot, now presents a lovely and motley mixture of houses of every description, fences, trees, shocks of corn, hay-stacks, green and open 112 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA fields. In every direction your eye perceives the richest farms, and where the prairie has not been cultivated yet, you are pleased to see herds of the finest cattle finding abundant food in the grasses and herbs which our fertile soil produces spontaneously. Nor need we limit our atten- tion to agriculture, for our stone quarries and coal mines are worked extensively, and several steam saw-mills, brick- yards and lime-kilns testify the enterprising spirit of our population. A man who visited this country eight years ago and sees it again in its present state, must expect to see a fairy [tale] realized, and the rapid growth of our Western towns al- most seems a miracle to the native of Europe, where the age of villages and cities is counted, not by years, but by cen- turies."^ That Pella was not an out-of-the-way place was further shown by the fact that Pella lay on the stage route from Burlington via Fort Des Moines to Coun- cil Bluffs. But the Western Stage Company did not serve the public acceptably as is evident from the country editor's complaint: We notice with pleasure that considerable additions have been recently made to the stock on this road. They have been needed badly. For some time past the station between this place and Oskaloosa has been abolished, making a drive of eighteen miles. And in the other direction, they are said to frequently run twenty-four miles without changing. This will wear out stock very fast, and the increased amount of travel demands better accommodations. Eight new teams and three stages passed through this place, a day or two since, which will relieve that diificulty mate- rially. PROSPERITY AT PELLA 113 But even so the editor liad no kind words for stage coaches in which, he asserted, ''a man can neither stand, nor sit, nor lie down, but in which his body is squeezed and distorted into the most un- natural attitudes ; which have windows too small to look out of them in the daytime, and just enough chinks and apertures to let in the cold, damp air at night, and which — laying claim to speed — travel at the rate of four miles an hour. ' ' Improvement of the Des Moines River channel proved to be an empty dream. The stormy career of this wonderful project having come to an end, the General Assembly of the State of Iowa in 1853 ap- propriated an extensive area of land in the Des Moines valley for the construction of a railroad. Railroad construction in Iowa was very much re- tarded by the panic of 1857 and the Civil War. By the month of August, 1859, the Burlington and Mis- souri River Railroad reached Ottumwa, forty-three miles from Pella ; but it was not until the month of January, 1865, that the first locomotive on the Des Moines Valley Railroad appeared in Pella, though the hopes of Pella 's citizens had been raised to a high pitch many times before when surveying parties mapped out the route. Much jubilation prevailed among the Hollanders when Pella secured a railroad connection with east- ern markets, because business men had for years de- pended on the hauling of goods from Keokuk with ox or mule or horse teams. The completion of a rail- road through Pella to Des Moines in 1866 was 114 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA placed to the credit of enterprising Keokuk citizens. People of the surrounding country came from far and near to sell their produce and buy necessities or luxuries in Pella, imtil Knoxville welcomed its rail- road in 1875. Then business fell off to some extent ; but the Hollanders of Pella and vicinity were gener- ally satisfied, because their lands and property had more than doubled in value. For a quarter of a century the Hollanders had lived and worked together in Iowa. They had assimi- lated much that was American ; but throughout they retained their qualities of thrift and industry. Holi- days and festive occasions in which all participated had been few. To be sure they honored the Fourth of July, but not without the singing of Psalms. Dur- ing the winter, like true sons of Holland, they en- joyed skating races for prizes on the lake near Am- sterdam. "When the month of August, 1872, arrived, the pioneers of Pella made preparations for a jubilee celebration. On the morning of the 28th of August they assembled at church, engaged in prayer, joined in the singing of Psalms, listened to addresses of a historical nature, and then sat down to a big church dinner, which was followed by choir music and more addresses in the afternoon. Such was the quiet ob- servance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the com- ing of the Hollanders to Iowa.^°^ XVII ENCOURAGEMENT OF DUTCH IMMIGRATION BY THE STATE It is a fact peculiar to later American history that most western States have taken a more or less active part in promoting immigration to land within their borders. Legislatures have repeatedly provided for the machinery necessary to advertise the resources of their respective States in order to enhance local prosperity by inducing homeseekers to invest their capital and lives in unused lands. Except for a few years the State of Iowa seems never to have taken a keen interest in the dissemination of printed infor- mation relative to its excellent natural advantages. Only once was provision made for the circulation of advertising material in foreign countries, and yet Iowa could not complain that her lands were too slowly occupied by settlers, whether from the east- ern States or from Europe. The bulk of the population of Iowa in 1880 was American-born. About one-half of the inhabitants were born within the State, while the other half con- sisted chiefly of natives of Ohio, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Vir- ginia, and Kentucky. Foreign-born inhabitants com- posed about one-fifth of the entire population. These 115 116 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA facts are cited to show that Iowa was probably con- tent with the immigration of native Americans and probably preferred not to enter into competition with other States for the attention of foreigners. Although Iowa as a State failed to encourage im- migration, other agencies such as railroad corpora- tions, land companies, and speculators more than did their part to advertise the State ; but the operations of these agencies were restricted as a rule to the United States and English-speaking countries, where they were largely successful. During the years of the Territorial period and the early years of State- hood the promotion of immigration was left entirely to private enterprise. Chief among the factors which attracted the at- tention of Hollanders to Iowa were two pamphlets written by Scholte, the founder of the Pella colony. That these interesting but true accounts of Pella were widely sold and read in Holland can not be said with certainty, but prospective Dutch emigrants who were at all interested in Scholte 's leadership of the Separatist movement in Holland must have eager- ly looked for his letters. Pella colonists also report- ed their experiences to friends and relatives in Hol- land, and no doubt urged many to emigrate to Iowa. For instance, Sjoerd Aukes Sipma had his ''Impor- tant Reports from Pella" published at Dokkum, Friesland, in 1849. The Dutch booklet on Iowa and Pella, published in 1858, must also have exerted considerable influ- ence on the emigration movement in Holland, though ENCOURAGEMENT OF IMMIGRATION 117 the writer denied any intention to make Iowa appear preferable to any other part of the United States. "No, people of Holland," he declared, "Pella need not offer the slightest inducement to lure you within her borders. Year after year a respectable host of Hollanders as well as Americans enters unsummoned and uninvited, and all without the usual advertise- ments generally scattered around America by land speculators and others. Unlike her sister colonies in Michigan and Wisconsin, Pella has no agents in New York and other ports to attract emigrants by means of fine-sounding descriptions. . . . The man who is interested in land has only to consider how land has risen in value here ; the laborer, how many hands are busy here; yet this does not mean that both can not still find work with profit. ' ' The ''Gelderschman" who published his letters in 1858 declared to the people of Holland that much opportunity still existed for the establishment of other Dutch colonies in northeastern and northwest- ern Iowa, where the State was less thickly populated than in Marion County. He suggested that an asso- ciation be formed in Holland to arrange with trust- worthy persons in Iowa or Pella as to the place of settlement. "Pella acquaintances could be of the greatest use", he said, "since they are thoroughly familiar with the best way to establish such a colony and select the finest lands, and also know where gov- ernment land can still be secured. ' ' For such a set- tlement the best prospects were opened. The ap- 118 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA peal, however, went unheeded for it proved to be premature/*^" In 1856 the Iowa House of Representatives adopted a resolution, not without Republican oppo- sition, that five hundred copies of Governor Grimes's biennial message be printed "in the Holland lan- guage for the use of the House". In 1858, several thousand copies of the Governor's message and of the inaugural address were ordered printed in the English language, about two thousand in the German language, and five hundred in the Dutch language, while the Norwegian language was slighted. In 1860 also, and biennially thereafter until 1870, one thou- sand copies of the Governor's message and address were ordered to be printed in Dutch. A further resolution was passed to the effect that "H. P. Scholte be emploj'^ed to translate and superintend the printing"; while one month later the same house re- solved that Scholte be required to report "whether he has translated said message, and printed the same, and if so, why they are not placed upon the members' desks for distribution." Though these messages and inaugural addresses of the Governors were printed ostensibly for the use of the legislators themselves, they were intended pri- marily for gratuitous distribution among the Dutch inhabitants of the State and for further circulation in other Dutch-speaking communities. For example, in 1862 Henry Hospers was employed to translate the Governor's message for "publication in the Hol- land paper at Pella, provided it can be done at an ENCOURAGEMENT OF IMMIGRATION 119 expense not to exceed $25." Thus the Governor's resume of conditions in Iowa could be widely scat- tered and brought to the knowledge of foreigners at home and abroad, but the profit therefrom can not have been far-reaching as a means of promoting im- migration."' During the first three or four decades in the his- tory of Iowa the State made a poor showing in the matter of attracting immigrants from foreign coun- tries when compared with other western States. In Wisconsin laws had been passed authorizing the ap- pointment of a commissioner of immigration to re- side in the city of New York for the purpose of giving immigrants necessary information relative to soil, climate, and branches of industry to be pursued with advantage, and to protect immigrants as far as practicable against the impositions often practiced upon them. As early as 1852 and 1854 Governor Stephen Hempstead urged the legislature of Iowa to adopt Wisconsin's attitude towards foreigners who might wish to become citizens of Iowa. He deplored the fact that some Americans perceived danger in for- eign immigration, declaring: "They are generally industrious — purchase, settle upon and improve our lands, rear their homes, educate their children with ours, become attached to our laws and institutions, and assist in the defence of the country in times of peril.""' Not until 1860, while Samuel J. Kirkwood sat in the Governor's chair, however, did the State of Iowa 120 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA give its official sanction to the appointment of an officer to reside for two years at New York City and thus compete with other western States. At the end of his term, Lieutenant-Governor Eusch, the first Immigrant Commissioner of Iowa, urged in his re- port, which was accepted, that his office be discon- tinued because it was of no advantage to tlie State. He had learned that most immigrants had selected their points of destination before landing at New York, and in his opinion, the only way to inform for- eigners of the resources of Iowa was to reach them before they left Europe. He called attention to the good results obtained by emigrant companies and by the Illinois Central Railroad Company through agents in Europe, without expense to the State of Illinois. He added, furthermore, that foreigners needed no State commissioners to protect them from fraud because the New York State authorities had found impositions and robberies so numerous and unbearable that a landing-place for all aliens had been established at Castle Garden, and from this landing all agents and runners were strictly ex- cluded. ^°^ In his biennial message of 1870 Governor Merrill recommended that something be done to diffuse in- formation relative to Iowa in foreign countries, as neighboring States had systematically and success- fully done for many years. A Board of Immigration of six members, two of whom, E. Mumm of Keokuk and C. Rhynsburger of Pella, were Hollanders, was accordingly created ''to do all, and everything, which ENCOURAGEMENT OF IMMIGRATION 121 may and will enhance and encourage immigration" to Iowa. This board through its secretary prepared a pamphlet of ninety-six pages entitled "Iowa: The Home for Immigrants", which was translated into the German, Danish, Dutch, and Swedish languages. Five thousand copies were printed in Dutch. The board commissioned five men to act as agents in Europe — among them Henry Hospers, Mayor of Pella. The latter went to Holland late in the year 1870, and for over two months put forth his best efforts to aid, promote, and advise immigration to the State of Iowa. When he returned to America, the board appointed a reliable resident agent in Hol- land to distribute documents and promote the wel- fare of emigrants generally. Thus for the first time Iowa was competing on equal terms with her sister States for a share of European emigration. ^^° XVIII A BEE-HIVE READY FOR SWARMING "Pella and vicinity already [in 1854] showed signs of much competition, and yet there still lay extensive areas which the plow had never touched. Armed with the imagination of a Munchausen, one would not have wagered the prophecy that scarcely fifteen years later the land would be over-populated according to the American's way of thinking, and the bee-hive would be ready for swarming. ' ' These are the words of a gentleman who left Hol- land in 1854 and made his home at Pella. The con- stant arrival of fresh accessions of Hollanders and Americans since 1847 had so increased the popula- tion of the Pella colony that many persons began to think of emigration to some spot farther west. In 1856 a citizen who was particularly concerned with the lot of the Hollanders advised the establishment of a Dutch settlement in some less crowded portion of lowa."^ In the year 1860 Henry Hospers, an influential citizen of Pella, had occasion to spend a few weeks at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he saw hundreds of people crossing the Missouri River and emigrating in loaded wagons to seek homes in eastern Nebraska. He observed ^'that all who had the nerve to settle 122 A BEE-HIVE READY FOR SWARMING 123 upon the prairie found what they so eagerly de- sired"; and on his return to Pella he discussed with many men the possibility of migrating to Nebraska. Indeed, plans were made to raise money with which to purchase land, but nothing was done at this time. Nevertheless, the need for emigration became more pressing as time went on. During the years 1867 and 1868 Jelle Pelmulder, a Frieslander by birth, took up the emigration plan with zeal and earnestness, entered into correspondence with land officers, obtained much information, and in every way '^with Frisian thoroughness gave the emigration ball a fresh start". He has been called the originator of the plan to purchase land for a colony in northwest- ern lowa.^^^ That the colonization fever was rapidly spread- ing throughout the Pella colony is evidenced by the fact that after the formation of an emigrant associa- tion the forty-four members appointed a committee of three to visit Texas, while a second association focused its attention upon Kansas. The three com- mitteemen sent out to investigate the Lone Star State fell into the hands of a trickster at New Or- leans, were relieved of their money, and returned to Pella with only a long tale of woe for their trouble. A few families succumbed to the Kansas enthusiasm, invested their money in that drouth-ridden land, and many returned to their Pella homes thoroughly disap- pointed. Others went to Oregon and Nebraska with the same result."^ Although there may have been some considera- 124 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA tion of the subject of emigration during the year 1868, it was not until the month of March, 1869, that public meetings were held at Pella, and largely at- tended, for the purpose of discussing colonization in northwestern Iowa. Henry John van der Waa, de- ciding that land prices and rents at Pella were too high, had written to a land agent at Storm Lake, and being informed that there were homesteads enough for himself and all his friends, he at once decided to sell his Pella property. With that idea in mind he went to the office of Henry Hospers to have auction bills printed. Wlien Hospers learned what his friend intended to do, he wrote to the agent at Storm Lake. Upon receipt of a favorable reply he read the letter to van der Waa, with the result tliat they called a meeting to be held a few weeks later ' ' for the purpose of starting a colony." ^^* This simple incident led to combined action on the part of those who were dissatisfied with condi- tions at Pella. Most enlightening in all matters per- taining to emigration was Pella' s Weekhlad, edited by Henry Hospers. Through the columns of this paper the movement was well advertised from the first. At the fourth public meeting in Pella the fol- lowing resolution met with unanimous approval: Whereas, a general need is felt that we should provide for ourselves, our fellow-countrymen, and the ever-increas- ing emigration from our fatherland, and that we should se- cure a suitable region where all may find an abundance of cheap land and opportunity for agriculture on an exten- sive scale: and A BEE-HIVE READY FOR SWARMING 125 Whereas, we all deem it very desirable to dwell by our- selves in a society or community compatible with our na- tional character as Netherlanders, where Netherlanders may find a hospitable welcome ; Resolved, That we use our utmost endeavors to find a place in the northwestern or any other part of this State where we may obtain sufficient and suitable farm lands at a reasonable price; and that we invite to them the atten- tion of our countrymen.^^^ The first step towards emigration, therefore, came at a time when the Hollanders had lived in Marion County just twenty-two years. This part of the State of Iowa was beginning to be overcrowded ; and it is a fact worthy of note that the population of Marion County has been stationary since 1870. It is true that all available lands had not yet been occu- pied : indeed, hundreds of acres still lay untouched. But the movement to secure more abundant and cheaper land sprang from the greed of Marion County's land speculators, who had placed a pro- hibitive price upon their land. Some years later an observer wrote that the Pella colony was favorably situated, the soil was extreme- ly fertile, and beneath the surface lay rich and ac- cessible coal mines. He added : Though the young city's bloom was promoted by its being taken into the net of railways, undoubtedly the chief cause of its prosperity was the persevering and untiring in- dustry of the Dutch inliabitants. The population became larger and larger, and the colony spread in all directions. A large part of the land, however, was occupied by Ameri- 126 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA cans. As population increased, the price of land climbed higher. In 1847 the /price of broken prairie land ranged from $2.50 to $5.00, and twenty years later it was set at from $40 to $60. And since the prices of produce had not risen correspondingly but had remained comparatively sta- tionary, one can easily see why farming as an occupation became less lucrative. The increasing population also made it more and more difficult to get possession of a farm. By the year 1869 those who were children in 1847 had arrived at a marriagable age. Young men who desired to own farm estates of their own saw the wslj practically closed to them in Marion County. They disliked the prospect of holding farms at high rents with no assurance that they would ever save enough to enable them to buy land for themselves. As the heads of growing families, how could they and their children ever advance in the world when high rents and high prices obstructed the path? Hence many Pella farmers were driven to look elsewhere, eager to apply their limited means and willing hands to the cultivation of cheaper soil.^^^ XIX THE INVESTIGATION OF NORTHWESTERN IOWA IN 1869 No sooNEBhad the resolution to emigrate been passed than the prospective emigrants appointed a commit- tee of three trustworthy, practical farmers to visit northwestern Iowa and decide whether a Dutch set- tlement would be practicable in that region. At the same time every member of the emigrant association was taxed three dollars to pay the expenses of the committee. Later they selected a fourth committee- man, who consented to act * ' if the association would get some one to take his place on the farm". The prospective emigrants also agreed to pay a certain member of the committee one dollar per day for the use of his span of mules for the journey. Having fitted out a ''prairie schooner" with necessary camping apparatus and supplies, the fol- lowing men departed from Pella on Monday, April 26, 1869: Sjoerd Aukes Sipma and Jelle Pelmulder, two Frieslanders by birth, aged fifty-six and fifty- two respectively, Hubert Muilenburg, Sr., aged forty- seven, and Henry John van der Waa, a young man who had come to Pella with his parents during the first years of the settlement. While on the trip Pel- mulder despatched several interesting letters to the 127 128 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Dutch newspaper at Pella. From their camp in the timber south of Nevada in Story County he wrote: ' ' Coffee nearly ready, bacon frying in the pan — we are hale and hearty. Roads so bad we travel slowly. Greet our families and friends." From Pella the committee proceeded by way of Newton, Iowa Center, Story City, and Webster City, and then joining a long train of emigrant wagons fol- lowed the line of the Illinois Central Railroad to Fort Dodge, encountering swollen rivers and creeks and muddy roads. At Fort Dodge they halted for a day or two, just long enough to discover that the country in the vicinity was unsuitable for their pur- poses. They had intended to go north into Emmet, Palo Alto, and Kossuth counties; but at the land ofiice they learned that homesteads in that direction were scarce and devoid of timber. They therefore continued westward to Storm Lake through Calhoun and Pocahontas counties with their scattered settlers, following the stakes which marked the route of the Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railway. Nearly the whole distance from Fort Dodge to the north bank of Storm Lake was a roadless stretch of country to which people had but recently been attracted. The committee very carefully took note of where the best land lay. At the lake the committeemen spent Sunday with a Methodist preacher who had been sent as a mission- ary to the two hundred or more pioneers of Buena Yista County. Finding the land to the north of Storm Lake very good, but taken by homesteaders. INVESTIGATION OF NORTHWESTERN IOWA 129 they followed an old government road to Cherokee — a distance of about twenty miles, most of which was a treeless, houseless expanse of prairie land with a number of little streams. The whole population of Cherokee County at that time consisted of but four hundred and fifty-nine people, and what is now the city of Cherokee consisted of a group of small houses, a stockade where soldiers had been stationed, and a store, the keeper of which was very talkative and friendly in his reception of the Hollanders from Pell a. "He too was already a land-agent as is near- ly everybody else who can write and knows what a section of land is." From Cherokee to Melbourne in Plymouth Coun- ty the homeseekers traversed forty miles of prairie country as beautiful as any they had ever seen ; but not a single settler's homestead appeared in sight. About ten miles west of Cherokee they examined the soil, sub-soil, water and drainage, and found every- thing so satisfactory that they decided to recommend that region as the best site for a colony, provided one or two townships of land could be obtained. On the road westward the committee met numer- ous persons with teams and wagons going to or re- turning from the Sioux City land office. The rumor of free and fertile lands had begun to attract crowds of people to northwestern Iowa. One night while sleeping in their wagon near the road, the men from Pella were awakened by the loud barking of their dog as two men noisily drove past : "they were rush- ing to Sioux City to forestall other persons who 130 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA wanted the same homesteads." Everywhere the land was of good quality and well adapted to the pur- poses of a Dutch colony, except that the settlers would be dependent on railroads for their fuel and lumber. The committee rested on Sunday, the 9th of Ma.j, near Melbourne, a prosperous farming community of about one hundred and eighty persons in the valley of the Floyd Eiver. Upon the invitation of a Ger- man minister's wife, who furnished them with re- ligious tracts, all attended services and listened to a sermon which '*we, being Hollanders, could not un- derstand at all ' '. Two weeks from the time they had left Pella the four Hollanders reached Sioux City, a *' booming" western town already the home of a government land office and destined soon to be a busy railroad center. They hastened at once to inquire about land, but so great was the throng of homeseekers who had col- lected before the office doors were opened at nine 'clock that they waited until noon before they could speak with the officer in charge. So eager were some men in their desire to outstrip others for the same land that fights were frequent and foot-races were run for first choice. By special arrangement, on that same day the Pella men gained admission to the land office after dark, entering by way of the back door. They de- clared their intention to report favorably on land from ten to fifteen miles west of Cherokee on both sides of the railway survey. ''When our purpose be- came known," wrote a member of the committee, INVESTIGATION OP NORTHWESTERN IOWA 131 "the gentlemen showed much willingness to serve, and I believe we were very welcome : they would have rejoiced to see our colony in the neighborhood of Sioux City." The committee, however, could do no more than speak of intention, and the officials could only inform the Hollanders that they might buy land sufficient for large colonies in Cherokee, Sioux, 'Brien, and Lyon counties. Irmnediately upon the return of the committee to Pell a, after a wagon journey of nearly five hundred and fifty miles, all prospective emigrants were sum- moned to a meeting on the first of June, 1869. Two hundred Hollanders attended, and listened eagerly to the glowing report of their committee, who "could not find words enough to describe the beauty of northwestern Iowa, especially the neighborhood of Cherokee." At a subsequent meeting in June pros- pective homesteaders made their first declaration be- fore the county clerk and signed applications for homesteads; authorized the distribution of home- steads by lot ; subscribed for sixty ten-dollar shares in a town-site; decided to call the proposed town "New Holland", and to allow Henry Hospers one- third of the land on the town-site ; and finally they resolved to despatch a second committee to the site of the proposed settlement and to pay Henry John van der Waa $2.50 per day for the use of his mule team. Eighty-six Pella farmers signified their desire to obtain homesteads, and thirteen others were pre- pared to buy from eighty to four hundred and eighty acres of land outright. They subscribed for several thousand acres in all."^ XX THE CHOICE OF SIOUX COUNTY Late in the month of June, 1869, the second commit- tee of four was appointed with authority to make a definite choice of land for a colony, and to secure the land in accordance with the requirements of the na- tional homestead and preemption laws. Moreover, they were authorized to select and buy a town-site, and to do everything that was necessary to advance the colonization plan of the prospective emigrants from Pella. Of the committeemen — Leen van der Meer, Dirk van den Bos, Henry John van der Waa, and Henry Hospers — three made the journey to Sioux City with mule-team and covered wagon. Hospers went by rail by way of Des Moines and Council Bluffs in order to make a preliminary study of maps in the land office and procure all necessary information. He wrote from Sioux City that his ''train was loaded with emigrants thirsting for land, land, land." When they had arrived at Sioux City, the committeemen were greatly exasperated to find that their plan to buy land a few miles west of Cherokee had been frustrated by speculators, who had gobbled up all that region with the hope of selling it to the Hol- landers at a handsome profit. Despite this disap- 132 THE CHOICE OF SIOUX COUNTY 133 pointment, the committee resolved to do the next best thing : since the Hollanders of Pella desired a large area exclusively for themselves at government prices, they would pass by the speculators in Chero- kee County and examine Sioux and Lyon counties where government and railroad lands were still abundant. At Sioux City, therefore, the four men loaded their covered wagon with provisions calculated to last during a three weeks sojourn on the prairies, engaged a surveyor, and set out northward to ex- plore the northwestern counties. They traveled the road to Junction City (now called Le Mars), where they found only one small store building, and then followed the banks of a stream, the Floyd Eiver, for about fifteen miles to the southern boundary of Sioux County. Except for the homes of three or four pio- neers they saw neither dwellings, trees, nor roads — only a series of gently rolling swells of beautiful prairie land clothed with its wealth of green buffalo grass and wild flowers of every kind. The appearance of Sioux County early in July so impressed the Pella prospectors that without the slightest doubt or hesitation they unanimously de- clared: "Here is the place!" With map and sur- veyor's compass as guides they sought and found the corner stakes of the government sections, mea- sured off two townships, selected a town-site six miles north of the Plymouth County line, gave the locality the name of ''Plolland", and took possession of thirty-eight sections of land. After throwing up 134 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA small mounds of earth in the new townships to mark the way back, the party returned to Sioux City. There, in a surveyor's office, they apportioned the land among the prospective colonists in the following manner: section numbers and names of homestead- ers were written on separate slips of paper and placed in separate boxes ; for each section number a name was drawn ; and the drawer became entitled to the northeast quarter of the section and also to the choice of relatives whom he wished to have settle on the adjoining quarter-sections. After this work was done three members of the committee returned to Pella, while Henry Hospers remained at Sioux City to make sure that the necessary papers were pre- pared and filed according to law and that affidavits were deposited in the name of the various Pella homeseekers. By the United States homestead law of that day a duly qualified person could obtain either eighty or one hundred and sixty acres of government land ac- cording as the land lay within or without the range of a railroad land grant. In Sioux County every alter- nate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for ten sections in width on each side of the line of the proposed road had been granted by Congress in 1864 to the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad. Much of the land selected by the Hollanders in even-num- bered sections was situated within ten miles of the proposed railroad, and hence each prospective home- steader was entitled to only eighty acres. To obtain a homestead it was necessary to file an THE CHOICE OF SIOUX COUNTY 135 application and affidavit with the Register of the Land Office at Sioux City, at which time the claim took effect, and thereupon the applicant was re- quired to make his home upon the land. After five years of settlement and cultivation, or within two years, upon satisfactory proof to the Register, a patent or complete title-deed was issued to the set- tler. Congress provided a second method by which a title to government land could be obtained. By the preemption law, the person who desired to "pre- empt" rather than "homestead" was obliged to set- tle on one hundred and sixty acres of land, and with- in thirty days to file at the District Land Office his declaratory statement as to the fact of settlement, appear at the office within one year, make proof of his actual residence on and improvement of the land, and at the time of "proving up" secure the title either by filing a warrant duly assigned to him or by the cash payment of $1.25 or $2.50 per acre accord- ing as the land was situated without or within the limits of a railroad land grant.^^^ XXI A GLIMPSE OF SIOUX COUNTY IN 1869 No SOONER had the committee reported at Pella than the emigrants prepared to make a brief preliminary visit to their homesteads in Sioux County. Early in September, 1869, seventy-five men in eighteen wagons, with three surveyors and sufficient provi- sions, journeyed to the site of their future farms nearly three hundred miles away, labored for a week or two surveying and plowing in compliance with the law, and then returned home, thoroughly convinced that they had seen the finest land in the State of Iowa. No words could better describe the appearance of northwestern Iowa than those of an eminent visitor from Holland : Road is — to be honest — mere euphemism here, a figur- ative expression, a sort of poetic license ; as for a highway, there was none or just a trail. The boundless prairie lay spread out before us, and driver and horses knew their course. 'Twas a ride not without its peculiar enjoyment. Ti-ue: it was bitterly cold in the wind which swept unob- structed from the North. I could only imagine hoAV very different things must be in summer when the thick, soft carpet of dark green grass appears dotted with flowers of all colors; but even so, despite the barrenness, wildness, and monotony of the scene, yea by reason of these, there is some- 136 A GLIMPSE OF SIOUX COUNTY IN 1869 137 thing grand and awe-inspiring in the landscape. Nothing impedes or interrupts the view, whithersoever one looks. No hill or rock, not even a house or tree, not a single sharp line. Nothing, absolutely nothing but the vast, broad prairie ! And yet it is somewhat different from the single horizontal line which describes our low, level meadows in Holland: an endless succession of irregular, undulating slopes which seem to extend one's circle of vision in- definitely. There is an inexpressible charm, something solemn, mysterious in the nature of the landscape which speaks to the imagination and even to the heart. It awakens a con- sciousness such as that aroused by a view of the ocean ; yes, in a certain sense it is even stronger here. There, in bound- less space is the unending monotony of restless water ; here, over the vast but motionless waves, petrified as it were, reigns a deep, solemn stillness, emblematic of peace and immortality, but also of fresh, free, invincible power. In- deed, there is poetry in the view, and I realize now why the Arab waxes enthusiastic over the desert ; I understand now why the poetical soul of such a person as Miss Currer Bell loves the monotonous heath of North-England more than the most picturesque landscape. I can almost explain what people, here say of a settler of the prairies, who complained of being stifled when he caught sight in the distance of smoke rising from the chimney of a "neighbor" who had located twenty miles away ! Though its establishment as a county dated back to 1852, Sioux County lay too far away from every beaten path between the East and the West to at- tract any serious notice at this early date. Like its neighbors Plymouth, Osceola, and Lyon counties, it 138 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA consisted simply of prairie, with hardly a tree to be seen. What could a pioneer accomplish without tim- ber for logs, fence rails, fuel, and boards? Sioux County also lacked railroads. It is not strange, therefore, that homeseekers had found no great in- ducement to lay out farms on the bleak prairies. As a matter of fact, in 1869 it was only on the heavily wooded banks of the Big Sioux River, the western boundary of the State and county, that settlers were to be found. Plere a small village called Calliope had sprung up. Before settlers made their appearance in north- western Iowa nothing certain is known of its history. That man had ever had a fixed abode on those beauti- ful prairies there was not the slightest trace; but bones, scattered here and there upon the earth's sur- face or half-buried in the soil, proved that herds of buffaloes, elks, and deer had grazed there from time immemorial, and suggested that tribes of Indians might have hunted and departed again to their wig- wams in some other region. ^^^ Census statistics gave Sioux County a population of 10 inhabitants in 1860, estimated the number at 25 and 20 in the years 1863 and 1865, at 18 in 1867, and at 110 in 1869, when Buncombe Township, which was established sometime before 1861, embraced al- most the entire county. The same census for 1869 credited Lyon and Osceola counties with no inhabi- tants, O'Brien County with 51, and Plymouth County with 179, while the counties just to the east were only a little less sparsely settled. A GLIMPSE OF SIOUX COUNTY IN 1869 139 But if Sionx County in 1869 lacked ever5i;hing except fertility, its inhabitants and others interested in its future knew that within another year a rail- road would reach Le Mars about eighteen miles away, and that they might soon expect a second rail- road to place them in touch with St. Paul and Sioux City. Then exploitation of the soil would promise great rewards. It was, therefore, a matter of but a few years before Sioux County would have all the means of transportation and communication pos- sessed by older communities.^-" XXII THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY During the winter months of 1869 the selection of Sioux County as a site for a new Dutch colony re- ceived much publicity in the Dutch newspapers of America, and especially in Fella's Weekhlad. Hen- ry Hospers wrote many articles to encourage interest in the colonization movement. As the leader of the emigrant association, he assured people that the pro- gress and development of the new settlement in Sioux County was bound to be phenomenal, because there was no land under the sun more fertile. All winter long the favorite topic of conversation at Pella was emigration, and careful preparations were made for the approaching journey.^^^ In the spring of 1870, in the months of April and May, Henry John van der Waa headed the first emi- grant train of five families to northwestern Iowa, completing the journey in nineteen days. A second train consisting of several families of Frieslanders was piloted by Jelle Pelmulder. Leen van der Meer and Dirk van den Bos conducted a third group, while other families of Hollanders followed during the spring and summer, some even coming from distant Chicago, so that during the year sixty-five or seventy families settled upon Sioux County homesteads. ^"- 140 THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY 141 In this way commenced the settling of the virgin prairies of northwestern Iowa. The favorable situ- ation and fertility of land in the vicinity of Pella, the presence of coal mines, a railroad and good markets, and above all the industry and thrift of the Dutch inhabitants — all had conduced to the purchase of unsold Marion County lands by speculators who hoped that as the population of Pella and vicinity increased they might reap profit from the Holland- er's growing thirst for good land. Had Americans not prematurely raised land prices, the Hollanders of Pella would have made themselves masters of an area of country much more extensive than that occu- pied to-day. Young married men just starting out in life and many other ambitious men were forced to look toward the vacant public lands of Sioux County for better things, and thither they steered their ox and horse teams, driving herds of cattle before them, eager to set up homes for their wives and children. Numerous pioneers who had lived in or near Pella since 1847 left the comforts of their town and country homes to undergo once more the discomforts con- nected with the reclamation of a new country. For some months they lived in tents and used their cov- ered wagons for sleeping purposes. Despite the fact that the new colony possessed railroad connec- tions at Le Mars about eighteen miles to the south — a convenience which Pella had lacked for seventeen years — many of the Sioux County pioneers either had no desire to haul lumber so far or else they con- sidered frame dwellings beyond their means, for 142 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA after spending several weeks preparing the rich soil for the first season's crops, they began to build houses as far as possible without lumber. Five months after taking possession of their lands the Sioux County Hollanders still lived for the most part in ''dug-outs" or sod houses such as many of them had first become acquainted with in Marion County. Some found their wagons suf- ficiently comfortable during the warm summer and autumn weather, and so continued to devote all their time to ploughing or ''breaking" their prairie farms, the main object being to get them in readiness for seeding in the spring of 1871. Few colonists lived in frame houses during the first year. To recall the nature of the first human habita- tions upon that vast stretch of rolling prairie region, now dotted everywhere with commodious houses and barns sheltered by groves of trees, reveals much of the community life of those enterprising Dutch pio- neer fathers of Holland Township. Usually a dug- out was constructed upon the eastern or southern slope of a hill to secure protection against north- western blasts in winter. Excavations were made and four walls of thick prairie sod were then raised to an equal height and a roof of long slough grass was added. Generally these sod houses had two openings, one to serve as window and the other as door, both of which required an outlay of little more than one dollar. In most cases, it is said, "these homes consisted of but one compartment which served as parlor, liv- THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY 143 iiig-room, dining-room, bed-room, kitchen, and cellar. The more elaborate houses had one room partitioned off by a sod wall, which did service as a bed-room where berths were arranged along the wall some- times two or three above one another. The furni- ture of these homes was also very simple and limit- ed : a dry-goods box placed in the center of the room was often used as a wardrobe, a cupboard, and a dining table. The walls were so dug out that a seat all the way round about the height of an ordinary chair was left : this obviated the necessity of buying chairs. The fuel of those days consisted of slough grass, very ingeniously and tightly twisted in order to last longer in the fire. ' ' Happiness and contentment reigned within those simple homes to no small degree. Good-will and kindly feeling prevailed among their occupants. ''When any one was in distress or in need of aid, all joined hands; and when most of them were about equally penniless and unable to offer their empty purses in rendering assistance they found some way to serve one another. They helped build each other's houses and barns; they watered each other's cattle; they took charge of each other's children . . . . and assisted in every kind of work. " ^^^ In such inartistic huts most of the first settlers lived for many months, because the expense was trifling and no less because they had no time to build more substantial houses. House-building stood sec- ond upon their program : prairie-breaking came first. Some of the settlers were fairly well-to-do financial- 144 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ly; most of them, however, had sunk their limited wealth into the soil. Their chief capital at the out- set was willing hands, which they were glad to apply without stint to the production of an excellent har- vest, after which they would plan bigger and better things. As the winter of 1870 approached, and sheds, cribs, and fuel came into demand, the Hollanders found that they must either go to he Mars about eighteen miles southwest, a station on the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Eailroad, or else journey with teams and wagons to the Rock River twenty-five miles to the northwest, since the supply of willows and box- elders upon the banks of the Floyd River had been exhausted. The colonists chose to haul their fire- wood, logs, and posts from the river without cost rather than go into debt by paying handsome prices to the lumber dealers at Le Mars. A few squatters in that region of Sioux County, claiming to be owners of the land, met the Hollanders with pitch-forks and axes, but these weapons did not deter the Dutchmen from getting what they wanted : they would not be thwarted after making such a journey through bliz- zards and freezing weather. The squatters, there- fore, adopted other methods: they removed bolts from the wagons while the Dutch settlers were busy chopping. But the meanest thing perpetrated by them was to put powder in pieces of firewood so that explosions frequently occurred in the cook-stoves of the Dutch housewives.^-^ Merchandise and other products of tlie civilized THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY 145 world were hauled overland from the railroad sta- tion at Le Mars. Hollanders who became county of- ficials in 1870 and 1871 were obliged to travel on foot twenty-five miles westward to the county seat, Cal- liope, to attend to county business : snow-drifts and the absence of bridges made progress with teams and wagons well-nigh impossible, and walking in the winter time was warmer, more comfortable, and more rapid. In the year 1870 the colonists saw fit to perpetuate a name which Hollanders have always carried with them wherever they have settled, whether in North America, South America, Africa, or Asia. The Dutch immigrants who founded Pella had suffered so much at the hands of King William and his govern- ment that they were in no mood to remember the name of Holland's Prince of Orange by inscribing it upon the map of their settlement in Marion County. The founders of the Dutch colony in Sioux Coun- ty, however, had forgotten the persecutions insti- gated by their Prince, and like all Hollanders they prided themselves on being "Orangemen": they re- called the political cry of their ancestors, adherents of the House of Orange-Nassau, ''Oranje boven!" (Orange forever!) Accordingly, the title of the Dutch royal house, obtained originally from the city and district of Orange about twelve miles north of Avignon in southern France, was placed upon the map of Iowa as "Orange City", in Holland Town- ship. ^^^ When the emigrants organized their association 346 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA at Pella in the spring of 1869, they decided that all who wished might subscribe ten dollars in order to become entitled to a share in the site of a new town to be laid out in Sioux County. At first they con- sidered it best that Henry Hospers should have one- half of the town lands and that the association should retain the other half. Later when sixty prospective emigrants had bought shares in a town to be called "New Holland", the members of the association re- solved to grant one-third of the town-site to their agent Henry Hospers to reimburse him for all his activity in behalf of the colonization project. ^"'^ The town of Orange City, which was laid out soon after the Hollanders arrived from Pella, at first em- braced a quarter-section of land in the middle of the rich farming country selected for the colony. The emigrant association at once set apart one block for a public park, staked off lots most of which were fifty by one hundred and twenty-five feet in size, and decided to lay aside one-fifth of the proceeds of the sale of lots as a college fund. It was stipulated in all conveyances that the purchaser should plant shade trees fronting his lot, whether buildings were erected or not. That these lines of trees might be planted with uniformity and regularity, furrows were plowed at the proper distance from the lots along all the streets, thus also preparing the ground for the setting of the trees. The streets running north and south were named Sioux, Pella, William, Washington, and Prairie. ^^^ One of the first two buildings in the prairie vil- THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY 147 lage of Orange City was a sclioolliouse, and the population in 1870 consisted of a carpenter and his wife and son. In the spring and summer of 1871 a few houses were built, and an inn-keeper, a shoemak- er, a barber, and a blacksmith came to town. Hos- pers also sent a contractor to build the first colony store. Here, it is said, butter and eggs were received in exchange for merchandise, and on account of the general scarcity of money among the settlers, no credit was given for a time until the leader of the colony invented ''store orders", the drawer of which bound himself to break a specified number of acres of prairie soil. These orders or promises to work circulated quite extensively for a time. After the severe winter of 1871-1872, when snow- storms had interfered very much with the tedious journeys to gather fuel along the rivers, the St. Paul and Sioux City Kailroad was completed through the eastern part of the new colony with a station at East Orange (now Alton), about four miles east of Orange City. No other agency proved to be so great a boon to the settlement's growth: it spared many a long wagon journey for fuel, and offered the settlers ade- quate and fairly convenient facilities for the trans- portation of grain, and the importation of lumber, farm implements, merchandise, and other necessa- ries. The Hollanders had made themselves such a pow- er at the polls that at the autumn election of 1872 a majority of voters declared their desire that the county seat be removed from Calliope to the eastern 148 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA part of the county where most of the inhabitants lived. The Board of Supervisors thereupon re- solved that the county records and property be transferred at once. Courthouse and jail were es- tablished in Orange City and a poor-farm was selected just outside the town limits. Henceforth ofiicial life centered in the Dutch colony.^-* For three years the Dutch pioneers of Sioux County experienced steady progress upon their prai- rie farms. They had gathered a modest crop of wheat and corn from their newly-broken acres in 1870 and were abundantly blessed in the harvest sea- sons of 1871 and 1872. A bright future seemed to beckon to all Hollanders who were willing to be eco- nomical and industrious. They had contended with many hardships and had sacrificed much, but en- joyed the peace and harmony of a pleasant commu- nity life. They had learned to take a neighborly in- terest in one another's welfare and they aided one another with advice and practical assistance. They were communistic in spirit if not in fact. One hun- dred and sixty-three families had become housed within as many dwellings in Holland Township, and twenty-seven families lived at Orange City. The entire population of these two political divisions, not counting the Dutch settlers of Nassau and other townships, numbered over one thousand persons, or about one-third of the total population of the coun- ty."' The founding of a "daughter" colony in Sioux County is perhaps the most noteworthy incident in THE PLATTING OF ORANGE CITY 149 the history of Pella, not only because an abundance of excellent farm land was discovered for so many of Pella 's younger generation of inhabitants, who were thus saved to the State of Iowa, but also be- cause Orange City and vicinity have come to be the third successful Dutch settlement in the United States. XXIII HENRY HOSPERS AND IMMIOEATION TO SIOUX COUNTY The choice of a site for the new Dutch colony was well advertised by Henry Hospers in his family newspaper, Bella's Weekblad, which counted many readers among the Hollanders of Wisconsin and Michigan and through Dutch newspapers in those States and various other exchanges reached hun- dreds of people not only in America but also in The Netherlands. Henry Hospers was but a youth of seventeen 5'ears when he arrived in Iowa with Scholte's first large body of Dutch immigrants. His rise upon the western frontier of the New World was typically American. Beginning as one of Pella's first school- masters, he next obtained the practical experience of a surveyor and then became land-agent and notary public with a prosperous business. The panic of 1857 placed him in dire straits and difficulties — only his broad knowledge of men and conditions, together with stamina and will-power, enabled him to rise above misfortune. He founded the first Dutch news- paper in Pella, was editor for nearly ten years ; and he served also as mayor of Pella from 1867 to 1871. As a candidate for county surveyor in 1856 and for State Representative in 1869 he suffered defeat at 150 HENKV TTOSl'KRS HKNKV IIOSI'EBS XXIIX HENRY HOSPEES AN i 8I0UX C- The )f a site for tl well ,!■ v.-,urfed by Hei'' newspaper, Pella's Wej \TION TO •y was 11 ill- i'araily •ouiited many readers among the Hollan Sioux Center has only four or live non- Dutch families in a i)opulation of 1064. There, as at Orange City, Hollanders own and carry on nearly all business enterprises. All but one section of the land in Welcome Township belongs to the Dutch. In Lynn Township more than one-half of the land is farmed by Hollanders; Germans and Americans own the rest. In Floyd Township Dutch and Ger- mans share the land about equally. The town of ITospers and the village of Newkirk are, however, mainly Dutch. In this part of Sioux County the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Kailroad practically separates the areas occupied by the two nationalities — the former owning land to the north and the latter to the south of the railroad. East Orange Township, therefore, is almost entirely in the hands of Germans; and Nassau Towiishij), with its town of Alton, is perhaps predominantly Dutch. The Germans are equally prosperous as farmers in that district, and have owned their lands as long as their Dutch neighbors so that the proportion of na- tionalities has not changed for numy years. The Hollanders prefer to rent out their farms to Dutch- men, while German owners just as strongly insist upon German renters. Americans are in a majority in Grant Township, with their neighbors about evenly divided between Dutch and Germans, the former owning about ten sections of land. The same is true of Sheridan Township where the Hollanders own thirteen sec- EXPANSION OF DUTCH ELPMENT IN IOWA 203 tions of land and are also firmly intrenched in the town of Boyden. Lincoln Township has for many years been passing into the hands of the Dutch until they hold about one-half of the land, while Amer- icans and Germans own the rest. The town of Hull, once strongly American, is now largely Dutch, and the village of Perkins is entirely so. Sherman Township and the town of Maurice are one-half Dutch, with some Germans and a good many Irish. Reading Township and the town of Ireton, once strictly Yankee and Irish territory, are grad- ually being taken by the Hollanders — for Irishmen seem to think that land at from $100 to $150 per acre is too good for them. About one-half of Cen- ter Township, three-sevenths of Plato Township, two-fifths of Rock Township, including the town of Rock Valley, and one-fifth of Sioux Township have fallen into the hands of Hollanders, although their neighbors, Germans and Americans, predominate. These i)eople, with some Norwegians, occupy the greater part of Settlers and Garfield townships, but the Dutch own one-tenth and one-fourth of the land, respectively. Americans and Germans are still firm in the southwestern townships with only a mere sprinkling of Dutch. '^^ American-born Hollanders have been invading the counties around Sioux so that in Sheldon, O'Brien County, nearly every store and bank em- ploys Dutch-speaking clerks. They have spread east of Sheldon and have established a church at Sanborn. There is a goodly number of Dutch in the 204 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA western townships of O'Brien County, and also in the southern townships of Lyon County. It is be- lieved that the Hollanders will be in control of the northwestern corner of O'Brien County and the southern part of Lyon County within a few years. Plymouth County has not as many Dutch as for- merly. It is true that with the rapid expansion of the Dutch in Sioux and neighboring counties, many have been forced to buy land in other States : many have found homes in the neighborhood of such towns as Harrison, Platte, Corsica, Springfield, Worthing, Chancellor, and Volga — all in South Dakota. Others in their search for land have obtained farms near the towns of Luctor, Leota, Edgerton, Clara City, Roseland, and Spring Creek, Minnesota; and some have migrated to Hull, Westfield, Twin Brooks, North Marion, and Litchville, North Dakota. A considerable number went to Linden, Oak Harbor, and North Yakima, Washington. Other families in- vested their money in cotton plantations in Missis- sippi. In late years many have gone to Crawford and Denver, Colorado ; and not a few have helped swell the tide of emigration from Iowa to the cheap lands of the Canadian northwest.^" In practically all of these communities, which are mainly agricultural, are to be found Hollanders from the older Dutch settlements in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The existence of these settlements with their thriving little churches where Dutch is EXPANSION OF DUTCH ELEMENT IN IOWA 205 preached shows better than anything else how par- tial the Hollanders are to people of their own nation and to ancestral institutions. Seldom if ever do the Hollanders of the Dutch communities in Iowa return to live in The Nether- lands. After years of prosperity in America some immigrants go back for a few months ' stay, or per- haps for a winter's visit with friends and relatives in the old home, but those who expect to live out their days in Holland find themselves quickly disil- lusioned: they are happy to escape from a life which grates on them with its pronounced social ranks. A renewal of their acquaintance with social conditions in the fatherland convinces them that western America with its ideas of equality is prefer- able to a poor man's wretched lot in Holland. The Hollanders who have visited their people in Europe have been the means of carrying American enthu- siasm with them and they have frequently conducted Dutch families to Iowa. Some years ago a Sioux County visitor in Holland returned home with six families of from five to eight children each. Dutch immigration to Iowa has not yet ceased. Fathers of large families in Holland still want to give their sons a good start in life. Many who come to the Iowa settlements are unable at once to rent farms. Consequently they live for a time in town where they work as day-laborers at odd jobs, or cul- tivate a few acres of land, and gradually obtain a knowledge of American farm conditions. When 206 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA their sons grow up they rent farms and, after sav- ing for a few years, may buy land of their own. In the spring of 1911 American newspapers heralded, the coming of thousands of Hollanders to America, lured by the eternal hope of bettering their condition and of establishing themselves in a coun- try where advancement is possible to the poorest man, if endowed with ambition and determination. Eastern reporters interviewed an Iowa Hollander who said: Most of those who are coming over now are from Fries- land. They come here as a land of refuge from conditions which have grown intolerable in their home land. There opportunity has departed, and to remain means that a man must ever be a plodder. Of course, over-population enters into the question. In such a crowded country there is no chance for that spirit which we call over here "get up and get ' '. There is no chance for fortune to smile, and there is no incentive to develop the land which one does not own. Holland is becoming a country for the well-to-do. The rich own much of the land. The land is nearly all in their hands. If by chance there is a piece of land, the farmer must bid for it. When a piece of land is vacant, which is not often, it is advertised for about a week and a date is set for renting it. The lease is then practically sold at auction. One farmer will make an offer for the property and an- other will raise the price a bit. And so it will go until finally it is a question whether the man who obtains posses- sion is really the fortunate bidder. The price is run up to such a figure that one may perhaps make a living, but as to making more, never. Now, if this holds for the farmer, the man generally EXPANSION OF DUTCH ELEMENT IN IOWA 207 who has inherited some money or a lease, or who has slowly climbed the ladder by the hardest kind of work, work that bows the shoulders in age and in time turns a man into a dull plodding fellow, what chance has the farm laborer, the honest, hard-working man who has seen the sun rise and set in the fields as long as he can remember? His chance of becoming a leaseholder is reduced to a minimum, and he has hardly a chance of ever becoming a landowner. Is it to be wondered at that these men are turning to the United States ; that they are coming here filled with an ambition to succeed ? Could a more desirable class knock at the gateway of the New World ? I crossed the Atlantic with several hundreds of my countrymen and I was proud of them every knot of the way. They combine thrift with a capacity for the hardest kind of work, and thej'' are seldom discouraged. They were born to fight for existence in crowded Holland, and that is the spirit they bring with them across seas.^^^ On the 28th of February, 1912, newspapers throughout the United States reported the arrival of two hundred Dutch farmers and their families on board the steamship "Noordam". They were on the way to Iowa where they had purchased a large tract of land. All were said to be in possession of ample funds — all were declared to be ' ' splendid specimens of the sturdy Friesland yeoman farmers, who have been the backbone of Holland in the time of trouble ' ', and who were now forced by high rents and heavy taxation to leave their fatherland. XXVII POLITICAL BEGINNINGS AMONG THE HOL- LANDERS IN MAEION COUNTY The Hollanders who were transplanted in 1847 to the prairies of Iowa, then the youngest State of the American Union, were the product of Europe's so- cial, religious, and political conditions. Not only had they been branded and maltreated in their fatherland as a congregation of religious fanatics, but they had also been regarded as a menace to the state, excluded from all positions of political trust, closely watched by the spies of a suspicious govern- ment, and in many ways kept in a state of political subjection. In America, which they hailed as the land of civil and religious liberty, they first learned to know the meaning of real freedom: Americans respected and treated them according to their merits. The change from the oppression of the Old World to the freedom of the New World was a novel one to them; and the absence of social and political dis- criminations caused them to breathe a sigh of re- lief. As descendants of the ancient Batavi whom Rome had honored as allies because her armies could not subdue them, the Dutch emigrants to America cut loose from the reactionary principles of a govern- 208 POLITICS IN MARION COUNTY 209 ment which had undertaken to crush their aspira- tions for religious independence. The door to civil and religious liberty in the Dutch colonies had been deliberately closed to them — the only ray of light which reached them came from America. When they had deserted a king and government at whose hands they had suffered so much persecution and loss of honor, and when they had set up homes in the heart of America, they prided themselves on the opportunity to live upon a soil which had never been occupied by any European power nor ''wrested from the original owners by means of the conquer- or's bloody sword "."^ Scholte pointed with pleasure to the fact that North America had never come under the sway of the Eoman Empire. To Christians in Holland he wrote : The United States first came into existence as a nation when she broke all political and religious ties binding her to the mother country. The Declaration of Independence did not flow from theoretical doctrines of liberty, but was the outcome of practical experience in matters of right and justice. This big country, where millions may still find enough to keep them, was not snatched from its former owners by means of bloody weapons ; it was bought and the price was paid. The foundation of Babylonian world powers in the North American Colonies, transplanted from Europe in early times, was entirely destroyed when the Union was formed. After that came the acquisition of a vast stretch of country ; the advance of enterprising settlers, by whom the most distant regions (also the State of Iowa) were opened to European emigrants. 210 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA The laborer is not oppressed, the needy are not aban- doned, the foreigner is not turned away, the people are not crushed by oppressive taxes. The nation is free, and shows that she can bear and enjoy this freedom. The worship of God is respected without financial assistance from the State and without obligations to the State. These and many other reasons cause me to judge that the condition of the United States has thus far been absolutely different from that of countries subject to Rome. Moreover, the faces of Christian people in various Old World countries are being turned this way. He who believes in God 's guidance must take note of this and inquire into the reasons.^^^ Shortly after his arrival in America Scholte went to Washington, D. C, concerning which he wrote: I found the higher government officials so ready and willing to help me in every way that I could hardly believe my own eyes and ears, and I was involuntarily driven to compare them with officials in Holland — a comparison which did not redound to the credit of the latter country. I not only experienced no gmffness, not only did no one try to get the better of me, but with the utmost modesty and willingness to answer my questions of investigation they presented me with printed documents free of cost, while a few days later they forwarded to me at New York, free of charge, a set of maps of the various States indicating unsold government lands. Equally kind was the treatment which he received at the hands of statesmen at Albany, where he visited a session of the legislature. ''Recognized by one of the members", he writes, "I was compelled to take a seat in their midst. How different from Hol- land!""" POLITICS IN MARION COUNTY 211 Immediately after their arrival in Marion County the Hollanders wished to have it understood that they intended to become permanent residents of the State of Iowa. Within one month after they settled upon their farms, they requested the clerk of the dis- trict court to come to Pella so that they might be relieved of taking a journey to Kjioxville, the county seat. When this officer acquiesced, Scholte writes, *'we declared our intention to become citizens of the United States of North America, so that our status as subjects of William II came to an end once for all." Of this unique incident at Pella, an American visitor wrote: On the day of my arrival, it was my good fortune to witness a most interesting proceeding. Most of the male adults went through the ceremony of declaring their inten- tions of becoming citizens of the United States. It was alto- gether an impressive scene, to behold some two hundred men with brawny arms upraised to heaven eschewing all allegiance to foreign powers, Potentates, etc. And as they all responded, in their native tongue, to the last words of the oath: "So help me God!" no one could resist the heart- felt response: "So help them God to keep their solemn vow!" All appeared to feel the weight of responsibility they were about to assume. No tribute could be more beautiful or complimentary to our institutions than to be- hold the men of "Pella" coming up in their strength, on the prairies of America, and there eschewing forever all allegiance to the tyranny of king-craft. ... A fact worth recording during the ceremony before the clerk of the court 212 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA was that, of the whole number that took the oath of intend- ed citizenship, but two made their marks.^®" This hasty manifestation of their willingness to become identified with the American people made such a good impression that, although the State Con- stitution of 1846 prescribed United States citizenship as a qualification of voters and of candidates for office, the General Assembly of Iowa passed a special statute which ignored constitutional provisions. For otherwise the Hollanders who lived in Marion County would have been deprived of township gov- ernment for five years, a situation which might have led to a failure of the administration of justice. When the General Assembly met in special ses- sion at Iowa City in January, 1848, Scholte and other members of the council of the association prepared a petition asking relief in three particulars. The re- sult was that Jefferson and Lake Prairie townships which the Hollanders owned almost entirely, were united under the name of Lake Prairie Township; secondly, those who had taken the oath of allegiance to the United States were given the right to vote for township officers ; and thirdly, they were allowed to become candidates for the various township offices. ^^^ **How different," Scholte wrote, ''this is from our status in Holland I need not point out to anyone who remembers that we were treated as a people who should have no rights and be kept out of all positions. Here the various political parties unite to assure us that they prize our presence and that they will grant POLITICS IN MARION COUNTY 213 us as many privileges as are consistent with the Constitution. . . . America warmly welcomes the liberty-loving Hollanders with open arms, mind- ful of the fact that sons of that same Holland were the founders of one of the most flourishing parts of the American Union, and hopeful that the present immigrant Hollanders will be to the West what the earlier ones have been to the East — powerful fac- tors in the development and prosperity of the United States of North America. ' ' ^^" With the government authorities at Washington it appears that Scholte and his friends had sufficient influence to obtain a post-office and post-route for the Dutch settlement. Furthermore, the citizens of Marion County had become so dissatisfied with the location of Knoxville as the seat of justice of Marion County that they desired to have it removed north of the Des Moines River. ''The American people are quite generally convinced that the best place in the whole county would be found in our township", wrote Scholte, ' ' and for that reason several persons have requested me to lay out a town where the river is easily forded, and to offer lots for sale to the public, convinced that if the selection of a county seat ever comes before the voters the choice will un- doubtedly fall upon this place, in case I should meet the county half-way and appropriate a site for pub- lic buildings. It is not improbable that I shall de- cide to plat such a town near the river, and that a survey in compliance with the law shall be com- menced within a few weeks." 214 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Thus Scholte wrote to his friends in Holland in the month of March, 1848, and shortly afterward he staked out a town upon the banks of the Des Moines River and named it Amsterdam upon request of his American neighbors. The glorious future of this town, however, proved to be a pipe dream. What was once Auasterdam is now an expanse of corn fields, and Knoxville has maintained its position as the county seat.^®^ In the month of May, 1848, the Hollanders could for the first time boast of having tasted civil liberty, for they had gone through the experience of selecting their own township officers. The few American citi- zens who still resided in Lake Prairie Township gladly conceded that most of the officers should be Hollanders and that the Hollanders should have their own caucus for the nomination of candidates. Ac- cordingly, the election took place at Scholte 's house, and the following men took the oath of office : Green F. Clark and H. P. Scholte, justices of the peace; Stilman Elwell and Cornelius van den Berg, con- stables; G. Awtry, A. J. Betten, and P. Welle, trustees; I. Overkamp, clerk; H. P. Scholte, school inspector; J. Roziersz, treasurer; Cornelius den Hartog and H. Barendregt, overseers of the poor; Wellington Nossaman, Wm. van Asch, G. van der Wilt, C. 't Lam, P. van Meveren, and Dk. Sijnhorst, road supervisors ; and A. de Visser and J. Toom, fence viewers. ^^* Official documents and papers in the English lan- guage were translated for the Hollanders whenever POLITICS IN MARION COUNTY 215 necessary. Later in the year 1848 Scholte wrote that only in one case had the court's services been necessary — in a case involving a small debt — and as for the rest, the justice's work had been confined to the performance of the marriage ceremony, "which is one of his duties here", and to the legal- ization of signatures to contracts. Township offi- cers among the Dutch had very little to do during those first two or three years. The fence viewers were perhaps the busiest.^^^ The influence of the Hollanders in Marion County, however, was not confined altogether to township affairs. At a certain county convention which was called to discuss a law inimical to the in- terests of the people, Scholte as the representative of the Dutch colony was elected member of a com- mittee to draw up a memorial to the State legisla- ture. He did not refuse to serve, and he had the satisfaction of seeing his draught of the memorial accepted by the committee and later by the entire convention. So strong was popular sentiment at this time on the subject of Des Moines Kiver im- provement that candidates for the legislature were driven to make definite preelection promises in favor of a revision of the existing law,^^® With matters of national concern and with politi- cal party interests the Dutch had little to do; but Scholte wrote as follows : Next November there is to be an election in which the entire Union is interested. A President of the United States has to be chosen. Three candidates have been pro- 216 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA posed by the various political parties: General Taylor by the Whigs; General Lewis Cass by the Democrats; and Martin Van Buren by a third party which will vote for neither Taylor nor Cass. Everywhere these parties are now holding mass-meetings in order to persuade the people to vote for their nominees. Although the Hollanders have nothing to do with this at present, they are nevertheless invited to these meetings to give their moral support to one or the other party, and by their influence to win the votes of American citizens. To-day there was such a meeting in a neighboring town. A few English-speaking Hollanders happened to be present. They were at once invited to participate in the meeting and the barbecue and were most cordially introduced to the con- vention as "members of the Dutch colony. If our former fellow-countrymen and fellow-believers compare with this the way in which they are treated by the various political parties [in Holland] , they will possibly notice considerable difference, and I do not believe that political conditions have been ameliorated since our departure from The Nether- lands. Here we are prized by our neighbors. They all know that we emphasize the worship of God as most important in life, and yet they do not consider us fanatics, nor do they fear that we shall have an injurious effect upon public life. In this respect, therefore, we have no reason to complain, but rather reason to be thankful.^" Thus, as residents of the State of Iowa for barely nine months, the Hollanders learned their first les- son in American politics, happy to obtain so im- portant a concession as complete local self-govern- ment. With genuine satisfaction they noted the ab- POLITICS IN MARION COUNTY 217 sence of paternalism, perceiving that no govern- ment in the world ruled so little from above and en- trusted so much to the regulation and determination of the people themselves as the United States. This extension of self-government, one observer declared, led every citizen to investigate and participate in public measures, decreased popular discontent and opposition, and made the people in the noblest sense self-dependent adults.^^^ Well might the Hollanders be proud of their new liberty, for soon they were pained but not sur- prised to hear that the Dutch government had staged one scene of the tragedy of revolution which swept over Europe in 1848. Then it was that Scholte addressed the people of The Netherlands as follows : Has not the blood of citizens flowed because other citi- zens owed blind obedience to superiors who ordered them to fire their murderous guns ? That sort of thing has no place here; for that sort of thing no soldiers are available here. The legislature here sometimes passes a law which the people consider hostile to their interests. They gather in mass-meetings, condemn such law, draw up resolutions and propose what they think is right. The government never thinks of resisting such conven- tions with an armed police force, but gives ear to the peo- ple 's voice; occasionally stubborn, self-seeking officials are brought to time by the concerted action of the people. A subsequent General Assembly investigates grievances, and if it declines to redress them, at the next election American people will show that they know how to get their rights quietly and in a lawful manner. 218 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA I attended such a mass-meeting here and was really struck by the way in which matters were conducted. Not only did political party lines disappear and the people act as companions in misery, but the distinction between Ameri- can and Hollander attracted no notice ; on the contrary per- sons who had but recently arrived in America were con- sulted and listened to just as freely as native-born citi- zens.^^^ The Hollanders in America noted also that hence- forth they would not be subjected to the espionage of a suspicious government : ' ' the rulers know that this would do no good because an election might deprive them of further chance to lord it over the people". Once limited to the private expression of their ''opinions, votes and observations, brotherly words, protests", they could now say: "It is God's hand which in many ways directs oppressed Netherlanders to a land where they first learn what freedom means and how the country's inhabitants worthily enjoy it." Scholte believed that the theory of American political and social conditions might be imagined, but could never be put into practice, in Holland — a country dotted with military posts and everywhere supplied with police because there would be no se- curity without them. "It does little good," wrote Scholte, "to preach 'liberty, equality, and frater- nity': there must be people who are fitted to prac- tice." ^'° XXVIII PARTICIPATION BY THE HOLLANDERS IN ELECTIONS Teansplanted from an atmosphere of discontent in Holland, where they had been political nonentities, to America where they enjoyed the fundamental rights of freemen in the affairs of local self-gov- ernment, the Hollanders witnessed the participation of their American neighbors in the county. State, and national contests of the political arena. The Hollanders had come to live among people who had just voted upon the question of Statehood, had adopt- ed a Constitution, and were filled with the spirit of partisanship. State and national election campaigns were then conducted by Democrats and Whigs with tremendous party zeal and with no little bitterness and mutual recrimination. During the years of "fraud, trickery, and corruption", in the midst of violent controversies between Whigs and Democrats, the Hollanders were admitted to all the rights of American citizens in the autumn of 1852.^^^ For two or three years after 1852 Dutch voters took no conspicuous part in other than township elections — which is perhaps accounted for by the fact that they cared more about the improvement of their farms and the increase of their worldly pos- 219 220 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA sessions. Lake Prairie Township showed its vot- ing strength for the first time in 1855, when the Hollanders helped Marion County to defeat the adoption of a prohibitory law by a vote of two hun- dred and fifty to thirty-one, although the entire State vote was in favor of adoption/^- How much Scholte directed the party inclina- tions of his Dutch friends in Lake Prairie Township and Pella it is difficult to estimate. Before his ar- rival in America he had studied and admired the opinions of Henry Clay. His American neighbors, however, helped poll a majority vote in Marion County for Franklin Pierce, the Democratic candi- date for President in 1852. Again in 1854 when the Whig party had become merged into the Republican party, the voters of Lake Prairie Township cast a majority vote for Curtis Bates, the Democratic nominee for Governor. The few Hollanders who could read and understand acrimonious editorials in American newspapers and attend 'rousing political rallies were perhaps able to decide for themselves which party deserved their support, but most of the Dutch voters must have received their party views second-hand.^^^ On the first of February, 1855, there appeared The Pella Gazette, wherein the editors, H. P. Scholte and Edwin H. Grant, declared themselves "Inde- pendent in Everything". "It is not our intention", they said, "to remain silent upon the great political questions of the day. But we wish it to be dis- tinctly understood that we do not intend to give a PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 221 blind credence to the machinations of any of the parties now dominant. We shall boldly avow our sentiments respecting any of the great movements of the age, regardless of political bias. Whenever we can consistently approve of any acts performed by either party, which seem to us to be calculated to benefit our State, or the great national confederacy, we shall cordially lend our influence to sustain and promote such measures. ' ' ^^* The Hollanders of Pella were astounded by the wide-spread interest of Americans in politics. They expressed great surprise that almost every Amer- ican had a comprehensive knowledge of the consti- tution of his government, discussed and criticised the various departments, and drew fine distinctions. They perceived that the American's first inclination was politics: "very seldom will he converse with .you about the weather, your health or anything of that sort; a laborer doesn't speak to his fellows about work, but the subject of conversation is nearly always government and politics." And this phe- nomenal fact Scholte and his Dutch people attrib- uted to the reading of newspapers."^ In the years from 1855 to 1860 the Know-Noth- ing or American party came in for its share of at- tention in Marion County. The adherents of this party desired an alteration of the naturalization laws so that twenty-one years of residence in the United States should be required of voters, and all foreign-born citizens should be excluded from of- fice : in short they believed in America for the Amer- 222 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA icans. Scholte and the Hollanders opposed these men with all their might. Led to believe that the Republican party stood for monarchical institutions and that the great Dem- ocratic party had prevented an "aristocracy" from getting possession of the country, the Hollanders felt that as true sons of liberty they must swell the ranks of true Americans, and not being acquainted with American history and politics they thought that they would be true Americans if they voted the Democratic ticket. Their neighbors were Demo- crats — a fact which doubtless influenced many to affiliate with that party.^®® Perhaps the first Dutch candidate for an office in Iowa was Henry Hospers. As to this Democratic nominee for county surveyor Scholte declared in his usual independent way: *'He is a young man, a native of Holland, full of zeal to ascend the ladder of political preferment, and therefore not promoted quick enough by the Whigs, deserted their ranks and joined the Democratic party in the hope that they would reward his zeal with a speedy nomination. Mr. Hospers must, however, remember that there is some difference between nomination and election." At the election in August, 1855, the independent ticket supported by Know-Nothings was elected. Lake Prairie Township gave a heavy majority against them — a majority which, it was said, would have been swelled had the Hollanders been asked to vote on the question whether slavery or freedom should prevail in the Territories. They would have PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 223 voted for freedom. Scliolte remarked: ''The citi- zens of Holland are not so easily drilled in a party organization: they like to judge for themselves. They can certainly be led astray by circumstances and false representations, like other men, but as a general rule they vote from conviction and principle, and it is not easy to get their votes for a man in whom they have no confidence. "^''^ Beginning in 1850, for many years the citizens of Pella, among them C. Jongewaard and Henry P. Scholte, were bold enough to petition the legislature to remove the State capital from Iowa City to Pella. Scholte even offered to donate land sufficient for a site. Though the voters of Wapello and Jefferson counties also favored the selection of Pella, the peti- tion received no serious attention. In 1855, after considerable agitation, the people of Pella voted in favor of incorporation, and elected a committee consisting of H. C. Huntsman, Isaac Overkamp, and Peter Barendregt to prepare a city charter. Scholte ridiculed the whole move as pre- posterous, saying: "the man in whose brains the first idea of incorporating Pella, as a city, has sprung up, ought to be found out. His name ought to be canonized in the records of the city council. Even if he was a Know-Nothing, he knew something, viz : That it is not only possible for natives, but also for foreign-born citizens to be easily humbugged. We fear, however, that more than one will claim the honor of invention, and then it is no easy matter to decide." 224 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Wlien the charter was adopted, Scholte sarcas- tically referred to the city 's ' ' decemviri ' ' and dema- gogues, and accused the committee of inserting a Know-Nothing plank in the charter. He declared that in a place where most of the residents were of European origin, and where the population was in- creasing every year by fresh arrivals from the old country, it was very impolitic to exclude a man from voting in city matters till he became a citizen of the United States.^^' Pella 's first town officers were elected in Septem- ber, 1855. W. J. Ellis, an American, became mayor ; three Americans and three Hollanders were chosen as aldermen in three wards: G. Boekenoogen was elected recorder, Isaac Overkamp treasurer, and A. Stoutenberg marshal. Since that day Hollanders have held a majority of the city offices, but despite a numerical superiority over their Yankee neighbors they have not clannishly monopolized all positions. This is apparent from the names of their mayors before 1880: Isaac Overkamp, John Nollen, Wil- liam Fisher, Henry Hospers, H. M. McCuUy, H. Neyenesch, and E. F. Grafe. Dutch voters, however, in municipal as well as other elections have not al- ways been free from the charge of carelessness and irresponsibility : they have sometimes neglected their duty as citizens by staying at home and have allowed keener Americans to win the offices."^ It is an interesting and noteworthy fact that the Dutch of Pella and vicinity have been consistently and conservatively Democratic in their politics. PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 225 When they overwhelmingly rejected the prohibitory statute of 1855 they did so not because they coun- tenanced drunkenness, but because it was a dis- tinctively Eepublican measure repugnant to their ideas of temperance. Scholte, himself a minister of the gospel, insisted it would be difficult "to find in the United States ten beer-shops kept by Dutchmen ; they are commonly Germans". When some politician remarked in the spring of 1856 that there were "not enough wooden shoes in Pella to gain the victory" in Marion County, the spokesman of the Hollanders answered that "the men with wooden shoes and the men with boots and slippers ' ' had voted unanimously against the Know- Nothing Republicans, would do it again, and were "certainly ahead of those bogus Americans who have the lunatic presumption to maintain that men born upon American soil are the only fit political rulers in our Republic," — adding that "honest Dutchmen have brought too much true Republican- ism with them from the old country to be deceived or frightened by such bogus republicans ". " When- ever there is an opportunity of striking a blow for true Republican liberty", he continued, "the de- spised wooden-shoe nation will be at hand to kick would-be despots and exclusivists into the abyss of political oblivion. They may be slower than the live Yankee race, but they can endure and wait. They can be bowed, but not crushed. ' '-°° Scholte sometimes delivered speeches in the Dutch language on political questions of the day, 226 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA and through his newspaper he made himself clear on the subject of slavery. He believed that slavery should be removed from American soil by honorable means. At the same time he supported the Demo- cratic party because other parties as he thought had combined, with slavery as a pretext, to over- throw the Democratic regime in order to gain politi- cal supremacy for themselves. In the summer of 1856 he announced to his readers that owing to the tension between political parties and the unreasonable, partisan way in which a certain Dutch newspaper of Wisconsin supported the newly organized Republican party, he had been goaded to dedicate three columns of The Pella Gazette to the good of countrymen who could read only the Dutch language : *'In that space more real good can certainly be said than the Nieuwsbode has ever delivered in a whole number". Then followed editorials on political questions for several months. He later congratulated the wooden-shoe nation of Lake Prairie Township on its aid in securing the triumph of the Democrats in Marion County, and again on casting 345 votes for Buchanan as against 136 for Fremont.'" In the summer of 1857 the Hollanders of Lake Prairie Township presented an almost solid Demo- cratic front and voted down the Republican party draft of a new State constitution by a vote of 270 to 63 ; and by a vote of 280 to 6 they declared that the negro should not be allowed the right of suffrage. On the latter point Marion County voters were al- PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 227 most unanimous — the total vote standing 1748 to 24. It was at this time that Scholte wrote the fol- lowing : Our society consists, in about equal numbers, of Ameri- cans — the descendants of the men who planted the stand- ard of popular sovereignty on this continent — and of Hol- landers — the progeny of those who were the first to main- tain in Europe religious and political liberty and the right of men to govern themselves, who humbled Spain, burnt the Royal men-of-war of Great Britain in sight of the British capital, placed William III upon the throne of England, and laid the foundation of the Empire State. A few Ger- mans and Irish complete our numbers. Intermarriages between the different white nationalities indicate that distinction on account of place of birth is un- known among us; but we have not lost our self-respect so completely, as to open our family circles to amalgamation with the black race. . . . We do propose overwhelm- ingly to vote down the infamous principle of Negro Equality.-"- At the joint convention of the Senate and House of Representatives of Iowa, held on January 26, 1858, James W. Grimes was elected United States Senator; John Teesdale became State Printer, and Henry P. Scholte was defeated by F. M. Mills for State Binder: each victor received sixty-four, each vanquished candidate forty-one votes, the Repub- licans winning. During the early months of 1859 Scholte was elected a delegate to the Democratic State Conven- tion. Great was the astonishment when he did not attend, and very great indeed when he appeared at 228 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA the Republican State Convention and helped nomi- nate Samuel J. Kirkwood for Governor. It was re- ported : "Mr. Scliolte is in attendance from Marion County as a Republican delegate. He represents a large body of Hollanders who have heretofore voted the Democratic ticket. The accession of Mr, Scholte and those he represents will give us Marion County with a gain of two Representatives and one Sena- tor."'°^ "I consider it no dishonor for any man to change his political principles if he becomes convinced that they were wrong", wrote Scholte in regard to his desertion to the ranks of the Republicans. ' ' On the contrary I should deem it dishonorable to hold fast to principles of government for party's sake, when a man is in conscience convinced that those prin- ciples are wrong." As a genuine disciple and ad- herent of Henry Clay he was convinced, he said, that he could ''never become identified with the so-called Democracy, without sacrificing every honorable con- viction .... upon the altar of so-called party interest. Not being prepared to stoop so low as that, there was no other way for me but to leave the party. ' ' Scholte could no longer be allied with a party which was behaving itself so foolishly on the slavery question. He said he had no apology to make to the Democracy for favors received, and that hence- forth his object would be ''the conversion of politi- cal sinners and heretics ; the conviction of the misin- formed and misguided; and the strengthening of PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 229 the faithful lovers of liberty, independence, and union ".^°* But whatever Scholte's views were on political questions during those pre-rebellion days and how- ever he may have communicated to his neighbors his ideas in favor of Republicanism, the Hollanders were still strongly Democratic in the State election of 1859 when they cast about 364 votes for Augustus C. Dodge and 146 for Samuel J. Kirkwood for Gov- ernor. On January 25, 1860, at the Republican State Convention held at Iowa City, Scholte was elected as a delegate-at-large to the Chicago Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. He afterwards urged the voters, instead of sending pettifoggers to make noise and confusion, ''to work and vote with a will for Lincoln, Hamlin, and Curtis, and for the worthy candidates for our State ofiSces, not forgetting that our county government, as a general thing, is very badly managed through democratic misrule. ' ' ^°^ Nevertheless, in the autumn election of 1860 Marion County (the Hollanders included) cast a ma- jority of ninety-nine votes for Stephen A. Douglas for President. It is asserted that though Pella and vicinity had been almost exclusively Democratic, Scholte's efforts through his newspaper resulted in many desertions to Republican ranks, and Demo- cratic power in this Dutch stronghold was consider- ably curtailed not only by his newspaper articles but also by a pamphlet on "American Slavery ".-"*' After the election of Abraham Lincoln to the 230 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA presidency, the secession of several Southern States from the Union threw the country into war. Gov- ernor Kirkwood's appeal for volunteers did not go unheeded among the Hollanders of Iowa. Funds were collected at Pella to encourage volunteers, and Scholte offered a lot of land in North Pella to every volunteer. These lots were later called ''soldier lots". A few men, heads of families who were drafted into the service, were replaced by substi- tutes paid with funds which the Hollanders contrib- uted for that purpose. The women of Pella also, like other women in Iowa, were active in collecting and forwarding necessities for the sick and wounded soldiers.^'^^ No less than sixty-three Hollanders from Pella, twelve from Keokuk, twenty-four from Muscatine, three from Burlington, six from Dubuque, and a few from other towns enlisted in Iowa infantry and cavalry regiments ; and a number did not return home from fields of battle. They served the country in the battles and skirmishes of campaigns in the South. By their valor and bravery they at least showed that Democrats could espouse the Union cause against secession States ; and although the city of Pella was the home of a numerous Democratic element called the ''Copperheads" — an appellation which denoted the character of their attacks upon President Lincoln's administration and Governor Kirkwood's proposal to raise a loan of $800,000 for defence — there were no Hollanders implicated in such treasonable practices.""* PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 231 During the early months of the war after the first reverses of the Union armies, Pella men showed their loyalty and forgot party by supporting the Union cause. Scholte warmly advocated Republican principles and just as strenuously attacked Demo- cratic pro-slavery views. By their acts the Hol- landers, especially the young men, showed that they were body and soul in sympathy with the northern attitude toward slavery. All were well conversant with American affairs in 1860 and realized what issues were at stake. Political party activity among the Hollanders living in the vicinity of Pella in three counties has moved along the same Democratic groove since the time when they first commenced to use the ballot box. They have seldom been addressed by political orators in their native tongue, but since 1861 through the columns of an influential Democratic newspaper printed in the Dutch language they have been kept well posted on public questions and political affairs of city, county. State, and Nation. A slight Republican majority for Kirkwood, can- didate for Governor in 1861, showed the attitude of Marion County and Dutch voters during that crisis, and was unique because Marion County has gen- erally been devotedly Democratic. In the years 1863 and 1865 the county again appeared strongly Demo- cratic for James H. Tuttle and Thomas H. Benton, Jr. A radical Republican newspaper in the Eng- lish language was launched at Pella in 1865 ; but this organ survived only a short time. Another news- 232 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA paper, published in Dutch and devoted to the in- terests of the Eepublican party, lasted for only two years. After Lincoln and Grant had received slight presidential majorities in 1864 and 1868, Democratic conservatism once more came to the surface in Marion County. Election returns for 1875, 1881, and 1885 showed that Lake Prairie Township polled the heaviest Democratic vote in the county and since 1887 the Pella wards and Lake Prairie Township have been strongly Democratic. In 1897 Bryan re- ceived a heavy vote for the presidency, and in 1898 White was strongly endorsed for the governorship. Bryan was again a strong favorite over McKinley in 1901. Since 1902, however, the Republicans have been slightly reducing Democratic strength in the Dutch strongholds. But even Roosevelt, with his Dutch name and Dutch ancestry, failed to get the support of a majority of the burghers of Pella and of the farmers of such Dutch townships as Lake Prairie and Summit in Marion County, and Rich- land and Black Oak in Mahaska County. President Taft fared badly among the Hollanders of this part of Iowa in 1908.=^°^ Although the Hollanders of Pella and vicinity have always been fairly faithful in their attendance at the polls, they have not often occupied county offices — due to the fact, of course, that they have spread out over three adjoining counties, thus spoil- ing chances for a solid Dutch vote. By a judicious PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS 233 exchange of votes, however, a Hollander has occa- sionally been rewarded with a ^'political plum". The first Dutchman elected to county office was Auke H. Viersen, who was treasurer and recorder during the early years of the Civil War. In 1865 the Eepresentative from Marion County was B. Van Leuven, a Pell a merchant but a Knickerbocker by birth. In 1868 and 1870 Henry L. Bousquet be- came county clerk. Henry Hospers, nominee for State Representative, was among the Democratic candidates who were snowed under in the autumn election of 1869. If he had been successful, one may only speculate as to whether or not a prosperous Dutch colony would ever have risen on the prairies of Sioux County. Pierre H, Bousquet was a county supervisor in 1869, as were Herman F. Bousquet and Henry L. Bousquet in 1874 and 1877; and Sipke H. Viersen became recorder in 1872. Viersen had been placed upon the Republican ticket as a bid for the Dutch vote: the Republicans of Knoxville hoped in this way to make their ticket successful, but they did all they could to defeat the Dutch candidate. Had it not been for the votes of some sixty Democrats in Lake Prairie Township, Viersen would have been beaten by his so-called Republican friends. Since 1886 Dieles van Zante, Leendert van den Linden, J. B. Vriezelaar, and D. G. van Zante have been county supervisors at various times from the Pella district ; while Stephen de Cook served in Ma- haska County. Other officials of Marion County 234 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA were Auke H. Viersen, Teunis Tysseling, D. W. Langerak, G. van der Wilt, B. Kersbergen, and Meyer Langerak. Herman Rietveld, the Dutch Democratic candidate for State Representative who was elected in March, 1898, to complete the unex- pired term of H. M. McCully, an American citizen of Pella, was defeated for reelection in 1899. Dutch voters were reminded at election time that Sioux County had been represented in the lower house of the legislature by a Dutchman and that the Hol- landers of Marion County deserved the same honor.^^° XXIX POLITICS IN SIOUX COUNTY When the Hollanders established themselves in the southeastern townships of Sioux County they found politics and county offices in the hands of a few Amer- icans at Calliope, the county seat and only town. Dutch voters were almost at once as numerous as American settlers, and at the first election they placed two of their candidates in office: Tjeerd Heemstra became chairman of the county board of supervisors in January, 1871, and Jelle Pelmulder became clerk of the district court, a position which he retained continuously until 1887 — the longest term ever held by an officer of Sioux County. In the autumn of 1871 the Hollanders nominated three candidates, one of them an American, for county office and later elected them: Henry Hos- pers as member of the board of supervisors, and A. J. Betten as auditor. The victorious Hollanders had the pleasure of driving twenty-three miles across country through blizzards and cold weather to per- form their duties at Calliope. Thus in January, 1872, three officers-elect journeyed from Orange City to the county seat where the board of supervisors convened. Hospers took the oath of office; but when his comrades came forward and presented 235 236 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA their ofScial bonds the Calliope members of the board refused to accept them. Three times they balked despite the vigorous protests of Hospers. Incensed by this unreasonable policy of the American office-holders, about one hundred and fifty men, three-fifths of whom were Hollanders, hitched up their teams one bitterly cold day in Jan- uary and drove to Calliope in ''bob-sleds" to ex- ercise their powers of persuasion. It is reported that when this long train of horses and sleds ap- peared in sight of the courthouse, the chairman of the board of supervisors hastily adjourned; and as he was preparing to flee to the Dakotas the angry Hollanders arrived, unhitched his team, and told him he had better attend to business, approve the bonds, and place their men in office. A Sioux City lawyer, aided by Hospers, pleaded the merits of the case for a few hours while the Orange City men tended to their horses and fried ' ' bacon and ham of which there was a good quantity, found in a barrel in the court-house." All argu- ments fell upon deaf ears, and the upshot of the controversy was that the visitors called upon the county treasurer to surrender his key in order to give them access to the county records and docu- ments. Wlien they obtained a key which failed to open, they backed a sled against one corner of the courthouse, chopped a large hole in the building, let down the steel safe, and started back across the prairies in a blizzard. All arrived home at mid- night, without the hea\y safe which was stuck in a POLITICS IN SIOUX COUNTY 237 snowdrift. When they hauled their booty into Orange City the next day, it is said that ' ' a thousand gnns were fired in honor of the occasion." Some days later the sheriff came to announce that the board of supervisors would capitulate, and so with several yoke of oxen he bore the safe and its con- tents back to Calliope. The Hollanders, however, had won their iSrst victory over 'Hhe trappers and hunters" of the Big Sioux E-iver.-^^ After the colonists had circulated and signed a petition requesting the removal of the county seat in a legal manner, they outvoted the old Calliope gang and secured the choice of Orange City as the new seat of justice. At the same time they retained Pelmulder, Betten, and Hospers in office, and the next year added Nicholas Jongewaard as sheriff, leaving three offices to Americans. Most note- worthy was the fact that while the Dutch of Pella had been conservatively Democratic the Dutch of Sioux County were overwhelmingly Republican. In 1873 they gave Governor Carpenter ten times as many votes as his rival, Jacob G. Vale.^^^ Early in 1873 Sioux County was sued on several thousands of dollars worth of bonds — an action which Hospers fought through several years of liti- gation. The Hollanders had found the county legally organized '4n the hands of a band of free- booters, buccaneers of the prairies, looters, and grafters who had gone there for the express pur- pose of organizing the form of a county govern- ment that they might rob it, sell its securities, and 238 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA impose a burden on the community that should de- velop in the future." Dutch citizens were thus face to face with a huge bonded debt of thousands of dollars for which they had nothing tangible to show. In May, 1874, they voted not to levy a ten-mill tax for the payment of these fraudulent bond issues. Not until 1876 did Hospers, chairman of the board of supervisors, carry the battle to a victory by settling the case out of court for about seven hundred dollars ! A commit- tee of the State legislature in 1876 reported that the days of unprincipled men who fattened them- selves upon the credit of Sioux County had passed away and that affairs were economically and pru- dently managed. ^^^ During the summer of ]874 a courthouse arose upon the public square at Orange City; and in 1876 a jail was erected and a poor-farm was laid out near town. In that year also the board of super- visors offered a premium of $2000 to any one who should discover coal in the county, and later raised the sum to $3000. One settler some years before had traded his homestead for mules and horses and started out on a serious search, but neither he nor any one else ever found a trace of coal."^* One of the important political events of the year 1874 in Sioux County was the establishment of a Dutch newspaper by Henry Hospers — who had al- so founded the first Dutch newspaper in Marion County. The editor declared at the outset that his paper was not to be the organ of any definite politi- POLITICS IN SIOUX COUNTY 239 cal principles ; nor was it bound to any party. But, he said, "we propose to spare no effort to encourage good-will and harmony among our colonists, even though it may become our unpleasant duty now and then to expose to public contempt the dealings and intrigues of selfish persons." Elsewhere Hospers proclaimed: ''We propose to guard the interests of our colony, to promote harmony, to fight inter- ference with our united strength as voters, to expose to contempt every person who desires disunion, and to publish an account of his intrigues and personal conduct in such plain Dutch language that every Holland- American farmer may understand. ' ' '^^ In De Volksvriend (The People's Friend) Hos- pers faithfully reported the proceedings of the county board of supervisors and also translated the proclamations and messages of the governors. He likewise showed an active interest in the political movements in the county, especially during the au- tumn of 1875. A county convention had been called where the delegates from American townships had not merely ignored the Hollanders but openly raised the slogan of ' ' Down with the Dutch ! ' ' The Yankee delegates might as well have unfurled a banner with the motto : ' ' No foreigner in office ! ' ' The Hol- landers who represented about two-fifths of the voters withdrew in disgust and allowed the Amer- icans to arrange their own program. De Volks- vriend loudly reprimanded the Americans and their candidates for slandering the Hollanders in order 240 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA to procure votes, and accused them of introducing such a nefarious spirit even in township affairs. Three days before election the editor of De Volksvriend indignantly asked: "Will you allow this sort of thing! Drop your threshing and come to the polls — let's vote as one man — don't let them win by your staying at home. Bring your neighbors — 'eendracht maakt macht' (in union there is strength). Don't vote for Plumbe but for the candidate whose name you will find on our ticket." Great was Dutch jubilation when election results became known. De Volksvriend featured the news with a large crowing cock and two columns of big type; and greeted its readers as follows: "Well done Hollanders! Holland, Nassau, East Orange and Floyd townships, you have worked as one man! Our whole ticket was chosen with a majority of from 130 to 160. It showed the unanimity of our Hollanders — what we can do when united. Two Dutchmen and three Americans were elected. . . . Unprincipled men used dishonorable means to des- troy our power, but with Batavian and Frisian fist- blows their Know-Nothing designs were demolished. An 'Aesculapius' even intends to depart." -^'^ The Hollanders who were to hold office during the year 1876 were Jelle Pelmulder, Anthony J. Betten, Francis Le Cocq, Simon Kuyper, and Henry Hospers; while the six other officials, including two supervisors, were Americans. Township election returns for 1875 showed that the Hollanders of the POLITICS IN SIOUX COUNTY 241 four townships mentioned above cast 275 of the entire number of 470 votes in the county for Gov- ernor Samuel J. Kirkwood; while Democrats from the same townships were responsible for only 40 of the 90 votes in the county for Shepherd Leffler. Since 1875 the townships of Nassau, Floyd, and East Orange, with their strong German element, have of- ten gone Democratic; but Holland, Sherman, Wel- come, and West Branch townships have been solidly Eepublican. With the exception of ante-Hollander days, Sioux County has always produced substantial Republican majorities for Governors and very large ones for Presidents. For instance, the voters gave Governor Cummins 1908 votes in 1903 and Sullivan 1027, while in 1904 they cast 2994 votes for Roosevelt and 1151 for Parker. In several townships where majorities were ordinarily Democratic in county and State elections. Republicans preponderated at presidential elections. It would appear from this fact that the Dutch voter tends to shirk his duty to vote. Gen- erally speaking the Hollanders have faithfully lis- tened to the call of their Republican leaders. In late years they have chosen to ally themselves with the progressive wing of the party, but they have not cared to draw party lines too closely when a Dutch Democrat and an American Republican were candi- dates for the same county office : one Hollander, a Democrat, has been sheriff for about twelve years since his first election in 1891.^^^ To show that the Hollanders are a factor in the 242 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA polities of Sioux Comity it is interesting- to (jiiote some Duteli names and statistics. Dui'iii^" tlu; period from 1870 to 1912, Antliony J. Betten and (j|eor<^e J. Bolks held the office of county treasurer for lift(!en years ; Anthony J. Betten, Henry J. Lenderink, Ed. de Mots, .John Boeyink, and Ilermaii T(i Paske served twenty-two years as auditoi's; h'raiicis JjO Cocq, Henry J. Lenderink, and John Jong'ewaard were county recorders for eighteen years; JeiJc; Pel- muJder and E. C. Oj^gel were clerks of court for twenty-one years; Nicholas Jon^ewaard, Jierman Betten, Peter R. Schaap and Albert Balk(!ma were sheriffs for twenty years; Simon Knyjx'r and .John Kolvoord su[)erintended s(;liools i'or t(Ui years; I'eter van Oosterhout, Anthony Te Paske, and John W. Hospers officiated as i)rosecuting attorneys for four- teen years; and Albert de Bey, .Joim Warnshuis, Prank ,j. 'Iluizen^a, Albert (/, .Jonj^ewaard, and 1). .J. (ileysteen performed the duties of coroner for nin(it(uni years. As members of tlu^ board of sup(H'- visors tin; Dutch votc^rs have elected in the third district .Jacob Koolbeek, Anthony J. Betten, Arie van der Meide, and Chas. Harmelink, and Henry Hospers and Arnold van der Wilt in other dis- tricts.==^« Political ideas amon^ tli(! Hollanders of Sioux County were considerably stimulated when the Sioux Center NierursJdad and De Vrije Ifollander (The Free ITollander) of Orange City came into existence in 1892. The former newspaper and De Volksvriend have supported Republican policies, while the latter POLITICS IN SIOUX COUNTY 24:i has been radically Democratic. The first editor of De Vrije Hollander tl^irew into his work a fiery en- thusiasm and partisanship that will long be remem- bered by his readers. No more characteristic ex- pression of his views can be cited than his editorials during the administrations of McKinley and Koose- velt. He did not hesitate to remonstrate against the former's imperial policy as indicated by the war in Cuba and the Philippine Islands; and he asked Hol- landers how they could remain Republicans while McKinley and lioosevelt quietly allowed Great Britain to trample upon the Transvaal and kill the Boers, a people of Dutch ancestry. ITie Hollanders of America — as well as those perennial enemies of England, the Irish — naturally advocated American intervention in South Africa, and many did not for- give the government for refusing to aid the South African Dutch in their struggle against "British lust".'^'^ (See Appendix B.) Three times have the voters of Sioux County re- jected the proposition to relocate the county seat. Sioux Center asked for the courthouse in 1891 and 1800, and Alton citizens offered a large bonus in 1901. Both towns were decisively defeated at the polls. By voting in favor of bonds in December, 1901, the people put an end to all rivalry: Orange City obtained for all time a beautiful new court- house and county jail."' Among their accomxjlishments in the field of Ee- publican politics the Hollanders of Sioux County point with the greatest pride to the election of Henry 244 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Hospers as Representative in the Twenty-second and the Twenty-third General Assemblies and later as State Senator for two terms. Founder of the Dutch colony, and ''guide, philosopher, and friend" to the Hollanders individually and collectively, Hospers was honored not only by them but also by other classes of immigrants who had poured into Sioux County: he retained his leadership because he pos- sessed the qualities of integrity, determination, and courage. An Iowa editor observed on the occasion of Hospers 's death in 1901 that he "will never be accorded half the honor that is his right for his con- tribution to developing northwestern Iowa. He was one of the men who deserve foremost places in the history of a great State." ^"^ Only one other Hollander has reached the State House of Representatives from Sioux County. Ger- rit Klay of Orange City came to America in 1883 at the age of sixteen, engaged in farming, later applied himself to the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1897, and obtained a seat in the General Assembly in 1908 and again in 1910. At the same time the Dutch of Sioux County as well as other citizens of the "Big Four" senatorial district of northwestern Iowa have recently had the honor of being repre- sented by Nicholas Balkema of Sioux Center, a man who was born in the Dutch colony of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, emigrated to Iowa in 1884, gained success as a merchant, and in 1908 was elected State Senator.^^^ XXX THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA Henry P. Scholte and Edwin H. Grant formed a partnership, erected a two-story building for the purposes of a printing establishment, and on the first of February, 1855, issued the initial number of The Pella Gazette with its double motto : ''Independent in Everything" and ''In Deo Spes Nostra et Refu- gium." The reason for not founding a newspaper in the Dutch language was revealed in an editorial which is characteristic of Scholte 's enthusiasm and illustrative of his hopes. After presenting a brief historical sketch of the town of Pella he concluded as follows : The consequence, is, that at present the native Ameri- can population in and around the town has become about equal to the number of the foreign-born and naturalized citizens. In the schools the Enghsh language is predomi- nant and the Sabbath School is taught in EngUsh. This, together with inter-marriage between native and foreign- born citizens, will leave in a few years but little difference between Pella and other more exclusive American towns. But we hope that the renowned industrj^ order, honesty and piety of the Holland character will show for ages their marks, in the increasing neatness of town and country, in the goodness of the roads and highways, in the most scien- tific cultivation of the soil, in the scarcity of lawyers and 245 246 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA lawsuits, in the increase of schools and other institutions of learning, and in the multiplication of houses of religious worship. Scholte had acquired a good speaking knowledge of the English language, but like most Hollanders experienced no little difficulty as a writer. The fol- lowing is not only a fair specimen of his style dur- ing the first few months, but also an indication of his feelings on a subject which lay close to his heart and caused him several times to warn his American neighbors : We must finally make one remark about the Hollanders. Commonly they are considered Germans. That is not only untrue, but in several instances it is considered by Hol- landers as an insult, — about in the same manner as if one would consider a native of England as an Irishman. Per- haps there cannot be found on the globe one nation who is naturally more apt to become perfectly identified with the American nation than the Hollanders. The Empire State of the Union has given indubitable proof of our assertion, and there is no fear that the de- scendants of a people who held out against Spain, when it was in its full blaze of glory, who drove Louis XIV from their soil, where he had already, by the mismanagement of their own momentary magistrates, penetrated with his armies in the heart of their country, and whose republican heroes burnt the royal sliips of Britain in the sight of Lon- don, will be a detriment to the American nation. On the contrary when Holland solidity is united with American in- quisitiveness and enterprise, it will make a composition which will endure the severest trials and prove to be a bene- fit to the State, the I^nion and the World.--^ THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA 247 The fact that many thousands of newspapers were issued throughout the United States to millions of eager readers excited the wonder of the Hol- landers, who had been accustomed in their father- land to club together for the reading of a few news- papers and periodicals. They were at first sur- prised to find that every American town of impor- tance had a daily or a weekly, and that every good American read his own newspaper, sometimes two or three, regularly; but when they discovered the Ajnerican's intense interest in politics and the low price of American newspapers they ceased wonder- ing. They learned that The Weekly New York Tribune with nearly 200,000 readers cost only one dollar per year, though it was eight times the size of Het Amsterdamsche Handelshlad.-^* In a community where the majority of inhabi- tants could read Dutch only, Scholte recognized a need and accordingly he inserted in The Pella Gazette a notice headed: "Hollandsche Courant". He promised to issue a Dutch newspaper for the Hollanders upon receiving the guarantee of a suf- ficient number of subscribers at the rate of one dol- lar and a half a year in advance. The Hollanders of Pella, however, failed to take advantage of the offer."^ According to an estimate made by the postmaster in 1856 the number of newspapers and periodicals which came to Pella was ''extraordinarily large". Among them were two newspapers printed in Dutch : De Hollander from Michigan and De Nieuivshode 248 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA from Wisconsin. The latter by its unreasonably partisan advocacy of Republican principles drove Scholte to devote a few columns of his newspaper to news which might be read by the Hollanders at Pella who could not read English. ''Several times", he declared, "I have been asked to publish a Dutch newspaper. Inasmuch as there were two such sheets in existence, and the Hollanders, who know no Eng- lish, are in general not busy readers, I have wavered and always said, that I was ready whenever they of- fered me a subscription list which would guarantee expenses." Scholte now decided, however, to print several columns of news in the Dutch language, and he de- clared that in case the subscribers manifested a real, live interest he would either continue this policy or even publish a separate Dutch newspaper. Every- one who approved his plan was urged to subscribe at the rate of one dollar for a half year. When the period had expired, Scholte notified his readers that "Holland news will be discontinued", and also that he would publish a Dutch newspaper, De Unie, if he could get seven hundred subscribers. They were promised all the news, civil and religious, from Hol- land and the United States that was worth knowing. But again the Hollanders missed their oppor- tunity."** In September, 1857, The Pella Gazette suddenly ceased publication : its paper supply was exhausted ; subscribers failed to pay their subscriptions ; Amer- icans refused their patronage ; the population was so THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA 249 largely Dutch; and business men did not advertise. On July 22, 1859, the Gazette was resuscitated by S. M. Hammond under the editorship of Scholte, and it flew the Republican banner for campaign purposes until it once more ceased to be issued on February 22, 1860. Thereafter Scholte wrote many articles on contemporaneous politics which appeared above his signature in various Iowa newspapers.-" The Hollanders of Pella in the year 1860 must have kept themselves informed on current events largely through the medium of the American press of Marion County and through Dutch newspapers from other States. Some of the Hollanders, es- pecially the younger generation, were now well able to read English; but the Holland-born members of the community were also enabled to follow national movements by reading the Dutch newspapers pub- lished in Wisconsin and Michigan. That a Dutch newspaper had not yet been published at Pella seems strange when there were between two and three thousand Hollanders in the community. A newspaper in the Dutch language had, how- ever, been contemplated for some time. In the year 1861 Rev. P. J. Oggel and Henry Hospers canvassed the situation, secured the necessary capital, organ- ized an association of ten share-holders, and pur- chased the printing-office and supplies of the defunct Pella Gazette. On the 28th of September, 1861, Hos- pers issued, the first number of Pella' s Weekblad. It contained American and European news, es- pecially news from Holland and the Dutch settle- 250 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ments in America, editorials on politics, translations of Iowa laws, and items of State and local interest."^ Since Bella's Weekblad reported only political, social, and economic affairs and lacked religious news, Bella's Maandhlad began to appear in con- junction with the TFee/c&Zfff? once a month after April, 1862. Edited by Rev. P. J. Oggel and devoted to the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and to reli- gious news from all sources, this publication contin- ued until its editor left Pella in 1863.-'''^ To offset the Democratic influence of Bella's Weekblad, the radically Republican Bella Blade ap- peared in 1865. After a hard struggle to survive it came into the hands of a Dutch newspaper man, H. Neyenesch, under whose direction for over twenty years it developed into the foremost Democratic newspaper in the English language in the com- munity."^** From September, 1866, until his death in 1868, Scholte published De Toekomst (The Future), a monthly periodical devoted to religion. In his ''In Memoriam" at the time of Scholte 's death on August 25, 1868, the editor of Bella's Weekblad asserted that it would be impossible for people "to forget the pearls of wisdom which lie collected in his monthly De Toekomst, and which he has left behind as a legacy, as it were, to believers, to testify to his comprehensive knowledge of the Bible and his clear insight into the living realities of the Gospel." ^^^ In March, 1867, Gerrit van Ginkel, who had learned the printer's trade on Bella's Weekblad, be- THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA 251 gan the publication of a Republican newspaper in the Dutch language, De Pella Gazette. He discon- tinued the enterprise in 1869, contracted with the Weekblad to assume the obligations of his unexpired subscriptions, and later amassed a considerable for- tune as a result of business ventures at Des Moines and in the cities of Springfield, Illinois, and Dallas, Texas. ^^^ Bella's Weekblad has always been widely read among the Hollanders of Pella and vicinity. There was a time when the Weekblad had agents at Keo- kuk, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Holland, and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Little Chute, Appleton, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Cedar Grove, Amsterdam, and Woodland, Wisconsin; Paterson, New Jersey; Roxbury, Massachusetts; Clearwater, Minnesota; Excelsior Mills, Illinois; and also in The Nether- lands. Henry Hospers, the first editor, eventually sold his establishment to H. Neyenesch in June, 1870, and went to live among the energetic, young colonists of Sioux County. The Weekblad in 1880 could boast that it was one of the largest Dutch newspapers in the United States with subscribers in nearly every State and Terri- tory, and with the largest circulation of any news- paper in Marion County. It had a Dutch rival in Pella' s Nieuivsblad for over two years previous to October 4, 1901. Bella's Weekblad has continued down to date, owned and published by H. F. John- son & Co., and although newspapers from Holland and from other Dutch-American settlements are to 252 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA be found among the inhabitants, except for De Christelijke Uitdeeler, a monthly religious magazine published by K. van Stigi, it is the only Dutch news- paper printed among the Hollanders of south central lowa.-^^ Newspapers in the Dutch language have been more numerous among the Hollanders of Sioux County. Bella's Weekblad has always circulated among them to a limited extent. The Sioux County Herald — removed from Calliope to Orange City — for a time printed some news in the Dutch language. On June 18, 1874, however, Henry Hospers, who had been the founder of Bella's Weekblad, issued the first number of De Volksvriend, which "humbly made its bow and timidly took its place among the well-directed Dutch newspapers of America." The editor expressed himself further as follows : To accomplish our aims in issuing De Volksvriend de- mands more ability than we know we possess. Our purpose is great, our powers small ! If we stop to consider the well- directed Dutch newspapers published in America, we hardly dare take up our pen; if we look at our beautiful Dutch language, so rich in expression as we read it in our ex- changes from The Netherlands, we take fright, for we have received a training more American than Dutch. We almost refuse to place our name at the top of this page as editor. But our purpose gives us courage ; even if we feel unfit for the task, our purpose strengthens us. . . . It is not to kick a little paper into the world for finan- cial profit. But it is our aim to point out to our fellow- Hollanders a magnificent spot of God's earth where there is plenty of opportunity, much promise, for many a Dutch THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA 253 household, where the Lord out of His grace, by the conver- sion of numerous persons, has shown He is well pleased, where there is abundant opportunity to train the rising generation. And now to make the facts known far and wide, to attract the attention of emigrants to our colony — to that end we shall devote De Volksvrierid, we as well as others shall write articles, and we hope our fellow-colonists will help us spread De Volksvriend. Accordingly, De Volksvriend in the early years was full of information intended to attract foreign immigration to the new Dutch colony. The excel- lence of the soil and all other advantages were con- tinually advertised. Netherlanders in Europe were strongly urged to come: **If you have no money, all you need is a good body with two strong arms and health; and if you have children, they are the best capital you can bring to America. ' ' De Volksvriend also printed much foreign news, especially from The Netherlands, together with items of interest from Pella; and it furnished its readers with general American news.^^* Locust ravages nearly brought De Volksvriend as well as the whole Dutch colony to an untimely and disastrous end. Many times the editor threat- ened to cease publication unless his readers paid their subscriptions or signed notes for the amounts due. At one time things had come to such a pass that the readers were notified to call at the printing- office in person if they wished to get their copies! On the other hand, the editor used his newspaper in those dark days to encourage and cheer his miserable 254 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Dutch friends and neighbors. Hospers' faith and confidence that the country would ultimately emerge into the sunshine of prosperity were to no small de- gree communicated to the people through the col- umns of De Volksvriend.^^° Published for many years by H. P. Oggel, editor also of De Heidenivereld (The Heathenworld), a monthly missionary magazine, De Volksvriend has had rivals in the field since March, 1892, when the Sioux Center Nieuwshlad first appeared, and Sep- tember, 1892, when De Vrije Hollander was founded at Orange City by Martin P. van Oosterhout. In late years Charles H. van der Meulen and Peter van Donselaar have owned the Sioux Center Nieuivsblad, and Henry Toering has published De Vrije Hol- lander as a semi-weekly.^^® All of these newspapers have circulated among the Hollanders of Sioux, Lyon, O'Brien, and Ply- mouth counties and other localities in Iowa to which Hollanders have removed; all are read by the Hol- landers who have left Iowa to try their fortunes in Canada, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Colorado, Wash- ington, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and other States. One characteristic of these Sioux County news- papers and of Bella's Weekhlad is the large amount of space set aside for correspondence from Dutch communities not only in the neighborhood, but also in distant States : local personal news is chronicled every week and brought to the knowledge of readers who wish to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Besides the editors and publishers of Dutch news- THE DUTCH PRESS IN IOWA 255 papers, there are several Hollanders who own and operate other newspapers and printing establish- ments in Sioux and other counties : Isaac Hospers edits The Sioux County Herald ; John F, D. Aue di- rects The Alton Democrat ; Wm. C. Muilenburg has recently purchased The Grant Chief ; J. W. Vander- burg & Co. own The Sheldon Mail-, the Southerland Courier is in the hands of G. H. Vos ; The Monroe Mirror and Marne Free Press are owned by J. Van- dermast and Dirk Tollenaar, respectively ; The Wau- kon Standard is published by John DeWild, and The Evening Times and The Cedar Rapids Republican are edited by Cyrenus Cole, a native of Pella. Newspapers in the Dutch lang-uage will exist as long as Dutch immigrants continue to find homes in the communities of their people in Iowa ; and they will prevent the entire disappearance or disuse of the Dutch language among the American-born child- ren of foreign-born parents. As the years pass, Hollanders of the younger generation who receive their early training in American public schools tend to become more and more accustomed to the speak- ing of English ; but Dutch newspapers with their re- ports of local news will be one of the potent factors which will enable children of Dutch parentage to retain at least a fair reading and conversational knowledge of their native tongue. (See Appen- dix C.) XXXI PIONEER SCHOOLS AMONG THE HOLLANDERS Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam in 1621 are commonly credited with having founded a little school which became the model for an enormous pub- lic school system covering the United States and all its Territories. Dutch immigrants to America have come from a land which has long prided itself on the high standard of both its lower schools and its uni- versities. And so competent Dutch parents who watch the education of their children in American common schools seldom fail to compare the systems in Holland and America and complain not a little of American superficiality and lack of thoroughness. One of the motives assigned for the emigration in 1846 and 1847 was the desire of many Hollanders to educate their children in the principles of the Christian faith. Not only the Dutch government but also the mass of the Dutch people were hostile to the new Separatist congregations which elected to worship God according to the Bible rather than according to government regulations. And so when the Separatists insisted upon their right to educate their children in Christian schools in the fear of the Lord, they encountered strong local opposition. 256 PIONEER SCHOOLS 257 When the enjoyment of real Christian liberty became a vain, forlorn hope, they were forced, after years of persecution, to look away from the home and colo- nial policy of intolerance in Holland to a land of civil and religious liberty. Two leaders of the persecuted congregations asked the people of Holland : Is it not true that, as the clamor for better instruction and education becomes louder, even the chief advocates of the present system complain of retrogression? And must not thousands of professing Christians educated under the present system blush at the question whether they know God and Jesus Christ better than to use their all-glorious names merely to blaspheme ? And are not those who pray God, and even offer to undertake the trouble and expense to establish their own Christian schools and do something to save this sinking na- tion, are not they opposed and checked at every step of the way ; do not local government bodies evade giving the per- mits which the law commands, and are they not supported in this by nearly all who call themselves noble and religious ? A few local government bodies which would like to grant to inhabitants what the law allows do not dare do so, be- cause they fear that they will fall into disfavor with men higher up.-^'^ Elsewhere the same clergymen asserted: "With our lack of the goods of this world, we feel the pressure of a Government which encroaches upon the ten- derest rights of the father and compels him to choose be- tween two extremes both of which lead to wretchedness: either to let his children grow up in ignorance or send them to schools where according to his innermost convictions 258 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA they are corrupted ; where the Bible, the Word of God, the soul's food, the pure river of the water of life which satis- fies the thirst and hunger even of children is denied ; denied upon request of persons who either bow down before images or teach that children should not be burdened with the Word of God ; and who .... agree upon the theory which dishonors God and exalts man, viz., by your works, at least partly by your works, shall ye be saved, and not merely by your faith! And are there not clear indications that the conscientious teacher is censured for giving instruction in the Bible and accused of breaking the law, for which he must under all circumstances lose his position ? ^^^ Christian education for their children, therefore, became one of the things for which Hollanders ex- pected to provide as soon as they built homes upon American soil. But when they had entered upon their American farms in Marion County, they dis- covered that what was needed most and first of all was hands to help bring nature under subjection. All who were able to work were called upon to press their physical strength into service. The Hol- landers perceived that for the time being it was not so much religion and religious education as the struggle for existence which demanded the best ef- forts of old and young. Scholte himself complained that ''the things of this world" and "the new, strange, and busy pressure of life in our present un- settled condition contribute much to shatter our ideals ' '. And he also said : ' ' Nearly everyone ap- pears to be so taken up with his own strange en- vironment as to be lost in it", and ''the American PIONEER SCHOOLS 259 love of material things is more attractive than Heaven." ^^^ From the very nature of things, when the Dutch settlers had spent most of their money upon farms, buildings, and stock, they had only their hands and bodies left. The Dutch farmer who had several sons in his family considered himself especially fortunate. Since there was abundant work to do upon the farms and no capital to invest in hired labor, boys came to be looked upon as valuable assets, and they were ac- cordingly called upon to furnish their share of labor — all at the expense of education. Thus only boys and girls of tender years found their way into school. During the early months James Muntingh con- verted his log house into a school room; and here for three years he is said to have given sound in- struction in reading, writing, and arithmetic — to children by day and to other persons by candlelight. He devoted much time to the languages : Dutch was translated into English and English into Dutch, and pupils were thoroughly trained to read and write both languages. Indeed, the only child of American parents living in Pella at that time learned Dutch so well that he never forgot it.^" In April, 1848, Henry P. Scholte was elected township school inspector. No one could have been better qualified for the position, though many of his friends also were "men of education, refinement, and a high order of intelligence". Scholte had the honor to be a graduate of the famous Dutch University 260 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA of Leyden, and so was imbued with the highest academic ideals. He took a deep concern in his humble duties as school inspector of Lake Prairie Township. He divided the township into five school districts and at once organized the Pella district where Muntingh's private school had already ex- isted for a few months. Moreover, he established a second district near the Skunk River where the Dutch inhabitants soon built a house for their school-master.-" Not until April or May of the year 1848 did the Pella colonists complete a building twenty-five feet wide and twice as long, which was to serve a double purpose as church and school room. This small structure possessed an unplaned board exterior and a rough interior with cross-beams of forest timber. Within stood crude backless pews of rough boards and a few school benches made after a genuine old-Dutch pattern. Over this township school Scholte appointed Isaac Overkamp as master and Henry Hospers as reserve. In November, 1848, the children were receiving instruction in both Dutch and English, similar to that obtained by old and young in Muntingh's private school. -*- The school-master at Pella taught his pupils what the parents desired in the way of Christian prin- ciples for the development of Christian character. Every morning the opening exercises consisted of prayer, the singing of a Psalm, and instruction in biblical history. Many years afterward it was as- serted that as a teacher of biblical historv for chil- PIONEER SCHOOLS 261 dren and of doctrine for adults, Isaac Overkamp had never been surpassed in Pella, and that "during Pella's first twenty years he did more real good than most ministers do in fifty or sixty years of service. ' ' ^** As many families of Americans found homes in Pella and the village grew larger, the citizens were forced to consider the question of what kind of a schoolhouse should be built — for as late as April, 1855, they had used any sort of makeshift for the ac- commodation of their children. Was "a crowded, ill-furnished, uncomfortable room, opening upon a business street or dirty alley, without shade tree, playground, or any other pleasant object to it ... . as favorable to a healthy physical, intellectual, and moral development, as an edifice whose interior com- bines comfort, beauty, and convenience; whose ex- terior is elegant, and is surrounded by that child- ren's paradise, a playground, provided with a neat fence, shade trees, and other comforts?" The editor of a Pella newspaper addressed the parents as follows : "** Surely the good people of Pella will not much longer consent to send their children to school in a room rented as opportunity may permit without regard to comfort, con- venience or suitability. We know there is a college going up in our midst and right glad and proud are we of it ; but a college is not our school-house, our public school, the great aorta of our nation, the glory and safety of our free insti- tutions; which ought to receive our first and best care. We 262 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA are not now going to write a defense of public schools but about a school-house in Pella. In many of the older States, especially in New England, New York and Ohio, a course of instruction is adopted called Union Schools, and is fast superseding the older method in cities, villages and thickly populated country districts. — Most of us are familiar with the old method. The towns and villages were districted, and a small house consisting of one room twenty or twenty-live feet square was built in each ward or district in which all of a lawful age who chose to do so, attended school. Over this motley group presided one teacher, who had to care for and instruct all, from the young tyro in his abs, to the young man in philosophy. Many of us could record some strange experiences, es- pecially in the winter session, when the school was often- times three times as large as in the summer, without any additional room. According to the Union School method, one large house is erected sufficient to accommodate all the pupils in the place, and more too, if they choose to come from less fa- vored places; (and they will come.) A principal is placed at the head of the school and under his supervision and general control, is placed a corps of efficient teachers. The pupils are classed according to their attainments and each teacher has his own class or grade, in a distinct apartment and thus can attend to fifty pupils with less labor to him- self, and more profit to them, than twenty-five in the old way. A general plan of instruction is adopted and perse- vered in, so the mind of the pupil is not confused by the different methods of succeeding teachers, as is too often the case in our common schools. Thus Order and System, which are Heaven's first law, and the secret of success in almost any enterprise are secured. PIONEER SCHOOLS 263 In the autumii of 1854 the Baptists of Pella se- cured a two-story brick building of several rooms and at once opened an academic department as the modest beginning of what they intended should later become a university. Early in the year 1855 fifty- six boys had enrolled in the ''men's department" under two men instructors, and thirty-five girls in the "ladies' department", under a lady teacher. The pupils were taught preparatory branches. At the same time the Hollanders of Pella maintained a separate school with Isaac Overkamp and Herman Neyenesch as the district teachers, who gave in- struction in both Dutch and English. Obviously the Dutch inhabitants of the city did not patronize their school to a very large extent, for the population of Pella would have warranted a much larger corps of teachers.^*' In 1856, after eight years of existence without a good schoolhouse and without adequate instruction, the citizens of Pella rejoiced to know that a large two-story brick schoolhouse and a three-story college hall were being erected, and they hoped soon to be able to say "that in these fine buildings, fine teach- ers, receiving fine salaries, are training our youth to virtue and piety, developing their intellects and storing their minds with useful knowledge. ' ' ^^^ Common schools in those days were dependent upon taxes and tuition. The teachers divided all tuition money and received a share of the school fund, which was a fixed sum for each pupil taught. 264 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA When, on New Year's Day, 1857, the editor of the Pella newspaper congratulated the people of the town on the completion of a school building for the use of both Hollanders and Americans, he offered only one objection to the arrangements which had been made for education : -^^ The facilities for public instruction should be such as to place its benefits within the reach of every inhabitant, and it is clear that high rates of tuition are a material ob- struction to this desideratum. According to the regulations of the District School in this place, the tuition at the insti- tution is eight dollars a year for each pupil. This is too high, and too heavy a tax upon such of our citizens as enjoy only a scanty share of this world's goods. If the benefits of public instruction shall be rendered general these rates must be considerably reduced — and if means could be devised to dispense with them entirely, it would be bet- ter yet. The free school is the institution for a country where the sovereignty is vested in the people, and where every individual has his share in shaping the course followed in the conduct of public affairs. Individual prosperity and social welfare being closely connected, and the latter de- pending chiefly upon the management of public business, and, consequently, upon the intelligence of the mass of the people, the extension of proper instruction to all classes of society is a matter of the highest importance to every mem- ber of the community. A school tax, sufficient for its pur- pose, and levied indiscriminately on those who send children to school, and on those who don't, therefore, is not only a just measure, but the only measure to secure the continu- ance of social harmony and prosperity. PIONEER SCHOOLS 265 In March, 1858, a new school law went into force throughout the State of Iowa. Thenceforth a heav- ier tax was levied upon the people for the pajnuent of school-teachers, and tuition fees were abolished. Parents were informed that free schools removed all reason or excuse for not sending their children to school under pretence of poverty. To insure com- petent teachers all applicants were obliged to secure certificates from the county superintendent, a new officer.^*^ In the spring of 1858 the citizens of Pella were summoned to cast their ballots for school directors. An editorial by Scholte reveals the prevailing condi- tion of local politics everywhere : "" It is necessary that every one takes the subject to heart. Pecuniary as well as educational interests are involved, and it will be wise to elect men of acknowledged integrity and capability, who are willing to work for the well-being of society. There is a scheme on foot to bring the management of the schools under the control of a class of men who are known as Know-Nothings. The citizens ought to be on their guard, and to keep the dark lantern out of their schools. In the school, at least, we want light. The citizens of this Township, as well as those of Pella, have the power to nip this scheme in the bud, if they will only use it, and beware of the evil counsels of designing men, who act upon the Satanic principle, ^^ divide and ride. ' ' Let the citizens freely exchange their ideas in rela- tion to the persons and measures to be voted for on the first Monday in May next. We owe this to the rising genera- tion, as well as to the society in which we live. XXXII CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS That religious instruction played no great part in common schools among the Hollanders is shown by the fact that the agitation for a Christian school be- gan many years after they arrived in Iowa. Rev. A. C. van Raalte, the founder of the Dutch colony in Michigan and a strong personal friend of Scholte, came to Pella early in the year 1859 to preach for five weeks to the pastorless congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church. But according to his own assertion he wished primarily to interest the Hol- landers of Pella in Christian education. At a series of meetings he provoked much discussion relative to the advisability of founding a Sunday-school and a parochial school, but he could not persuade the people to act. In the month of January, 1861, on the occasion of his third visit to Pella, however, it seems, that van Raalte had the satisfaction of seeing his ideas bear fruit. At a meeting held on the 19th of February, 1861, a committee selected by the Dutch Reformed Church to consider the matter recommended that a parochial school be established and that sufficient financial support be offered. The recommendation was adopted: the first corps of teachers consisted 266 CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 267 of Isaac Overkamp, Herman Neyenesch, and John Stubenraucli. Others served later ; but by the month of February, 1867, the school had ceased to exist. Indeed, had it not been for the fact that the pew rentals of the Dutch Reformed Church had brought in one thousand dollars more than necessary to sup- port the church each year, the parochial school would have breathed its last three years before — just as a school established by members of the Second Dutch Reformed Church had done in 1863. These two Christian schools had provided elementary instruc- tion in the Dutch language and in the catechism with the idea of enabling children to understand preach- ing in the Dutch churches. ^^° The disappearance of these institutions was a sad reflection upon church-going Hollanders who had been such strong advocates of the superiority of Christian schools. Scholte cited to them the case of Protestant parents who sent their children to Roman Catholic convent schools not from a predi- lection for that church and her doctrines, but in order to obtain superior training in discipline, in knowledge, and in the cultivation of good taste and refinement. The Hollanders of Pella had regarded the privileges of government schools in Holland as too meager and limited to conduce to well-rounded development in child life : they looked upon the training as superficial and the atmosphere as unsuitable for the growth of Christian principles in the minds of children. And yet they did not maintain Christian schools at Pella. Were Amer- 268 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ican conditions to blame for this? Like the first Dutch settlers of Michigan the Hollanders of Iowa carelessly allowed their educational program to end in failure. ^^^ In recent years, however, the idea of Christian education has revived and the Hollanders of the Christian Reformed Church in Iowa can already point with pride to four parochial schools. The dif- ficulty of giving public schools a distinctively Christian tone became more and more pronounced: the introduction of formal instruction in Christian morals appeared so increasingly impracticable that the school patrons of one Dutch church denomina- tion took matters into their own hands. The movement for Christian schools emanated from Grand Rapids, Michigan, about twenty-five years ago ; but not until the year 1903 did the move- ment strongly affect the Hollanders in Iowa. Its champions asserted that there was no real and com- plete education without God's Word, that a public school could not properly accommodate people of all shades of belief and unbelief, and that the public school wholly ignored the child's fundamental need of training in religion. They declared that attend- ance at Sunday-school, Bible reading at home, and mere mental discipline did not sufficiently train the child. By "Christian education" they meant not only instruction in the Dutch language, not only reading from the Bible and repeating the Lord's Prayer as so many public schools in Iowa permitted, but instruction that ' ' reached the heart by means of CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 269 the understanding" and moulded the character of good young citizens. Convinced that the public school, however good and sound its instruction might be, could not be other than entirely neutral in religious matters, per- suaded that if they wanted their children to have an education based on Christianity and Bible study they would have to set up their own school, many parents, members of the Christian Reformed Church, organ- ized an association at Orange City in 1904 and opened a parochial school which they now main- tain at an annual cost of $2500. They support a principal and three teachers for about two hundred pupils.^" In 1905 a similar association was formed at Sioux Center where there is a school with three teachers for about one hundred and thirty pupils, conducted at an annual expense of $1700. The farmers living five miles west of Sioux Center established "The Hope School" with one teacher, at a cost of $500 annually. In 1907 many parents living in Richland Township, Mahaska Comity, east of Pella, estab- lished a school at Peoria and secured one teacher for about sixty pupils. These are the only Christian schools among the Hollanders of Iowa, but the mem- bers of Christian Reformed Church congregations at Rock Valley, Boyden, and Hull expect to have schools in readiness by the autumn of 1912; while church people are very much interested in the movement also at Middelburg, Lebanon, Ireton, Doon, and Shel- don — all towns in northwestern Iowa. Further- 270 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA more, the Hollanders have subscribed $3000 for a school at Pella, where the idea was abandoned forty- five years ago.^^^ The morning religious exercises in these schools consist of prayer and a study of the Bible by each of the eight grades. In the primary grades the Bible story is especially emphasized, while the upper grades finish a complete course of Bible study in three years. The pupils also receive instruction in biblical geography and are taught Bible truths in connection with all their lessons throughout the day. Eeports of these private schools, like the reports of the public schools, are sent to the State Superintend- ent every year. Graduates are admitted without en- trance examination to high schools and to the North- western Classical Academy at Orange City, an in- stitution of the Dutch Reformed Church. Members of the Christian Reformed Church have, indeed, been agitating the matter of establishing an academy of their own, and are already weighing the claims of Sioux Center, Rock Valley, Sheldon, and Hull. To obviate the necessity of erecting another academy in Sioux County, a "Union Northwestern Classical Academy" has been suggested to accommodate the young people of both church congregations."^* XXXIII PUBLIC AND HIGH SCHOOLS As a rule the children of Dutch immigrants until fif- teen or twenty years ago obtained little more than the essentials of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The Hollanders of Lake Prairie Township showed comparatively little interest in common school edu- cation. Their rural schools numbered only eight in the years 1861 and 1865 ; while Knoxville Township, inhabited by Americans, had sixteen. Two hundred more children attended the district schools of Knox- ville Township, and the Americans also had a much larger average number of pupils in attendance. What was true of the two townships applied with equal force to the towns of Pella and Knoxville. Such statistics are all the more uncomplimentary to the Hollanders, because the population of their town and township, and especially the number of their children, was considerably larger than that of the township dominated by their American neighbors."" Little more can be said of the place of primary education among the Hollanders of Iowa since 1867 than that the public school system of the State has laid the foundation for good citizenship and the ordi- nary occupations of life. It has furnished the mass of Hollanders with the elements of education and has 271 272 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA offered the advantages of instruction and training to the poorest children in country and town. Wliether the Dutch immigrant parents have always fully availed themselves of such opportunities for their children it is difficult to state. In Holland, where it has been claimed that every adult can read and write, people who later emigrated to Iowa have at least learned the rudiments. But in the struggle for existence and wealth in Iowa very many Hol- landers have lost sight of cultural pursuits. By force of circumstances some have weaned their chil- dren from school at an early age, while others have been easily satisfied to see their children finish the grammar school, or at best the high school. It is indeed doubtful whether one child out of twenty-six has continued in school beyond the eighth grade — a statement which does not flatter the Hollanders in America as a people thirsting for education. In agricultural communities such as Marion and Sioux counties where wealth has had such powerful attractions, where work of all kinds was so plentiful and hands were so few, Dutch farmers, business men of moderate means, and day laborers with large families could not afford to sacrifice time and money to give their children a thorough education. Seeing no financial profit in years spent at school or college (''it doesn't pay") very many preferred to see their children begin work early in life, help support the family, and learn to become self-dependent. And yet, although most youths in the early days of Pella and Sioux County acquired little more than PUBLIC AND HIGH SCHOOLS 273 the rudiments of an education in their town and rural schools, not a few young men went on to col- lege. Indeed, there has never been lacking among the Hollanders a genuine interest in secondary edu- cation. So keen was their enthusiasm that Pella has long boasted of her college and Orange City has prided herself on a fine academy. High schools in the towns where the Dutch preponderate are of later date. The number of grammar-room pupils who went on into the upper grades remained so small for many years that no pressing need existed for the organization of thorough high school courses. At Pella advanced work was for a long time well taken care of by the Central University academy which not only children of Dutch parentage at Pella, but fre- quently also boys and girls from rural and graded schools in the vicinity, have attended. In recent years, also, many of the farmers in Dutch communi- ties living near town have sent their children to high schools. The Northwestern Classical Academy has provided instruction to many young people in Orange City, to those who came from farms near by, and to many who came from communities of Hol- landers in Sioux County and neighboring States. High school and academy graduates of Dutch ex- traction previous to 1900 were not numerous in pro- portion to the population. The number of pupils in the Orange City and Pella high schools was fairly large, but only a small percentage of them were des- tined to complete the course. Girls outnumbered 274 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA boys in nearly every class of graduates — a fact no less true of the years since 1900. Many young women of Dutch parentage have thus been enabled to begin careers as teachers in rural schools among the Hollanders of Marion, Sioux, and other counties, and a few are to be found teaching in the grades of town schools. Just as in other communities, boys dropped out of school before their sisters because there was work for them at home, in the office, or in the shop. Pella high school and academy graduates have obtained their higher education largely in Central University, but a few have gone to Hope College, a Dutch Eeformed institution at Holland, Michigan. With the opportunity of securing a college education at home it is not surprising that young men did not turn to colleges elsewhere, except for graduate and professional courses, in which case many have at- tended the State University of Iowa: one of these was John Scholte Nollen, president of the Alumni Association in 1911, and head of Lake Forest Col- lege. Although the graduates of the Northwestern Classical Academy and of high schools of Dutch towns in Sioux County have always attended Hope College, since 1900 many graduates have chosen to go elsewhere. Grinnell College and the Agricultural College at Ames have had their attractions, but the current has set in especially strong toward the State University of Iowa. During the past decade the lat- ter institution has had a large representation from PUBLIC AND HIGH SCHOOLS 275 the Dutch community in Sioux County, particularly from the towns of Orange City and Sioux Center. In 1912 this county, nearly three hundred miles from Iowa City, sent thirty-five students. Only five coun- ties in the State made a better showing. Orange City with its population of about 1500 had more stu- dents enrolled at the University than any other town of equal size : it boasted of seventeen. Des Moines had but twice as many; and only eight cities in all Iowa ranked higher. Such facts indicate not merely that the Hollanders of Iowa have begun to take more interest in education, but also that they have con- fidence in their university. XXXIV CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF IOWA About four and a half years after the Hollanders founded their community in Marion County, on one of the coldest days of the season, the people of Pella, both Dutch and Americans, assembled in a house on Garden Square. All were buoyant with hope because an opportunity had been presented for securing within their midst ''that which in its moral, literary and religious bearing upon the community would be more important than county or government seats." The Baptists of Iowa having decided to establish a college where they could depend upon the most liberal donations of land and money, there ensued an enthusiastic campaign to collect money from the citizens of Pella and vicinity. Many Hollanders, like Scholte and A. E. D. Bousquet, deemed higher education an absolute necessity; and even though Baptists were the chief promoters of the plan, wealthy members of the Dutch church did not hesi- tate to subscribe large sums of money. Scholte himself offered eight acres of land for a college campus.-'^ In June, 1853, the citizens of Pella rejoiced when they learned that the Baptists had resolved to ac- 276 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 277 cept Pella's offer. That the Central University of Iowa found a home among the Hollanders was large- ly due to the influence of Scholte, who showed in this way how little he cared ' * about differences of opinion regarding the less important points of religious worship". Graduated from the renowned Univer- sity of Leyden and himself a man of learning, he at once approved the plan of providing higher educa- tion for the youth of his community. The Puritans of New England waited longer for Harvard College than the Hollanders of Pella did for Central Col- lege. Scholte cooperated with the Baptists at every step, gave generously of his wealth, and at all times had the interests of the college at heart. He dreamed of a university which would one day by reason of its central location attract many hundreds of young people to its departments of law, medicine, theology, and liberal arts.^" Among the first trustees of Central University were two Hollanders : J. Smeenk and H. P. Scholte. The latter was president of the board in 1855 when proposals were asked for a three-story brick build- ing with stone trimmings. For a few years before June, 1858, there existed only an academic or pre- paratory department. Many Hollanders failed to appreciate the benefits which this academy conferred upon the people of Pella. Although the institution had been ' ' scrupulously kept free from all sectarian influences", it had not received the cordial support of the members of all religious denominations at Pella. Some Hollanders were too strongly tinged 278 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA with sectarianism to overlook the Baptist origin of the college, but others declared it an excellent priv- ilege to be able to acquire a liberal education at home in the midst of Christian surroundings even though their own theology could not be taught."^^ Among the first three students to graduate from Central University, shortly after the Civil War broke out, was Herman F. Bousquet, a foreign-born Hol- lander. When the College again opened its doors in the autumn of 1861, not a single able-bodied young man enrolled, for all had enlisted in the Iowa regi- ments. Enthusiastic graduates refer with pardon- able pride to the fact that Central University ''gave not only a larger proportion of her young men to the service than did any other school in the United States, but she gave all that she possessed", one hundred and twenty-two.'^® Van Raalte's hopes of being able to found at Pella a college of the Dutch Reformed Church as he had established Hope College at Holland, Michi- gan, miscarried in the year 1865, because the un- usually fine standard of both higher and lower edu- cation at Pella made an additional school in such a country town at once unnecessary and superfluous. Thus Central University has held the field alone (though not a few young Hollanders from Pella have attended Hope College), and like so many other small colleges of Iowa has passed through many trials during the past half century. It has always main- tained a high standard of instruction, has steadily raised its endowment, and claims about two hundred CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 279 and fifty students divided among the academy, the college, and the departments of music and oratory.^®'' Central University has never lacked warm friends among the Hollanders who comprised a majority of the people of Pella. Besides Scholte and A. E. D. Bousquet, Auke H. Viersen also faithfully served the college. In 1911 one-fourth of the college trustees were Hollanders ; while among the names of past instructors appear those of Lillian Viersen, John Nollen, Henry Nollen, and Herman Neyenesch. It can not be denied, however, that the founding of Cen- tral University at Pella was not sufficiently prized by the Hollanders for many years. While young people of Dutch parentage have always enrolled at the college, the number in attendance until about twenty years ago was almost negligible. But in the last two decades the Hollanders have been good pa- trons, and in 1911 they claimed nearly one-third of the students in the college, more than half in the summer school, not quite one-half in the academy, two-thirds in the elocution department, and more than one-third of the students in the school of music. This is an admirable showing and indicates that as wealth increases among the Hollanders of Pella and vicinity more young people will acquire the culture of college halls. ^®^ XXXV NORTHWESTERN CLASSICAL ACADEMY Of the first two buildings around whicli the town of Orange City grew up, one was the Uttle district schoolhouse. Within five years there were seven- teen rural schools scattered throughout the new set- tlement in Sioux County. But it is especially worthy of note that prominent among the ideals of the Hol- landers was the encouragement of higher education. Henry Hospers and other shareholders in the town site had from the beginning agreed to lay aside one- fifth of the proceeds from the sale of lots as a col- lege fund. To set the academy or university upon its feet there were in 1875 advocates of a plan to buy a section of land, let the soil to tenants for cul- tivation, and apply the income to the payment of instructors. But other counsellors prevailed, sug- gesting that the plan be dropped until the country became entirely rid of the grasshopper plague. Dr. A. F. H. de Lespinasse, a graduate of Utrecht University, announced that he would open a medical school to young men of at least nineteen years of age, for a course of one and a half years devoted to pre- paratory knowledge, theory, and practice. This school was ambitiously proposed as a part of a uni- versity which should later include faculties of law 280 NORTHWESTERN CLASSICAL ACADEMY 281 and theology. Orange City was suggested as the proper home for such an institution on account of its Dutch population, its healthful situation, and the cheapness of living. Seven young men presented themselves as students in the month of February, 1875, and they were told that studies would begin as soon as the new county courthouse was completed. In September and October of that year they were worrying over examinations. The school, however, was short-lived.^®^ Summoned from the Hollanders in Michigan to serve the infant church congregations in Sioux County, Eev. Seine Bolks was familiar with the pioneer educational accomplishments of van Raalte in Michigan. Indeed, he had helped other ministers to bring order out of chaos by establishing the first schools in that forest wilderness. He had been a witness of the founding, by van Raalte, of Holland Academy in 1857 and of Hope College in 1866. With these thriving institutions in mind he perceived that Orange City, too, had room for an institution of higher learning. For many years he counselled and encouraged the members of his flock to make some provision : his hopes, however, were blasted by years of distress and adversity. ''Grasshoppers", he naively remarked, *'flew away with the idea." ^^^ In the autumn of 1882, twelve years after the Hollanders came to Sioux County, and after the settlers had recovered from the suffering caused by the locusts, such lively interest was manifested that many Dutch Reformed ministers and a few busi- 282 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ness men met at Orange City and decided to found a church school, to be known as the Northwestern Classical Academy. They believed that in the ab- sence of high schools at both Orange City and Al- ton such an institution was destined to supply a great need, if a site for the building were selected at some point midway between the two towns. But when Henry Hospers came forward to donate several acres of land upon the southern outskirts of Orange City, the county seat was selected as the permanent home for the proposed academy.^^* Plans were at once formulated, money was sub- scribed by all who were well disposed, and a board of trustees was appointed. In the autumn of 1883 the principal of the Orange City public school, aided by the ministers of neighboring churches, began to prepare pupils for admission to the academy ; and in January, 1884, Eev. John A. de Spelder took up his duties as principal. From modest beginnings — one teacher, twenty-five pupils, and scant accommoda- tions in one room of a small, square frame building which the Hollanders called ' ' The Pioneer School " — the academy grew until it occupied two rooms and re- quired two teachers before the end of the first year. Then followed such an increasing enrollment that an abandoned skating-rink was purchased and fitted up for recitation and dormitory purposes in 1886, and later the first building was remodeled and converted into a residence for the principal. In 1890 Rev. James F. Zwemer was installed as principal. Legacies and subscriptions were received. NORTHWESTERN CLASSICAL ACADEMY 283 mortgages liquidated, and in 1894 an attractive three-story brick and stone structure was com- pleted upon the campus at a cost of $25,000. Rev. Matthew Kolyn succeeded as principal in 1898, Mr. Philip Soulen in 1901, Rev. John F. Heemstra in 1906, and Mr. Thomas E. Welmers in 1910. During their administrations the academy has been nursed through many financial troubles ; but in 1911 it stood upon a solid footing, free from debt. Since its foun- dation it has been served by nearly forty teachers — all Hollanders, members of the Dutch Reformed Church, and mostly graduates of Hope College. The Northwestern Classical Academy was not intended as a mere high school. The chief aim of its founders was to lay a thorough foundation for a liberal education and to fit young men for entrance into college, especially Hope College, also an insti- tution of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1911 the academy furnished sound instruction in three courses: the classical, the modern classical, and the normal, which has recently been added to prepare young people for teaching, especially in rural schools. Greek and Latin, mathematics and science, history and English, vocal music, German, and Dutch are the subjects taught. The retention of Dutch as a part of the curriculum was explained as follows : The study of the Dutch language is a characteristic feature of this institution. And it is altogether fitting tliat it should be so, considering that many of our students come 284 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA from Dutch homes, that the language \vill doubtless yet long be used in a section of the church which this institu- tion is especially designed to serve, and that no one, who counts the Dutch his mother tongue, should, while seeking the advantages of a higher education, fail to have or seek an interest in the extensive and rich literature of this peo- ple. . , . The work is made optional; one semester is devoted to it, during which the principal points of grammar and syntax are carefully studied in connection with selec- tions from standard authors. The founders of the academy desired not merely to serve the immediate neighborhood of the school in Sioux County: they had in mind all localities to which the Dutch Eeformed Church was spreading, and although most of the pupils have come from Orange City, Alton, Sioux Center, Maurice, Hospers, Eock Valley, and Boyden in Sioux County, not a few have come from Dutch Reformed congregations else- where, as in Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and other States. The need of higher education on a Christian basis in harmony with the tenets of Calvinism was an im- portant factor in the organization of this academy, and so the curriculum has always included Bible study. The reason has been stated as follows : The systematic study of the Bible finds a place in our curriculum. We believe it to be essential. We hold that God is the fountain of all knowledge and that the principles of revealed truth are basic to all true intellectual develop- ment and every branch of learning. During the first three years one hour a week throughout the year is devoted to this study. Taking for granted that NORTHWESTERN CLASSICAL ACADEMY 285 the student is tolerably familiar with Sacred History, we aim rather to point out the system of truth embodied in this history and trace the great principles which are to be found in God's Revelation from cover to cover. The Reformed Church is distinctly a truth confessing church. The Heidelberg Catechism is used as a guide during the first two years, while Sell's Notes form a course for the third year. In the absence of a more substantial foundation, such as a large endowment fund, the academy has been dependent upon the annual contributions of its friends and upon assistance from the Board of Edu- cation of the Eeformed Church. Although it is a sectarian or denominational institution, founded, superintended, and maintained by members of the Dutch Reformed Church in America, those who seek admission need only possess "good moral character and studious inclinations", and many a poor boy or girl desirous of an education has been aided by the academy's Board of Benevolence and the Women's Executive Committee. All pupils are required to attend morning chapel services and recitations, and are expected to be in faithful attendance at some place of public worship. "Dancing, card-playing, and the use of tobacco on the campus is forbidden. ' ' The board of trustees has always been composed largely of ministers of Dutch Reformed congrega- tions in the neighborhood. These gentlemen have been no small factor in developing the school, and to no small degree have they been responsible for a record in which hundreds of Hollanders in Sioux 286 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA County and elsewhere have taken unconcealed pride. While the number of students has never been large, ranging from sixty to seventy-five, under the tute- lage of four or five teachers, the academy has main- tained itself in the face of many competing high schools. Graduates of the academy in their loyalty and enthusiasm point to the past record of the school as a heritage which speaks volumes when mere words fail. Since the first class of three left " N. W. C. A. " in 1885, the graduates have come to number about two hundred and sixty. Nearly three-fourths of these have pursued a college course in whole or in part. They have yielded seventeen physicians, ten lawyers, more than sixty teachers, and almost seventy clergymen and missionaries, most of whom received their training at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary at Holland, Michigan. And the names of these young men and women graduates indicate that all, with perhaps two or three excep- tions, were Hollanders. ^^^ XXXVI EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE AMONG THE HOL- LANDERS IN IOWA The dictum of William of Orange that "conscience is God's province" was entirely ignored in 1815 when Holland, as well as the rest of Europe, under- went almost complete reconstruction. Napoleon had preached the separation of church and state, and when he took possession of Holland he sent the Dutch Church about its business. Then Holland fell into the hands of William I who easily prevailed upon the declining Reformed Church to return to dependence upon the state exchequer at the price of a modified constitution. King William resolved to make all members of the established church conform to his ideas of the new church polity, but after some years of persecution he conferred upon conservative churchmen, who adhered to the orthodox doctrines of Calvinism, the privilege of maintaining their own congregations. These Seceders were so generally despised by the masses of the people of Holland and hundreds came to such a state of poverty that many were led by their pastors to forsake the fatherland and seek full liberty of conscience and freedom of worship in the solitudes of Michigan and Iowa. The spirit exliibited by these people in twelve 287 288 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA years of religious strife in Holland was transplanted to the prairie farms of Marion County, Iowa. Eight months after landing in America, Scholte, their pas- tor-leader, pictured the spiritual state of his fellow- countrymen at Pella as follows : ^^^ Ever since our coming regular Sunday services have been held, first partly in the open air on account of the lack of sufficiently roomy houses. Later when 0. H. Overkamp finished his house in the city, he kindly allowed it to be used for Sunday meetings, which were generally very well attended. . . . Besides, the people gather during the week to practice reading and interpreting the Holy Scrip- tures. The building which is to serve as a school-room and also as a house of worship is fifty feet long and half as broad, and will be finished soon. . . . One may converse with many on religious subjects; and although our people were adherents of diiferent sects in Holland, they are all Christians and thus far form but one congregation. The preaching of the Word is listened to attentively, and although a difference of opinion exists it is not productive of strife ; sometimes differences are de- bated but without resulting in hostility or bitterness. The immigrants at once organized a congrega- tion with five elders and three deacons, became in- corporated under the laws of Iowa as an independent religious society by the name of "The Christian Church at Pella", adopted a constitution on the 13th of November, 1848, and declared that their church was "founded upon the one, entire and in- divisible Word of God as revealed in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments." In conformity with the Bible they recognized the doctrines and con- EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE OF HOLLANDERS 289 fession of faith of the orthodox Protestant churches as the true standard of belief, and were prepared to join in Christian fellowship with every congregation which confessed the same faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They also provided that every person who confessed his belief in the Trinity and whose conduct was consistent with his belief would be received into the church. Accord- ingly, candidates for membership in the church were required to be rich in Christian knowledge: many were denied admission because they lacked the neces- sary experience in Christian life.-" To the superficial observer it seemed as if re- ligious life flourished at Pella in the early months, but in writing of all that God had done for them, Scholte concluded: "If we are asked what we are doing for God, shame and humiliation surge within us; for though we ought to shine as lights in the world, if we were to go to meet God, some of us would surely have to say that our lamps are going out. ' ' Scholte was compelled to admit that as to the spiritual condition of his people he had no special boast to make: "To be frank in what I write, I must confess that religion does not flourish, because there is no evidence that God's Kingdom and right- eousness assume a foremost place in daily life, but rather the things of this world." Some were so af- fected with self-interest and self-seeking and so al- tered by the incidents of the long journey from Hol- land and the strenuous life of the new country that Scholte believed their Christian ideals were shat- 290 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA tered : surely not many glorified God.^*^^ ' * The sud- den change", he wrote, "from a condition of op- pression and anxiety in Holland to one of space and freedom has caused a dizziness, and therefore the American love of material things is more attractive than Heaven." Scholte longed heartily for a revival such as Americans were accustomed to, though his own peo- ple had never heard of evangelistic methods in Hol- land. Many times he had been pained by the ir- religious conduct of the rising generation. Not many months later, in November of 1848, he rejoiced to re- port a tremendous reformation. Suddenly inspired by the Christ-like example of a poor and ignorant servant girl, scores of young people as well as adults were turned from the path of evil. This experience resulted in a spiritual awakening in the hearts of all members of the congregation, and Scholte asserted : ' ' Now Pella has become doubly dear to me, because the Lord has shown that he wishes to dwell in our midst, and I must not conceal from my former fel- low-countrymen the great things that God has done and is doing for us. ' ' ^^^ During the early years Scholte preached on Sun- day afternoons, while Rev. A. J. Betten or the el- ders took charge of morning services. Children of the congregation were not allowed to miss instruc- tion in the Heidelberg catechism: they were faith- fully taught by Isaac Overkamp for many years. A fresh infusion of religious life came when Pella wel- comed the immigrants of 1849, of whom such men as EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE OF HOLLANDERS 291 H. van Houten, John Hospers, A. E. D. Bousquet, Jacob Maasdam, and A. C. Kuyper became leaders in the church. The first regular Sunday-school at Pel- la, established and superintended by A. E. D. Bous- quet, was held for many years in an old log house on Garden Square.-^" In 1851 the Christian Church split into two con- gregations, which, however, reunited later. About the same time occurred the fatal breach between the pastor and a large part of his flock. When Scholte laid out the town of Pella in 1848 he made a map which showed that he intended Garden Square to be used as a public garden around which he expected citizens to purchase lots for homes, and that he re- served one-fourth of a block west of Garden Square for future church and school purposes. Scholte 's intentions as thus indicated caused places of business to become scattered about town until Americans be- gan to arrive in Pella. With true Yankee foresight they bought lots facing Garden Square and set up their shops. Scholte, "who was easily won over to the side of what was genuinely American, quickly noticed that what he had set aside to be a place for quiet and rest was becoming the center of business and industry, and therefore not a desirable neigh- borhood for God's house." When in the summer of 1854 he received a tempting offer for a part of Church Square, he did not hesitate to accept it.-^^ Scholte 's church council or consistory resented his independence, declared that he had no right to act so arbitrarily without consulting them, and con- 292 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA tended that by designating a parcel of land as Church Square he had granted and dedicated it to the Christian Church. Scholte replied that these lots had not become church property because he had never made a deed of gift, that in his judgment the lots facing Garden Square had become more suitable for stores than for a church, and accordingly he pro- posed to donate to the church another site in a quiet part of town. Upon his refusal to restore the land, Scholte was suspended and forbidden to preach until he surrendered. Indeed, the Christian Church at Pella brought the matter into court and even ap- pealed to the State Supreme Court, but Scholte 's view prevailed."^ Despite this friction, members of the congrega- tion were not unanimous in their opposition to Scholte. Many followed him out of the church and for a time heard him preach in a barn and later in a painter's shop. Then Scholte built for himself and his people a meeting-house with low, sharp-pointed steeple, and above its entrance inscribed these words in large black letters : ' ' MDCCCLV. In Deo Spes Nostra et Refugium." The Second Christian Church congregation flourished independently until about one year after the death of Scholte in 1868. He usually preached on Sunday afternoons, while capable men took charge in the morning. For some years there were no elders and deacons, but the men of the church transacted church business at weekly meetings. Men were specially appointed to teach the children the catechism. But the fact that EARLY RELIGIOUS LIP^E OF HOLLANDERS 293 Scholte's influence at Pella was severely shaken by the fatal breach is apparent from the following : ^'^ Being the only one among the colonists who was famil- iar with the language, laws and customs, he had to enter into all the material concerns of the colony. Thus he was gentleman farmer, owner of saw-mills, brick-kilns and lime- kilns, land-agent, notary, printer, broker, banker, dealer in farm implements, attorney, editor, owner and publisher of a weekly, and so on. This combination of manifold duties led to his loss of spiritual power. No less hurtful was his active share in politics which brought him into clashes with a numerous class of men who make politics their business. XXXVII THE DUTCH REFOEMED CHURCH IN IOWA On his way to the American West in 1847 Scliolte met many clergymen of the old American Dutch Re- formed Church at New York. In answer to their urgent appeals to ally himself with their synod he said that he had no inclination to do so. It was his impatience with human regulations in church life, his spirit of independence which compelled him to turn a deaf ear to their proposals. In fact, he could not be said to belong to any sect. "Boldly and cheer- fully", as he expressed it, "do I profess that God's Word is my only regulation in the affairs of God's church on earth. ' ' Between him and his fellow-Separatists in Hol- land there had once arisen a difference of opinion as to the application of the church regulations pre- scribed by the Synod of Dordrecht, the administra- tion of sacraments to the unconverted, the baptism of children, the return of Christ, and other subjects, which led to so much friction that at a general synod of the Separatist congregations in 1840 Scholte was forbidden to preach the gospel. It is not surprising, therefore, that he did not hurry to the fold of the Dutch Reformed Church or any other church in America, though van Raalte and his Michigan people were welcomed as early as 1850."* 294 DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 295 The First Christian Church at Pella emerged from the quarrel with Scholte and for a short time its members worshipped God without a pastor, until they elected one of their number, Rev. A. J. Betten, to fill the vacancy in 1855. The congregation had always observed the sacrament of the Lord's Supper every Sunday. This was an innovation which cer- tain brethren felt was not in keeping with the doc- trines promulgated by the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618, and accordingly, as their number grew with in- creasing accessions of Hollanders from Europe, they formed a separate independent congregation in 1856 and called it the Dutch Reformed Church. They voted unanimously to effect a closer rela- tion with the Michigan churches, and appointed two men to attend a special convention at Chicago. In September, 1856, they secured a visit from Rev. van Raalte. At an open meeting of the members of the Christian Church and of the Dutch Reformed Church practically all of the members voted to be received into the Dutch Reformed Church in America. Thus nearly two entire congregations of Hollanders be- came united under the name : ' ' Protestant Reformed Dutch Church at Pella". Those who refused to be parties to this arrangement continued as the First Christian Church.-" The Dutch Reformed congregation tendered calls to Rev. A. C. van Raaite, Rev. A. Brummelkamp (then a professor in the theological school at Kam- pen, Holland), and Rev. Donner of Leyden, Holland, but all declined. Finally, in 1858 they induced Rev. 296 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA P. J. Oggel of Grand Haven, Michigan, to come for a few weeks, and later, in 1859, Rev. van Raalte. The first Baptist church organized by Americans at Pel- la in 1854 had taken over the Sunday-school founded by Bousquet. Since this school was the only one at Pell a, and was attended by both Hollanders and Americans, Rev. van Raalte successfully urged the Dutch Reformed people to establish a second Sun- day-school, which Dutch children attended at eight o'clock in the morning! Then in 1860 Rev. P. J. Oggel became the first permanent pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church."^ At Pella, just as in Michigan, there arose what has been termed ''the terrible language question", once so productive of disputes in congregations of the eastern American States, For many of the first settlers, who had found no time or opportunity to acquaint themselves with English, preaching in the Dutch language remained an absolute necessity ; and so it has always been in the case of Dutch immi- grants who have come to Iowa. The children who had grown up at Pella since 1847 had received in- struction in English, but had acquired only a slight speaking knowledge of Dutch: they were not pre- pared to read Dutch books or to follow Dutch ser- mons with profit. Accordingly, there was little op- position in 1862 to the formation at Pella of a second Dutch Reformed congregation which has always had preaching in the English language.^" The first Dutch Reformed Church in Iowa existed in the city of Burlington from 1853 until 1860. Dav- DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 297 enport also had a congregation from 1859 to 1876, and there was one at Keokuk from 1863 to 1865. Hol- landers were numerous enough in the district north of Pella to build a house of worship near the Skunk Eiver: Bethel Church, which has been maintained since 1866. A third Dutch Keformed church was built at Pella in 1868 and the congregation secured Rev. van der Veen from Holland as its pastor. Scholte's congregation of the Christian Church dis- solved in 1869 and became the foundation for the fourth Dutch Reformed Church, the members of which sold their parsonage and church property at auction in September, 1909, and in January, 1910. In the month of November, 1869, a series of meetings was held at Pella and the outcome was the organiza- tion of a Dutch Presbyterian Church, which held to- gether until 1882. In 1872 a society of Derbyites or ''Brethren" was formed and has existed with a small membership including a few Dutch families."^ As fast as the Hollanders bought up farms at long distances from Pella, they organized them- selves into church congregations. Thus numbers warranted the founding of churches at Otley in 1871, at Bethany near Sully in 1886, at Leighton, Mahaska County, in 1889, at Galesburg near Reasnor, Jasper County, and at Muscatine in 1891, and at Bethlehem near Taintor, Mahaska County, in 1894. Since 1902 congregations have been formed also at Killduff in Jasper County, at Sully in Marion County, and at Eddyville in Wapello County. In 1910 these churches of the Pella Classis served about eight hundred fam- 298 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ilies, and claimed an enrollment of one thousand three hundred and ninety Sunday-school pupils and eight hundred and twenty-seven catechumens. Six of the thirteen pastorates were vacant — a fact from which one might infer that the Classis was not flour- ishing, were it not for the additional fact that the churches contributed liberally to benevolent and con- gregational enterprises. ^^^ The Dutch Reformed Church spread with greater rapidity among the Hollanders of northwestern Iowa than it did in the vicinity of Pella. The early set- tlers first met in the various homes, then in 1871 they organized a congregation. For a time they were served by preachers who came from Pella every two weeks, but finally they unanimously called and ob- tained as their pastor Rev. Seine Bolks who arrived from Zeeland, Michigan, in the spring of 1872. Dur- ing the next eight years he filled the role of minister, doctor, and counsellor, while his people struggled against locust depredations. This "old patriarch" or 'Wader", as he was styled by the settlers, had wrestled with the hardships of backwoods life in Michigan ; for in 1848 he and a large body of immi- grants had left Holland and founded Overisel, Mich- igan. He was, therefore, equal to the demands of the first years in Sioux County, and hundreds of Hollanders would have forsaken their farms had not his simple faith buoyed them up.-^" For many years Rev. Bolks was the only man who ministered to the widely-scattered Hollanders. At Orange City he preached in the schoolhouse until a DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 299 separate church building was finished in 1873. Late in November of this year a famous visitor from Hol- land, in a book of travels in America, described the events of a Sunday which he spent at Orange City. Translated from the Dutch his account reads as fol- lows : 'Twas Sunday, and a Sunday which I shall not soon forget. What a quiet, almost holy Sabbath rest brooded over that scene ! . . . Such space, and such stillness, seriousness, and peace ! How well does the fresh, youthful, simple life of the little colony harmonize with that quiet, pure, virgin nature ! About us the little settlers' town with its widely-scattered wooden houses, and beyond, here and there, at a great distance, a little blue cloud of smoke rising from the green field of this or that farm hidden in the folds of the undulating prairie. But see, gradually there comes a stir! Miles away we see them approaching from all directions, churchgoers of this morning : here a light buggy or an open wagon, yonder a slow-moving ox cart, or a horseman, also a single amazon, a stout, young farmer's daughter who comes galloping over the fields, a delightful sight to see. But whether they come fast or slow, they arrive in time : those who must travel long distances are seldom late. We too betook ourselves to the large ''public square", as the place is proudly called, on which the settlers already imagine they see noble buildings but which is now nothing more than a sketch, an open plot of land surrounded by a few small dwellings and four rows of trees which can stand in our shadows. But for the moment we see a big stir there. Horses and oxen, unhitched, are tied to posts or al- lowed to graze, and little groups of men and women form here and there in front of blacksmith shop and church. 300 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Of that church entertain no lofty expectation ! It is indeed the most unsightly structure in which I have ever preached. Imagine a small rectangular building of boards, perhaps ten metres long and five metres wide, with a stove in the center and benches around it. That is the school. — Perpendicular to this school-room at one end, like the upper part of the capital letter T, there is a shed with a few rough, unplaned boards on supports to serve as pews, and against the back wall opposite the entrance stand a chair and a table for the minister. This shed and the school-room turned into one form the church. During the week on school-days, the partition between the two rooms is closed, but on Sunday for church services boards are removed from the upper part and the church is then ready to receive an audience. To be sure this is something quite different from a state- ly gothic cathedral or the beautiful marble church edifices of New York, but it appeals no less to the emotions; yes, I even dare assert, it is no less picturesque to the eye. It reminds me of Schwartz's picture of the bam where the Pilgrim Fathers in America first worshipped God. Would that my friend Bosboom, who understands so well the charm of light and Thrown and knows how to put feeling and even poetry into a stable or a view, would that he were here for a short quarter of an hour to catch the ray of light which the pale winter 's sun causes to play through the little open side-window against the dark wainscot and upon so many quiet and pious upturned faces; or would that Rochussen could reproduce that audience with a few of his ingenious, characteristic figures : men with quiet power and strength written in their bearing and upon their faces, and women, some of whom were nursing children, with hands clasped in prayer which was none the less real although DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 301 they embraced what to them was most precious on earth. I have seldom if ever been more inspired by an audience than by the one in the midst of which I was permitted to stand that morning, and if I returned any of the inspiration which those hearers unconsciously gave to me, that Sunday morning on the prairies was not entirely lost for eternity. Rev. Bolks visited the Dutch settlers in various parts of the colony, holding fortnightly mid-week services in district schoolhouses. His activity and sincerity of purpose were long remembered. ''No matter how cold or stormy it might be," one writer asserts, "or how rough or muddy the roads, or how deep the water in the sloughs, he was always at his post ; his prompt presence and his earnest efforts for the spiritual welfare of the people could always be depended on. His words of wise council, of kind ad- monition, and of encouragement and good cheer in the days of severe struggles and affliction are ever remembered with gratitude and sincere regard. ' ' When congregations arose in 1877 at West Branch (now Sioux Center) and East Orange (now Alton), Rev. Bolks served them whenever he could. An old settler afterwards wrote, with a touch of exaggeration : And how he preached — without notes and without time — hammering the Bible until the leaves flew out over the audience — thundering away until the sun went down. But all gave rapt attention and no one ever attempted to leave. To my youthful mind it was mostly a jargon of words in which hell and sin and eternal fire stood out prominent. He was not a leader like van Raalte nor a 302 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA scholar like Scholte of the parent colony but the old Dominie did what he could and will be remembered kindly by a generation of men now fast disappearing.^^^ After 1877 as the Hollanders increased in num- bers and spread out over the adjoining townships, churches sprang up at North Orange (now Newkirk) in 1883, at Maurice in 1884, at Middelburg and Hull in 1885, at Hospers in 1886, at Boyden in 1888, at Le Mars, Plymouth County, in 1889, at Eock Valley in 1891, at Sheldon, O'Brien County, in 1895, at Car- mel in 1896, at Archer, 'Brien County, in 1900, and at Doon, Lyon County, since 1902. The language question made its appearance at Orange City in 1885. Owing to the need of services in the English language for the benefit of the younger generation, a second congregation was or- ganized and styled the American Reformed Church. A similar need also existed at Sioux Center and when a second congregation of the Reformed Church had been organized in 1899 and services had been commenced, a large number of the members appealed in vain to the district judge for an injunction to pro- hibit preaching in the Dutch language because they had subscribed money for the new church building according to the terms of a contract which, they claimed, stipulated English as the language to be spoken in the pulpit. At Maurice an American Re- formed Church was planted after 1902, and another was founded at Sioux Center in 1911. These churches, mostly in the Iowa Classis in northwestern Iowa, were in 1910 the houses of DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 303 worship of about 1400 Dutch families, and claimed in round numbers 3000 communion members, 4500 baptized non-communicants, 2000 catechumens, and 3000 enrolled in Sunday-schools, while their members contributed generously to various denominational and congregational purposes.^*" Ministers of Dutch Reformed congregations in the neighborhood of Pella and in northwestern Iowa have received their training almost exclusively at the Western Theological Seminary at Holland, Michigan. Some of the older ministers, however, took their courses at New Brunswick Seminary in New Jersey. Most of the pastors of the Reformed Church in the Middle West have obtained their preparatory educa- tion in the Northwestern Classical Academy at Orange City, Iowa, or in Holland Academy at Hol- land, Michigan. These academies have always been the chief feeders of Hope College at Holland, Michigan; and Hope College in turn has been the chief feeder of the Western Theological Seminary. New Brunswick Seminary has depended upon Rutgers College and Union College for its students, and has prepared its graduates chiefly for service in eastern congrega- tions of the Reformed Church where English has been preached for about one hundred and fifty years. During its existence for nearly forty years the Wes- tern Theological Seminary has had as its motto: ''Train Western men, for Western work, on Western soil", and ministers are therefore trained to preach in the Dutch language. -^^ 304 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Most of the Hollanders of Iowa in 1910 formed part of a cliurcli polity which consisted of 689 con- gregations, 750 ministers, 65,675 families, and 117,288 members. Over four hundred of these con- gregations were situated in the States of New York and New Jersey. Michigan ranked next with 62 and Iowa fourth with 50 churches.-^* XXXVIII THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA In the month of August, 1866, forty-two members of the First Dutch Reformed congregation of Pella withdrew from the fold, declaring that they would return to the doctrine, discipline, and liturgy or- dained by the Reformed Church of their fathers in The Netherlands. They joined what was then called the True Reformed Dutch Church. This denomina- tion had been organized by five New Jersey minis- ters who found the Dutch Reformed Church too mildly Calvinistic in its theology. Several congre- gations of Christian immigrants in Michigan seceded from the Dutch Reformed Church in the autumn of 1856 and later called themselves the Christian Re- formed Church.^^^ These seceders put forth as their bill of griev- ances against the Dutch Reformed Church the fol- lowing counts : first, the forms of unity such as the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism were merely professed, not practiced ; secondly, here- tic ministers were not prevented from disseminating their opinions; thirdly, bad practices were allowed, such as choir singing, bringing corpses into the church, and funeral sermons ; fourthly, hundreds of 305 306 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA English hymns were used in addition to the Psahns ; fifthly, the publication of Sunday-school literature was allowed jointly with other denominations, and members of other denominations were admitted to the Lord's Supper.^^'' After the organization of the first congregation in 1866, a second one was formed at Pella in 1869, and others have been planted at various places with- in a radius of about twenty miles from Pella: in 1893 at Leighton and in 1894 at Taintor, small towns of Mahaska County, at Sully in 1896, at Otley in 1898, at Reasnor in Jasper County in 1898, at Har- vey in 1902, at Oskaloosa in 1903, and at Prairie City in Jasper County in 1904. The Church's growth in that region indicates how the Hollanders are spreading in three counties around Pella. In 1911 about four hundred and fifty families con- sisting of 2000 Hollanders worshipped in these churches.^" The Hollanders of northwestern Iowa brought their Christian Reformed Church connections at Pel- la with them, and organized a congregation at Orange City in 1874. Subsequently they established flourishing churches at Sioux Center and Rock Val- ley in 1891, at Le Mars, Plymouth County, in 1892, at Hull in 1893, at Hospers in 1894, at Middelburg in 1901, at Doon, Lyon County, in 1902, at Lebanon in 1903, at Carnes in 1904, at Sheldon, O'Brien County, in 1906, and at Ireton in 1908. Over eight hundred families or approximately 3000 Hollanders attended these churches in 1911. There were also CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 307 many Hollanders in the Classis of East Friesland at the towns of Ackley in Hardin County and Wells- burg in Grundy County, but most of the members of the Christian Reformed denomination in this part of Iowa were Germans. ^^^ The Christian Reformed denomination in Iowa had but few Sunday-schools, and few young people's societies or other associations in 1907, but has al- ways emphasized instruction in the Heidelberg Catechism, long deemed very important in the train- ing of children. Many of the ministers received their training in The Netherlands before they emi- grated to America, but the majority were graduates of John Calvin Junior College with its four-year preparatory course and three-year college course, and of the theological school at Grand Rapids, Michi- gan, the American stronghold of the church."^'* The Christian Reformed Church in America has increased its membership with remarkable rapidity since 1880 — a year famous in its history on account of the anti-Masonic movement in Michigan. A fierce dispute arose in certain congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church over the question whether mem- bership in secret societies was consistent with mem- bership in the church. The Dutch Reformed Church adhered to its custom never to legislate on abstract questions and referred the matter entirely to the de- cision of each church consistory concerned. Seces- sions from the older church commenced with re- newed vigor and continued for two years. Since then the younger church has opposed secret 308 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA societies because : first, they boast too much of their charity, whereas it is simply a matter of business, like insurance; secondly, they exert a bad influence on politics and political institutions, and are "an empire "within an empire"; thirdly, they have a nomenclature which is immodest, ludicrous, incon- sistent with republican usage, and even blasphemous, and the titles of their officers "savor too much of child's play and are unworthy of serious men"; fourthly, they have ceremonies too frivolous for earnest Christians and too dangerous to life ; fifthly, they use or rather abuse the Bible in their ritual; sixthly, they virtually exclude Christ as the Savior, yet they often declare deceased members saved ; and seventhly, they require unwarranted and sinful oaths. The spread of the Christian Eeformed Church since 1880 has been phenomenal compared with that of the Dutch Reformed Church. From 144 con- gregations in 1900 the number had leaped to 189 in 1911, ministering to about 15,000 families or 80,000 souls in nineteen States of the Union and in the Dominion of Canada. In fifteen of these churches the English lang-uage was used exclusively; in ten churches of the Classis of East Friesland in Iowa the German language prevailed; and Dutch was spoken in all the others. There was a time when the stream of immigrant Hollanders turned into Dutch Reformed channels, but in recent years nearly all Christian Netherland- ers have united with the Christian Reformed Church, CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN IOWA 309 chiefly because of an impression gained in Holland that the older church in such matters as retaining within its fold members of secret oath-bound so- cieties, laxity in preaching the catechism, and neg- lect of catechetical instruction, was not really Re- formed in doctrine or practice, and was too much given to Americanization. Hence the younger church has aimed to maintain Calvinistic principles and practices in their purity and to keep the churches distinctively Dutch in preaching and teaching. Ad- herents of the Dutch Reformed Church have ex- claimed against the attitude of people in The Nether- lands but have not been able to remove the cloud. ^®° XXXIX EELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE HOLLANDERS IN 1910 From the foregoing glimpse of the congregations of Hollanders in Iowa it will be seen that in most towns Dutch Reformed and Christian Reformed churches exist side by side. Except among the prejudiced and less enlightened members of the two denomina- tions there is no open hostility or show of enmity. The ministers of the two sects live on good terms. As a rule Hollanders are tolerant in the matters of belief ; and yet it must be admitted that whenever op- portunity offers they spend considerable time in pointing out each other's theological weaknesses. In- deed it sometimes seems that despite their faithful attendance at church they are more sectarian than religious. Members of the older church tend to abhor all that is ''separatist"; while members of the younger church seek too diligently for things to criticise and condemn : they are too ready to draw up indictments against the Dutch Reformed Church which has urged that its standards of doctrine and polity and those of the Christian Reformed Church are for all prac- tical purposes identical, and that, therefore, the two denominations should fight shoulder to shoulder for 310 RELIGIOUS LIFE IN 1910 311 the interests of God 's Kingdom. The Christian Re- formed Church decries the idea and prophesies that union would be a calamity rather than a blessing. Neither sect appears willing to budge : each still prefers to emphasize and judge the other's faults. And so the chasm is gradually widening.-^^ Never- theless, the fact that a spirit of Christian brother- hood exists was never better shown than when a hur- ricane in 1902 destroyed the large Dutch Reformed church at Sioux Center: the Christian Reformed congregation at once allowed the unfortunate people the use of their building for services. In their religious life the Hollanders of Iowa have always donated liberally to benevolent causes. Pella sent $1500 to the fire sufferers of Chicago in 1871; and besides a carload of necessities, such as clothing and flour, they contributed $2500 to the people of Holland, Michigan, when their city was laid in ashes. They gave munificently of their means when famine-stricken British India called for food: much money and numerous carloads of corn found their way to the hungry thousands of that land. Their charity was equally exemplified when the peo- ple of Galveston, Texas, were rendered homeless by flood. With open purses they welcomed a man who preached in their churches on behalf of an orphan asylum in Holland ; thousands of dollars were raised for the Boers ; and a similar spirit was shown by the ladies of various church organizations when they collected clothing for Boer war prisoners on the Bermuda Islands. (See Appendix B.) 312 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA For local church objects the Hollanders are equally ready to give. For instance, at Sioux Cen- ter they have constructed three handsome and sub- stantial brick church buildings, for which they sub- scribed and pledged as much as $50,000. Churches of the Iowa Classis in northwestern Iowa in 1910 donated over $10,000 to foreign missions and about $6000 to domestic missions, while the Pella Classis contributed over $4000 and nearly $3000 to the same causes. ^^^ The Dutch are regular in attendance at church, going at least once on Sunday, either in the morning or in the afternoon, and frequently attending both services. Evening services are seldom held in Dutch churches. Women usually occupy certain pews, mothers taking their smallest children with them. The men folks also sit together, fathers with their older children. Such old-fashioned practices as these, however, are beginning to disappear, and now one does not infrequently find all the members of a family seated in the same pew. Pew rents were once collected at Pella. In one church in 1860 pews were auctioned off for $4200 — a sum which nine years later had fallen to $1700. This arrangement was necessary in the days of small buildings and large crowds : people wanted to be assured of seats when they went to worship.^^^ But pew-letting was bad on principle: it was not only undemocratic but savored of sacrilege, as it was an unchristian way of raising money for the Lord's work. Worst of all it destroyed the spirit of volun- EELIGIOUS LIFE IN 1910 313 tary giving, a spirit which is now well displayed by fathers who before Sunday church services distribute one cent pieces or nickels or dimes, according to their means, to members of their families. Thus children are taught early in life to give to the church. Religion pervades the atmosphere of Dutch com- munities. Church-going is practically the only unique feature in the life of people who toil hard as day-laborers, mechanics, men of business, and farm- ers. The motto which rules them is surely : ' ' Lab- orate et orate" (''Labor and pray"). On Sundays, morning and afternoon, highways in country and town are thronged with buggies and carriages bear- ing the people — singly, in couples, or in families — to church. With the exception of Saturdays when farmers come to town for marketing, town streets are never so lively as on a beautiful Sunday after- noon. Of course not all the Hollanders of Iowa are church-goers, but those who do not have church con- nections of some sort are comparatively few. The great majority of the Hollanders attend church. They do not wish to sacrifice the spiritual welfare of themselves and their children — a fact attested by their numerous commodious church edifices in both Marion and Sioux counties. In practically all Dutch Reformed churches and in a few Christian Reformed churches Sunday-schools are held im- mediately after preaching services from three to four o'clock. Just as the church service consists of scripture lessons, long prayers, the dolorous singing 314 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA of Psalms, and orthodox sermons, all in the Dutch language, so the Sunday-schools are usually con- ducted by means of lessons printed in the Dutch lan- guage. Instead of Psalms, however, American hymn-books are coming to be used in the Sunday- schools. Once a week as a rule the pastors of the churches catechise the children. Annual Sunday school picnics and distributions of presents at Christmas time are red-letter days for the children. In religious matters Hollanders differ from Americans in certain noteworthy respects. They firmly believe in infant baptism; they cling to the catechism; they seldom if ever have exhibitions or concerts to raise money, for they are not fussy when it comes to giving; and they have no choirs. Furthermore, they do not lock church doors for the hot season: fifty-two Sundays in the year, besides Thanksgiving and Christmas days, pastor and con- gregation meet together. They take no demoraliz- ing vacations. In recent years they have been hold- ing ''mission feasts", and they have contributed large sums of money annually and not a few men and women to missions. Many now celebrate the Fourth of July in a Christian way. But they do not countenance dancing or card playing, and are seldom visited by theatrical companies. English is the language preached in only four out of fifty congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church in Iowa, while the Dutch lang-uage has been preserved in all the other congregations and es- pecially in the Christian Reformed Church. (See RELIGIOUS LIFE IN 1910 315 Appendix C.) Nothing more typical can be sug- gested to show the Hollander's extreme dislike of innovation. It is said that English preaching was introduced into New York City in 1763 not without "a lawsuit, besides sad losses of temper, money, and membership ' '. Of this remarkable display of Dutch tenaciousness one historian has written: It was difficult then, however, as it is for some of the old Dutchmen of to-day in Michigan and Iowa, to under- stand how the omnipotent God can be trusted to reveal the truth in any language but the Dutch, or in any theology but that of Dordrecht and the seventeenth century. How, also, sound catechetics can be taught in English is still, to some fresh from the turf of Patria, a mystery passing their understanding. The clannishness of Hollanders is perhaps due chiefly to their activity in church affairs. One can not deny that they look askance at the habits, man- ners, and usages of Americans in religious life. Pastors of both Dutch denominations assume a nat- ural leadership in the community and their congre- gations continue to represent old-fashioned ortho- doxy. What was once asserted with regard to the Dutch Eeformed Church applies with equal force to the Christian Eeformed Church, namely, that in loyalty to the interests of their church, in charity and truth, in practical piety and Christian bene- ficence, the people of Dutch congregations in the West in no respect fall behind American church- men. Surely they "are not perfect; they have not reached the ideal of Christendom; but they are a 316 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA serious, industrious, and pious people who do not need to retire on account of a comparison with other congregations. ' ' ^^* XL COMMUNITY LIFE AMONG THE HOLLAND- ERS IN IOWA The Dutch nation has always been an easy subject for ''the panegyrical and eulogistic historian". The indomitable traits of the Dutch national character, revealed by the annals of Holland's Golden Age which are among the most interesting in the world's history, have endured until this day, though Hol- land's splendor and glory as a first-rate power of Europe have long since declined. Despite national decay every intelligent Hollander, whether he is thrown among strangers or remains at home, re- tains a strong feeling of national pride. He honors the memory of his ancestors for their deeds of hero- ism and bravery, even when he comes to live among the inhabitants of successful Dutch communities in Iowa. Impelled by a love of religious liberty and a hope of finding for themselves and their children larger opportunities to live, hundreds of Hollanders re- moved to America in 1846 and 1847, some to dwell in the unpeopled forests of western Michigan and others to occupy the frontier farms of central Iowa. Though religion has ceased to be a cause of emigra- tion, much the same type — the Hollander of old- 317 318 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA fashioned ways and sturdy puritanical mien — con- tinues to arrive in Iowa. Those who were once heralded as ''an interesting and valuable class of foreigners" have undergone the process of Amer- icanization for several decades. More recent im- migrants — although some to be sure have left Hol- land for their country's good — are in general no less valuable as an acquisition to America's con- glomerate of nationalities. Although the Hollanders have occupied territory in Marion County and vicinity for nearly sixty- five years, they have not yet become amalgamated with the American people of Anglo-Saxon origin. They still form a distinctively Dutch community, as do their kinsmen and fellow-countrymen of north- western Iowa. For perpetuating this peculiar aloof- ness perhaps no other single agency has been so responsible as the church. In the local social life of the Dutch the churches are undoubtedly the strongest factor : they have kept the Hollanders iso- lated from close and intimate relations with their English-speaking and German neighbors. Naturally Dutch immigrants also show an in- clination to look upon the people of other nationali- ties with a somewhat supercilious air — a feeling which has accordingly retarded intermarriage. For years sons of well-to-do Hollanders have married daughters of other well-to-do Hollanders, oftentimes brothers of one family choosing sisters of another, and usually all belong to the same church denomina- COMMUNITY LIFE 319 ation, a stereotyped rule which loses some of its force with each succeeding generation. Whenever from choice or from force of circum- stances the Dutch immigrant makes his home among Americans he shows that he possesses the imita- tive faculty to a high degree : he is quick to adopt the habits and methods of his American neighbors, and experiences no particular difficulty in casting off much of his old Dutch sturdiness. But when he prefers to throw in his lot with a community of his fellow-countrymen, he conforms to a well-preserved social order based on Dutch stability and stolidity. He finds that his Dutch neighbors have lived and worked within the confines of their settlement, whether in town or in the country: that nearly all are engaged and interested in the same occupations ; and that their whole life is centred about their churches. And so with the retention of old Dutch national traits intensified by constant accessions of fresh blood from The Netherlands, despite their patriot- ism and partial adoption of the English language, American inventions, and a few American ways, the Hollanders of Iowa form a lump which can not truthfully be said to have entered the American ''melting pot". They are still for the most part an unassimilated, clannish, though not entirely isolated, mass of foreigners who have necessarily acquired an American veneer from the environment created by the political and social ideas of America. 320 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA TOWK LIFE Town life among the Hollanders of Iowa does not appear to be unlike that of the ordinary Amer- ican community, and yet upon close observation many points of difference suggest themselves. Pel- la, despite its age and its large American element, is still the typical Dutch town of Iowa. Like other towns where Hollanders live in numbers, Pella cov- ers an immense area of country, a very natural re- sult when people purchase large plots of land for their houses, barns, and gardens. Old-fashioned Hollanders are not easily satisfied with a mere city lot: they want room for a potato patch and for various kinds of vegetables of which they may eat in season and store a surplus for the winter, and they take a keen delight in exercising their know- ledge of gardening.-^^ The younger generation, how- ever, tends to pull away from the soil, and to apply spare moments to the care of lawns and flower beds. But generally speaking, Hollanders show more in- terest in ordinary gardening than their American neighbors; and except when their houses occupy conspicuous places, they manifest less consideration for lawns and lawn-mowers. Day-laborers pay least attention to these matters : few can spare the time and many take no pride in premises which they do not own. Arboriculture, and more especially landscape gardening by means of grades and terraces, seem to be classed by most Dutch towns-people among the COMMUNITY LIFE 321 frills and luxuries of life and are, therefore, not deemed worthy of much serious attention. Or- chards are comparatively few in town or country, and where they do exist they are in most cases al- lowed to grow up wild. Indeed, Hollanders in Iowa do not seem to appreciate fully the value and beauty of fruit trees : Sioux County ranks ninety-sixth in the State of Iowa, only three counties having a smaller acreage in orchards ! Ornamental trees and shrubbery are only occasionally seen. Eetired farmers, a numerous class in most Dutch towns, have more time for such pursuits as flower culture, lawn-mowing, and gardening ; and they usually have yards that are models of cleanliness and rustic sim- plicity. Dutch tulip and hyacinth bulbs have been imported every year into at least one town. Good substantial hardwood trees seem never to have appealed strongly to the Hollanders of Iowa. They cut down nearly all of the fine hardwood tim- ber of Marion County for their pioneer dwellings. There as in Sioux County Dutch farmers and towns- people have had an eye for quick results rather than for permanent beauty, for in their impatience to en- joy shade in summer and protection from cold blasts in winter they planted cheap softwood trees. Box- elders, cottonwoods, and soft maples are seldom ob- jects of comeliness in yards or upon city streets, least of all when they begin to display dead branches and decayed wood : they give towns an appearance of premature age and suggest a lack of local civic pride. Elms, oaks, hard maples, and hickories may 322 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA be better adapted to a gravel soil and running water, but they flourish wherever they have been planted in Sioux County towns, though the enjoyment of shade was postponed for several years. Picket and woven wire fences still exist to a large extent in the towns, but hedges not at all. For the sake of simplicity and economy the Hollander upon the farm prefers barbed wire, and usually builds no fence along the country road, an arrange- ment which enables him to cultivate a considerable strip of the public highway. The Hollander in town, believing in privacy as well as orderliness, sur- rounds his premises with a fence of some sort, but studiously avoids cutting off his view of the street : he wants to be able to see passersby. Houses in Pella and other Dutch towns are in general plain frame buildings of various shapes and sizes, standing at irregular distances from the street. Owing to lack of uniformity in this respect town streets present an appearance by no means attrac- tive. At Pella one-story frame and brick cottages, many with green and yellow shutters modelled after the cottages of Holland, stand here and there as re- minders of the early years. As in American towns, there are, of course, many houses of modern archi- tecture, reflecting various degrees of personal taste, but generally exteriors as well as interiors affect severe simplicity with all the proverbial evidences of Dutch cleanliness. This plainness tends to give way as wealth increases and the desire for display enters the minds of the younger people. The piano COMMUNITY LIFE 323 has found its way into the parlors of Dutch com- munities, rather as an object of decoration than as an indication of culture, refinement, or musical talent, for the music-teacher has received but scant encouragement. Hollanders show more fondness for vocal than for instrumental music. As in most other respects, in dress the Holland- ers, men and women and children, maintain the same strict simplicity. Certainly gaudiness and the latest styles from the world's fashion centers are not paraded where the Dutch live, for society makes few demands upon them. Social intercourse can not be said to reign or even to exist in private life except among peoj^le who happen to be more or less as- sociated in business, although considerable fellow- ship is bound up with church life. The genuine, hard-working Hollander is more often a man of domestic tastes, closely attached to his home with its simple comforts and a housewife's excellent cook- ing : such a place affords him the best retreat. Dutch dishes of well-cooked, wholesome foods of the heavier sort still predominate among the Hol- landers of Iowa; but of course some American dishes have been adopted. Edam cheese, smoked beef, rye bread, rusks, currant bread, Sint Nicolaas cookies, and other national delicacies have survived the journey across the Atlantic and are just as popu- lar among the Dutch in America as in Holland. Needless to say the Dutch eat heartily. A visitor to the home of a Hollander of average 324 THE HOLTiANDERS OF IOWA means is greeted with frank hospitality and unre- served courtesy. If he comes in the morning at about ten o'clock, he will be treated to coffee and something to eat with it. In the same way will he be welcomed at mid-afternoon, a custom which pre- vails especially upon the farms where the men have their refreshments regularly mornings and after- noons. Good manners are generally the mark of the foreign-born Hollander who has had some ex- perience of social ranks, but they are not infre- quently missing in Dutch children reared in the American atmosphere of hurry and money-making. Hollanders who have sprung from the middle class of townspeople in The Netherlands have re- tained intact in America most of the traits character- istic of genteel people everywhere. Culture, how- ever, in the broad sense of the word, is conspicuously absent in the life of most Hollanders in Iowa. With the exception of ministers, teachers, and other peo- ple of more than ordinary education, the Hollanders, it is to be feared, have sadly neglected even the most accessible forms of culture, such as reading, for in a majority of homes the visitor will find but a scant supply of good newspapers, magazines, and books. ^''^ To stimulate interest in reading, a Dutch woman, Miss Sieberke Viersen, donated land and money for the Carnegie-Viersen Library at Pella. Other Dutch communities are as yet without such modern oppor- tunities. The following quotation with reference to the COMMUNITY LIFE 325 first Dutch immigrants to Iowa does not apply to the great mass of Hollanders who arrived later: Even among those Pilgrims who had fled from religious persecution in Holland and were professed lovers of Demo- cracy, there were degrees in the social scale. The wealthy and educated and more refined were exclusive. They brought their ideas of social position with them. The social line between master and servant, or employer and employed, was much more marked than with Americans of this new western country. A young lady who belonged to a family of "upper ten" Hollanders once said to me: "I never worked in Holland for it was considered disgraceful there for a lady to work, but in America I find it is thought to be disgraceful for a lady not to work. ' ' ^^'^ It is true, however, that among the pioneers there prevailed greater simplicity of taste and a wider community of interest than exists among their successors to-day. In all the towns where Holland- ers live one may find unmistakable signs of undemo- cratic ways : some citizens put on airs, not marked, but none the less noticeable. At the same time there exists a fairly even distribution of wealth, and one notes neither extreme wealth nor extreme poverty; while as far as descent is concerned the Hollanders of Iowa are for the most part sprung from the com- mon people of Holland: hence there is at least an equality of birth, even if the people are not equally wealthy, intelligent, and cultured. A tendency to es- tablish ranks on the basis of wealth has sprung up ; but despite airs of superiority, real or imagined, Hol- landers in America address each other familiarly in 326 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Dutch, a thing which they did not and could not do in monarchical Holland where class distinctions and special forms of address abound. Business men of the towns naturally assume the initiative in matters of civic concern, for if such af- fairs were left to retired farmers, artisans, and laboring men, no great amount of public spirit would be shown. Much has already been accomplished in the way of municipal improvements in such towns as Pella, Orange City, Alton, and Sioux Center. Pel- la has electric light and water conveyed from the Des Moines River, about four miles distant, and lights some of its streets with electroliers. Orange City also has electricity, while the other towns own gas plants. All have telephones and miles upon miles of good cement walks and crossings. Public parks in the two older towns do not seem to inspire much civic pride, are little enjoyed, and less attended to. Band-stands also have stood for many years, but there is not the sustained enthu- siasm which is necessary to maintain bands year after year. And yet when such organizations as brass-bands and base-ball teams are called into ex- istence, they are liberally supported by the business men and citizens. Young men outgrow their period of play and early direct their efforts to the achieve- ment of financial success — whereupon they have no time to sacrifice in purely congenial pursuits. Public school buildings in the Dutch communities compare favorably with those of American towns. Jails might just as well not exist, for lawlessness is COMMUNITY LIFE 327 almost unknown. The saloons of two or three years ago have been plucked out of Pella, Orange City, and some other towns, and though a visit to their rail- road stations reveals a brisk traffic in liquor, Hol- landers are pretty evenly divided between temper- ance and total abstinence. Neat stores and good shop windows add much to the appearance of most of the towns. Wlien high market prices induce farmers to go to town with their loads of hogs or grain, and when Saturdays come, town streets and stores lose their deserted look and business becomes paramount. Then town and country people throng the shops — the former to buy goods for cash, and the latter to trade their butter and eggs for the next week's supplies. Then one hears a Babel of dialects from nearly all the provinces of Holland. There are people who speak the dialects peculiar to the fertile sea-clay and marshy fen lands of South and North Holland ; there are natives from the archi- pelago of Zeeland, from the beautiful woodland and meadows of Utrecht, and others come from the sand- hills of Gelderland. Still others hail from the meadows and moors of Overysel, from the desolate wastes of fen-land and heather-covered moorland of Drenthe; and many speak the droll dialect of the agricultural province of Groningen or the language of Friesland. Pure Dutch, when it is heard, is a wel- come relief in the midst of such a jargon of tongues. Furthermore, in conversation and in business trans- 328 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA actions people adopt Americanisms of common us- age, and oftentimes they alternate between English and Dutch. Indeed, there is no better time than Saturday afternoons to observe that the Dutch lan- guage can not withstand the persistent inroads of the English. (See Appendix C.) One still occasionally meets with old immigrants who wear plain band earrings of silver or gold. While wooden-shoes are not worn in public, they are manufactured for home use in every Dutch com- munity: they are a convenient accessory by the use of which every good housewife is relieved of the constant application of mop or broom, for either in town or country they may be stepped into as one leaves the house, worn upon wet lawns or muddy yards, and left at the door upon returning. They help to keep the house ''netjes" (neat). Hollanders take very little interest in the forms of recreation and amusement so popular in American towns and cities : they are such poor patrons of ''shows" of every kind that traveling companies habitually pass them by as unprofitable. Halls are sometimes used for political gatherings, band con- certs, and lecture courses — for which townspeople are with some difficulty induced to subscribe. Skat- ing-rinks, moving-picture shows, and dances at- tract the younger folks, but dancing is rarely in- dulged in because it shocks and antagonizes older people. Fourth of July celebrations among the Hol- landers do not differ from the boisterous exhibitions COMMUNITY LIFE 329 so peculiar to America, but in Sic ax County hun- dreds of people spend the day together in a quiet Christian way. Street fairs, too, and carnivals, and agricultural and stock shows are becoming more popular and surely more easily accessible since au- tomobiles have come along to annihilate time and space; but the devil-may-care spirit of the Dutch ''kermis" or annual fair in Holland is not to be met with in Iowa. Generally speaking, the old-fashioned Hollanders of Iowa do not assemble in large numbers except for religious or church purposes. As the years pass, however, the young people tend more and more in their everyday life to adopt the ways of the Amer- ican public and to break with the orthodox views of their elders, and thus exert a softening influence on the hard tone of community life; but parents con- tinue to hope and pray that their children will re- tain the traditional hardihood, industry, frugality, thrift, morality, and religion for which the Holland- ers are famous as a people. COUNTEY LIFE The following are the words of an American pio- neer woman who saw the Pella Hollanders on the road to their lands in Marion County and who knew them as neighbors for nearly sixty years.^^^ What she said is true of the great mass of Dutch immi- grants to Iowa: since their first harvest in the au- tumn of 1848, when they took pride in the fact that they kept their farms neater than Americans did, 330 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA their chief contribution to the progress and wealth of the State has been in the domain of agriculture : ^^^ We were prepared to think well of this people, for we had heard only good of their character. We had been told that they were an honest, moral, industrious, God-fearing people, and from that time to the present have never heard it disputed. . . . All these Hollanders had money, some had a good deal, and they all seemed to know the best way to invest it. . . . It wasn't long before their superior farming and gardening began to be noticed and talked about, and many slovenly farmers were induced to make more out of their rich lands through the example of those frugal and thrifty Hollanders. They were not only indus- trious and prosperous but were hospitable. We used to wonder at the pluck, the endurance and the patience of those people. . . . They learned long ago how to manage the rich Iowa soil and their magnificent farms with commo- dious buildings reach out miles and miles in every direction from Pella. As an element in the rural population of Iowa the immigrant farmers from Holland have found that the soil of Iowa, unlike that of their native land, lends itself easily to cultivation on account of its looseness and lightness, and that by reason of its fertility it yields rich crops for a long series of years almost entirely without the aid of fertilizing materials. In Holland, as peasant laborers and peasant farmers, they were compelled to subject the soil to much careful and laborious attention; with fewer acres to cultivate they made their little farms bear two or three crops each season. In the father- land theirs was the unending toil of men, but in COMMUNITY LIFE 331 Iowa where they gather only one crop annually labor is less grinding, for from large farms they reap wheat, oats, and barley which ripen with great rapidity, and Indian corn which shoots beyond the need of man's work in a few weeks' time. In Holland where they had steady work in the fields, laborers were so plentiful and so cheap that nearly all the work was done by hand. In America the Hollander prefers to attend to his own business rather than another's and consequently farm ser- vants as a class are scarce. He finds that Yankee ingenuity and inventiveness have come to the rescue of the American farmer: gangplows, wide harrows, pulverizers, seeders, mowers, hay-rakes, binders, and threshing-machines, and all the other agricultural conveniences supply the place of human hands. But at the same time many a Dutch woman reared on Iowa soil has helped her father or husband do gen- eral farm work during a busy season. The Hollander farms on a big scale even if he is not always thorough. Accustomed to neatness and economy in Holland he at first shudders with horror at the sight of weeds and waste upon American farms ; but he is soon hardened, if not reconciled, to such surroundings, because he discovers that they are attendant upon American farm methods. If he is fortunate enough to have a large family of sons, the Dutch farmer plays havoc with weeds and en- deavors to eradicate all traces of them from his sight ; while in the matter of wastefulness he is, per- haps, not so guilty as his American neighbors.^"" 332 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Intrenched upon some of the most fruitful land, unsurpassed for richness of soil, the Hollanders of Marion County and of Sioux County later have looked upon agriculture as their chief source of live- lihood, for success has consistently attended their efforts. That the Dutch are among the best farmers in the State of Iowa and therefore in the United States can be gathered from many years of agricul- tural history. In Sioux County where 1440 farmers are foreign-born and 1275 are native-born (Sioux County's northern neighbor, Lyon County, is the only other Iowa county where foreign-born outnum- ber native-born), the farmers of Dutch birth and an- cestry form a majority.^"^ Statistics of 1910 for Sioux County, the most typical and most prosperous Dutch farming community in America, reveal no less the character of Dutch farmers in other counties of Iowa. Sioux County has farm property including land, buildings, implements and machinery, domestic ani- mals, poultry and bees, valued at nearly $65,000,000, and in this matter bows only to Pottawattamie County which has an area one hundred square miles larger. Next to Kossuth, Plymouth, and Pottawat- tamie counties, each of which covers an area one- eighth larger, Sioux County contains the largest number of acres of improved land. The farmers of Sioux County rank fourth in acres planted in corn and tie for second place in the number of bushels raised ; fifth in acres of oats and third in bushels raised; and first in acres planted in barley and in bushels raised. They sow almost no COMMUNITY LIFE 333 winter wheat and rank fourth for spring wheat. Sionx County stands sixth in the number of horses, sixth in the number of cattle, eighteenth in the num- ber of milk-cows, third in number of hogs, and thirty- eighth in poultry. As compared with other counties of larger area, Sioux County shows a wonderful record in agri- culture and stock-raising. Naturally well-drained, farms there require no help from man ; indeed, tile- laying is more of an industry among the Hollanders of Marion County. In recent years Dutch farmers have learned that taking the same crop from the same land without rest or interruption is an exhaus- tive and unwise policy to pursue. Of fertilizing their fields they formerly had little thought, but in 1908 Sioux County farmers, and the Hollanders especial- ly, did more to improve the fertility of their soil than the farmers of any other county in Iowa. And although the average value of land per acre in Sioux County is from $100 to $125, land values among the Hollanders hover around the $150 and $200 marks. As a matter of fact there is not much land on the market, and rents are climbing higher and higher.^°- There was a time also when the Hollanders cared very little about improving the breed of horses, cat- tle, and hogs : ' ' scrubs ' ' were good enough. But as prosperity increased and as their knowledge of American farm life grew, especially from visits to county agricultural fairs, there was awakened in them a desire to have only blooded stock. To-day they think better of raising horses, cattle, and hogs 334 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA related to the best strain of imported and registered breeds. Fine herds of Durham, Hereford, Holstein, Friesian, Shorthorn, and other breeds of cattle are not numerous, but are at least aspired after. Poland China, Duroc Jersey, and Berkshire hogs are one of the main sources of revenue. The pride of the Dutch farmer is fine draft horses sired by the best imported Percheron, Norman, and Clydesdale stallions, which are usually bought and owned by associations of farmers.^"^ As in Holland, Dutch farmers in Iowa show a tendency to work on old-fashioned principles and to neglect or even laugh at scientific farming : they are inclined to be skeptical about modern improved methods, and either have a low opinion or none at all of the doctrines propounded by agricultural theorists who occasionally lecture among them. On the other hand, they make up for that handicap by being thor- oughly hard-working and thrifty. Their wives and daughters are none the less energetic, often working in the fields; while, generally speaking, they have few of the wants which so often accompany the life of Yankee farmers. And though there may be lack of education among many of the Hollanders, they are by no means ignorant men. Neighbors are on the best of terms and help one another in the busy season. When a progressive Hollander or American has successfully experimented with some new idea, his neighbors soon wake up to the fact and are glad to learn a prac- tical lesson. Thev are slow but sure: the value of COMMUNITY LIFE 335 the automobile to the farmer has recently been dem- onstrated to them, not without result. It remains to be seen whether Dutch farmers will invest in silos, the latest farm novelty. Sioux County could boast of sixteen in 1908 and Marion County had but one. They had thirty-nine and fourteen, respectively, in 1910.^°^ Hollanders on the farms of Iowa have not been much given to reading : they have shown a lamentable backwardness in this respect, perhaps because they work from early in the morning till late at night. But whether they lacked the time or the inclination in past years, thej have begun to feel the need of such weeklies as The Homestead, Wallace's Farmer, The Farmer's Tribune, and The Stock-breeder's Journal, as well as of daily newspapers for the lat- est market reports. All of these innovations, besides rural telephones and rural mail deliveries in both Sioux and Marion counties, have brought the Hol- landers into closer touch with the world. Slowly but surely they are installing the latest conveniences in their houses and the most practical mechanical appliances upon their farms, but they never lose sight of their motto to buy land, keep it, and treat it well. The Hollander can not be said to belong to that class of people who live beyond their means, but he is, on the contrary, an extremely conservative spender and investor. As his wealth accumulates he becomes more willing to incur occasional expense for this or that luxury, but the element of specula- 336 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA tion for the sake of increased returns does not lure him to adopt all the up-to-date methods of his wide- awake progressive American neighbors. At the end of the year, however, the Dutch farmer can point to a comfortable margin in his favor, even if he has not enjoyed all the comforts of his Yankee brothers. Such is the thrift of Hollanders that ninety-five per cent of the chattel mortgages in Marion County cover property owned by farmers south of the Des Moines River where comparatively few Hollanders live. Such is their honesty that the banks of Pella have more unsecured notes than any other banks in Iowa.^°^ Judging from their past and present enthusiasm for agriculture the Hollanders of Iowa will not soon desert their farms. Immigrants from Holland are willing to work harder in America because they can find financial contentment sooner, while the sons of immigrants are convinced that farming is on the whole a very satisfactory occupation, even if not al- ways pleasant. Like the Scandinavians and the Ger- mans of Iowa, the Hollanders are sons of the soil with inexhaustible patience and a willingness to take pains; and as perhaps no other foreigners in the United States they exemplify the truth of the asser- tion that northern Europeans will be able to take care of America's farms in the future: they are workers, plodders, savers; and they know how to make farms pay. APPENDICES APPENDIX A Letter from Hendrik Barendregt to H. P. Scholte Those portions of Barendregt 's letter to Rev. H. P. Scholte which depicted conditions in the Missis- sippi Valley in 1846 and informed oncoming Dutch emigrants as to matters connected with the voyage to America deserve to be translated and preserved as an interesting picture of the times. Copious ex- tracts follow: As we entered the Gulf of Mexico on the 14th of No- vember, the wind changed so that we sailed before it and on the 18th we could see the low shores of the New World. We were pulled along farther by a steam tug which tows vessels up the Mississippi, no matter how the wind blows, and at 7 a. m. we arrived at New Orleans. The Lord had surely helped us. Although we came by a round-about way, we completed the voyage from Holland to New Orleans in 45 days. We had five deaths and three births — all Ger- mans. To be brief I shall not write too much of what we saw upon the Mississippi, only something of New Orleans : this is a very large and extensive city ; everything seems to be but just begun, and one sees hundreds of houses rising up everywhere; all is bustle, unusually so on account of the rattle and rumble of wagons and carts. Six hundred ocean ships lie alongside the wharves three by three, also a large number of steamboats, mostly very big for their kind but of 339 340 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA construction entirely different from that of boats in Hol- land. They say that 1300 of these are engaged upon the ]\Iississippi, and I can easily believe it judging from all the hustle and hurry. Sailing vessels one does not see; they can not be used since the river channel is very crooked and the wind can never blow in such a way as to allow ships to make headway. The stream flows constantly and the river banks are covered with trees so that neither horses nor human beings can draw a ship. Then too, distances are so long that 10 or 12 hours is a mere trifle. From New Or- leans to St. Louis is 1200 or 1300 English miles. Shipping as in Holland is therefore impracticable. Arriving at New Orleans in the morning, that same day we took a steamboat to carry us up the river. The fare was $2.50 or one half for children under nine years of age, while each person had 100 pounds of baggage free, and for additional freight one had to pay 25 cents per hundred pounds. We paid some money down before starting. The following will serve as a bit of information : before a ship arrives at New Orleans, a customs officer comes on board. He makes out a list of the families and the number of people composing them as well as the number of trunks and fire-arms. I advise everyone to answer his questions accurately, not to conceal anything as the expense is the same whether one has six or twelve trunks. He only wishes to know what every immigrant has. One receives two blank papers — these one must get filled out in the toll-house, as the office is called, the sooner the better. The officer has the right to demand 50 American cents for the two papers; but he may also give them free of cost and so one can try to get them for less money — the poor now and then excite pity. At the time of signing one pays 20 cents more for the two papers. I write this because APPENDIX A 341 some imagine that all this is unnecessary graft, but this is really not so, for the officer who superintends the inspection of one's property lets nothing pass for which one does not have papers. One must also make out a paper and have it signed by the captain, wherein is receipted the amount of money paid down for freight upon the steamboat. The river steamboats all lie at the wharves, with sign- boards which bear the date of departure and the destination. One goes aboard and usually finds the captain, with whom one makes the contract. . . . Everywhere there are inter- preters w^ho desire to be of service to you at all times ; these are unnecessary if you have with you a person who speaks English ; if among your company no one can be found who has a command of this language, as was the case with us, it is best to employ them, but always with caution, because some of them are grafters. We were fortunate to get a reason- ably good man. This too is a serious matter : everywhere along our route people try to reduce the value of our gold money and also the five-franc pieces, and here a gold piece is worth about four dollars; as to the five-franc pieces I have had no ex- perience. This also is good advice: "Know the Lord in all thy ways." The application which we have made of this is broad. Think of it: the steamboat which we visited first with our interpreter and which asked a three-dollar fare, departed a short while before we did, and when we overtook her three days later, we learned that she had collided with another boat in the midst of a thick fog, had burst a boiler, and sunk so that forty-five passengers lost their lives ! We saved the crew and a few others from the wreck and put them ashore at the first town. That we did not take passage on the steamboat is not to be ascribed to our wisdom, be- 342 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA cause the fare demanded was not at all extortionate ; be- sides, she appeared to be a good boat, while ours was much older and weaker ; we also learned that she was very slow ; in short, that we did not choose the unfortunate boat was the Lord's work: let Him be thanked and praised. We finished the trip from New Orleans to St. Louis in nine days. Along this river from beginning to end are wooded banks. Never would I have imagined that there was still so much apparently quite useless timber in the world ; and now I can very readily believe that I have seen but a small portion of America, as here and there one perceives the beginning or laying out of a city. At first one sees sugar cane, further on cotton, and then, through openings in the timber, fields of maize ; furthermore the river is filled with floating logs which are everywhere sent adrift along the banks. Here at St. Louis there is much industry; 1300 new buildings are being constructed, 500 were completed this past summer, and everything seems to be but just begun. They say that the city is three hours long ; this strikes me as rather exaggerated, but I have no good reason to doubt it. Two of our brethren tried to see the city from one end to the other ; but as it took so long, they got tired and turned back. The incoming and outgoing steamboats are also very numerous here. Everything is conveyed across the city here and at New Orleans by means of horses, mules, or oxen, of which one sometimes sees as many as twelve but usually eight drawing a wagon. Cattle are butchered, quartered, and piled on carts. Everything comes to market: vegetables, apples, po- tatoes, mutton, fish of all sorts ; but nothing can be called cheap, except bread, meal or flour, meat and pork: these APPENDIX A 343 alone are to be classed among cheap articles in America. And although there is so much timber, if one has to buy firewood, he has to pay a big price. Here winter set in just as we arrived. Everything is snowed under, and just now it is freezing besides, but not severely. The journey to Iowa or Wisconsin we cannot con- tinue because the river is too low for steamboat travel. But this we don't consider necessary since we have met with several brothers from Winterswijk, of whom two had just been to Iowa shortly before our arrival. Besides, there are German brethren here, Methodists, who are acquainted with all conditions, have shown us much friendliness and willing- ness to help, and have undertaken to answer the questions which you gave me to prompt my investigations. Enclosed is a letter by one of them in the German language. So much of it as he read to me, I can best guarantee to be the exact truth. The following will serve to explain matters : 1. Land along the rivers is everywhere in the hands of speculators, from whom it is still to be obtained at an in- creased price. 2. Stock is not so expensive. For $10 one can buy a good cow with calf. Also, Jan Schaap and I saw a horse which looked sound and fast, for which not more than $15 was offered. 3. Bricks are large, almost like the red bricks of Hol- land but they are not baked hard, hence not of the best qual- ity. Lime is fairly good, 20 cents per bushel which is equivalent to 50 cents for 25 pounds in The Netherlands. 4. I myself have Iwught good fat meat for two cents and pork for 2i/4 cents per pound. As to the weight, I be- lieve the pound here is less than the pound of five ounces in Holland. 344 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA 5. Feathers are very good at 25 cents per pound. If you abide by your decision to settle in North America, then the following will also serve to inform you : First: Every land-buyer who wants to cultivate land of his own must above all manage to bring his laborers with him from Holland, if he thinks he wall need help. Secondly: The cost of living will be moderate before one gets a crop ; bread and meat and pork are necessities and they are cheap here; for clothing, house-rent, and fire- wood one need have no anxiety. Thirdly : For those who are good makers of butter and cheese prospects are certainly fine, because these products are bad in the market here. As to dairy appliances it will be well to take along as many as possible, especially what can be packed into boxes. On shipboard one needs pay no more for them and steamboat freight is only 25 cents per hundred pounds. Everything is obtainable here, but gener- ally expensive. I give the same advice as to all tools and implements, for example those needed for agriculture and all sorts of trades ; yet I should certainly not advise you to buy anything new in Holland to take with you, since the difference in price is not large enough. Besides there is much difference in tools and not everyone must expect to be able to remain a Hollander if he comes to live in America ; ways and manners should be followed here. My meaning is that he who has tools should not throw them away for a trifle, especially not if they are still good ; but to take trash along to America is always nonsense. I may also add that everyone should take his best table- ware if it is not too easily broken; if it is well packed be- tween clothing in boxes full to the cover, one can easily keep it whole ; our things thus far are pretty well preserved despite the fact that our boxes are sometimes rolled along APPENDIX A 345 like barrels. Thus anyone can well understand that boxes should be particularly strong; for I have seen many smashed and then much hard treatment of the contents; also, the boxes must not be too big, for in that event they are handled more harshly still. Further I shall give some advice relative to food-stuff and household articles : There should be 160 pounds for each person, distributed as follows : 10 pounds of bacon, reasonably thick, for mak- ing pan-cakes ; 10 pounds of ham to eat with bread, etc. ; 10 pounds of meat; 20 pounds of rice, which costs nearly the same here ; 20 pounds of flour, which should all be used up ; 15 pounds of potatoes ; 20 pounds of green peas, of the best quality ; if one can save these, they can be used as seed, as I have seen only poor ones here and expensive ones at that; 20 pounds of capuchin peas; 30 pounds of the best bread cut into slices and well dried ; 5 pounds of ordinary rusks. Further it is well and useful to bring a quantity of headcheese, besides butter, cheese, loaf-sugar, prunes, and everything one can eat without cooking, sweet cake, various drinks, wine, brandy, Rhine wine, gin, vinegar, salt, mus- tard, pepper, coffee, tea, as well as some household remedies for illness, for the Americans have no doctor on board, and so everyone takes care of himself. The household utensils consist of tea-kettle, copper or iron cooking-pot, tin pan, tin-plates from which to eat, since passengers can seldom sit together regularly, tin water- cans or kegs, etc. If a person must go singly, I advise him to cooperate with six or eight others, or else the company will be too large, and differences of opinion are likely to arise. 346 THE HOLLANDERS OP IOWA Further, I must say that the carriers here treat people variously; they appear to deduct as much as possible. Among us there were some who paid from 30 to 35 florins [$12 to $14] , and we had to pay 45 florins. There were also some on board our ship who were offered transportation on a good ship at 35 florins if their families wanted to take advantage of the offer in the spring. I do not exactly know whether to advise people to come by way of New York or New Orleans ; but this I know, that if one sails from Holland after the month of February, the journey by way of New Orleans is too hot; in that case I prefer New York; one should take into consideration the increased expense and trouble involved in taking a land journey; but if one can depart before or during the month of February, come to New Orleans, because that means a saving of trouble and expense. It also makes a great deal of difference where one ex- pects to settle. If Iowa is the place, the journey by way of New York is more difficult, as one must in all events go to ]\'Iilwaukee first and from there back to Iowa, which is not necessary if one comes by way of New Orleans ; for then one can easily get to Iowa by steamboat. In all cases it is best for those who undoubtedly intend to settle in this region to come to St. Louis, whence it is so easy to depart in all directions. As to the climate, I understand it is much too warm for us here in the summer; for it happens that a laborer who chops wood or unloads wood from ships is offered three dollars a day in suimner, and now can get only 50 or 75 cents. Iowa, I hear, is a good ways north and therefore much colder. All sorts of products are raised here : maize, wheat, rye, APPENDIX A 347 oats, beans, etc. As for cabbage seed, it is hardly to be found ; since lard is cheap here, there is not much need of cabbage-seed oil. The prices of grain are not high — there is reason for this, but then we should have to enter into a discussion of several matters, viz., the yield of the land, labor, cost of planting, sowing, etc. But I am not well enough acquainted with the facts to speak about the matter, and there is little or no need to do so ; if for example I give a price, a person in Holland will prepare at once to make comparisons and figure according to Dutch standards. . . . Experience will be the best teacher here. As for the worship of God : one finds really God-fearing people among the Germans and also among the English; indeed there are many Christian negroes here. We find the Germans very friendly ; but we do not harmonize in every- thing. The Sabbath is reasonably respected. One finds no shocking immorality here, as in Rotterdam or other cities of Holland. As for the schools, you know they are free here; usu- ally there is a school with every church. I am not yet well enough informed so as to give a good account of the school system. Sunday-schools are numerous here, and one can get free instruction: these are also good to enable us to learn a little of the English language. He who knows English well possesses riches, if he comes here, from Holland. I cannot therefore enough urge everyone by all means to learn the English language. I have nothing special which I consider necessary to add. My request is that you be so good as to publish this letter so far as you are able, likewise to see to it that brother van H of R be informed at an early date. Tell him that as baker he could more easily be lord in St. Louis 348 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA than citizen in Rotterdam. Also K , who put me many- questions which are answered herein ; also Mr. Jansdam, etc. Respectfully and affectionately, yours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hend'k Barendregt. N. B. Be sure to greet brother Betten. Of the letter written by Brummelkamp and van Raalte to procure finan- cial aid for the worthy poor, we here are not informed. Nor do we know anything of van Raalte and those who sailed with him. APPENDIX B The Attitude of the Hollanders of Iowa During THE Boer War During the closing montlis of the nineteenth cen- tury England had no enemies fiercer than the Hol- landers of Iowa. They manifested a vital concern in the outcome of differences between Boers and Brit- ons and contemplated every event in South Africa with feelings of intensest partisanship: never were newspapers more in demand, never were campaigns followed with keener interest, and never did victo- ries call forth more genuine exclamations of triumph. Eecalling the eTameson Eaid and the role played by Cecil Rhodes, "a great bandit", in South African affairs, and seeing how British aggression was grad- ually forcing the Boers into an unequal contest, the Hollanders were roused from their accustomed lethargy to vehement expressions of indignation. They interpreted events in South Africa as a veri- table call to arms to all Hollanders who loved jus- tice. Furthermore, did not they and the Boers spring from the same fatherland and speak the same language ? Those who advocated the principles of the Demo- cratic party were not the only Hollanders who insist- ed that President McKinley should intermeddle in 349 350 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Boer-British affairs. When matters were reaching a crisis the Eepublican administration called forth more and more criticism and abuse for its policy of neutrality, and when war finally broke out McKinley and all Republicans were loudly accused of hostility towards the Transvaal. No Dutch newspaper in Iowa gave more radical expression to its anti-Republican and anti-British feeling than De Vrije Hollander of Orange City. Van Oosterhout played upon the heart-strings of his readers. Patriotic Hollanders were reminded that the Boers were forced to fight for their freedom and their hearths against the mightiest country in the world ; all Hollanders were urged to show their sym- pathy for that heroic people. ''Let our Dutch news- papers declare themselves on this matter ; let us call meetings; let us prepare subscriptions", declared the editor, ''and let us show that we are with the Boers in their struggle heart and soul, let us help their widows and orphans — this is better than reso- lutions and telegrams. ' ' On the 15th of November, 1899, the first Trans- vaal meeting was held in Sioux County. Several ministers of Dutch churches took a prominent part, and a fund for Boer orphans and widows was at once started. Heading the list with a donation of $50, De Vrije Hollander for over two years contained weekly reports of the donors and the amounts of their gifts.^*"** On December 1, 1899, there was published the fol- lowing appeal : ^°^ APPENDIX B 351 From The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, far down in South Africa, comes no wailing, comes no cry for help or assistance. Yet in The Land of the Free and the Plome of the Brave, in the western hemisphere, we hear by the mysterious elec- tric fluid the reverberations of the death-dealing thunder of England's mighty liddyte guns, of the incessant crack- ling of the never-missing mausers of the Boers. Americans, who always loved liberty, who always sym- pathised with the oppressed, who always abhorred tyranny, more so when under the cloak of hypocrisy, cannot blame their co-citizens of Holland origin, if their hearts throb, and an enthusiastic joy, strange to their phlegmatic tem- perament, makes every nerve thrill, when they see two small republics, of the same stock, the same flesh and blood as their owm, dare to stand up for freedom and independence against the Colossus of our times. Never did Spartans, never did Romans in their best days, show greater courage, loftier determination to live or die free men, than did the three hundred thousand Trans- vaalers and Free Staters, when they took up the gauntlet of perfidious Albion with its more than 300 million sub- jects ! And our sympathy goes out to the manly Americans who blushing say: "This is the first time in our history, that our government stands listlessly by, when a big bully tries to choke freedom and tramples on a weaker nation; this is the first time that our administration stands as Saul, 352 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA guarding the clothes of those that stoned Stephen and ap- proving their deed. ' ' Yes, we sympathise with them, and the world will not hold them responsible for the acts and sympathies of a president and his cabinet, who departed from the old and glorious traditions, that made America the guiding star of the lovers of freedom, the hope of the oppressed. Therefore we, your Holland co-citizens, call on all you that love freedom, that detest the oppression of the weak by the strong and say to you : ' ' Those little republics have found the bottom of their treasury; the London money- market will not give them credit; they will have thousands of maimed and crippled for life, thousands of widows and orphans. They have not the unbounded credit of our na- tion, not the immense resources of the first republic that wrested her freedom from England's grasp, and yet those thousands must be cared for, may not — by God Almighty 's help — be beggars and outcasts. ' ' Holland and Belgium, France and Germany, and even Russia are collecting funds for the Red Cross and for kin- dred purposes. Shall Americans stand idly by, shall we be niggards, shall we, to please our friend, the grasping, grinding, greedy Briton, refuse to lend our aid to heroes whose su- periors the Avorld did never see? God forbid! Therefore we, your Holland co-citizens, remembering how magnanimously you came to the rescue when want and famine reigned in Russia or India, ask you to contribute something for the heroic Transvaalers and Free Staters for their widows and their orphans. The mite of the poorest is as welcome as the greater gifts of the rich. APPENDIX B 353 Therefore we wish to give all those that sympathise with the Boers occasion to donate something for : The crippled, the widows and orphans of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The undersigned have formed a committee to receive the money, collected in this way, and will send same to the representative of the Transvaal, residing in Brussels, and send his receipts to the different papers who may send us their contribution. Not doubting a generous response, we are, respectfully, Hon. H. Hospers, State Senator, Orange City, Pres. M. P. van Oosterhout, Ed. Be Vrije Hollander, Orange City, Sec. Hon. A. W. van Wagenen, Ex-District Judge, Sioux City. John Nollen, Cashier First National Bank, Pella. J. H. Stubenrauch, Pella. P. D. van Oosterhout, County Attorney, Orange City. Orange City, Iowa, November 27, 1899. The Hollanders gave way to unbounded excite- ment and pleasure when news of Boer successes reached them. At Pella the Dutch newspapers pub- lished all the latest despatches from the front, and the post-office was kept open until a late hour at night so that citizens might get mail brought by the last evening trains. Ministers spoke at all the Boer meetings in the neighborhood. Pella' s Nieuivshlad posted bulletins. Everywhere the Hollanders in Iowa welcomed the reports of British disasters : al- though they could not expect a handful of people to prevail against such overwhelming odds, the Hoi- 354 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA landers rejoiced in months of British reverses and wished English armies nothing bnt confusion.^"^® The Sioux City Journal made the sensational an- nouncement that the business men of Alton, Maurice, Ireton, Le Mars, and Fort Dodge had collected $25,000 to send two companies of fifty men each to the Transvaal to help the Boers, provided -the Fed- eral authorities could be outwitted. It was reported that this filibustering party had been organized under the command of a member of the First Regiment of Illinois Volunteers and of veterans of the Cuban and Philippine war: and that the men drilled after dark outside the town of Orange City. Equally untrue statements appeared in corre- spondence from Sioux Center to the Chicago Times- Herald published under the following headlines : ^^A Whole Regiment. Hundreds Leave Sioux County for the Transvaal to Help the Boers.'''' It was re- ported that these adventurers intended to proceed to the field of war by threes and fours by various routes in order to escape the vigilance of the United States authorities. The fact that numerous young men who had talked of serving in the Boer army disappeared suddenly without leaving word behind lent color to the rumor that they had started on the journey: their relatives, it was said, felt no un- easiness at their absence, which obviously would not be the case if they were ignorant of all the facts.^°® Money poured into the treasury of the Iowa Transvaal Committee from the Hollanders of Minne- sota, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and from all the Dutch APPENDIX B 355 communities in Iowa, as well as from such towns as Sioux City and Iowa City. Governor John Lind of Minnesota sent $10, together with a letter in which he declared that the war was due principally to Cecil Ehodes's press bureau, his tremendous capital, powerful influence, etc. Within four months the Committee forwarded $1,000 to Dr. Leyds at Brus- sels and $300 to Amsterdam.^^° Merchants among the Hollanders advertised ' * Transvaal Days " to be held in their stores : for several weeks a druggist whose advertisement in large type began with ' ' Hoera voor Transvaal ! ' ' promised to donate 5% of his sales on Saturdays to the Boer cause. All good Hollanders wore ''Com Paul" buttons on their coat lapels, and many a child born during those stirring months was named after Paul Kruger, Piet Joubert, Piet Cronje and other Boer generals.^" On the 2nd day of January, 1900, the following- resolutions were spread upon the minutes of the city council of Pella : Whereas, The cause of human liberty, as exemplified by those who are now so valiantly defending their homes in the sister republics in South Africa is one that appeals strongly to American citizens, who wrested the precious boon of self-government from the self same ruthless in- vaders, and who now attempt to assimilate the inhabitants of those countries, therefore, Resolved, That we believe the cause of the Transvaal and Orange Free State to be one of justice and right as against the encroachment of the avaricious British intruder. 356 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA We heartily rejoice in the success which has so far crowned the efforts of its defenders, and we sincerely hope and trust that with the help from on High complete victory may fol- low% and that the soil of South Africa may soon become too hot for the oppressor and that in humiliation and disgrace he may be driven hence. Resolved, That we acknowledge with unbounded satis- faction and delight the course Senator ]\Iason of Illinois has pursued, in his eloquent pleading in a speech before the Senate of the United States in favor of the righteous cause of the Boers, and we urge him to continue the good work, and thus assist in developing a hearty and intelligent senti- ment in regard to this important question of public policy and the attitude that the United States should pursue in the premises. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to Presidents Kruger and Steyn, Hon. W. E. Mason and our Senators and Representatives in Congress and to such others as may be deemed necessary. On motion of Mr. Reuvers to adopt said Resolution a roll call was ordered which resulted as follows : Reavers, van der Sluis, Maasdam, van Zante, van Nimwegen, Worm- houdt and Kruger voted aye (7), Fisk being absent. A few days later similar resolutions were adopt- ed hj the city council of Orange City as follows :^^^ Whereas the South African Republics. Transvaal and Orange Free State, have been forced into a war of self de- fence and for their A^ery existence by the English Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, backed by some of the large capitalists of England, who wish to obtain complete control of these small States in order to take from them their min- eral wealth, their liberty and government by fair means or foul, and as we firmly believe without the support of a APPENDIX B 357 large number of honest, liberty-loving Englishmen at home and abroad, and against their earnest protest; and, Whereas the action now taken by the English govern- ment is like the action taken by George the Third against the New England colonies a hundred and twenty-five years ago, with this aggravation thereto that the present South African war is a war of conquest against independent for- eign States, to crush out from them the last spark of equality, liberty, and self-government, while in this country it was a colony in fact which she sought thus to crush; therefore, Resolved, that we American citizens of Orange City, Iowa, believe in the justice of the cause of the Boers in this war against the money, greed, and ruthless grasp for addi- tional territory on the part of Great Britain, and it is our hearty wish that the victories now achieved by the Boers may be followed by more and greater victories, until the English armies shall be hurled from the soil of South Africa and complete independence and self-government on the basis of equal rights to all men be established there. Resolved, that we heartily endorse the actions of so many of our prominent newspapers in the United States, of so many benevolent societies, of so many of our United States Senators, Representatives and other prominent men, and so many of the City Councils in prominent Cities in so boldly expressing their convictions of the justice of the cause of the Boers and their endeavor to obtain such action as shall cause the United States to tender its good offices in the cause of a just and impartial peace and thus prevent the ruthless shedding of more blood. Resolved, that we heartily endorse the action of many American communities in their collection of funds for the widows and orphans of Boer soldiers who are killed or 358 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA maimed in battle, and to defray the expense of Red Cross nurses to care for the sick and wounded, and hope that such acts of benevolence will continue until an honorable peace has been agreed upon. Resolved, that we finnly believe that as American citi- zens it is our duty to protest against all encroachments on personal liberty wherever such may be done the world over, until tyranny shall be stamped out and the people of all countries enjoy the rights of universal suffrage wherever they are capable of self-government. Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be fonvarded to His Excellency President "Wm. McKinley, and to our Senators and Representatives in Congress and to Presi- dents Kruger and Steyn. A. Bolks, Mayor. A. van der Meide, Clerk. On the 22nd of January, 1900, the Sioux County member introduced into the State House of Repre- sentatives the following resolution : That the members of the House sympathize with the Boers in South Africa in their struggle for freedom and independence; that their brave stand for their rights en- titles them to the respect of the civilized world, and that we trust the President may find a way to tender the good offices of the United States to aid in bringing about peace. By a vote of 57 to 22 this resolution was laid on the table. The Democratic editor of De Vrije Hol- lander thanked the six Republicans who favored the resolution, three of them representing large Dutch constituencies in the counties of Sioux, Marion, and Grundy. ^^^ Mass meetings were frequently called at Pella, APPENDIX B 359 Otley, and Sully, and at Orange City, Sioux Center, Maurice, Alton, Rock Valley, and other towns in the vicinity. Hollanders also spoke at meetings in Le Mars and Sioux City. All these gatherings ended with generous donations for the Boers. Much money was collected also through the churches and by means of concerts and subscription lists which were carried from house to house. In August, 1900, three young men from Sioux County — A. Kline, H. Dekker, and M. te Veltrup — were thus enabled to enlist in the Boer armies : they fought until the Boers were over- whelmed.^^^ In the summer of 1900 C. H. Wessels, President of the Orange Free State Volksraad, passed through Alton where the Transvaal and Orange Free State flags were flying at the railroad station. A large crowd of Hollanders from all the neighboring towns greeted him with loud hurrahs for the Transvaal and listened to his address in the Dutch language. The Boer representatives who accompanied him were A. D. W. Wolmarens and A. Fisscher.^^^ De Vrije Hollander at Orange City and Bella's Nieuwshlad never ceased their violent attacks upon McKinley for his "murder and robbery policy" and his failure to aid the Boers. Republican and Demo- cratic rallies in the autumn of 1900 assumed addition- al importance among the Hollanders — the Demo- crats even obtained speakers in the Dutch language. William J. Bryan gained manj^ votes as a conse- quence,"^ Money continued to be collected in every possible 360 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA way during the year 1901: at Pella the Moonlight Mission Band of the First Reformed church held socials. In Sioux County at the Christian celebra- tion of the Fourth of July a large sum was con- tributed for the Boers. Shortly afterward H. D. Vil- joen, Field Cornet, and Commandant Liebenberg were commended to the good-will of the people of Iowa by the proclamation of Governor Shaw. These two men who had fought in the war put up a large tent wherever they stopped, delivered addresses on the Boers and their land, attracted great crowds in all the Dutch communities at an admission price of twenty-five cents, and raised about $1,000 for Boer orphans and widows. ^'^ In the month of October, 1901, Rev. van Broek- huizen spoke in nearly all the Dutch churches of Iowa : he raised $560 in two meetings at Pella, $530 at Orange City, $350 at Sioux Center, over $200 at Hull, and about $500 at Middelburg, Maurice, Boy- den, Rock Valley, and Hospers.^^^ A program of one of these gatherings runs as follows : Psalm 68 — one stanza Prayer — Rev. J. Keizer Introduction of Rev. van Broekhuizen by President of Transvaal League — J. H. Stubenrauch Speech — Rev. van Broekhuizen Collection recommended — Rev. E. Troost Collection and Psalm 68 — second and third stanzas Thanks and Benediction — Rev. Niemeyer About this time also the hearts of Hollanders were filled with indignation by the exaggerated re- APPENDIX B 361 ports of terrible sulf ering in the reconcentrado camps maintained by the English in South Africa. Presi- dent McKinley was asked in a long petition to use his influence to stop the system. Later Be Vrije Hol- lander displayed the picture of a child in the last stage of starvation in one of Kitchener's camps. Ministers of the gospel met at Newkirk in Sioux County and drew up a petition to the congressmen from Iowa asking them to protest in the name of Christianity, civilization, and humanity against the judicial murder of Commander Kritzinger or other Boer officers who might be captured, and also to use all their influence with the American government to protest against the cruelty and inhumanity of the re- concentrado camps where the death rate, according to official statistics, ranged from forty to fifty deaths per one hundred each year.^^^ Late in the year 1901 came the call for money and clothing for Boer war prisoners on the Bermuda Islands. The Iowa Transvaal Committee sent over one dozen large boxes of clothing besides money for the prisoners, the Ladies' Aid Societies of the churches doing especially good work. Wheu De Vrije Hollander published a letter from a friend on the Bermudas to the effect that all they needed was tobacco, money was at once forthcoming and tobacco was supplied to them.^-° Bella's Weekhlad discovered political capital in the favor which Roosevelt was alleged to show to- wards the English: did he not allow Englishmen to buy horses in America for the war? During these 362 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA months, indeed, it was well-nigh impossible to buy horses and mules from the Hollanders of Iowa : they regarded every horse-dealer with suspicion, for how should they know but that their animals might be wanted for shipment to the English armies t ^-^ As late as September, 1902, in answer to the final appeal of the Iowa Transvaal Committee, money was pouring in. Although no account of sums collected and despatched can be obtained, it is confidently be- lieved that the Hollanders of Iowa gave to the Boers over $10,000 of their wealth, besides clothing and three volunteers.^" And among the most powerful promoters of the Boer cause were the two Dutch newspapers Bella's Weekblad and De Vrije Hol- lander, while no single man exerted himself so cease- lesslv as did Martin P. van Oosterhout. APPENDIX C The Dutch Language One of the striking features of life in the Dutch communities of Iowa is the sound of nearly all the dialects of modern Holland. Listening to a conver- sation between two natives from such a province as Gelderland or Groningen or Drenthe provokes as many smiles as a funny farce. The people of Fries- land, however, use a language of their own — in- deed, their everyday speech resembles English very much, although their printed language is practically unintelligible to the ordinary philologist. The use of so many broad dialects and the adop- tion of innumerable Americanisms has of course detracted not a little from the purity of the Dutch language in Iowa. Formal instruction in the mother tongue has never been seriously attempted except in private night-schools which have frequently been organized in most of the Dutch communities. The survival of the language, however, is none the less re- markable. Dutch newspapers, Dutch church services, and Dutch literature such as the Bible and Sunday-school weeklies have kept the language alive, as has the con- tinuing immigration from the fatherland. Holland- ers who have reached the age of maturity care little 363 364 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA to acquire a knowledge of the English language, for it is unnecessary where Dutch is understood in all the affairs of life whether in the country or in the towns. Children of Dutch parentage, therefore, learn the mother dialect at home and English from their play-mates — they soon speak English almost ex- clusively among themselves, and onlj^ converse with their parents in Dutch. At a very early age children of one family are forced to use English when they can not make themselves understood in dialect to children of another family. Children who learned '^Friesch" or ''Geldersch" at home find themselves unable to converse with persons who have a com- mand of other dialects or pure Dutch, and so the prevalence of dialects in the Dutch communities of Iowa has come to be respousible for the use of a com- mon language — • English. American-born and immigrant children have, of course, always attended the common schools of their localities — they grow up with the English language. It may be well for the painstaking, careful student to have a familiar acquaintance with two or more languages — each one imparts to the student some advantage or virtue which enriches his knowledge of the others. But the child of Dutch parentage who is reared in the atmosphere of two languages expe- riences the utmost difficulty in acquiring real fluency in either. Familiarity with two languages is a fine asset, but it has some drawbacks, especially when one limits or interferes with expression in the other. APPENDIX C 365 American teachers in the schools of Dutch com- munities have discovered an element of humor in the situation: children from Dutch families innocently translate Dutch words and idioms which result often- times in the most ludicrous English. Teachers of rhetoric and composition have much cause to smile at the astounding literary productions of their pu- pils: they have the best reason to believe that a knowledge of Dutch is a handicap which prevents the acquisition of good English. But spoken and writ- ten English continues to improve with each succeed- ing generation. Many old-fashioned, conservative Hollanders de- plore the fact that their mother tongue is gradually falling into disuse, although they feel that Dutch will not entirely disappear as long as fresh accessions of Hollanders from Europe continue "to leaven the loaf". Not long ago people met at Pella to organize a society, "De Nederlansche Bond": they wished to strengthen the bond between Holland and the United States, to study the influence of Holland on American development, to translate and spread Dutch books, to establish libraries of Dutch books, to organize clubs for the study of the literature, history, and law of Holland, and to introduce into high schools in- struction in these subjects. Despite expressions of grief and exhortations to cling to the tongue of their fathers, Hollanders admit that English is slowly but irresistibly undermining the place of the Dutch language in the everyday con- cerns of business life. English supplants Dutch first 366 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA in the school, then on the street, then in the family, and lastly in newspapers and churches. That lan- guage which is most widely useful will prevail. As one Hollander expressed it : " The English conquest in this respect (who can deny it) is a natural and by no means violent one, quite different from that of other days revealed by history." ^^^ NOTES AND EEFEEENCES / NOTES AND REFERENCES CHAPTEK I ^ Much has been written in praise of the Dutch nation and the Hollanders. Perhaps no more bombastic appre- ciation of Dutch institutions has ever appeared in such at- tractive form as Douglas Campbell's TUe Puritan in Hol- land, England and America. As for the critical value of this ingenious two-volume work it is sufficient to refer the reader to Chapter IX of The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States, which Sydney G. Fisher has devoted to a very searching analysis and thorough criticism of Campbell's claims. On the other hand, while the Dutch in America have been largely free from disparagement and abuse they have not been altogether secure from the ridicule and misrepre- sentations of a school of writers, whose archetype is Wash- ington Irving. Mr. Fisher, too, likes that style in Men, Women and Manners in Colonial Times. ' ' The funny fellows, both penmen and artists, who saw American Dutchmen a century or two after New Nether- land had passed away, and who have essayed to write or picture the history of New Amsterdam, give us the impres- sion that most of the Dutch colonists were old and fat, stupid, choleric, and lazy, and lived in a cloud of tobacco smoke. Thus these caricaturists cast a glow more humorous than luminous over the early history of the State of New York." — Grififis' The Story of New Netherland, p. 49. A recent reviewer of Mrs. Van Rensselaer's History of 369 370 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA the City of New York declares that many writers show a disposition "to ignore the work-day character of the New Netherland colonists, and to try rather to invest them with an atmosphere of quaintness and with fanciful surround- ings. " — The American Historical Revieiv, Vol. XV, p. 156. ^ In 1620 the States-General of the Dutch Republic had refused to supply two ships of war to protect emigrants on their way to New Netherland. An English preacher had assured the West India Company that he had "the means of inducing over four hundred families to accompany him thither", both out of Holland and England, to plant there a new Commonwealth. — See Docuraents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 22-24. ^ ' ' Neither legitimate trade nor colonization was neces- sarily the first idea with 'John Company'. War, devasta- tion of the Spanish possessions, capture of silver and gold, and traffic in slaves were their primal objects. . . . On the seas, and in the West Indies and South America, this cor- poration secured its loot and made its greatest conquests. New Netherland was only a by-product. Indeed, if this northern colony had not been at first looked upon chiefly as a station on the way home from Brazil and the Caribbean Sea it might never have started." — Griffis' The Story of New Netherland, p. 139. See also Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. T, pp. 39, 42, 67. * Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 40, 65. ° 'Callaghan in his History of Netv Netherland, Vol. I, p. 178, sketches a New Netherland which might have arisen if the Company's directors had filled the land, "as NOTES AND REFERENCES 371 the English were doing, with thousands of moral, hardy pioneers; had they transported cattle, and encouraged the planting of towns and villages in the wilderness, instead of building solitary forts to serve as a rendezvous for lazy In- dians and a few isolated traders". ° Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 106, 107. In Dunlap's History of the New Netherlands, Vol. I, p. 57, we read that in 1638 when Kieft arrived, "it is recorded in the secretary of state's office at Albany, that fort Am- sterdam in the city of New Amsterdam was in a state of decay and dilapidation ; many farms belonging to the com- pany were without tenants or cultivation, and thrown into common ; the trading vessels, with only one exception, were in bad condition; the houses were out of repair". ^ Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 149-151, 181. ^Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 135, 136, 140, 141, 155, 182. At this time the West India Company again offers a char- acteristic complaint to the States-General: "Jointly and individually, we sensibly feel in the inmost recesses of our hearts, the miserable and desolate condition of the poor people there, the rather as we find ourselves in such in- ability that we not only cannot supply the requisite means to bring this Colony, which is a source of so much expense for the West India Company, to such a state that we might in time realize the long looked for fruits thereof". ^ Documents Relative to the Coloriial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 152-154, 161, 251, 259-270, 275-318, 374, 375. In April, 1648, it was asserted that the 372 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA country lay prostrate, settlers were hunted, lands laid waste, bouweries and plantations to the number of fifty or sixty burnt and laid in ashes, ' ' and what is worst of all, the Dutch name is through those cruel acts, despised to a most sovereign degree, by the Heathens of those parts". Even then it was prophesied that the English, who had grown to be about 60,000 strong, would in time take the country. ^** Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. I, pp. 619, 630-634, 637. " Griffis' The Story of Neio Netherland, p. 127. ^- There is authority for the statement that hundreds of the better class of Dutch withdrew from New York, re- turning to Holland or settling in the West and East Indies, not a few going to Virginia and the Carolinas. — Griffis' The Story of New Netherland, p. 148. ^^ See Roosevelt's History of New York, pp. 48, 58 ; and Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. II. pp. 512, 526, where the number was esti- mated at 8000 in 1667 and at from 6000 to 7000 in 1673. ^*Cheyney's European Background of American His- tory, pp. 186, 187. ^^ "Writers of English origin and apologists for Eng- lish aggression are continually endeavoring to gloss over the English usurpation of New Netherland by disseminating the fiction that the New Netherlanders were so tired of their own government that they welcomed English rule. The New Netherlanders loved to quarrel with their governors and to accuse them of various misdeeds, as all oppositions will do, but this did not imply a predilection for English rule." — The American Historical Review, Vol. XV, p. 394. NOTES AND REFERENCES 373 The latest English opinion of the Dutch in America is a part of a psychological study of the American nation. The author writes: "The civilization of the Dutch suc- cumbed before a more virile race, a race endowed with a peculiar genius to govern and leave its ineffaceable mark. All that the Dutch brought to America — language, cus- toms, political principles — has been overlaid by the speech and institutions and political philosophy of the Eng- lish. . . . Search as we may, we can find no trace of the Dutch strain or that the Dutch left any indesinent impress upon the American character or were able to modify a con- quering race or impose upon it their own civilization. ' ' — Low's Tlie American People, pp. 378 and 389. Elsewhere the same author declares: "No people who have played a part in affecting the destinies of mankind — and that the Dutch did, no one who is familiar with their history or that of Europe in the sixteenth century will deny — offer such a curious and puzzling study. . . . And yet virile, industrious, undegenerate — and those qualities make the mystery all the greater — they have influenced the world so little." — The American People, p. 392. Despite the fact that many Dutch geographical names have been erased from the map, chiefly by the English (as in the case of New Netherland and New Holland, which is now called Australia, though the name New Zealand has been preserved), Holland has been the only one among deca- dent states able to retain control of populous colonial pos- sessions. Her colonies rank fourth in extent and third in population, although a very small percentage of the colo- nials is Dutch : it is estimated that the European element in the 25,000,000 people on the island of Java does not exceed 50,000 souls. Wherever the Dutch colonists have by their industry accomplished the greatest results, the English have 374 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA been able to establish their political domination. This was the case in America, and also recently in South Africa, where the Transvaal, Orange Free State, and Cape Colony, still very largely Dutch, are now parts of the British Em- pire. "In view of the overwhelming preponderance of Great Britain it is remarkable how Holland has not merely pre- served, but extended its possessions ; without them it would be an insignificant, feeble member in the family of Europe ; with them its power is much more substantial and far- reaching than many of the larger empires. The Dutch, with a small army of a few thousand men, govern thirty- five million people ; their ships ply in every sea, their mer- chants frequent every market, and their products are re- quired in every household." — Morris' The History of Colonization, Vol. I, pp. 355-359. See also Dunlap's His- tory of the Neiv Netherlands, Vol. I, pp. 40, 41. CHAPTER II ^^ Grififis in The Story of New Netherland, p. 48, believes the history of the Reformed Church in America to be all- important ' ' because the highest Dutch social life was closely associated with the Church, and was from the first found in its largest and fullest form in the congregations. The Church nourished a spirit of democracy, besides maintain- ing the schools and culture after the English conquered New Netherland and the royal governors abolished the pub- lic schools. . . . The Reformed Dutch Church was the seedbed for the sprouting of American and Continental, as opposed to aristocratic British notions. The language, cus- toms, traditions, and best inheritances of Patria lingered longest, and are to-day found most notably in the Reformed NOTES AND REFERENCES 375 churches in the East and West of our country. When New Netherland ceased to be, the Dutch Church and people still remained a potent element in the making of the American man and the world's grandest political structure." See also The Story of New Netherland, p. 264 ; and Cor- win's Manual of the Reformed Church in America, Fourth Edition, p. 45. On p. 132 of the latter work the reader will find that this Church was called "Reformed Dutch" or ' ' Reformed Protestant Dutch ' ' until the name was changed in 1867, after a somewhat heated discussion, to "Reformed Church in America". The writer, however, has taken the liberty to use the name given in the text. ^^ Low's The American People, pp. 378, 379. ^^Corwin's Manual, pp. 42-44, 116, 126, 131; and Griffis' The Story of Neiv Netherland, pp. 249, 251. 13 Corwin's Manual, pp. 45-47, 99, 143, 162. 2° Corwin's Manual, pp. 1073-1082, where can be found a chronological list of the congregations of the Reformed Church in America, 1628-1902. See also Griffis' The Story of New Netherland, p. 265. Professor Albert B. Faust has calculated that the six thousand original Dutch settlers of New York (a conserva- tive estimate in 1673), doubling their number every twenty- three years, would make about 200,000 Dutch descendants in 1790. To this number he has added about 40,000 Dutch for other States in 1790. Figuring that the population of 1790 increased about ten and one-half times until 1900, Professor Faust concludes that the American-born descend- ants of the early Dutch immigrants numbered about 2,520,- 000 in 1900. — Faust's The German Element in the United States, Vol. II, pp. 16-18. ■•> 376 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ^^ United States Summary of Commerce and Finance, June, 1903, p. 4339. The exact figures on Dutch immigra- tion by decades are as follows : 1841-1850 — 8251 ; 1851- 1860 — 10,789; 1861-1870 — 9102; 1871-1880 — 16,541; 1881-1890 — 53,701; 1891-1895 — 25,812; 1896-1900 — 6004 ; 1901-1902 — 4633. During the years 1821-1902 Euro- pean nations contributed to our population in the order named: Germany, Ireland, England, Italy, Norway and Sweden, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Poland, France, Scotland, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Spain and Por- tugal, and Belgium. ^- United States Summary of Commerce and Finance, June, 1903, pp. 4375-4399. In 1900 the following States contained more than one thousand foreign-born Dutch: Michigan, 30,406; Illinois, 21,916; New Jersey. 10,261; New York, 9414; Iowa, 9388; Wisconsin, 6496; Minnesota, 2717 ; Ohio, 1719 ; Indiana, 1678 ; South Dakota, 1566 ; and California. 1015. The foreign-born Dutch in the United States in 1900 numbered 104,931, of whom 2608 and 18,555 lived in New York City and Chicago, respectively. ^^ Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, June, 1910, pp. 778-817; and consult also the Yearbook of the Christian Beformed Church in America, 1910, pp. 33-45. The fact that the language of the pulpit in the West is mainly Dutch and almost entirely English in the East is explained by the comparative youthfulness of the western settlements and the continual accessions of fresh immi- grants from Holland. The futility of attempting to compute the number of Dutch and their descendants in the United States is ob- vious. The Christian Reformed Church claims a member- NOTES AND REFERENCES 377 ship of 14,031 families or of 78,427 persons. Computing on the same basis, the Reformed Church would have for its 63,364 families 348,502 persons, making a total of 426,929 people for the two Churches. But the membership of con- gregations in the East is not exclusively Dutch. Further- more, it is difficult to estimate the number of Dutch who are Roman Catholics or non-church members, or the number of descendants of the original Dutch settlers of the seven- teenth century. In A Century of Population Groivth in the United States, 1790-1900, published by the United States Census Bureau, Chapter XI is devoted to "nationality as indicated by the heads of families reported at the first census": the number of Hollanders is estimated at about 79,000 (50,600 in New York and 21,581 in New Jersey), and if their de- scendants maintained the same proportion to the native- born population, they would have numbered 875,000 in 1900. This estimate seems sounder than that of Professor Faust, mentioned in footnote 20. Adding the descendants of Hollanders who immigrated to America from 1790 to 1900, and 250,000 is a low estimate, and also all persons of Dutch parentage in 1900 (estimated by Professor Faust at 283,764), the people of Dutch ancestry and Dutch birth in the United States probably numbered about 1,400,000 in 1900. CHAPTEE TTI '* In the writing of this chapter the author has drawn upon the following sources, all in the Dutch language : De Afscheiding: Een GedenliscJirift {The Separation: A Me- moir), by John Nollen, an excellent brochure written fifty years after the settlement of Pella; and Landverhuizing, of Waarom Bevorderen Wij de Volksverhuizing en wel naar Noord-Amcrika en niet naar Java, {Emigration, or Why 378 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA We Encourage People to Emigrate to North America and not to Java), by A. Brummelkamp and A. C. van Raalte, 1846. The latter interesting pamphlet contains a letter to the people of Holland, a letter to the Christians of the United States, and letters of Hollanders who had been in the United States for the past two years. The author has also consulted Geschiedenis van Pella, Iowa, en Omgeving {The History of Pella, Iowa, and Vicinity), by K. van Stigt, in three parts, consisting of 391 pages. -^ Young men chose the ministry as they would have chosen law or medicine, and candidates for the ministry had to subscribe to a very loose and ambiguous formula. See Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 9-12; and Corwin's Man- ual, pp. 12, 13, 137. ^® Their organization being based on the creed and church regulations of Dort, the Separatists looked upon themselves as the original Netherlands Reformed Church and their official title was Christian Reformed Church. The secession principles were not shared by the aristocratic orthodox party in the Church nor by the mass of the clergy, who thought more could be done for the ailing Church by remaining in it. See van Raalte 's Landverhuizing, p. 33 ; and Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 25-29, for details of the secession in Holland. ^^ Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 12. In his Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 6, 7, van Stigt writes: "Living at a time when the Dutch Reformed Church had sunk into a state of far- reaching decay, Mr. Scholte, by reason of his active and fiery temperament, became an instrument of the Lord to fan the smouldering embers into a blaze, and with the help of other courageous workers in the Lord's vineyard, under NOTES AND REFERENCES 379 God's guidance, he kindled a fire the results of which are still perceived and experienced in the Fatherland to-day." 2^ Article 291 of the Code Napoleon reads as follows: "No societies or company of more than twenty persons shall be allowed to organize for the purpose of daily or pe- riodical gatherings to consider subjects of religion, litera- ture, politics, or other matters, without permission of the Government and under such terms as local authorities sliall deem proper to impose. ' ' For details of the persecution, see Nollen's De Afschei- ding^ pp. 13-39; van Stigt's GescMedenis, Part I, pp. 8-18, 72; and van Raalte's Landverhuizing, p. 31. See also an article by Mr. Cyrenus Cole, A Bit of Holland in America, in The Midland Monthly, A^ol. Ill, pp. 115-117. A glance at the table of contents of De Reformatie, a periodical of the Christian Reformed Church in The Nether- lands published and edited by Rev. Seholte from 1837 until he departed for America, shows clearly how the Separatists were treated in various provinces. The writer is indebted to Mr. A. J. Betten of Orange City, Iowa, for being per- mitted to consult his bound volumes of this periodical. Mr, H. P. Seholte of Pella, Iowa, also owns a complete set of De Reformatie. 29 Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 30, 35, 37; van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 18, 19; and van Raalte's Land- verhuizing, pp. 31, 33. Nollen in his excellent memoir quotes the words of Rev. Brummelkamp : "At first, when a Separatist appeared upon the streets, he was pointed at as if he were a being from another world, and urchins mocked him or threw mud and stones at him. If anyone joined the dissenting Church, he did it knowing that position and property, relatives and friends were at stake. 'You are 380 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA trouble-makers, you incite rebellion, you disobey your su- periors.' said most of the inhabitants of The Xetheriands. Even friends and relatives, with whom we had walked and counselled in peace, kept their distance, so great was their slavish subjection to Synodical supremacy. ' ' ^'^ See van Raalte's Landvcrhuizing, pp. 8. 31, 32; Xol- len's De Afscheiding. pp. 38, 39. ^^ Van Raalte's Landverhuizing. pp. 8. 15, 17, 18, 19, 21. 35; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 24. 72. ^- The best account of the economic state of Holland can be found in van Raalte's Landverhuizing, pp. 6, 7, 9, 10, 33, 34. See also van Stigt's Geschiedenis. pp. 23-25, 72; XoUen's De Afscheiding, pp. 40-42; and Gedenboek — yijftigjang Juiihum der Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk, 1357-1907, pp. 4, 5. The last named book contains an ex- cellent article by Rev. Henry Beets. CHAPTER TK ^^ XoUen's De Afscheiding, pp. 40, 42; and van Raalte's Landverhuizing , pp. 20, 33, 34. ^* Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 23 : and van Raalte's Landverhuizing. pp. 16-23, 35. With regard to Java, the author of the latter pamphlet wrote as follows: "^lay this emigration movement open the Government's eyes to granting full liberty in Qixil and ecclesiastical af- fairs, both in regard to schools and churches, so that our colonies may be rendered accessible to those who wish to go. Let an endeavor be made to send thither so many of our in- habitants as dare not think of going to America from a lack of money to cover travelling expenses. . . . The Grovem- ment can easilv advance to them the cost of food on the NOTES AND REFERENCES 381 journey, equipment and first expenses on arrival, while the transportation of thousands should be costless, because nearly 150 vessels return to Java empty every year. . . . Furthermore, just think of converting millions of Javanese to Christianity ! But how can the thousands who are ready afford to pay the price ? I^et the Government do something before it is too late." ^^Nollen's Be Afscheiding, pp. 40-43. The land which satisfied the wishes of the Separatists was then little known in Europe : "In those days America appeared to lie outside the world, and the journey thither demanded a farewell, such as reminded one of a death-bed scene. Emi- grants were then still looked upon as moral outcasts : most- ly persons who were in bad odor, who had been 'shipped away ' by friends and relatives. ' ' See especially van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 22- 2G, which is a transcript from De Beformatie, 1841 ; and van Raalte's E^nigration, pp. 16, 35. ^•^ Van Raalte's Landverhuizing, pp. 14, 24, 37, 42, 43- 51; Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 40, 41; and The Pella Gazette, June 5, 1856. CHAPTEK V 2^ Van Raalte's Landverhuizing, pp. 37, 54, 55. In their letter to Christians in North America, van Raalte and Brummelkamp appealed for money to help promote the emigration of the worthy poor: "In the following month [June, 1846] fifty persons, partly members of our congre- gations, partly other Christian countrymen, intend to journey via New York and the Lakes to Milwaukee, Wis- consin, where a few families from the province of Gelder- land already live ; while a few others intend to journey down 382 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA the Ohio to Hollanders in Illinois, later join those in Wis- consin, and together to found a colony whither subsequent emigrants may go, according as the Lord shall supply us means to cover traveling expenses. ' ' See also van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 74; Nol- len's De Afscheiding, p. 43; and Donnell's Pioneers of Marion County, p. 159. ^^NoUen's De Afscheiding, p. 42. Scholte said of him- self: "At an age when man is at the zenith of his power to work, with all my God-given wealth and spiritual gifts, I can be of use there to my own family and to many of my present and also future countrymen : here at home the way to that is closed." — Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 24. '^Donnell's Pioneers of Marion County, p. 160. The number is given on the authority of A. J. Betten, one of the first Dutch settlers in Iowa. *° The Dissenters were pretty well scattered throughout the kingdom, but most of them were to be found in the provinces of North Brabant, Gelderland, Overysel, Gronin- gen, and Friesland. H. P. Scholte was the leader at Utrecht. — See Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 29. For all these facts the writer is mainly indebted to van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 75-85, 121. This history is especially valuable because it contains the names of all Hollanders who came to Iowa in the early years. The names of those who comprised the first party are also preserved. It is interesting to note that van Raalte with his family and forty-seven followers left Rotterdam on the same day as the small party which landed at New Orleans, but van Raalte disembarked at New York and conducted his party to the State of ^Michigan to found what has come to be the NOTES AND REFERENCES 383 largest Dutch settlement in America. — See Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 42, 43. *^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 85, 86. *2 Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 43; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 32. *^ For the names of perhaps all of the Dutch emigrants upon these vessels see van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 89-112. This book, pp. 112-114, also contains the names of about seventy-five persons who came to America on various other ships, and afterwards settled in Iowa. ** Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 115-121. CHAPTEE VI *^ This account is contained in a pamphlet of sixty-three pages composed and published in 1848, entitled Eene Stem uit Pella (A Voice from Pella), and it consists of chapters on ''The Preparation", "The Settlement", and "Conclu- sion", several appendices, and two small maps. — See the writer's translation in The loiva Journal of History and Politics, Vol. IX, pp. 528-574. A reviewer in The Scottish Historical Beview, Vol. IX, p. 217, writes of the pamphlet as follows: "Reading like an emigration agent's advertisement with a sermon run- ning through it, the paper has the further interest of re- flecting contemporary conditions on religious freedom in Holland." In the first paragraph Scholte writes: "Numerous former fellow-countrymen of mine must long ago have ex- pected some article from my pen. The reason for my silence hitherto lies not in any indifference toward the land of my birth ; for during my domicile in the United States of North 384 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA America I have followed the fortunes of The Netherlands as closely as possible. It pained me to hear that afiEairs since my departure have been so conducted that the blood of citizens had to be poured out, due not to differences with foreign potentates but to civil dissensions. Just as little must the reason for my silence be sought in dissatisfaction springing from my former experiences. With grateful ac- knowledgment of God 's good hand over me for the unusual honor which has come to me in my new country, I have sincerely forgiven the land of my birth for the unjust treat- ment meted out to me in various ways. "The reason for my silence hitherto is that I did not like to trouble my former fellow-countrymen with matters which they can read in every book on America, and I did not care to tell them facts which in themselves are of trifling importance but when colored a little have a certain charm for the minds of men. I believe I am well enough acquainted with human nature to know how little it takes to portray a situation in light wholly different from the real, and I am convinced of having so much regard for my fellow- men that I do not wish to be instrumental in deluding them in any way. ' ' — Scholte 's Eetie Stem nit Pella, pp. 1, 2, 9, 11. *« Scholte 's Ecne Stem uit Pella, pp. 6, 7. *^ It is said that besides articles and utensils for house- hold use the emigrants brought all sorts of machinery, even heavy farm-wagons. "Beans and peas proved to be of most value in the following spring." — Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 121, 122. See also Scholte 's Bene Stem uit Pella, pp. 7, 8. *^ So far as can be ascertained, memory has not served van Stigt well when he writes of "Columbus" and of a NOTES AND REFERENCES 385 railroad as running from Harrisburg to Johnstown. There was neither a "Columbus" nor a railroad in 1847. When van Stigt asserts that the Hollanders went to Harrisbiirg by canal he must have meant "Hollidaysburg" because this was the western terminus of the canal from Columbia. Furthermore, the easiest and quickest route to Johnstown at that time was the natural passage-way afforded by the valleys of the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers. Nollen, in his memoir, p. 48, has repeated van Stigt 's account of the itinerary. For a discussion of the Pennsylvania Canal and Port- age Railway, see Hulbert's Historic Highways, Vol. XIII, pp. 184, 200, 208-211, 213, 214. *^Van Stigt 's Gescliiedenis, Part I, pp. 122-124; and Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 8. °° Scholte's Bene Stem uit Pella, pp. 8, 9; and Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 48. CHAPTER VII ^^ This entire chapter is based on Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 9-13. See also van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 2; and Brummelkamp 's Holland in Amerika, p. 11. CHAPTER VIII ^" See van Raalte's letter printed in a pamphlet pub- lished by A. Brummelkamp, Holland in Amerika, of De Hollandsche Kolonisatie in den Staat Michigan, pp. 8-23. " Brummelkamp 's Holland in Amerika, pp. 34, 35 ; and Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 5. ^* Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 3. 386 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ^^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 32. ^° Scholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 4, 5, " Scholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 2, 3, 14. °® In his Pioneers of Marion County, p. 159, Donnell writes as follows: "Among other portions of this conti- nent at first favorably thought of, was Texas. But after obtaining all the information that could be gathered, relat- ing to its geography and climate, it was decided to be too warm. Missouri was also had in view, but the existence of slavery there forbade its choice as a location. Finally Iowa, then the youngest sister in the family of states, was chosen as the land of refuge." Mr. Cole in The Midland Monthly, Vol. Ill, p. 120, writes : "While they tarried at St. Louis a committee came from Nauvoo, out of which the Mormons had just been driven, and offered to sell that city outright. But they had come to America to make homes of their own. ' ' See also Scholte 's Eene Stem, uit Pella, pp. 8, 9; Nol- len's De Afscheiding, p. 48; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 74, where the writer states that Iowa had at- tracted attention when the Association was formed at Utrecht. ^^ The right to these lands was settled in 1849 by a decision of the Iowa Supreme Court and later affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. — See Gue 's History of Iowa, Vol. I, pp. 169-172; and Greene's Iowa Reports, Vol. II, p. 15. 60 Ygp Planck van Antwerp was a Knickerbocker by birth, received his education at AVest Point Military Acad- emy, became a government superintendent on the Cumber- land Road, and later Was sent by President Van Buren to NOTES AND REFERENCES 387 Burlington, Iowa, to be Receiver of the Public Moneys. In December, 1841, he became an editor of The Iowa Capitol Reporter, a democratic newspaper at Iowa City. His ran- corous Wliig opponents called him "My Lord Pomposity", ''West Point dandy", "Our Noble Lord", and "Our Mod- em Caesar". See editorials in The Iowa City Standard for December, 1841, and an article in the Iowa Historical Record, 1891-93, pp. 426-429, where the writer says: "Van desired to be popular, was honest and faithful in all the trusts of his life, . . . but his style was more amusing than popular." ^^ For the sources consulted in preparing this chapter see Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 14-19; van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 9-17; and Nollen's De Afscheid- ing, pp. 49-51. CHAPTEE IX ®2 Newhall's A Glimpse of Iowa iii 1846, p. v. «3 Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 27, 28; Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 51; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 17. *'* Phillips' Mahaska County, p. 239. *^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 18, ]9 ; and for the main facts of this chapter see Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 27, 28. CHAPTEE X «« Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella. pp. 20, 21. ^^ Newhall's A Glimpse of Iowa in 1346, pp. 40, 44; and Garver's Boundary History of Iowa Counties in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 73-75. 388 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA 6« Newhall's A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846, pp. 46-48. "''In Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 52, the number of acres is placed at 18,000, based on county records. In the History of Marion County, Iowa, pp. 331-334, there is a list of land sales for the year 1847, and Hendrik Peter Scholte and John A. Graham are credited with the purchase of most of the land in two townships. They could obtain land only in the even-numbered sections because the odd-numbered sections had been appropriated for Des Moines River Im- provement in 1846 and were not yet on the market. ^« See Scholte 's Eenc Stem uit Pella, pp. 19, 29. Nollen in De Afscheiding, p. 52, says of Scholte: "Because he lacked a competent book-keeper, this was the beginning of financial difficulties, which afterward led to much friction." ^^ Scholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 29. This pamphlet contains a map which indicates the location of the fanns which Scholte bought from the original settlers. CHAPTER XT ■^- Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part I, p. 26; and Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 51, where the writer explains the mean- ing of the biblical name "Pella". See also Scholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 28, 29. "^ See Burlington Ilawkeye, September or October, 1847, for an article by J. B. Newhall on" A Day in Pella." His visit was made on September 17, 1847. ^* Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 52; van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis, Part 11, pp. 20, 21 ; and also pp. 25, 26 of a small book published in 1858, entitled De Hollanders in loiva, of NOTES AND REFERENCES 389 Brieven uit Pella, written by a man who signed himself "Een Gelderschman", and whose name is still shrouded in mystery. For a popular account of sod-houses at Pella, see Donnell's Pioneers of Marion County, pp. 161-163. ^'^ See De Hollanders in Iowa, p. 115; van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis, Part II. p. 23 ; and Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 21, 29, 30. ^® De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 116, 119. " De Hollanders in Iowa, p. 117; and van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis, Part II, p. 41. ''^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II. p. 23 ; and Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 20, 22. ^'^ Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 22, 23; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 49. ^^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 48, 53, 54; and Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 24, 31. *^ Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 24; and De Hol- landers in Iowa, pp. 170-172, 175, 176. ^' Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 18, 40, 41 ; and Seholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 30, 31. CHAPTEK XTI 83 Van Stigt's Geschiedenis. Part II, pp. 23, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54; Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 53; and History of Mario7i County, Iowa, p. 263. ** Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 53, 54; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 66-68, 71-73. 390 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA CHAP TEE Xin ®^ Seholte's Ecne Stem nit PeUa, p. 34. *® For a discussion of the transportation problem see the writer's article on The Eoads and Highways of Terntorial Iowa in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. Ill, pp. 178, 199-203: van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II. p. 70; Laws of Iowa, 1848, p. 47; and Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 24, 25. ®' United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX. p. 77. «» Scholtes Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 21, 25, 26, 27; also Scholte's Twcede Stem uit Pella, p. 9, which was written in the month of November, 1848 ; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 49, 50, 51, 74. 75. Amsterdam lav one mile south of a village now called Howell Station. In 1860 the site of Leerdam was surveyed near the Skunk River north of Pella, but the town never got any farther. Des ]\Ioines River improvement is still considered feasible. — See The Register and Leader (Des Moines), November 29, 1911. That Scholte and the Hollanders were intensely inter- ested in this project is apparent from his petition to the State legislature on the subject. — See House Journal (Iowa), 1848, p. 245. ^^ Annals of loiva. Third Series, Vol. IV, pp. 348, 349, 355; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II. pp. 68-70, 76. Mr. H. P. Scholte of Pella doubts whether his father had a part in the plank-road scheme, as van Stigt alleges. »» Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 20, 26, 27, 58; Shambaugh's Iowa City, pp. 110-116; House Journal, 1848, p. 245. and 1850. pp. 69, 160; and Senate Journal, 1852, p. 97. NOTES AND REFERENCES 391 CHAPTER XIY ^^ Bnimmelkamp 's Holland in Amerika, pp. 13-16. Here van Raalte wrote that he would not dare "to plant a colony on the prairies, since it demands too much money. The expense of importing lumber for the houses and barns .... is in general too great for our people ; and furthermore the rich farmer may feel at home on the prairies, but people trained in other lines of work will feel out of place." See also Nollen's De Afscheidhig, p. 46. ^2 Brummelkamp 's Holland in Amerika, pp. 8, 9. ^^Scholte's Eene Stem nit Pella, pp. 4, 19, 42, 44-47; and Tweede Stem uit Pella, pp. 4, 5. »* Seholte's Tweede- St e7n uit Pella, pp. 3, 4, 28, 35. »^ Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 50-52, 61. CHAPTER XV ^^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 39 ; and Scholte's Eene Stem nit Pella, p. 29. ^' The voyage of the large number of emigrants in 1849 lasted from the first of May until the fifteenth of June. On board their sailing vessel, Franziska, ten persons died. Among the leaders were A. C. Kuyper, Jacob Maasdam. A. E. D. Bousquet, and eTohn Hospers. The latter kept a diary of the journey from Hoog Blokland to Pella. which his son, Nicholas Hospers, kindly lent to the writer. In July, 1852, the county judge of Marion County made a record of the census. Of 6289 inhabitants in the county, Lake Prairie Township had 1301, and of 869 for- eign-born persons, the same township had 802. — See His- tory of Marion County, Iowa, p. 380. 392 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 58-65, 71, 77, 84 ; and Iowa Historical and Comparative Census, 1836-1880, p. 169. ®® Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 67, 93-109, and Part III, pp. 15-29; Census of Iowa, 1856: and The Pella Gazette, May 22, 1856. Many Hollanders who came to Pella hy way of Keokuk during those years well remember the hospitalit}^ of their countrymen in that city, among whom was Caesar Obertop. This man met incoming steamboats at the wharf, conducted immigrants to his home, and if they were poor, helped them on their way to Pella. He was a general favorite at Keokuk for many years. ^^ Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part III, pp. 79-93 ; and the United States Census, 1870, pp. 340, 353. 354. In 1885 Jackson County had no foreign-born Dutch at all, so that tliere is strong probability that the number returned in 1870 was a printer's error. See also Donnell's Pioneers of Mar- ion County, p. 165. CHAPTEK XVI ^"•'Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 90, 91; and De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 118, 119. "1 Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 39, 55, 80, and Part III. pp. 10. 42. ^<'- Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 87. ^"^ Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 33-37, and Part III, pp. 3-7. 10* De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 116-142; The Pella Ga- zette, April 19. October 18, 1855, and March 15, May 1, NOTES AND REFERENCES 393 1856; van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 45; and Phillips' Mahaska Comity, p. 241. ^"^ Parker's lotua Handbook, pp. 183, 184; Laivs of Iowa, 1858, p. 195; van Stigt's Gesckiedenis, Part III, pp. 55, 56; and The Pella Gazette, May 3, 1855, January 17, 1856, and January 22, 1857. For Scholte's interest in Des Moines River improvement see The Pella Gazette, January 22, 1857; and for "railroad" meetings to consider the mat- ter of voting a county subscription see The Pella Gazette, April 30 and May 14, 1857, and Pella's Weekblad, January 7, July 15, and August 10, 17, and 31, 1871. CHAPTER XVII ^"^ De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 166, 167 ; and Buddingh's De Hervormde Hollandsche Kerk in de Vereenigde Staten van Noord-Amerika, p. 159. ^"'^ House Journal, 1856, p. 25; 1858. pp. 32, 62; 1860, pp. 68, 69, 75, 77, 266, 418; 1862, pp. 35, 50, 76; 1864, p. 60; 1866, p. 30; and 1868, pp. 39, 146, 324. See also The Pella Gazette, December 18, 1856, and March 11, 1858, where the editor urges that "the State Printer be hurried up a little. ' ' ^°® Shambaugh 's Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Vol. I, pp. 430, 459. ^'^^ Legislative Documents (Iowa), 1861-62; and Laws of Iowa, 1860, p. 60. The Society for the Protection of Dutch Immigrants at New York City was supported by voluntary contributions for many years and finally ceased because the Hollanders were no longer interested. — See Pella's Weekblad, March 16, 1869. 394 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA ^^'^ Shambaugli "s Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Vol. Ill, p. 303; Laws of Iowa, 1870, p. 33; and Legislative Documents (Iowa), 1872, No. 27. CHAPTER XVIII ^^^ De Volksvriend, September 19, 1895, p. 8, where Mr. John Nollen signs himself "X"; and De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 166, 167. ^^- De Volksvriend, September 19. 1895, p. 2. Henry Hospers writes on the emigration from Pella to Sioux County. See also The Sioux County Herald, July 6, 1876. ^^^ PeUa's Weekblad, January 5. 19, and February 16, 1869; and De Volksvriend, July 23, 1871. The committee consisted of ^I. van Bennett, K. van Klootwijk. and "W. J. Kornegoop. ^^* See H. J. van der Waa's stor^- in The Alton Demo- crat, September 3, 1910. W. S. Harlan, a land-agent at Sac City, advertised lands near Storm Lake in Delia's Week- blad, January 26. 1869. '^^Pella's Weekblad, April 27, 1869. ^^M'an Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part III, p. 61; De Volks- vriend, June 25, 1874, and September 19, 1895; and The Alton Democrat, September 3, 1910. For the last three paragraphs see pp. 102 and 103 of a little volume on Iowa, in the Dutch language, written by Dr. A. F. H. de Lespinasse and printed in 1875. CHAPTER XIX "^ For the facts of this chapter see historical accounts in the following newspapers: De ^'olksvriend, June 25. and NOTES AND REFERENCES 395 July 16, 23, 1874, for articles by Pelmulder; and September 19, 1895, for an account by llospers; and The Alton Demo- crat, September 3, 1910. For contemporary Pella events, see Pella's WeekUad, February 23. March 9, April 13, 27, i\[ay 4, 11, 18, and June 1, 8, 22, 1869. See also Fulton's Free Lands in Iowa, pp. 45-47. CHAPTER XX ^^^ Pella's WeekUad, June 29. and July 6. 1869; De Volksvriend, July 23, 30, and August 6, 1874; September 19, 1895; and The Alton Democrat, September 3, 1910. For the railroad grant, see United States Statutes at Large, May 12, 1864 ; and Laws of Iowa, 1866, p. 143. For the homestead and preemption laws see Iowa: The Home for Immigrants, published by the Board of Immi- gration in 1870, pp. 59-61. CHAPTER XXI ^^^ Sioux County Herald, July 6, 1876; and Pella's WeekUad, September 7, and October 5, 1869. Dr. M. Cohen Stuart's Zes Maanden in Amerika {Six Months in Ameri- ca), Part II, pp. 23, 24, where be describes a journey from Le Mars to Orange City in the month of November, 1873. For a reprint of his impressions concerning Orange City, see De Volksvriend, September 1, 1875. ^^° See loiva Historical and Comparative Census. 1836- 1880. pp. 199, 581, 582; and The Sioux County Herald, July 6, 1876, where Jelle Pelmulder 's historical sketch is printed. It is worthy of note that Congress passed a joint reso- lution in ]\rarch, 1876, recommending that the people of all the States should "assemble in their several counties or 396 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA towns on the approaching Centennial Anniversary of our National Independence" and "have delivered on such day a historical sketch of said county or town from its formation ' ' to be filed in print or manuscript "in the office of the Li- brarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the First Centennial of their existence." — Gover- nor Kirkwood's proclamation to the people of Iowa, em- bodying the recommendation of Congress, in Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Vol. IV, pp. 310-313. CHAPTEE XXII ^-^ Fella's Weekhlad, December 25, 1869; and van Stigt's GescMedenis, Part III, p. 64. ^^^ Fella's Weekhlad, April 30, 1870; De Volksvriend, September 19, 1895 ; The Alton Democrat, September 3, 1910; Sioux Center Niciiwshlad, September 7, 1910; and an article by A. van der Meide in The Historical Atlas of Sioux County. The heads of families are named in The Sioux County Herald, July 6, 1876, and in van Stigt's GescMedenis, Part III, p. 64. ^^^ See Rev. James de Pree's interesting article in The Historical Atlas of Sioux County. ^-* See Mr. A. van der Meide 's article mentioned in note 122 supra; A. J. Betten's article in De Volksvriend, Sep- tember 19, 1895; and correspondence to Fella'.e Volksvriend, September 19, 1895, Mr. Betten's article; and Bella's Weekhlad, June 25, 1870. 215 De Volksvriend, June 18, 1874. 21" De Volksvriend, September 1, and October 10, 21, 1875. 21^ Cenms of Iowa, 1875, pp. 452, 456, 493 ; 1885, p. 390. See also the Iowa Official Register from 1887 to 1910. 21* The writer is indebted to ]Mr. Herman Te Paske of Orange City, Iowa, for these statistics. See also the Iowa Official Register from 1887 to 1912. Of the nine county officials besides the supervisors, five were Hollanders in 1912. Americans, however, have always received the sup- port of Dutch voters. Hollanders have been equally strong in municipal politics and school elections. NOTES AND REFERENCES 411 219 j)q Yrije Hollander, October 13, 1899, and April 6, 1900. Fella's Weekhlad, March 27, 1903, made political capital of Roosevelt's display of favoritism towards the English. The editor ridiculed Republicans for supporting Roosevelt and referred to his Dutch blood thus: "Half Irish, all American, one fourth English, half Dutch, some Polish or Hungarian, and some French and German — that's Roosevelt!" 220 2)g Vrije Hollander, November 8, and December 6, 19, 1901. "1 The Sioux City Tribune, October 22, 24, 1901. See also Iowa Official Register, 1911-12, p. 92; and The Des Moines Weekly Leader, October 24, 1901. 222 Iowa Official Register, 1911-12, pp. 594, 621. CHAPTER XXX "3 The Pella Gazette, February 1 and May 17, 1855, and May 15, 1856. This, with the exception of one at Coun- cil Bluffs, was said to be the westernmost newspaper in Iowa in 1855. ^-* De Hollanders in Iowa, pp. 130, 131. 22^ This notice was run for several issues after February 1, 1855. 22« Z)e Hollanders in Iowa, p. 131; and The Pella Ga- zette, August 14, 1856, and January 29, 1857. ^" The Pella Gazette, September 24, 1857. See The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, July 21, August 25, Sep- tember 1, 8, 15, 29, October 6, 20, 27, and December 15, 29, I860; and The Keokuk Gate City, August 15, 1860. 412 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA --^ The share-holders were : John Hospers, Jacob de Haan, Henry Hospers, G. van Houwelingen, P. M. van der Ley, A. C. Kuyper, Isaac Overkamp, William van Asch, J. Akkerman, and A. Duinink. — See van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part III, pp. 37, 38; and also Pella's Weekhlad, April 16, 1870. -'^ Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part III, p. 42. ^^"Donnell's Pioneers of Marion County, pp. 114, 115; and van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part III, p. 69. ^^^ Van Stigt 's Geschiedenis, Part I, pp. 41, 42, 65. ""^^ Bella's Weekhlad, March 23, 1869; van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis, Part III, p. 38; and Donnell's Pioneers of Mar- ion County, p. 116. '3^ Pella's Weekhlad, January 11, 26, 1869, and June 25, 1870; Donnell's Pioneers of Marion County, pp. 68-70; and The History of Marion County, Iowa, p. 638. Unfortunately the existing files of Pella's Weekhlad cover only the years 1869-1873. Mr. Johnson, the present editor, also has files of Pella's Nieuwshlad and Pella's Week- hlad since February 10, 1899. 23* De Volksvriend, June 18, 1874, and October 28, 1875. Mr. A. J. Betten of Orange City, Iowa, owns the files of De Volksvriend covering the early years. 235 De Volksvriend, December 3, 1874, and November 18, 1875. 236 rpj^g writer is indebted to the editors mentioned in this chapter for much information. NOTES AND REFERENCES 413 CHAPTER XXXI -^^Scholte's Bene Stem uit Pclla, pp. 33, 45; van Raalte's Landverhuizing, pp. 16, 19; and Brummelkamp 's Stemmen uit Noord-Amerika, p. 17. -^^ Van Raalte's Landverhuizing, pp. 8, 16, 17. "9 Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 35, 36, 37. "° Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 82-84. ^^^Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 55, and Scholte's Tweede Stem uit Pella, p. 11. -*- Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 31, and Part III, p. 60; Scholte's Tweede Stem uit Pella, p. 11; and Re- port of Superintendent of Puhlic Instruction (Iowa), 1850, p. 94. 2*3 Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 84. 2" The Pella Gazette, April 19, 1855. 2*5 The Pclla Gazette, February 1, 1855; and De Hol- landers in loiva, pp. 125-129. "« The Pella Gazette, January 17, and May 1, 1856. 2" The Pella Gazette, January 8, 1857. 2*8 The Pella Gazette, March 25, 1858. 2*8 The Pella Gazette, April 28, 1858. CHAPTER XXXII 250 Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part III, pp. 107, 110, 127. 25iDosker's Levensschets van Ds. A. C. van Baalte, D. D., pp. 181-194; and The Pella Gazette, December 6, 1855. 414 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA -^- The Banner (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Vol. 46, pp. 71-76; and Be Vrije Hollander, July 3, 17, 1903. The writer secured much information also from the Principal, Mr. C. Aue. The school property at Orange City is valued at $5,250. That the advocacy of Christian education is not a pro- duct of American conditions but was introduced from IIol- land is apparent from the following : "In 1857, under the influence of the liberals and the Romanists, the government banislied religious instruction from the schools, and in 1876 abolished the theological facul- ties in the universities, but granted funds to the National Synod for special theological instruction. When rational- ists secured these professorships the orthodox party estab- lished a Free Reformed University at Amsterdam (1880). The same party has established free schools all over Hol- land, in which evangelical religion is taught. ' ' — Corwin 's Manual, p. 13. 253 rpjjg value of the school property at Sioux Center and that of ' ' The Hope School ' ' is estimated at $6,500 and $1,200 respectively. — See The Banner (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Vol. 46, pp. 108, 401. In 1911, schools maintained by parents, members of the Christian Reformed Church in America, numbered 133, with 172 teachers, and 6843 pupils, at an annual cost of $96,000, and with property valued at $227,800. — See The Banner (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Vol. 46, pp. 71-76. Pella's Weekhlad, December 1, 1911. 2^* Report of the Superintendent of Piihlic Instruction (Iowa), 1910, pp. 200, 203; and The Banner (Grand Rap- ids, Michigan), Vol. 46, p. 264. NOTES AND REFERENCES 415 CHAPTEE XXXIII ^^^ Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education (Iowa), 1861, Appendices, pp. 35, 36, 91; Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (Iowa), 1865, pp. 64, 65; and Iowa Historical and Comparative Census, 1836-1880, p. 537. CHAPTEE XXXIV 2=^« The Pella Gazette, July 12, 1855 ; Catalogue of Cen- tral University, 1911, p. 5. See also Clarkson's A Beautiful Life, pp. 79-94, for a brief history of the college. ^^^Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 59, 60. 2«« The Pella Gazette, August 9, 1855, and April 22, 1858; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 87. ^^^ Clarkson's A Beautiful Life, p. 79. "° Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part III, pp. 107, 110 ; and Iowa Official Register, 1911-12, p. 823. 2«i Clarkson's A Beautiful Life, pp. 86, 88, 89. John Nollen and Henry G. Nollen have been conspicu- ous figures in the realm of education and art at Pella. The former was once a private teacher of mathematics, natural science, French, German, and vocal and instrumental music, while his brother was a portrait painter. See their pro- fessional advertisements in The Pella Gazette, February 1, 1855. See also the Catalogue of Central University, 1911 ; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 90. CHAPTEE XXXV ^^^ De Yollisvriend, September 19, 1895; and Pella's Weekblad, February 17, 1872. See also De Volksvriend, 416 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA January 7, February 13, September 30, and October 28, 1875. -"^Dosker's Levensschets van Ds. A. C. van Raalte, D. Z>.. p. 181 ; and De Volksvriend, September 19, 1895. 2®* Mr. Gleysteen's article in The Historical Atlas of Sioux County. Mr. Hospers continued to aid the academy until his death. See De Vrije Hollander, January 12, 1900. ^®^ This chapter is based on the Catalogue of Northwest- ern Classical Academy, 1909-1910; articles in De Volks- vriend, September 19, 1895, and The Historical Atlas of Sioux County; and Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1909. CHAPTEE XXXVI 2*'^ Scholte's Bene Stem nit Pella, p. 35. 2"Scholte's Eenc Stem uit Pella. p. 35; Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 59; and van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 111-114, 123. 2«8 Scholte's Eene Stem uit Pella, pp. 13. 14, 34-36. 2«» Scholte's Ee7ie Stem uit Pella. p. 37; Scholte's Tweede Stem uit Pella, pp. 13-15 ; and van Stigt's Geschied- enis, Part II, p. 121. ""Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 116, 122, 124; and Nollen 's De Afscheiding, p. 59. -'^ Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 124, 125; and Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 62. "2 Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 61-63; van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis, Part II, pp. 125, 126: and Clarke's Jowa Re- NOTES AND REFERENCES 417 ports, Vol. II, p. 27. Pella's Garden Square came to the attention of the Supreme Court in 1869, as is shown in Iowa Reports, Vol. XXX, in the case of Fisher et al. v. Scholte. 2'3T/te Pella Gazette, January 8, 1857; and Pella's Weekhlad, December 7, and 13, 1869. This interesting little house of worship of 1855 was abandoned in 1910. (See Pella's WeeJcblad, January 12, 1910.) When the writer visited PeUa in November, 1911, the building was being used as a skating-rink and basket- ball court by the young people of Pella. Its roof was sag- ging in, its sides were bulging out, and its chimney was di- lapidated. Wlien the people of Utrecht, Holland, in 1909 tore down the church in which Scholte once preached, they preserved the pulpit and sent it to Pella. This interesting relic seemed to possess no sentimental value to the citizens of Pella, for they donated it to the Historical Department at Des Moines. Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, p. 127, and Part III, pp. 131-139; and Nollen's Be Afscheiding, pp. 61, 66. CHAPTER XXXVII "* Van Stigt's Geschiedems, Part T, pp. 32, 33 ; Scholte 's Eene Stem uit Pella, p. 59; Nollen's De Afscheiding, pp. 55-58 ; and Dosker's Levensschets van Ds. A. C. van Raalte, D. D., p. 52. =^5 Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II. p. 128. and Part III, p. 102; and Nollen's Be Afschciding, pp. 64, 65. -■« Van Stigt's Geschiedenis, Part II, pp. 95, 98, 108, 109. The second Baptist church at Pella held services in English at 11 and 4 o'clock. There were also congregations 418 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA of Methodists and Congregationalists in Pella. See an- nouncement of church services in The Fella Gazette, Sep- tember 14, 1859. 2" NoUen's De Afscheiding, p. 65. 2"Corwin's Manual, pp. 935-1044. See also Fella's Weekhlad, March 30, May 4, 11, November 2, 16, and De- cember 7, 13, 1869. At Pella there is a small one-story frame building with large white wooden cross. Roman Catholics at Pella dedi- cated this little building in May, 1869. Father Krekel who was able to speak some Dutch took charge of a congrega- tion of forty members. Services are still held at long in- tervals by a priest who comes from Oskaloosa to minister to two or three families of Irish. See also van Stigt's Gcschiedcnis, Part III, pp. 101, 102, 119. ^^^Corwin's Manual, pp. 935-1044; and Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1910, p. 803. -^"Van't Lindenhout's Z(3s Weken tusschcn dc Widen. Rev. Bolks was president of the Classis of Holland. Michi- gnn, which sent a conmiissioner to Albany in 1850 to ask to be received into the Reformed Church of America. — Cor- win's Manual, pp. 139, 335; and Fella's Weekhlad, August 16, 1871. ^*^ Rev. de Pree's and Gle^'steen's articles in The II is- torical Atlas of Sioux County. See also Stuart's Zes Maan- den in Amerika. Part II, pp. 25-27; and Buddingh's De Hollandschc Hervormde Kerk in de Vereenigde Staten van Xoord-Amerika (1852), pp. 105, 159. NOTES AND REFERENCES 419 -^- Corwin's Manual, pp. 935-1044; and Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1910, pp. 781, 787. The Reformed Church in America has congregations at Parkersburg and Aplington in Butler County, Ackley in Hardin County, Belmond in Wright County, Titonka in Kossuth County, Buffalo Center in Winnebago County, Chapin and Alexander in Franklin County, Fostoria in Clay County, Wellsburg and Stout in Grundy County, George and Little Rock in Lyon County, and Melvin and Sibley in Osceola County. These congregations, however, consist almost entirely of German families. — See Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1910, p. 805. 2«3 Corwin's Manual, pp. 135, 143-207. '^* Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1910. CHAPTER XXXVIII 285 Pqj. short historical sketches of the Christian Re- formed Church see Corwin's Manual, pp. 136, 140, 288, 479 ; The Banner, Vol. 46, pp. 6, 36, 37, 55; and van Stigt's Ge- schiedenis. Part III, pp. 118, 131-133. ^^^Nollen's De Afscheiding, p. 60; Corwin's Manual, p. 140. -*^ Yearbook of the Christian Reformed Church, 1911, pp. 28, 30; and Pella's Weekblad, Februaiy 2, 1869. -^^ Yearbook of the Chnstian Reformed Church, 1911, p. 25. The Classis of East Friesland in Iowa is almost ex- clusively German, with congregations at Wellsburg in Grundy County, Ackley in Hardin County, Lincoln Center 420 THE HOLLANDERS OF IOWA and Parkersburg in Butler County. Kanawha and "Wright in Hancock County, and Ostfriesland near Wesley in Kos- suth County. -^^ Yearbook of the Christum Reformed Church, 1907, pp. 80, 81 ; and the Yearbook for 1911. pp. 60, 61. -^^ The Banner (Grand Rapids, Michigan'. Vol. 46. pp. 376-378, 393; and Dosker's Levensschets van Ds. A. C. van Raalte, D. D., pp. 115, 116, 330-333. See The Banner (Grand Rapids. Michigan). Vol. 46, p. 328, for ob.jections to secret societies. It will be noticed that the United Presby- terian Church is practically identical with the Christian Reformed Church in doctrine, govemment, and liturgy. CHAP TEE XXXIX -^^ The Banner (Grand Rapids, Michigan . Vol. 46. pp. 265, 376, 393. -^- Van't Lindenhout's Zes Weken tusschen de Wielen; Pclla's Weekblad. October 28, 1871; and Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 1910. 2^3 The Pella Gazette, February- 22, 1860; and Fella's Weekblad, ^ilarch 9, 1869. -^* The Christian Intelligencer. June 15. 1876; De Volks- vriend, July 20, 27. 1876: and Griffis' The Story of Xew Setherland, p. 249. CHAPTER XL -^^ The gardeners of Orange City were once famous for their culture of celery. Some years ago it was said that they probably ranked second to the growers of Kalamazoo, ^Nlichi- gan, and that their product was shipped all over the States XOTES AXD REFERENCES ^1 elearxrd rn^m so>>j to ^-t*.*^' per acre. — See Agnc.i.'^uni^, Et- porf (Iowa >. 1889. p. S42- ^^ This eomplaint was made bv a writer in Tkf Banner (Giand Bapids, Miehigan ». VoL 46, p. 101. **ScHiie eol- tiire.'' he assertSy "is obtained in ehurdi. in eateehetieal and Sondav-s^ool classes, in yoimg moi's soeieties. in the meetii^s of cmsastones. classes and synods, in ieetnre eoorses. in meeting of seho(d4)oards and conventions.** ^Phillips' Hakmsisa County, p. 243: and van Stigt's GestJtiedenis. Part 11, p. 66. =« Phillips* Mahasim County, pp. 240-242. ^^SehdLte's Ttrtfdf Stem wit PeUe^ p. 5. ^** Van*t Lindenhont wrote in his Zes Weken tusstken de Wieien -. ' ' Straw is simply burned beeaose it isn't worth transportation. If a factoiy were fitted np here f(»- the manufacture of straw-paper and for the working of fiax which is much sown here and of which onlj the seed is saved, a good business enterprise would certainly result.*' He also exchdmed: *'How very differait is the esm- dition of these good friends here fmn that in Hcdland! Most of tiiem perhaps nevo- thou^it of ridii^ in a carriage. let alone of owning nce viewers, 214, 405 Fences, necessity for building of, 182 ; reference to, 322 Feudal system, revival of, 18 Fields, ravaging of, by locusts, 163, 164, 170, 171 Fisher, William, office held by, 224 Fisk, Mr., 356 Fisscher, A., 359 Flatbush (New York), 26 Flatlands (New York), 26 Flas, 77 Floods of 1851, 90 Flowers, growth of, by Dutch, 321 Floyd River, 130, 133 Floyd Township (Sioux County), es- tablishment of, 185; population of, 186, 202; proportion of Hollanders in, 187; reference to, 240; politics in, 241 Foods, among Hollanders, 323 ; amount of, needed by emigrants, 345 Foreign immigration, attitude of Hempstead toward, 119 Fort Amsterdam, 18 Fort Des Moines, evacuation of, by Dragoons, 71; reference to, 88, 89; stage route through, 112, 113 P"ort Dodge, 128, 354; Hollanders in, 194 Fort Good Hope, 18 Fort Nassau, 18 Fort Orange (New York), settlement of Dutch at, 16; reference to, 18, 26 Fostoria, church at, 419 Fourth of July, celebration of, by Hollanders, 114, 328, 329, 360 France, 22, 352, 376 Franco-Prussian War, 151 Franklin County, Hollanders in, 194; churches in, 419 Franklin Street, 73 Franziska (ship), 391 Fremont, John C, vote for, 226 French, 31; coming of, to Pella, 106 Friesian cattle, 334 Friesland, number of emigrants from, in Iowa, 103 ; pamphlet published in, 116; reference to, 327, 382; language of people of, 363 Frieslanders, emigration of, to Sioux County, 140 Frontier, arrival of Hollanders on, 69 ; land purchased on, 71 ; adapta- tion of Hollanders to life on, 78, 79, 81; first settlers on, 80: draw- backs of life on, 86 Fruit, 77 Fruit trees, failure of Hollanders to appreciate value of, 321 Fuel, difficulty in securing, 144, 147 Fur trade, interest of Dutch in, 18, 20 Furniture, description of pioneer, 143 Galesburg, Hollanders near, 197; Dutch church at, 297 Galveston (Texas), relief for flood sufferers at, 311 Garden Square, 108, 276, 291 Gardening, interest of Dutch in, 320 Garfield Township (Mahaska County), Hollanders in, 197 Garfield Township (Sioux County), population of, 203 Gas plants, 326 Gelderland, 327, 363, 382; emigrants from, 381 Gelderschman, letters by, 109, 117 Genderen (Holland), conference of Hospers at, 152 General Assembly, railroad land grant made by, 113; relief for grasshop- per sufferers by, 165-169; appro- priation by, for purchase of seed; 169; township government given to Hollanders by, 212; Dutch mem- bers of, 244 George, church at, 419 German language. Governors' mes- sages printed in, 118; pamphlet translated into, 121 German Township (Grundy County), Hollanders in, 194 Germans, 49, 61, 307, 336, 343, 347 404, 419 ; attitude of Americans to ward, 55 ; coming of, to Pella, 106 : proportion of, in Sioux County, 186, 202, 203; objection of Hoi landers to being called, 240 Germany, immigrants from, in Sioux 436 INDEX County, 187, 189; reference to, 352, 376 Gleysteen, D., 400 Gleysteen, D. J., office held by, 243 Gold, finding of, in California, 84 Gold-seekers, description of, 84, 85 Gorinchem (Holland), 151; confer- ences of Hospers at, 152 Governor, messages of, printed in Dutch, 118, 119 Grafe, E. F., office held by, 224 Graham, John A., 388 Grain, destruction of, by locusts, 163, 176 Grand Haven (Michigan), Holland- ers in, 157, 158; reference to, 251 Grand Rapids (Michigan), Holland- ers in, 157, 158; reference to, 188, 251, 268; theological school at, 307 Grant, Edwin H,. newspaper publish- ed by, 110, 220, 245 Grant, Ulvsses S., 232 Grant Chief, The, 255 Grant Township (Sioux County), pop- ulation of 202, Grasshoppers, invasion of, 167; debts occasioned by raid of, 170; damage by, in 1875, 175; attempts to de- stroy, 176 (see also Locusts) Gravesend (New York), 26 Great Northern Railway, 189 Green Bay (Wisconsin), 251 Green Township (Wapello County), number of Hollanders in, 104 Grimes, James W., message of, print- ed in Dutch, 118; election of, as Senator, 227 Grinnell (College. Hollanders at, 274 Groningen (Holland), 327, 363, 382 Groningen, University of, 31 Grundv County, Hollanders in, 105, 194; church in, 307, 419; refer- ence to, 358 Gulf of Mexico, 339 Guthrie County, 396 Haarlem (Holland), 151 Haarlem (New York), 26 Half-Breed Tract, condition of land titles in, 61, 62 Half Moon, 16 Hamlin, Hannibal, efforts of Scholte in behalf of, 229 Hammond, S. M., newspaper publish- ed by, 249 Hancock County, churches in, 420 Hardin County, Hollanders in, 105, 194; church in, 307, 419 Hardship, years of, 160-178 Hardware business, 110 Harlan, W. S., 394 Harmelink, Charles, office held by, 242 Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), 51, 385 Harrison (South Dakota), 204 Harvard College, 277 Harvest, reliance upon, 162, 163 Harvey, Hollanders in vicinity of, 196; Dutch church at, 306 Heemstra, John F., 283 Heemstra, Tjeerd, office held by, 235 Heerenveen (Holland), conferences of Hospers at, 152 Heidelberg Catechism, 31, 290, 305, 307 Heidenwereld, De, 254 Hemp, 77 Hempstead, Stephen, recommendation of, concerning immigration, 119 Hensden (Holland), 151 Herd law, adoption of, in Sioux County, 182 Hereford cattle, 334 High schools, 271-275 Hog law, 109 Hogs, raising of, bv Hollanders, 78, 161, 333, 334 Holland, Golden Age of, 15; attitude of West India Company toward emigration from, 17; conditions in, unfavorable to colonization, 17, 23, 24; plan to facilitate emigration from, 19, 20; return of settlers to, 20; war between England and. 21; part of, in American colonization, 22; state church of, 27; number of immigrants from, 28, 104 ; coming of William I to throne of, 30, 31; conditions in, in nineteenth cen- tury, 30-36; persecution of Separat- ists in, 32 ; economic conditions in, 34-36, 97; character of farms in, 59; letters from consul in, 60; roads in, 88 ; beginnings of emigra- tion to Iowa from, 94; pamphlet bv Van Raalte sold in, 95 ; pamph- le't by Scholte sold in, 96, 116; newcomers from, advised to go to Michigan, 98 ; emigrants from, plac ed in false light, 99, 100; efforts to secure emigration from, 101, 107 ; character of emigrants from, 102; comparison of condition of Dutch in Iowa and, 106; advice to emigrants from, 117, 339-348; Hospers as emigrant agent in, 121 ; advertisement in newspapers in, 151; interest in, in emigration to Iowa, 152, 153; benefits of emi- gration from, to America, 154, 155; letters of inquiry from, 155, 156; reference to, 157, 352, 376; immi- grants from, in Sioux County, 187, 189; contrast between political con- ditions in America and, 208, 209 ; renouncement of allegiance to, 211, 212; revolution in, 217; impossi- bility of establishing free govern- ment in, 219 ; political condition of people in, 219: contrast between schools in America and, 256; hos- tility toward Christian education in, 256-258; education in, 272; recon- INDEX 437 struction in, 287 ; attitude toward Seceders in, 287 ; contribution for orphan asylum in, 311; dialects of, 327; contrast between farming in Iowa and, 330, 331; effort to 6trenerthen bond between United States and, 365 Holland (Grundy County), 194 Holland (Sioux County), selecuon of site of, 133 Holland (Michigan), 156, 18S, 251; Hope College at, 274, 278, 303 ; relief for fire sufferers at, 311 Holland Academy, 281, 303 Holland Township (Sioux County), early dwellings in, 142, 143 ; ref- erence to, 145, 153, 340; Holland- ers in, 148, 180, 201; establish- ment of, 179; original size of, 185; population of, 186; proportion of Hollanders in, 187; politics in, 241 Hollander, De, 247 Hollanders, character of history of, in Iowa, 7, 8 ; early achievements of, 15; cessation of immigration of, 25 ; feeling of national pride among, 26, 317; predominance of, in New York, 27; communities of, in Mis- sissippi Vallev, 28, 29 ; distribu- tion of, in United States, 29, 376; causes of emigration of, 30, 317; favorable reports sent to fatherland by, 41 ; advice to, 42 ; journey of, to America, 45-47 ; arrival of, in America, 45, 46, 47 ; attempts to exploit, 49 ; impressions of Balti- more by, 50 ; attitude of Americans toward, 50, 51, 55, 56, 213, 216, 218; journey of, to St. Louis, 53- 58 ; sufferings of, on journey, 52, 53 ; Scholte invited to preach to, 54, 55 ; character of land desired by, 59, 60 ; last step in finding home for, 61 ; arrival of, in Iowa, 65-69 ; departure of, from St. Louis, 65, 66; deaths among, 66; description of, 67, 107, 108, 109, 110; disappointment of, 67, 68; life of, in Holland, 68, 69 ; description of land purchased by, 70, 73 ; land chosen by lot by, 72 ; first dwellings of, 73, 74, 75 ; establishment of, in Marion County, 73-81 ; dwellings of, in Pella, 76 ; agricultural activi- ties of, 76-79 ; dairy farming by, 77, 78 ; adaptation of, to frontier life, 78, 79, 81; manufacture of farm implements for, 79 ; aversion of number of, to work, 81 ; early experiences of, in Iowa, 82-85 ; fresh accessions of, 83, 122, 295; sufferings of, during winter, 83 ; re- lief of destitution of, 83-85; profit of, from gold-seekers, 84, 85 ; hopes and disappointments of, 36-93 ; mail facilities of. 86, 87 ; inconven- ience of, in securing markets, 87; route of transporting supplies for, 88 ; interest of, in improvement of Des Moines River, 89, 90; agita- tion among, for railroads, 91, 92 ; attitude of, toward location of cap- ital, 92 ; comparison of, in Iowa and Michigan, 94, 96; appeal of Scholte to wealthy, 97; attempt to turn, from Iowa, 98 ; routes of, to Iowa, 99 ; township government given to, 99, 212; encouragement of, in Michigan, 99 ; number of, in Iowa, 103-105 ; expansion of col- ony of, 103, 104; number of, by counties, 104, 105; gratitude of, to American settlers, 107; prosper- ity of, 109, 148; rejoicing among, at completion of railroad, 113, 114; celebration of quarter centennial of settlement of, 114; encouragement of immigration of, 116-121; appli- cations for homesteads signed by, 131; land in northwestern Iowa, available for, 131; desire of, for large tract of land, 133 ; land along railroad chosen by, 134; emigration of, to Sioux County, 140; early dwellings of, in Sioux County, 141- 143 ; community life among, 143, 148, 317-336; financial condition of, 143, 144, 161, 162; difficulties of, with Americans in Sioux Coun- ty, 144 ; name always perpetuated by, 145; strength of, in elections, 147, 148 ; increase in number of, in Sioux County, 154; account of condition of, in Iowa, 157 ; crowd- ing of, in cities, 157 ; harvest reap- ed by, during first years in Sioux County, 160-162; hardship among, on account of locusts, 160178; destitution among, 164; relief for, 164-169; attitude of, toward relief, 168, 169; discouragement of, 171, 172, 175; progress of, in Sioux County, 173, 174; attempt of, to destroy grasshoppers, 176; trying ordeal of, 177, 178; growth of" col- ony of, in Sioux County, 179-191; planting of trees by, 181; excur- sion of, to Orange City, 183-185; proportion of, in Sioux County, 186, 187, 189; quarter centennial of settlement of, in Sioux County, 189- 191 ; distribution and growth in number of, in Iowa, 192-207; over- flow lands bought by, 198 ; inspec- tion of new lands by, 199, 200; clannishness of, 200, 315, 319; largest settlement of, in Iowa, 201 ; emigration of, from Iowa, 204; lack of desire of, to return to Hol- land, 205; recent immigration of, to Iowa, 205-207; political begin- nings among, 208-218; political ex- 438 INDEX periences of, in Holland, 208, 209; oath of allegiance to United States taken by, 211, 212; first officers elected by, 214; translation of of- ficial documents for, 214, 215; in- fluence of, in Marion County poli- tics, 215 ; rejoicing of, in political freedom, 216-218; participation by, in elections, 219-244; astonishment of, at interest of Americans in pol- itics, 221 ; reasons for support of Democratic party bv, 222 ; attitude of, toward slavery, 222, 223, 226; Democratic party supported by, 224- 232; attitude of, toward negro suf- frage, 226, 227; service of, in Civil War, 230; sympathy of, with North, 231; journey of, to Calliope, 236; safe carried away by, 236, 237; victory of, over Calliope gang, 237; effort to exclude, from office, 239, 240; victory of, over Americans, 240; offices "held by, 240, 242, 410; newspapers read by, 245-255 ; ob- jections of, to being called Germans, 246 ; pioneer schools among, 256- 265; means of education among, 256-286; interest of, at first turned from education in Iowa, 253, 259; parochial schools among, 266-270; lack of interest in Christian educa- tion among, 267; lack of interest of, in common schools, 271; effect of common school education among, 271, 272; interest of, in higher ed- ucation, 273-275; attitude of, to- ward Central University, 277-279; early religious life among, 287-293 ; churches among, 294-309; religious life of, in 1910, 310-316; tolerance of, 310; benevolences of, 311, 312; church attendance of, 312, 313; differences between Americans and, in religion, 314; failure of, to be- come assimilated in America, 318, 319; home life of, 322-324; lack of culture among, 324 ; change in life of, on coming to Iowa, 325 ; domoc- racy among, 325, 326; attitude of, on liquor question, 327 ; amusements of, 328, 329 ; adoption of American ways by, 329 ; prosperity of, as farmers, 329-336; improvement of soil fertility by, 333; interest of, in fine breeds of live stock, 333, 334; industry of, 334; adoption of new ideas by, 334, 335; conservatism of, 335; lack of reading among 335; honesty of, 336; attitude of during Boer war, 349-362; rejoic ing of, at Boer victories, 353, 354 money sent to Boers by, 354, 355 "Transvaal Days" held by, 355 indignation of, at tales of Boer suf ferings, 360, 361 ; amoTint of money given to Boers by, 362; re- fusal of, to sell horses, 362; sta- tistics of immigration of, 376 (see also Dutch) Hollidaysburg (Pennsylvania), 51, 385 Holstein cattle, 334 Home, choice of, in Iowa, 57-04 Homeseekers, eagerness of, to obtain land, 129, 130 Homestead, The, 335, 422 Homesteads, taking of, by Hollanders, 77 ; applications for, signed by Hollanders, 131; apportionment of, 134 ; law relative to securing of, 134, 135; visit of Hollanders to, in Sioux County, 136 ; act for re- lief of holders of, 171 ; rise in value of, 199 Iloog Blokland (Holland), office of Hospers at, 151; reference to, 391 Hope College, higher education re- ceived at, 274 ; reference to, 278, 281, 283, 286, 303 Hope School, 269, 414 Horses, need for purchase of, 161 ; herding of, 182; raising of, in Sioux County, 333; fine breeds of, 334; cost of, 343; purchase of, by English, 361, 362 Hotels, 110 House of Representatives, resolution in, 118, 358 Houses, description of, 322 Howard County, Hollanders in, 194 Howell Station, 390 Hospers, Henrv, 109, 124, 134, 154, 180, 199, 240, 260, 280, 353, 409, 412 ; Governor's message translated by, 118, 119; service of, as immi- grant agent in Holland, 121, 151, 152; visit of, in Missouri, 122; interest of, in emigration move- ment, 122, 123 ; newspaper edited by, 124, 150, 155, 150, 249, 250, 252, 254; early career of, 150, 151; third of land on town-site given to, 131, 146; member of investigating committee, 132 ; journey of, to Sioux City, 132; settlement in Sioux County promoted by, 140, 150159 ; colony store built by, 147 ; pamph- let published by, 152; report of, to Board of Immigration, 152, 153 ; position of, in Sioux County, 153, 154, 244; citizen's club urged by, 156; advertisements placed in news- papers by, 157 ; prediction of, con- cerning Sioux County, 15S. 159; relief for Hollanders solicited by, 165; wise counsel and cheerfulness of, 172-174; service of, to Dutch colony, 178; account of founding of colony by, 190; candidacy of, for surveyor, 222 ; office held by, 224, 235," 237, 242; defeat of. for Representative, 233 ; efforts of, to INDEX 439 secure seating of officers, 236; suit fought by, 237, 238; activities of, as editor, 238-240; election of, as Representative, 243, 244; news- paper sold by, 251 ; land for acad- emy donated by, 282 ; cane pre- sented to, 400 Hospers, Isaac, newspaper edited by, 255 Hospers, John, 291, 412 ; diary of, 391 Hospers, John W., oiSce held bv, 242 Hospers (Iowa), 170, 173, 180, 191, 284; Dutch church at, 186, 302, 306; proportion of Hollanders in, 187 ; population of, 202 ; money raised for Boers at, 360 Hudson, Hendrik, discovery of Hud- son River by, 15, 16 Hudson River, discovery of, 16; troubles of early settlers on, 17 ; Dutch settlempnts on, 18 ; patroon system established along, 18 ; refer- ence to, 25 Huguenots, immigration of, 21 Huizenga, Frank J., office held by, 242 Hull, former name of, 186; reference to, 191, 270; population of, 203; plan for parochial school at, 269 ; Dutch church at, 302, 306; money raised for Boers at, 360 Hull (North Dakota), 204 Humboldt County, Hollanders in, 105, 194 Huntsman, H. C, 223 Illinois, Dutch churches in, 29; Hol- landers in, 29, 376; preference of Scholte for, 59 ; unoccupied lands in, 61; reference to, 115, 157, 159, 204, 254, 382 ; promotion of immi- gration to, 120 Illinois Canal, 57 Illinois Central Railroad, promotion of immigration by, 120; line of, 128 Illinois River, 99 Immigrant Commissioner of Iowa, ap- pointment of, 120; discontinuance of otifiee of, urged, 120 Immigrants, dangers to, 48-50; finan- cial condition of, 95, 161, 162 ; temptations experienced by, 08 ; ad- vice to, by Scholte, 98, 99 : routes of, 99 ; hardships of, on journey, 101; selection of points of destina- tion bv, 120; protection of, at New York City, 120; nationality of, 376 (see also Emigrants) Immigration, studv of, 7; early pro- motion of, to Pella, 94-100; offi- cial encouragement of, 99 ; twenty- five years of, 101-105; discussion of, by Scholte, 102, 103 ; fluctu- ations in, 104; encouragement of. by State, 115-121; promotion of, by western States, 115; encourage- ment of, by private agencies, 116; promotion of, by Wisconsin, 119; attitude of Hempstead loward, 119; promotion of, to Sioux County by Hospers, 150-159; effect of railroads on, 187 (see also Emi- gration) Immigration, Board of, members of, 120; activities of, 120, 121; ap- pointment of Hospers by, 151 ; re- port of Hospers to, 152, 153 Immigration, Commissioner of, Per- kins as, 187 India, search for passage to, 16; re- lief for famine sufferers in, 311, 352 Indiana, Dutch colonies in, 28 ; Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigrants from, 65; reference to, 115, 159; Hol- landers in, 376 Indians, trade of Dutch with, 16, 18, 19 ; dangers from, 17 ; massacres by, 19; arrogance of, 20; refer- ence to, 23, 61 ; proximity of, in Michigan, 59 ; land ceded by, 70 ; removal of, westward, 70, 71 ; evi- dence of, in northwestern Iowa, 138 Iowa, origins and present-day condi- tions of Dutch in, 7 ; character of history of Hollanders in, 7, 8 : source materials for history of Dutch in, 8 ; Dutch churches in, 29; causes of immigration to, 30; leader of immigrants to, 32, 39_; first Dutch immigrants to, 45; atti- tude of Van Raalte toward, 57; choice of home in, 57-64; prefer- ence of Scholte for, 59 ; examina- tion of lands in, 61-63 ; selection of land in, 63, 64; arrival of Hol- landers in, 65-69 ; beginning of life of Hollanders in, 69 ; capital of, at Iowa City, 71 ; advance of pioneers across, 71; adaptation of Hollanders to life in, 81 ; early experiences of Hollanders in, 82-85 ; drawbacks of frontier life in, 86 ; importance of Keokuk in early history of, 87 ; importance of Mississippi River in early commerce of, 87, 88; agita- tion in, for improvement of Des Moines River, 88 ; agitation for railroads in, 91 ; choice of new site for capital of, 91, 92; begin- ning of Dutch immigration to, 94; increase in number of foreign-born Hollanders in, 94 ; comparison of Hollanders in Michigan and, 94, 95; alleged unhealthfulness of, 95, 96; reasons for preference for, by Scholte, 96; truthfulness of Scholte's account of, 96, 97; attempt to turn immigrants from, 98 ; routes to, 440 INDEX 99, 346 ; failure of, to endeavor to attract settlers, 99 ; township gov- ernment given to Hollanders iu, 99 ; twenty-five years of Dutch immigra- tion to, 101-105 ; number of Hol- landers in, 103-105, 179, 187, 189, 376 ; relative number of Dutch in, 105 ; letters relative to Hollanders in, 107, 108, 109, 110; construc- tion of railroads in, 113; celebra- tion of quarter centennial of Hol- landers in, 114; encouragement of immigration by State of, 115-121; rapidity of settlement of, 115; na- tivity of population of, 115; satis- faction of, with American immigra- tion, 116; sparsely populated areas in, 117; poor showing in foreign immigration to, 119; overcrowding of part of, 125 ; means of keeping Hollanders in, 149 ; arrival of Hos- pers in, 150; efforts of Hospers to secure immigration to, 151, 152; pamphlet relative to, published by Hospers, 152 ; interest in Holland in immigration to, 152, 153 ; pamphlets describing resources of, 154; pamphlet by Dutch resident of, 156, 157 ; account of Hollanders in, 157 ; purchase of additional land in, by Dutch, 159 ; service of Dutch settlers to, 169; widespread devastation by locusts in, 171; dis- couragement of settlers in, 172 ; most valuable land in, 178 ; Dutch visitor in, 183; expansion of Dutch element in, 192-207; emigration of Hollanders from, 199, 200, 204; largest Dutch settlement in, 201 ; recent Dutch immigration to, 205- 207 ; desire of Hollanders to be- come permanent citizens of, 211; first Dutch candidate for office in, 222 ; Dutch newspapers in, 245- 255 ; parochial schools of Holland- ers in, 268-270; loss of interest in education among Hollanders in, 272; reference to, 287, 343; early religious life among Hollanders in, 287-293; first Dutch Reformed Church in, 296; causes of Dutch immigration to, 317; community life among Hollanders in, 317-836; character of Dutch immigrants to, 317, 318, 329, 330; fertilitv of soil of, 330; best farmers in, 332; money sent to Boers from, 355 Iowa, Territory of, 71 Iowa: The Home for Immigrants, 121 Iowa Center, 128 Iowa City, capital at, 71 ; removal of capital from, 91, 92 ; hog law in, 109; petition for removal of capital from, 223; reference to, 229, 275, 355, 387 Iowa Classis, membership of churches of, 302, 303 ; contributions of, to missions, 312 Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railway, route of, 128 ; reference to, 144 Iowa Transvaal Committee, money collected by, 354, 355; reference to, 361; final appeal of, for money, 362 Ireland, immigrants from, in Sioux County, 187, 189; reference to, 376 Ireton, population of, 203 ; interest in parochial school at, 269 ; Dutch church at, 306; reference to, 354 Irish, 49, 51 ; proportion of, in Sioux County, 186, 203 Italy, 376 Jackson Countv, Hollanders in, 105, 392, 403 Jails, lack of need for, 326, 327 Jameson Raid, 349 Jansdam, Mr., 348 Jasper County, choice of site for capi- tal in, 92; Hollanders in, 105, 195, 197; center of Dutch population of, 196; Dutch churches in, 297, 306 Java, attention called to advantages of, 38; reasons for failure of Dutch to emigrate to, 38; population of, 373; reference to, 380 Jefferson County, Hollanders in, 105, 195; reference to, 223 Jefferson Township (Mahaska Coun- ty), Hollanders in, 197 Jefferson Township (Marion County), land purchased by Scholte in, 70 John Calvin Junior College, 307 Johnson, H. F., newspaper published by, 251 Johnson County, hog law in, 3 09 Johnstown (Pennsylvania), 51, 385 Jongewaard, Albert C, office held by, 242 Jongewaard, C, 223 Jongewaard, John, office held by, 242 Jongewaard, Nicholas, office held by, 237, 242 Joubert, Piet, 355 Junction City, 133 Juniata River, 51, 385 Justice of the peace, 109, 214 Kalamazoo (Michigan), Hollanders in, 157, 158; reference to, 188, 251, 420 Kampen (Holland), 151, 295 Kanawha, church at, 420 Kansas, Dutch churches in, 29 ; emi- gration to, 123, 199 ; exodus from, 171 ; distress among Hollanders in, 174; reference to, 254, 284 Kapelle (Holland), 185 Keizer, J., 360 Kentucky, Dutch pioneers in, 28 ; reference to, 115 Keokuk, arrival of Hollanders at, 66; INDEX 441 journey to Marion County from, 67 ; SVholte aided by citizens of, 71 ; difficulty of communication with, 87 ; commerce at, 87 ; road to Pella from, 88; cost of freight to Pella from, 88 ; reference to, 89, 99, 101, 114, 120, 230, 251, 392; plan for plank-road to Pella from, 91; Hollanders in, 103, 192, 193; haul- ing of merchandise from, 113: de- scription of Sioux County by editor from, 180; Dutch church at, 297 Keppel, Teunis, investigations by, 58; reference to, 61 Kersbergen, B., 234 Kieft, Governor, conditions under rulo of, 19 : complaint against, 20 Killduff, Hollanders near, 197 ; Dutch church at, 297 Kingston (New York), 26 Kirkwood, Samuel J., 119, 230; nomi- nation of, for Governor, 228 ; vote of Hollanders for, 229, 231, 241; appeal of, for volunteers, 230 Kitchener, General, 36] Klay, Gerrit, service of, as Repre- sentative, 244 Kline, A., service of. in Boer armies, 359 Klundert (Holland), conference of Hospers at, 152 Kniest, Lambert, town founded by, 195 Kniest Township (Carroll County), Hollanders in, 195 Know-Nothing party, doctrines of, 221; opposition of Hollanders to, 222 ; victory of, 222 ; editorial against, 407 Knoxville, 71, 211, 233; county seat at, 92; railroad to, 114; desire for change of county seat from, 213 ; county seat retained by, 214; school attendance in, 271 Knoxville Township (Marion County), Hollanders in, 196; common schools in, 271 Kolvoord, John, office held by, 242 Kolyn, Matthew, 283 Koolbeek, Jacob, office held by, 242 Kornegoor, W. J., 294 Kossuth County, 128, 332 ; church in, 419, 420 Kritzinger, Commander, protest against execution of, 361 Kruger, Paul, 355, 356 Kruger, Mr., 356 Kuyper, A. C, 291, 391, 412 Kuyper, Simon, journey of, to Michi- gan, 159; reference to, 240; office held by, 242 Laborers, condition of, in Holland, 34, 35 ; wages of, 81 Lake Forest College, 274 Lake Prairie, olan for factories on, 89, 90 Lake Prairie Township (Marion County), land purchased by Scholte in, 70; number of Hollanders in, 102, 103-105, 196; insufficiency of land in, 104: reference to, 107, 226, 406; organization of, 212; first officers of, 214; vote on pro- hibitory law in, 220; influence of Scholte in politics in, 220; Know- Nothing victory in, 222 ; politics in, 232; school districts in, 260; com- mon schools in, 271; population of, 391 Land, amount of, authorized to be purchased, 44 ; purchase of, in Marion County, 63, 64; description of, in Marion County, 70, 71; amount of, purchased by Scholte, 71 ; price of, 71, 398 ; choice of, by lot, 72 ; rise in price of, 126, 141 ; amount of, selected by committee, 133 ; apportionment of, to home- steaders, 134 ; high price of, in Michigan and eastern States, 158; fertilitv of, owned by Hollanders, 332 Land companies, encouragement of immigration bv, 116 Land Office (Fairfield), visit of Hol- landers to, 62, 63 Land Office (Sioux City), 129, 3 35; investigating committee at, 130, 131 Langerak, D. W., 234 Langerak, Meyer, 234, 409 Language, variety of, among Hol- landers, 327, 328 (see also Dutch language) Lawns, care of, 320 Lebanon, interest in parochial school at, 269: Dutch church at, 306 Le Cocq, Francis, 240; office held bv, 242 Le Cocq, J. F., 46, 47 Lee County, half-breed tract in, 61 ; Hollanders in, 105, 192, 193 Leerdam (Iowa), laying out of, 390 Leeuwarden (Holland), 151; confer- ence of Hospers at, 152 Leffler, Shepherd, vote of Hollanders for, 241 Leighton, Dutch church at, 297, 306 Le Mars, 133, 144, 191, 354, 395; railroad to, 139, 141; merchandise hauled from, 145 ; Hollanders in, 200; Dutch church at, 302, 306; mass meeting at, 359 Lenderink, Henry J., office held by, 242 Leota (Minnesota), 204 Ley den (Holland), emigration from, 16; reference to, 295 Levden, University of, 31 Leyds, Dr., 355 442 INDEX Liberty Township (Marion County), Hollanders in, 196 Library, public. 111 Liebenberg, Commandant, visit of, to Iowa, 360 I;ime-kilns, 80, 90, 110 Lincoln, Abraham, nomination of, 229 ; efforts of Scholte in behalf of, 229; reference to, 230, 232 Lincoln Center, church at, 419 Lincoln Township (Sioux County), population of, 203 liind, John, contribution of, to Boer fund, 355 Linden (Washington), 204 Litchville (North Dakota), 204 Little Chute (Wisconsin), 251 Little Rock, church at, 419 Live-stock, 77; cost of, 343 Liverpool (England), 46 Locusts, ravages by, 160-178; act of Congress relative to settlers suffer- ing from, 171 (see also Grasshop- pers) Log cabins, contract for construction of, 67 ; reference to, 70 London (England), 46; British ships burned in sight of, 246 Long Island, 19 ; churches on, 26 Louis XIV, expulsion of, from Hol- land, 246 Luctor (Minnesota), 204 Lumber, lack of, 75, 141; manufac- ture of, 76 Lynn Township (Sioux County), population of, 202 Lynn Grove Township (Jasper Coun- ty), Hollanders in, 197 Lynnville, Hollanders near, 197 Lyon County, available land in, 131; decision of committee to examine, 133; reference to, 137, 138, 254, 332, 399; inspection of, by com- mittee from Michigan, 1 58 ; Hol- landers in, 159, 200, 201, 204; in- vestigatiofl of locust ravages in, 165- 167; Dutch churches in, 302. 306, 419; foreign-born farmers in, 421, 422 Maasdam, Mr., 356 Maasdam, Jacob, 291, 391 Maastroom (ship), 46 McCully, H. M., office held by, 224; reference to, 234 Machinerv, purchase of, on credit, 162, 163 McKinley, William, attacks upon, 243, 359; attitude of Hollanders toward, 349, 350; reference to, 358, 361 Madison Township (Mahaska Coun- ty), Hollanders in, 197 Magazines, lack of, 324 Mahaska County, 67, 232 ; Hollanders in, 104, 105, 192, 195, 197; center of Dutch population of, 196; Dutch official in, 233; parochial school in, 269; Dutch churches in, 297, 306 Maine, Dutch churches in, 29 Manhattan, 26 Manhattan Island, settlement of Dutch on, 16 Marion County, story of Dutcii settle- ment in, 7 ; purchase of land in, 63, 64; conditions upon arrival of Dutch in, 67, 68 ; description of, in 1847, 70-72; establishment of, 71; population of, 71, 391; establish- ment of Dutch in, 73-81 ; agricul- tural character of Dutch colony in, 76; early years of Hollanders in, 82-85; passing of gold seekers through, 84 ; hopes and disappoint- ments of Hollanders in, 86-93 ; agi- tation for railroads in, 91, 92 ; hopes for colony in, 96 ; accession to Hollanders in, 102-105; spread of Dutch settlement in, 104, 196, 197; number of Hollanders in, 105, 192; reference to, 117, 145, 153, 179, 195, 225, 228, 276, 329, 332, 358, 407 ; reasons for emigration from, 122-126, 198, 199; purchase of land in, by speculators, 141 ; first dwellings in, 142 ; decrease of Dutch population of, 196; center of Dutch population of, 196; political beginnings among Hollanders in, 208-218; township government given to Hollanders in, 212; desire for change of county seat of, 213; in- fluence of Hollanders in politics of, 215; politics in, 219-234; vote on prohibitory law in, 220; vote for Pierce in, 220; Know-Nothing party in, 221; vote for Buchanan in, 226; Representative from, 233; Dutch officers of, 233, 234; first Dutch newspaper in, 238 ; ."Vmeri- can press in, 249; reasons for early lack of education in, 258, 259; at- traction of wealth in, 272 ; high school graduates in, 274; early re- ligious life in, 288-293 ; disappear- ance of hardwood timber in, 321 ; laying of tile in, 333; silos in, 335; mortgages in, 336 Markets, absence of convenient, 86; difficulty of communication with, 87 ; method of securing supplies from, 87, 88 Marne Free Press, 255 Marshalltown, 193 Mason, W. E., 356 Masons, 80 Maurice, Dutch church at, 186, 302 ; railroad to, 187; reference to, 191, 284, 354; population of, 203; mass meetings at, 358, 359; money raised for Boers at, 360 Xvlavors of Bella, 109, 224 INDEX 443 Meat, price of, 343 Medical school, 280, 281 Meerburg:, G. F. Gezelle, 32 Melbourne, 129, 130 Melvin, church at, 419 Merchandise, hauling of, from Le Mars, 144 Merchants, desire of, for commercial gain, 15, 16 Merrill, Samuel, recommendation of, 120; message of, translated into Dutch language, 153 Methodist Church, 109, 418 Mexican War, land warrants to veter- ans of, 71 Mexico, 81 Michigan, Dutch churches in, 29, 295 ; Hollanders in, 29, 376; causes of immigration to, 30, 317; establish- ment of Dutch settlement in, 57, 382 ; reasons for choice of, 57 ; rea- sons for rejection of, by Sckolte, 58-60, 96; beginning of Dutch im- migration to, 94 ; comparison of Hollanders in Iowa and, 94, 95 ; advantages of, for settlement, 95; pamphlet describing Dutch colony in, 95: newcomers advised to go to, 98 ; ofRcial encouragement of im- migration to, 99 ; township govern- ment given to Hollanders in, 99 ; reference to, 117, 150, 157, 158, 173, 204, 254, 287, 304, 305; com- mittee from, in Sioux County, 158; Dutch emigrants from, 159, 161, 199; journey of Kuyper to, 159; Dutch newspaper published in, 247, 249 ; failure of educational program in, 268 ; establishment of colleges in, 281 ; language question in churches in, 296; experience of Bolks in, 298; anti-Masonic move- ment in, 307; emigration from, 399 Middelburg, Dutch church at, 186 302, 306; reference to, 191, 201 interest in parochial school at, 269 money raised for Boers at, 360 Middelkoop, William, 151 Middle West, fore-runners of Dutch emigration to, 45 Midwout, 26 Mills, F. M., election of, 227 Millstone River, 27 Milwaukee, 57, 158, 251, 381; Hol- landers in, 157, 158 Ministers, education of, 303, 307 Minnesota, Dutch churches in, 29 ; Hollanders in, 29, 376; reference to, 159, 204, 254, 354, 421; Dutch emigrants from, 161 ; devastation by locusts in, 171 ; discouragement of settlers in, 172; emigration to, 199, 204 Missions, contributions to, 312 Mississippi, emigration to, 204 Mississippi River, 52, 99, 339 ; jour- ney up, 66, 340-342 ; Des Moines rapids in, 87 ; importance of, to early Iowa, 87, 88 ; Hollanders in counties along, 193 Mississippi Valley, Hollanders in, 29 ; conditions in, 45; route from East to, 52 Missouri, 115, 386 Missouri River, crossing of, by emi- grants, 122 Mohawk River, 25 Money, lack of, 79 ; spending of, by Americans, 79, 80 Monroe, Hollanders near, 197 Monroe City, choice of, as site for capital, 92 Monroe County, Hollanders in, 197 Monroe Mirror, The, 255 Montana, Dutch churches in, 29 Moonlight Mission Band, 360 Mormons, emigration of, 84 ; refer- ence to, 159 ; preparation of, for emergencies, 172 ; proposition of, to sell Nauvoo, 386 Mount Carmel, founding of, 195 Muilenburg, Hubert, member of in- vestigating committee, 127 Muilenburg, William C, newspaper edited by, 255 Mumm, E., 120 Municipal improvements, 326 Muntingh, James, school maintained by, 259 Muscatine, Dutch church in, 193, 297 ; reference to, 230 Muscatine County, Hollanders in, 105, 192, 193 Music, interest of Hollanders in, 323 Nagasaki (ship). 46 Napoleon, 31, 65, 287 Nassau Township (Sioux County), 148, 153, 240; Hollanders in, 180; reduction of size of, 185 ; popula- tion of, 186, 202; proportion of Hollanders in, 187; politics in, 241 Nauvoo, proposition of Morm.ons to sell, 386 Nebraska, Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigration to, 122, 123, 199: exo- dus from, 171; reference to, 354, 421 Nederlansche Bond, Der, 365 Negro suffrage, attitude of Hollanders toward, 226, 227 Netherlands, The, struggle between Spain and, 23 ; social conditions in, 30; economic conditions in, 37; de- cision of Scholte to leave, 39 ; num- ber of emigrants from, 103 ; news- papers sent to, 150; efforts of Hospers in, to encourage emigra- tion, 151, 152; delegate from, to Evangelical Alliance, 154; emi- grants from, 161 ; lack of desire of Hollanders to return to, 205; 444 INDEX newspaper agents in, 251 ; rofer- once to, 307 (see also Holland) Nevada (Iowa), 128 New Amstel, 26 New Amstei'dam, character of early population of, 22; reference to, 26; school system in, 256; descriptions of people of, 369 New Brunswick Seminary, 303 New Castle (Delaware), 26 New England, causes of early immi- gration to, 17; reference to, 19, 21, 23; school system in, 262 New Holland, proposed town of, 131; reference to, 146, 373 New Jersey, prosperity of Dutch in, 25; reference to, 26, 157, 159, 304, 305; Dutch churches in, 27, 29; emigration of Dutch to, 27 ; emi- gration from, 28; Hollanders in, 29, 376, 377 New Netherland, beginnings of, 15, 16; provision relative to peopling of, 16; reasons for slow growth of, 17-21; complaint relative to, 18; plan for direction of settlers to, 18; settlements in, 18; conditions in, under Governor Kieft, 19 ; instruc- tions to settlers of, 20; petition from people of, 20, 21; beginning of agricultural settlements in, 21 defenceless condition of, 21 ; effect of capture of, by English, 21. 2 character of early population of, 22 ; capture of, by English, 25 ; in heritance from, 25 ; number of churches in, 26, 27 ; descendants of colonists of, 28; reference to, 373 New Orleans, arrival of Hollanders att, 45 : reference to, 87, 88, 99, 123, 158, 342, 382; arrival of Barendregt at, 339 ; description of, 339, 340; distance to St. Louis from, 340; fare to St. Louis from, 840; travel by wav of, 346 New Paltz (New York), 19 New Purchase, The, 70 New Sharon, Hollanders near, 197; reference to, 198 New York, character of early popula- tion of, 22 ; prosperity of, Dutch in, 25; Dutch churches in, 26, 27, 29; emigration of Dutch from, 27; predominance of Hollanders in, 27; Hollanders in, 29, 246, 376, 377; Scholte invited to preach in, 55 ; collections for Hollanders in Michi- gan taken in, 58; reference to, 115, 157, 159, 304; school system in, 262; descendants of original Dutch settlers of, 375 New York City, Scholte at, 48, 55, 58 ; conditions in port at, 50 : method of shipping merchandise from, 87, 88; reference to, 89, 98, 99, 158, 294, 315, 381, 382; immigration agents in, 117; Immigrant Com- missioner at, 120; protection of immigrants in, 120; Evangelical Alliance at, 1 54 ; Hollanders in, 157, 158, 376; travel by way of, 346 New York land companj', Iowa land owned by, 61 New York Tribune, 247 New Zealand, 373 Newkirk, former name of, 186; refer- ence to, 190; population of, 202; Dutch church at, 302 ; meeting at, 361 Newspaper, founding of first at Pella, 150 Newspapers, advertisement of Dutch colony in, 154; influence of, 231, 232; sketch of Dutch, in Iowa, 245- 255; importance of, in America, 247; characteristic of Dutch, 254; service of, in perpetuating Dutch language, 255 ; lack of, 324 Newton, 128 Neyenesch, Herman, office held by, 224; newspaper edited by, 250, 251; service of, as teacher, 263, 267; reference to, 279 Niemeyer, Rev., 360 Nieiiwsbode, De, 247 Nollen, Henry, 279 Nollen, Henry G., 415 Nollen, John, office held bv, 224; reference to, 2 79, 353, 415" Nollen, John Scholte, 274 Norman stallions, 334 North America, 145 North Brabant, 382 North Dakota, Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigration to, 204; reference to, 254, 354, 421 North Holland, 327 North Marion (North Dakota), 204 North Orange, change of name of, 186; Dutch church at, 186, 302 North Sea, 45 North Yakima (Washington), 204 Northwest Passage, search for, 16 Northwestern Classical Academy, sketch of history of, 190, 280-286; reference to, 270, 273, 303 Northwestern Iowa, investigation of, 127-131; report on, 131; descrip- tion of, 136, 137; evidence of In- dians in, 138 ; Dutch emigration to, 140; locust ravages in, 160: desti- tution in, 164: relief for, 164-169; Hollanders in, 200, 201 ; spread of Dutch churches in, 298 ; education of ministers in, 303 ; Dutch churches in, 306 Norway, immigrants from, in Sioux County, 187, 189; reference to, 376 Norwegian language, 118 Norwegians, 203 INDEX 445 Nossaman, Wellington, election of, as road supervisor, 214 Notaries public, 109, 153 Oak Harbor (Washington), 204 Oats, 77, 170; production of, in Sioux County, 332 Obertop, Caesar, assistance to Hol- landers by, 392 O'Brien County, available land in, 131; population of, 138; investiga- tion of locust ravages in, 165-167; Hollanders in, 200, 201, 203, 204; reference to, 254, 399; Dutch churches in, 302, 306 Officers, first election of, by Holland- ers, 214; treatment of Hollanders by, 55, 56, 60, 210 Offices, list of, held by Hollanders, 233, 234, 240, 242 Oggel, E. C, office held by, 242 Oggel, H. P., newspaper published by, 254 Oggel, P. J., newspaper edited by, 249, 250; reference to, 296 Ohio, Dutch colonists in, 28; Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigrants from, 65; reference to, 115, 159; school system in, 262; Hollanders in, 376 Ohio River, journey of Hollanders down, 52; reference to, 88, 382 Oklahoma, emigration to, 200 ( Orange, application of name, to town- / ships, 396 Orange City, platting of, 140-149; naming of, 145 ; original plat of, 146; streets in, 14C; first buildings in, 146, 147, 280; effect of rail- road on development of, 147 ; county seat removed to, 148, 180, 237; number of Hollanders in, 148, 179, 201 ; importance of, 149 ; visit of Stuart to, 154; newspaper founded by Hospers at, 155, 156; citizen's club at, urged by Hospers, 156; reference to, 157, 166, 182, *235, 236, 244, 270, 284, 298. 303, 354, 359, 395 ; advantages of, for settlement, 158 ; railroad connec- tions of, 158, 187; efforts of Hos- pers to attract immigrants to, 159; progress of, 173 ; advice of editor at, 175; financial stringency at, 177 ; twenty-five years of growlh in, 179-191 ; excursion from Pella to, 183-185; Dutch church at, 185, 306; proportion of Hollanders in, 187 ; description of, by Dutch visi- tor, 188; celebration of quarter cen- tennial of, 189-191; sketch of his- tory of, 190; safe carried to, 237; court-house at, 238, 243; newspaper removed to, 252 ; newspapers at, 252-254; parochial school at, 269; academy at, 273, 282 ; high school pupils in, 273, 274; students from. at University, 275; medical school at, 280, 281; description of church service at, 299-301 ; municipal im- provements at, 326 ; expulsion of saloons from, 327; resolution of council of, relative to Boers, 356- 358; mass meetings at, 358, 359; money raised for Boers at, 360; price of land near, 398: school property at, 414; celery raising at, 420, 421 Orange Free State, appeal for aid for, 353; resolutions of councils rela- tive to war in, 355-358 ; reference to, 374 Orange Free State Volksraad, 359 Orangemen, pride in name of, 145 Orange-Nassau, House of, 145 Orange Township (Clinton County), Hollanders in, 193 Orchards, scarcity of, 321 Oregon, emigration of Mormons to, 84; emigration of Dutch to, 123 Osceola County, 137, 138; investiga- tion of locust ravages in, 165-167; Hollanders in, 200; churches in, 419 Oskaloosa, Hollanders in, 197 ; refer- ence to, 198 ; Dutch church at, 306 Ostfriesland, church at, 420 Otley, Dutch church at, 297, 306; mass meetings at, 358, 359 Ottumwa, 89; railroad to, 113 Overflow lands, 198 Overisel (Michigan), 298 Overkamp, G. H., 46, 288 Overkamp, Isaac, 46, 47, 61, 223, 290, 412; office held by, 214, 224; ser- vice of, as teacher, 260, 261, 263, 267 Overseers of the poor, 214 Overysel (Holland), 327, 382 Painters, 80 Palo Alto County, 128 Parker, Alton B., vote of Hollanders for, 241 Parkersburg, Hollanders in, 194; church at, 419, 420 Parochial schools, 266-270; religious exercises in, 270; graduates from, 270 Paterson (New Jersey), Hollanders in, 158; reference to, 187, 251 Patroons, effect of system of land- holding by, 18 Pattersonville, change of name of, 186; church at, 186; railroad to, 187 Pedlers, 20 Pella, 9, 120, 158, 173, 188, 197, 237, 269; laying out of, 73, 74; motto of inhabitants of, 74 ; dwell- ings in, 76; previous occupations of early settlers of, 80; description of conditions at, 81 ; arrival of large group of Hollanders at, 83 ; 446 INDEX business life in, 83, 94, 114; pass- ing of gold-seekers through, 84, 85 ; post-route to, 8G, 87 ; road from Keokuk to, 83; cost of freight from Keokuk to, 88 ; importance of Des Moines River improvement to, 89 ; plan of merchants of, 91 ; plan for plank road from Keokuk to, 91; advantageous situation of, 91; peti- tions for location of capital at, 92 ; early promotion of immigration to, 94-100; letters by Scholte describ- ing, 96-99 ; arrival of new families at, 98, 101-105; price of lots at, 99 ; desirability of, as place for settlement, 102, 103 ; prosperity at, 106-114; Germans and French at, 106; location of Central University at, 106, 107; American business men at, 107; nationality of popula- tion of, 107; description "of, 108-112, 320, 322, 326; difficulty with stock running at large in, 109 ; city offi- cers of, 109; Dutch churches in, 109, 110, 417, 418; business houses in, 110; stage route through, 112 ; first locomotive in, 113 ; re- joicing in, at completion of rail- road, 113, 114; celebration of quarter centennial of, 114; ac- counts of, by Scholte, 116; reports from, by Sipma, 116; absence of need for advertising, 116, 117; value of advice of people of, 117; Governor's message printed in paper at, 118; reasons for emigration from, 122-126 ; increase in popula- tion of, 122 ; colonization fever in, 123; meetings at, to discuss colo- nization, 124, 125 ; departure of investigating committee from, 127 ; route of investigating committee from, 128; amount of land sub- scribed for by people of, 131: pub- lic meeting at, 131 ; return of com- mittee to, 131, 134; apportion- ment of land to emigrants from, 134; visit of emigrants from, to Sioux County, 136; interest in emi- gration at, 140; effect of prosperity at, 141 ; emigration of pioneers of, 141 ; attitude of settlers of, toward King William, 145 ; importance of founding of daughter-colony of, 148, 149 ; career of Hospers at, 150, 151; resignation of Hospers as mayor of, 153 ; emigrants from, 161; relief supplies sent to Sioux County from, 164; excursion to Orange City from, 183-185; pro- portion of Hollanders in, 196; Dutch settlements around, 197, 198; oath of allegiance taken at, 211, 212; influence of Scholte in politics in, 220; incorporation of, 223 ; petitions for removal of capi- tal to, 223 ; opposition of Scholte to phase of charter of, 224; first town officers of, 224; response to call to arms in, 230; newspapers at, 231, 232, 245-252 ; politics in, 232 ; private school at, 259 ; first schoolhouse at, 260; school dis- trict organized at, 260; need for new school building at, 261, 262; beginnings of Baptist college at, 263; new school building at, 263, 264; election of school directors at, 265; parochial school at, 266-268, 270; school statistics in, 271; academy at, 273 ; high school at, 273; high school pupils in, 273, 274; history of Central University at, 276-279; early religious life at, 287-293; first Dutch church at, 288; first Sunday-school at, 291; history of churches at, 295-297 ; 305, 306 ; language question in churches at, 296; education of ministers at, 303 ; pew rents at, 312, 313; public library at, 324; municipal improvements at, 326; expulsion of saloons from, 327; de- scription of Hollanders at, 329, 330; unsecured notes in banks of, 336; resolution of council of, rela- tive to Boers, 355, 356; mass meet- ings at, 358; collection of money for Boers at, 360; meaning of name, 388 Bella (Nebraska), 199 Pella Blade, sketch of history of, 250 Bella Classis, membership of churches of, 297, 298 ; contributions of, to missions, 312 Pella Gazette, De, sketch of history of, 250, 251 Pella Gazette, The, editors of, 110, 220; founding of, 220; reference to, 226; sketch of history of, 245- 249; reasons for suspension of, 248, 249 Bella National Bank, 422 Pella' s Maandblad, 250 Pclla's Nieuwshlad, 251 ; bulletins posted bv, 353 ; attacks on McKin- ley by, 359 Pella's Weekblad, emigration move- ment promoted by, 124, 140; Sioux County colony advertised in, 150; reference to, 154, 362; sketch of history of, 249-252 ; agents for, 251 Belmulder, Jelle, emigration _ plan promoted by, 123 ; member of inves- tigating committee, 127 ; letters by, 127, 128; emigrant train led by, 140; office held by, 233, 237, 342; reference to, 240 Bennsylvania, Dutch churches in, 27, 28, 29; reference to, 115 INDEX 447 Pennsylvania Canal and Portage Railway, 51 Pennsylvania Railroad, construction of, 51 Peoria (Iowa), parochial school at, 269 Percheron stallions, 334 Perkins, George D., efforts of, to at- tract immigrants, 187 Perkins, population of, 203 Peru Township (Dubuque County), Hollanders in, 103 Pew rents, 312, 313 Philadelphia, method of traveling to Pittsburgh from, 51 Philippine Islands, 243 Pierce, Franklin, 220 "Piefer Ploris" (ship), 46 Pioneers, homesteads of, 70 ; advance of, across Iowa, 71 ; purchase of farms of, 83 ; importance of Mis- sissippi River to, 87 Pittsburgh, method of traveling from Philadelphia to, 51 ; reference to, 52; Seholte at, 55 Plank-road, 91 Plato Township (Sioux County), population of, 203 Platte (South Dakota), 204 Plymouth County, Hollanders in, 105, 200, 201, 204; reference to, 129, 133, 137, 191, 254, 332, 399; population of, 138; investigation of locust ravages in, 165-167; Dutch church in, 102, 306; foreign-born farmers in, 422 Pocahontas County, 128 Poland, 376 Poland China hogs, 334 Politics, participation bv Hollanders in, 208-244 Polk County, Hollanders in, 105, 195 Polk Township (Marion County), Hollanders in, 196 Poor-house, 110 Population, growth in, in Sioux County, 179-191; growth and spread of Dutch, in Iowa, 192-207 Port, M. J., committee guided by, 63 Portugal, 376 Postmaster, 109 Post-office, relocation of, 86 Post-routes, relocation of, 86, 87 Potatoes, 160 Pottawattamie Countv, Hollanders in, 105, 194; reference to, 332; for- eign-born farmers in, 422 Poultry, raising of, in Sioux County, 333' Prairie, 133; description of, 136, 137; breaking of, 142, 143; promises to break, 147; transformation of, into fields, 160, 161 ; grass left on, 174, 175 Prairie City, Hollanders near, 197 ; Dutch church at, 306 Prairie Township (Mahaska County), Hollanders in, 197 Prairie View (Kansas), 199 Preemptions, law relative to, 135; act for relief of settlers making, 171 Presbyterians, kindness of, to Hol- landers, 56 President, election of, 215, 216 Press, sketch of Dutch, in Iowa, 245- 255 Prince of Orange, 145 Privation, years of, at Pella, 82-85 Products (agricultural), 77; difficulty in securing transportation of, 87 ; prices for, 106 Prohibitory law, vote of Hollanders against, 220, 225 Promissory notes, signing of, by Hol- landers, 163; attempts to "evade payment of, 169 Prosecuting attorney, 242 Public library, 324 Puritans, 21, 277; character of, 24 Racine (Wisconsin), 57 Railroads, lack of, 86, 138; agitation for, 91, 92 ; construction of, in Iowa, 113 ; encouragement of immi- gration by, 116; land grants to, i34; government land along line of, 134, 135; advance of, in north- western Iowa, 139; advantages of Orange City in respect to, 158; coming of, to Sioux County, 187 Raritan River, 27 Reading Township (Sioux County), population of, 203 Reasnor, Hollanders near. 197; refer- ence to, 297; Dutch church at, 306 Reconcentrado camps, tales of suffer- ing in, 361 Red Rock Township (Marion Coun- ty), Hollanders in, 196 Relief for grasshopper sufferers, 164- 169 Religious liberty, struggle of Dutch colonists for, 27 Religious life, early, among Holland- ers, 287-293 ; description of present, among Hollanders, 310-316 Representative (State), defeat of Hos- pers as candidate for, 150, 151, 233; Van Leuven as, 233; Rietveld as, 234; election of Hospers as, 243, 244; election of Klay as, 244 Republican party, attitude of Holland- ers toward, 222 ; joining of, by Seholte, 227-229, 407; accessions to, caused by Seholte, 229 ; support of, by Hollanders, 237, 241 Republican State Convention, Seholte at, 227, 228, 229 Republicans, 220, 358; accusations against, 350 Reuvers, Mr., 356 Revolutionary War, 28 448 INDEX Rliine River, 15 Rhodes, Cecil, 349, 355, 425 Rhodes Scholarship, attitude of Hol- landers toward acceptance of, 424, 425 Rhynsburger, C, 120 Richland Township (Mahaska Coun- ty), Hollanders in, 197; vote for Roosevelt in, 232 ; parochial school in, 269 Rietveld, Herman, office held by, 234 Rietveld, J., 46, 47, 61 Rivers, land along, 343 Road supervisors, 214 Rochester (New York), Hollanders in, 157, 158; reference to, 187, 188 Rock River, difficulty with American settlers on, 144 ; purchase of land in valley of, 159 ; reference to, 182 Rock Township (Sioux County), popu- lation of, 203 Rock Valley, Dutch church at, 186, 302, 306; reference to, 191, 270, 284; population of, 203; plan for parochial school at, 269; mass meet- ings at, 358, 359; money raised for Boers at, 360 Rocky Mountain locusts, 171 Roman Catholics, exclusion of, from emigrant associations, 43 Roosevelt, Theodore, vote of Holland- ers for, 232, 241 ; attack upon, 243 ; alleged aid of English by, 361, 411; interview of Stead with, 424 Roseland (Minnesota), 204 Roselle Township (Carroll County), Hollanders in, 195 Rotterdam (Holland), departure of emigrants from, 45, 46 ; Hospers at, 151, 152; reference to, 151, 347, 348; departure of Van Raalte from, 382 Rotterdam (Kansas), 199 Route of Hollanders to Iowa, 51-53, 99, 346 Roxbury (Massachusetts), 251 Roziersz, J,, election of, as treasurer, 214 Rusch, Nicholas J., experiences of, as Immigrant Commissioner, 120 Russia, 352, 376 Rutgers College, 303 Scandinavians, 336 Schaap, Jan, 343 Schaap, Peter R., office held by, 242 Schaefer, John, 404 Schenectady (New York), 19 Scholte, Henrv Peter, 32, 46, 80, 83, 90, 92, 109, 150, 221, 265, 266, 279, 297, 302, 378, 382, 388; po- sition of, among Seceders, 32 ; per- secution suffered by, 33 ; need of emigration realized by, 35, 36; atti- tude of, toward United States, 39, 40 ; reasons of, for leaving Holland, 40, 41 ; emigration encouraged by, 42-44; periodical published by, 44; letter from Barendregt to, 45, 339, 348 ; arrival of, at Boston, 48 ; dangers to immigrants described by, 48-50; immigrants met by, 50; re- ception of, in America, 54-56; invi- tations to, to preach, 54, 55 ; attention of, called to Michigan, 58 ; reasons for rejection of Michigan by, 68-60; investigations by, 60- 63 ; description of purchase of land by, 63, 64 ; contract for building of cabins made by, 67 ; description of land purchased by, 70, 71; amount of land purchased by, 71; price paid for land by, 71; money advanced by, 71, 72; precautions taken by, 72 ; names given to streets by, 73, 74 ; saw-mill installed by, 76; description of conditions at Pella by, 81; post-office secured by, 86 ; town of Amsterdam laid out by, 89, 214; offer of, to donate land for capital, 92, 223 ; character of followers of, 94, 95 ; letters de- scribing Pella written by, 96-99 ; discussion of immigration by, 102, 103; English garden of, 108; wal- nut grove of, 108 ; newspaper edited by, 110, 220, 245-249; pamphlets by, 116; Governor's message trans- lated by, 118; political conditions in America discussed bv, 209, 210, 212, 213, 215-218; plan of, to plat new town, 213 ; election of, as jus- tice of peace, 214; election of, as school inspector, 214; election held at house of, 214; memorial to legis- lature drawn up by, 215; influence of, in politics, 220; opposition of, to Know-Nothings, 222 ; opposition of, to incorporation of Pella, 223, 224; political speeches by, 225, 226; Dutch news published by, 226; defeat of, for State Binder, 227; desertion of Democratic party by, 227-229, 407, 408; election of, as delegate to Chicago convention, 229 ; religious periodical published by, 250; complaint of, 258, 259; ac- tivities of, as school inspector, 259, 260; education of, 259, 260; inter- est of, in higher education, 276; land for college donated by, 276; efforts of, in behalf of Central Uni- versity, 277; religious life at Pella described by, 288, 289, 290; preaching by, 290; breach between church and, 291, 292; church es- tablished by followers of, 292, 293 ; loss of influence of, 293 ; occupa- tions of, 293 ; reason for refusal of, to join church, 294 ; pulpit formerly used by, 417 Scholte, Henry P., acknowledgments INDEX 449 to, 9; reference to, 379, 390, 404, 422 School directors, election of, at Pella, 265 School inspector, 314, 259, 260 Sehoolhouse, first, at Pella, 260; need for new, at Pella, 261, 262; building of new, at Pella, 263, 264 Schoolhouses, 173; number of, in Sioux County, 280; character of, 326 Schools, high standard of, in Hol- land, 256 ; pioneer, among Holland- ers, 256-265 ; religious exercises in, 260; discussion of systems of, 262; discussion of method of support ing, 263, 264; new law for support of, 265 ; establishment of Christian, 266-270; lack of Christian educa- tion in public, 268, 269; public and high, 271-275 Scotland, 45, 376 Scott County, Hollanders in, 105, 193 Scott Township (Mahaska County), Hollanders in, 197 Sac and Fox Indians, reservation for half-breeds of, 61 St. Joseph (Missouri), Hospers at, 122 St. Louis, 45, 58, 61, 68, 81, 87, 88, 97, 99, 106, 158, 347; journey from Baltimore to, 48-53 ; arrival of Hollanders at, 52 ; experiences of Hollanders in, 52, 53 ; deaths of Hollanders at, 53 ; reception of Hol- landers at, 56; return of committee to, 64 ; departure of Hollanders from, 65, 66, 101; difficulty of communication with, 87 ; plan for shipping corn to, 91 ; distance from New Orleans to, 340; fare from New Orleans to, 340; arrival of Barendregt at, 342 ; description of, 342, 343; travel by way of, 346 St. Paul, 139, 158 St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, land grant to, 134; completion of, to East Orange, 147 ; reference to, 180 Saloons, absence of, in Pella, 110; expulsion of, 327 Sanborn, Dutch church at, 203 Sandusky (Ohio), railroad to Cin- cinnati from, 99 Sarah Sand (steamboat), 46 Saw-mills, 76, 110 Seceders, leaders of, 32 ; reference to, 57 ; position of, in Holland, 287 (see also Separatists and Dissent- ers) Secret societies, opposition to, 307, 308 Seed, appropriation for purchase of, 168, 169 Senator (State), Balkema as, 244; Hospers as, 244 Separation, Father of the, 32 Separatists, persecution of, 32-34 ; spread of beliefs of, 33 ; desire of, for freedom, 37; appeal of, to gov- ernment, 38 ; emigration to Amer- ica urged by, 39, 42 ; desire of, for means of education, 256-258; difference of opinion between Scholte and, 294 (see also Seceders and Dissenters) Settlers, troubles of early, 17 ; plan for direction of, to America, 18 ; purchase of land from, 63, 64, 71; gratitude of Dutch to American, 107 Settlers Township (Sioux County), population of, 203 Shambaugh, Benj. F., editor's intro duction by, 5, 6 ; acknowledgments to, 9 Shaw, Leslie M., 360 Sheboygan County (Wisconsin), 244 Sheldon, 166, 270; Hollanders in, 200, 203; parochial school at, 269, Dutch church at, 302 306, Sheldon Mail, The, 255 Sheridan Township (Sioux County), population of, 202, 203 Sheriff, 237, 241, 242 Sherman Township (Sioux County), establishment of, 185 ; population of, 186, 203; proportion of Hol- landers in, 187; politics in, 241 's Hertogenbosch (Holland), confer- ence of Hospers at, 152 Shoemakers, 80 Shorthorn cattle, 334 Sibley, 166; Hollanders in, 200; Dutch church at, 419 Sijnhorst, Dk., election of, as road supervisor, 214 Silos, 335 Sioux Center, former name of, 186; proportion of Hollanders in, 187, 202 ; railroad to, 189 ; reference to, 191, 270, 284; efforts of, to secure county seat, 243 ; parochial school at, 269; students from, at Univer- sity, 275; Dutch church at, 301, 302, 306; destruction of church building at, 311; church buildings at, 312; municipal improvements at, 326; correspondence from, 354; mass meetings at, 358, 359; money raised for Boers at, 360; school property at, 414 Siovx Center Nieuwsblad, 242 ; edi- tors of, 254 Sioux City, land office at, 129, 135; investigating committee at, 130, 131; journey of committee to, 132; reference to, 133, 134, 139, 158, 164, 165, 355; mass meetings at, 359 Sioux City and Northern Railway, 189 Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad, 173 Sioux City Journal, sensational state ment by, 354 Sioux County, story of Dutch settle- 450 INDEX ment in, 7; reference to, 9, 153, 170, 176, 200, 233, 254, 273, 284, 329, 332, 358. 359, 399; number of Hollanders in, 105, 192 ; avail- able land in, 131; choice of, 132- 135; decision of committee to exam- ine, 133; arrival of committee in, 133; selection of land in, 133, 134; apportionment of land in, 134; rail- road land grant in, 134 ; glimpse of, in 1869, 136-139; visit of home steaders to, 136; establishment of 137 ; reasons for late settlement of, 137, 138; population of, 138, 154 bright prospects for, 139 ; prep arations for journey to, 140; emi eration from Pella to, 140; descrip tion of first dwellings in, 141-143 community life of Hollanders in 143; difficulty of securing fuel in 144; name of Prince of Orange per petuated in, 145 ; plan for town in, 146; importance of founding of colony in, 148, 149; promotion of immigration to, by Hospers, 150- 159; position of Hospers in, 153 154; experiences of Stuart in, 154 advertisement of lands in, 156, 157 inspection of, by committee from Michigan, 158; prediction of Hos- pers concerning, 158, 159; purchase of additional land in, 159: most memorable years in history of, 160 abundant harvests in, 165-162; re quest for aid for settlers of, 165 investigation of locust ravages in 165-167; discouragement in. 172 173, 175, 176; progress of Hoi landers in, 173, 174; emigration from, 176, 177, good fortune of Hollanders in. 178; growth of Dutch colony in, 179-191, 201 ; descrip- tion of, by Keokuk editor, 180; transformation in appearance of, 180, 181; herd law adopted in, 182; Dutch wind-mill in, 182, 183: town- ships in, 185; population elements in, 186, 187, 189, 201-203; effect of locust ravages on reputation of, 186, 187; railroads in, 187; quar- ter centennial of settlement of Dutch in, 189-191 ; reason for founding colony in, 199; politics in, 235- 244; longest term of office in, 235; support of Republican party bv Dutch in, 237; suit against," 237, 238; first Dutch newspaper in, 238; Representative from, 243, 244; newspapers in, 252-255; efforts to attract immigrants to, 253 ; attrac- tions of wealth in, 272; high school graduates in, 274 : students from, at University, 275 ; number of schoolhouses in, 280; interest in es- tablishment of college in, 281, 282 ; service of Bolks to people of, 298, 301; Dutch churches in, 301-303; scarcity of orchards in, 321 ; soft- wood trees in, 321; foreign-born farmers in, 332, 421, 422; agricul- tural products in, 332,333 ; price of land in, 333; silos in, 335; Trans- vaal meeting in, 350; raising of money for Boers in, 360; emigra- tion from Michigan to, 399 Sioux County Herald, The, 252, 255 Sioux Township (Sioux County), pop- ulation of, 203 Sipma, Sjoerd Aukes, pamphlet by, 116; member of investigating com- mittee, 127 Skating, 114 Skeptics, exclusion of, from emigrant associations, 43 Skunk River, 70, 196, 198, 297, 390; saw-mill on, 76, 110; schoolhouse near, 260 Slavery, attitude of Hollanders toward, 222, 223, 226 Smeenk, J., 47, 277 Social life among Hollanders, 323 Sod houses, description of, 74, 75, 142, 143 South Africa, interest of Hollanders in events in, 349 ; resolutions of councils relative to war in, 355- 358 ; reconcentrado camps in, 361 ; reference to, 374 South America, 145 South Carolina, Dutch churches in, 29 South Dakota, Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigration to, 199, 204; reference to, 254, 284, 354, 421; Hollanders in, 376 South Holland, emigrants from, 44; reference to, 327 Southerlayid Courier, 255 Southern States, secession of, 230 Spain, defeat of armies of, 15 ; peace with, 17; struggle between Holland and, 23; reference to, 376 Spanish, capture of ships of, 17 Speculation, taste for, acquired bv Dutch, 163 Speculators, efforts of, to induce im- migration to Michigan, 98 ; encour- agement of immigration by, 116; greed of, in Marion County, 125; land near Cherokee purchased by, 132; reference to, 133; purchase of land in Marion County by, 141; land in hands of, 343 Spring Creek (Minnesota), 204 Springfield (Illinois), 251 Springfield (South Dakota), 204 Stage coaches, description of, 113 Stage route, description of, 112, 113 State Binder, 227 State Printer, 227 State Road, 88 State University of Iowa, Hollanders in attendance at, 274, 275 INDEX 451 Staten Island, settlement of Dutch on, 16 States-General, petitions of West India Company to, 17 ; plan of, to direct settlers to America, 18 ; complaint of, concerning colony, 18 ; appeal of colonists to, 19, 20, 21; refer- ence to, 21; complaint of West In- dia Company, to, 371 Stead, William T., interview of, with Roosevelt, 424 Steamboats, prosperity of traffic of, 52; reference to, 86, 87, 89; dis- cussions of, 341, 342 Steyn, President, 356 Stcck-breeder's Journal, The, 335 Store orders, use of, as money, 147 Stores, 110, 111; neatness of, 327; "Transvaal Days" at, 355 Storm Lake, 124; investigating com- mittee at, 128 Story City, 128 Story County, 128 Stout, church at, 419 Stoutenberg, A., office held by, 224 Straw Town, 75 Streets, at Pella, 73, 74 ; at Orange City, 146 Stuart, Cohen, Dutch immigration to America favored by, 154, 155 Stubenrauch, John, service of, as teacher, 267 ; reference to, 353, 360 Stubenrauch, J. H., 353, 360 Sluyvesant, Peter, appeals of, for as- sistance, 21 Sullivan, J. B., vote of Hollanders for, 241 Sully, Hollanders near, 197 ; Dutch church at, 297, 306 ; mass meet- ings at, 358, 359 Summit Township (Marion County), community of Frieslanders in, 103; Hollanders in, 196; vote for Roose- velt in, 232 Sunday-schools, 291, 296, 307, 313, 314, 347 Supervisors, Board of (see Board of Supervisors) Susquehanna River, 16, 51, 385 Sweden, immigrants from, in Sioux County, 189; reference to, 376 Swedish language, pamphlet trans- lated into, 121 Switzerland, 376 Synod of Dordrecht, 31, 294, 295 Taft, William H., vote of Hollanders for, 232 Tailors, 80 Taintor, Hollanders near, 197 ; refer- ence to, 297 ; Dutch church at, 306 Tama County, Hollanders in, 193 Tax, necessity of, for schools, 264 ; increase of, for support of schools, 265 Taxation, oppression of people by, 35 Taylor, Zachary, 216 Teesdale, John, election of, 227 Telephones, 326 Te Paske, Anthony, office held by, 242 Te Paske, Herman, office held by, 242; reference to, 404, 410 Te Veltrup, M., service of, in Boer armies, 359 Texas, committee of investigation in, 123; emigration to, 199; reference to, 386 Theological Seminary, establishment of, in New Jersey, 27 Timber, lack of, in "Sioux Countv, 138 Titonka, church at, 419 't Lam, C, election of, as road super- visor, 214 Toekomst, De, character of, 250 Toering, Henry, newspaper published by, 254 Tollenaar, Dirk, newspaper owned by, 255 Toom, J., election of, as fence viewer. 214 Town life among Hollanders, 320-329 Township clerk, 214 Township government, granting of, to Hollanders, 212 Township officers, election of, 214; ac- tivities of, 215 Township treasurer, 214 Township trustees, 214 Traders, 20 Transportation, lack of means of, 86, 87 ; early means of, 88 Transvaal, war in, 243 ; reports of raising of men to serve in, 354; resolutions of councils relative to war in, 355-358; reference to, 374 Transvaal Days, 355 Transvaalers, appeal for aid for, 351- 353 Trees, provision for planting of, in Orange City, 146; planting of, by Hollanders, 181; bounty for plant- ing of, 181, 182, 402; kind of, planted by Hollanders, 189; lack of hardwood, among Dutch, 321, 322 Troost, E., 360 True Reformed Church, 305 Tuttle, James H., vote of Hollanders for, 231 Twin Brooks (North Dakota), 204 Tysseling, Tennis, 234 Vnie, De, 248 Union College, 303 Union School system, 262 Union Township (Marion County), Hollanders in, 196 United Presbyterian Church, 420 United States, early settlements of Dutch in, 15-24; inheritance of, from New Netherland, 25 ; number of Dutch in, 28, 105; distribution 452 INDEX of Hollanders in, 29, 376. 377; attitude of Hollanders toward emi- gration to, 38-40; land ceded to, by Indians, 70; land purchased from, 72 ; successful Dutch settlements in, 149; prediction of most populous Dutch settlement in, 159; satisfac- tion of Hollanders with government of, 216-218; model for school sys- tem of, 256; effort to strengthen bond between Holland and, 365; statistics of immigration to, 376 United States Dragoons, evacuation of Fort Des Moines, by, 71 United States Senator, election of Grimes as, 227 Universitv of Leyden, Scholte a grad- uate o'f, 259, 260, 277 Utah, emigration of Mormons to, 84; Hollanders in, 159 Utrecht (Holland), conferences of Hospers at, 152; reference to, 327; pulpit from, 417 Utrecht, University of, 31 Utrecht Emigrant Association, forma- tion of, 44 ; journey of members of, to America, 44-47; officers of, 46; leaders of, 46, 47; reference to, 48, 101 Vale, Jacob G., vote of Hollanders for, 237 Van Antwerp, Ver Planck, 62, 63 ; sketch of life of, 386, 387 Van Asch, William, election of, as road supervisor, 214; reference to, 412 A'^an Bennett, M., 394 Van Broekhuizen, Rev., money rais- ed for Boers by, 360 Van Buren, Martin, 216, 386 Van den Berg, Cornelius, election of, as constable, 214 Van den Berg, John, 403 Van den Bos, Dirk, member of inves- tigating committee, 132; emigrant train led by, 140 Van den Linden, Leendert, office held by, 233 Vanderberg, J. W., newspaper owned bv, 255 Van der Ley, P. M., 412 Vandermast, J., newspaper owned by, 255 Van der Meer, Leen, member of in- vestigating committee, 132 ; emi- grant train led by, 140 Van der Meide, Arie, office held by, 242; reference to, 358, 399, 400 Van der Meulen, Charles H., news- paper owned by, 254 Van der Pol, Gerrit, 61 Van der Sluis, Mr., 356 Van der Veen, Rev., 297 Van der Waa, Henry John, interest of, in emigration movement, 124; member of investigating committee, 127, 132 ; mule team of, used by committtee, 131; emigrant train led by, 140 Van der Wilt, Arnold, office held bv, 242 Van der Wilt, G., election of, as road supervisor, 214; reference to, 234 Van der Zee, Jacob, author's preface by, 7-9. Van Donselaar, Peter, newspaper owned by, 254 Van Ginkel, Gerrit, newspaper edited by, 250, 251 Van Home, 193 Van Houten, H., 291 Van Houwelingen, G., 412 Van Klootwijk, K., 394 Van Leuven, A., office held by, 233 Van Meveren, P., election of, as road supervisor, 214 Van Nimwegen, Mr., 356 Van Oosterhout, Martin P., newspaper owned by, 254; reference to, 350, 353, 362, 403 Van Oosterhout, P. D., 353 Van Oosterhout, Peter D., office held by, 242; reference to, 353 Van Raalte, Albertus C, 32, 44, 60, 278, 294, 295, 296, 301, 348. 391; emigration encouraged by, 42-44; colony in Michigan founded by, 57; Hollanders invited to Michigan by, 57, 58 ; character of followers of, 94; letter by, describing colony, 95, 96; efforts of, to secure parochial school, 266; colleges established by, 281; journey of, to America, 382 Van Schelvin, G., 399 Van Stigt, K., magazine published bv, 252 Van Velzen, S., 32 Van Wagenen, A. W., 353 Van Zante, Mr., 356 Van Zante, Dieles, office held by, 233 Van Zante, D. G., office held by, 233 Viersen, Auke H.. office held by, 233 ; reference to, 234, 279 A'^iersen, H. Y., 47 Viersen, Lillian, 279 Viersen, Sieberke, library donated by, 324 Viersen, Sipke H., office held by, 233 Viljoen, H. D., visit of, to Iowa, 360 Virginia, 19, 115 Visitors, reception of, in Dutch homes, 323, 324 Volga (South Dakota), 204 Yolksvriend, De, founding of, 155; objects of, 155, 156; reference to, 187, 242 ; political activities of, 239, 240; sketch of history of, 252-254 Vos, G. H., newspaper owned by, 255 A'oyage, experiences on, 47 INDEX 453 Vriczelaar, J. B., office held by, 233 Vrije Hollander, De, 242; character of, 243; editors of, 254; cause of Boers espoused by, 350; reference to, 358, 361, 362: attacks on Mc- Kinley by, 359 Wages, comparison of, in Holland and America, 41; reference to, 81, 106 Wagon makers, 110 Wagons, use of, for living purposes, 141, 142 Waldenses, immigration of, 21 Wallace's Farmer, 335 Walloons, emigration of, to America, 16, 21 Wapello County, Hollanders in, 104, 105, 195 ; reference to, 223 ; Dutch church in, 297 Warnshuis, John, office held by, 242 Washington, Dutch churches in, 29 ; emigration to, 204; reference to, 254 Washington, D. C, 48; treatment of Scholte at, 60, 210 Waukon Standard, The, 255 Webster City, 128 Webster County, Hollanders in, 194 Welcome Township (Sioux County), establishment of, 185; Hollanders in, 187, 202; politics in, 24] Welle, P., election of, as trustee, 214 Wellsburg, Dutch church at, 307, 419 Welmers, Thomas E., 283 Wesley, 420 Wessels, C. H., 359 West, Dutch pioneers in, 28 ; con- quest of, 71 ; first settlers in, 80 West Branch, Dutch church at, 185, 301 ; change of name of, 186 West Branch Township (Sioux Coun- ty), establishment of, 185; popula- tion of, 186; Hollanders in, 187, 203; politics in, 241 West Des Moines Township (Mahas- ka County), Hollanders in, 197 West India Company, provision of charter of, 16; character of activi- ties of, 16, 17; desire of, for con- tinuance of war, 17; neglect of col- onists by, 17, 18, 19; complaint against, 20; agreement between Amsterdam and, 21; complaint of, 371 Western Stage Company, criticism of, 112, 113 Western Theological Seminary, 286, 303 Westfield (North Dakota), 204 Westward movement, part of Dutch in, 28 Wheat, 77, 160, 170; production of, in Sioux County, 332, 333 Whigs, 219, 220; desertion of, by Hospers, 222 White, F. E., vote of Hollanders for, 232 Whitney, railroad proposed by, 92 Wigny, A., 46 Willempjes, 49 William I, church regulations ap- proved by, 31; persecution of Sep- aratists by, 32 ; regulation of church by, 287 AVilliam II, renouncement of allegi- ance to, 211. 212; plan for present to, 397 William of Orange, attitude of Pella colonists toward, 145 ; dictum of, 287 Wind-mill, building of, 182; dismant- ling of, 183 Winnebago County, church in, 419 Winnie (Texas), Dutch colony at, 199 Winter, Rev. E., 184 Winter of 1848-49, severity of, 82, 83 Winterswijk (Holland), 343 Wisconsin, Hollanders in, 29, 376; Dutch churches in, 29 ; reference to, 57, 58, 95, 115, 117, 150, 157, 158, 173, 204, 226, 284, 343, 382; Dutch emigration from, 154, 161; Dutch newspaper published in, 247, 248, 249 Wolmarens, A. D. W., 359 Woodbury County, Hollanders in, 200 Wooden-shoe-makers, 110 Wooden shoes, use of, among Holland- ers, 328 Woodland (Wisconsin), 251 Wormhoudt, Mr., 356 Worthing (South Dakota), 204 Wright, church at, 420 Wright County, Hollanders in, 194; church in, 419 Zeeland, 327 Zeeland (Michigan), 298 Zuid Holland, 151 Zwemer, James F., 282 I s