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Description
A letter of the Rev. Epaphroditus George Duffield, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, to Governor E. Ransom, congratulating the governor on his. election. He goes on to say, "They [foreign population] cannot have escaped your notice. I may say that I was particularly instrumental in directing & determining their move to settle in Michigan & may therefore be excused for manifesting some solicitude on their behalf....They ask not, & need not charity; but the peculiarity of their situation will render some legislative interposition? desireable, if not not indispensably necessary. They are in Ottawa count, spreading out into the thickly timbered land n & ne of Black river Lake. They are Hollanders who speak the low Dutch tongue, & frugal industrious & moral ?? of people....They number now nearly 2000 souls: all arrived within a year. Their leader is a minister of the Free church of Holland, & His people, of the same communion." Among their needs are a state road.
Date
11-12-1847
City
Detroit
Source
The original documents are held in the Archives of Michigan.
Rights
This digitized material is intended for personal research/study only. The original documents may not be reproduced for commercial use in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Archives of Michigan.
Recommended Citation
Duffield, George, "Letter from George Duffield to Governor E. Ransom" (1847). Van Raalte Papers: 1840-1849. 165.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1840s/165
Notes
Description of the document and reference to the Archives of Michigan.
Description of the document and reference to the Archives of Michigan by Dr. Elton J. Bruins.
About the collection:
Elton J. Bruins, long-time professor in the Department of Religion at Hope College, spent years collecting documents by and about Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of Holland, Michigan and early patron of Hope College. Documents were gathered from dozens of public and private collections, making a nearly exhaustive collection of Van Raalte's writings and reflections. It is these documents that make up the "Van Raalte Papers."
Digitizing the Van Raalte papers was supported by the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. The project was done in partnership with Heritage Hall at Calvin University, which also digitized its Van Raalte collections.