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Description
A letter of Albertus C. Van Raalte, presumably to the Rev. Antonie Brummelkamp, in the Netherlands, reporting on the family's stay in Detroit. "I plan to stay here, especially for my wife's sake, and to arrange everything for our household." People he mentions in the letter are the Rev. George Duffield, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Thomson, a Congregationalist pastor, Eber B. Ward, who provided work for Van Raalte's followers, Mr. Theodore Romeyn, a lawyer out of an old eastern Dutch family, and a Mr. William Witherspoon. "The old Dutch Reformed Church is also greatly interested in us, and I have no doubts about their intention to cooperate with us here in America." "Next week, if the Lord wills, I will travel to search for a suitable place for our colony." He hopes to travel to Wisconsin and consult with "brother Sleijster" who settled in Alto, Wisconsin. Van Raalte mentions incidently that he received the book, Dowling's History of Romaism from none other than Mrs. Lewis Cass whose husband was now in the U. S. Senate.
Date
12-16-1846
City
Detroit, Michigan
Source
The original documents are held in the Albertus C. Van Raalte Collection (M300) or the Dirk B.K. Van Raalte Collection (M301) in Heritage Hall, Hekman Library, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI. The Van Raalte material in Heritage Hall has since been reorganized.
https://archives.calvin.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=264&q=
https://archives.calvin.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=262&q=
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 Heritage Hall at Calvin University. Contact the Curator at Heritage Hall.
Recommended Citation
Van Raalte, A. C.; ten Hoor, Henry; and Post, E. R., "Letter from Albertus C. Van Raalte to Antonie Brummelkamp" (1846). Van Raalte Papers: 1840-1849. 87.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1840s/87
Notes
A translation was published as "Voices from North America," by Heritage Hall, Calvin College, 1992. 35 pp. The file includes another translation by Dr. Henry ten Hoor, Holland, Michigan, and one by Mr. E. R. Post, of Grand Rapids.
Description of the document and reference to the collection at Calvin College Archives 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.