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Description
A letter to A. C. Van Raalte from his son, Ben, who began his letter, "Last evening we received your letter of the 2nd with joy. Just at that time we were also overjoyed to have Lieut. Kramer drop in and feeling fine....He told me that you were looking very well again which made me happy. The boys then wanted to know how things were in the colony and he said that it had grown tremendously -- we would hardly know the place anymore.But in the same breath he said that the place teemed with copperheads....There are 23 men in our company, some on other duties. D. Van Raalte, hospital attendant; two Bloms are cooks; one for a captain and one Reg. Hdqrs. cook; P. De Vries and K. Dykhuis, stretcher bearers; Wilterdink, regimental butcher; H. Ter Sligter, Brig. Provo. Guard; two musicians. Total present: 33 men and two commissioned officers....If I need anything I will write for it. Mother must not send me anything unless I ask for it. Remember we carry our clothes closet on our backs. Mother may send me a pair of carrying straps..."
Date
7-14-1864
City
Camp 25th Mich., Near Chattahoochee River, Ga.
Source
The original documents are held in the National Archives of the Netherlands.
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 the National Archives of the Netherlands.
Recommended Citation
Van Raalte, Ben; Jalving, Clarence; and Kennedy, Nella, "A Letter to A. C. Van Raalte from His Son, Ben" (1864). Van Raalte Papers: 1860-1869. 242.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1860s/242
Notes
Translated by Clarence Jalving; Transcribed and re-translated by Nella Kennedy, Dec. 2008.
Description of the document and reference to the National Archives of the Netherlands 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.