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Description
Again Julia Gilmore wrote her brother, Darius, in Fairview, Illinois, that she is homesick. Her brother, Clark, had enough of Virginia and was leaving Amelia. She makes a comment that seems to indicate that the Van Raalte family thinks that "there wasn't another family like them on the earth." On the fourth and last page of her letter, she writes very small but includes this sentence: "The news has reached here about Albertus and they say it isn't so he did not run off with another women but the man is from Holland and knows the family and the people believe him." Albertus who is referred to here is the son of Rev. Albertus and Christina Van Raalte. He disappeared in the fall of 1869 and was never heard from again, leaving a pregnant wife and four children. This is the only documentary evidence of what may have happened to son, Albertus.
Date
11-1871
City
Amelia, Virginia
Source
In the collection of Cindy Van Orsdal Merwin, Weaverville, CA.
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 Cindy Van Orsdal Merwin.
Recommended Citation
Gilmore, Julia, "Again Julia Gilmore Wrote Her Brother, Darius" (1871). Van Raalte Papers: 1870-1879. 75.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1870s/75
Notes
Description of the document and reference to Cindy Van Orsdal Merwin 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.