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History of the Dutch Settlements in Sheboygan County

This article appeared in the Sheboygan Press on March 13, 1918. It featured a section on Peter Daane, who married Minnie Veldboom, sister of Gerrit John Veldboom. Article was by Mr. S.F. Rederus

Exerpts:

Dutch settlements have never been numerous in America or in any other country not flying the Dutch flag. The Hollanders, unlike their German and British neighbors, have no natural inclination to roaming and adventure; and being strongly attached to their native soil they have preferred attempting to improve conditions at home to hazarding their fortune in a foreign country. This love of country has changed the Netherlands from a boggy land to a beautiful, productive country with an intelligent, industrious and artistic people now numbering about six million (1913).

Unusual conditions, political, economic, and religious have, however, from time to time caused Hollanders to emigrate to foreign lands, and during the decade of 1840-1850, many set sail to the United States. After the fall of Napoleon the Netherlands had changed from from a republican to a limited monarchial form of government. Belgium reunited with Holland under the name of Kindom of Netherlands, with William I as King.  The union was not successful, and the rebellion of 1830, which resulted in the separation of Holland and Belgium, necessitated large armies which William I kept up for years in the hope of reconquering Belgium. Then in 1825 an inundation of the ocean swept away the dikes, devastated the land, left thousands homeless and without resources. With the abdication of William I and the accession of William II, conditions did not improve. War and flood turned the thoughts of the suffering low and middle classes to emmigration, and the period of 1840-1850 saw the great exodus of Dutch to America.

Religious difficulties arising at this time also caused the immigration of several distinct groups. With the separation of Holland from Spain came separation from the civil and religious rule of the Catholic Church and the adoption of the Reformed Church by the State. The Dutch reformed church was Calvinistic in doctrine and Presbyterian in government. Over time, changes in doctrine and service were permitted, following German philosophy and French liberalism. Again and again the orthodox party tried to overthrow the new order, and after many failures in such attempts, left the established order to form a separate ecclesiastical body called the Free Separate Reformed Church.

The civil government, fearing that civil revolution would follow this religious upheaval, opposed the new church, forbade meetings, and fined ministers. Some of the Separatists were smarting under the restrictions and forseeing no relief in the near future, resolved to emmigrate to America. Three separate parties were formed; each under a prominent minister, for the purpose of founding settlements in the United States. One group was formed along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, in Michigan, another in Iowa. The third party, led by Rev. P. Zonne, purchased government land along the western shore of Lake Michigan, twenty miles south of the city of Sheboygan. The settlers arrived in the spring of 1847, after a stormy voyage across the Atlantic, making the journey inland by the way of the Hudson River, Erie Canal and Great Lakes. The Wisconsin settlement was called Cedar Grove by Rev. Zonne because of the cedar in the nearby forest, in portions which the Indians still lived. The land was ideal for the painter, poet and hunter, but the matter of fact Hollanders, though belonging to a race which had produced great artists, writers and explorers, had not come to dream, paint pictures or follow the chase.  The land was valued by the settlers as a means of material improvement; the forest was an obstacle which had to be removed. The work of destruction went on systematically from season to season, and in short time, large clearings could be seen on which were planted maize, wheat and barley. All of these grains gave rich return, for the soil was fertile and not easily exhausted.

Clearing the ground for the first crop, however, was a difficult process. How to remove the trees after they had been felled with such difficulty was a problem. The settlers could not use all the wood for fuel, nor could they convert the tree trunks into lumber. To dispose of the superabundance of wood, these pioneer farmers had to set it on fire, being careful to move the immense pile to a safe distance from the forest and from the buildings already erected. These hardwood tree stumps remaining in the fields after the trees had been cut were a great obstacle to cultivation of the ground. Digging the stumps out of the ground was a long process, and explosives and machinery for doing this work were not yet available.

The forest, however, was a help as well as a hinderance. From the logs were made houses and barns, agricultural implements, wagons, and to some extent, furniture. The forest possessed an abundance of game, wild berries, strawberries, wild grapes and maple trees from which the settlers secured their sugar.  Autumn brought a harvest of hickory nuts and walnuts. Cattle thrived in the woodland, and in certain parts, flocks of sheep could be kept. From the wool the housewife knitted stockings and wove the homespun for the family clothing.

Communication with the other settlements was extremely difficult. For many years the Indian trails and the pathways blazed by the settlers were the only roads, tortuous at all times, but almost impassable in winter. The principal trading posts, such as Port Washington and Milwaukee were far distant from the Zonne settlement-Milwaukee being forty five miles away - and under the best circumstances the slow moving oxen made a long journey of it. Often the wagons broke down in the middle of the forest and the men would have to leave their loads in the middle of the road and go back home or to the trading post ahead for assistance. The lack of communication was felt most during sickness and especially epidemics, for many a time the physician, after a long hard journey, would arrive to find his patient dead or beyond help.

Such were the difficulties with which these Dutch pioneers contended during their first years of colonization. Their energy and perseverance, however, defeated one obstacle after another. Gradually the farms were cleared; the newly established sawmills turned out better lumbar for houses and barns; water power was utilized for the running of flour mills; and stores were established within easy distance. Artisans joined the settlement, although blacksmiths had been found among the original settlers. As the forest gradually disappeared, old trails were widened, roads were laid out, villages sprang up and post offices established.

But in the midst of their growing prosperity the black war cloud gathered on the southern horizon and cast it’s shadow over this peaceful community. Many of the men, whose fathers had obtained liberty after eighty years of conflict were aroused, and leaving their plows took up the musket. Sad times now followed for now and then the news reached the settlement that some son or father had died in battle; but after the years of sorrow that laureled heroes returned to their firesides and a greater prosperity dawned.

After the Civil War the settlements entered a period of prosperity greater than any experienced before; in fact many of the farmers, receiving high prices for their products during the war laid the foundation of their wealth in this period. The villages of Cedar Grove and Oostburg expanded and the new town of Gibbsville was founded three miles west of Oostburg. East of Cedar Grove , on the lake shore, was built a pier where the great vessels could land. The settlement of Amsterdam, which developed here, became an important trading place for a time but was abandoned when the Chicago and Northwestern railroad entered the territory. Grain elevators and business houses of all kinds were erected, and residences increased and improved. In the country better farm houses and more spacious barns rapidly replaced the primitive log buildings. The acreage of land cleared, fenced in and cultivated, increased, and herds of cattle and flocks of sheep became more numerous. Along the lakeshore a profitable fishing industry was developed. Everywhere the result of hard work and thrift was seen. Luctor et emergo (I struggle and rise higher), the motto of the province of Zeeland from which these Dutch settlers as well as those of their sturdy ancestors.

In the midst of their struggle for material improvement these rival, under the leadership of Rev. Zonne they had organized themselves into a church and united with the Presbyterian organization. In the following year, 1848, Rev. Zonne built a house of worship on his own estate and gave it to his congregation. This church, built about a mile north of the present site of Cedar Grove, was the first of the Presbyterian denomination in that region. In the course of time another house of worship was built in the settlement later known as Cedar Grove by those who were not in harmony with Rev. Zonne. This congregation united in New Amsterdam (now New York) in the eighteenth century. This is the oldest and wealthiest (in proportion to size) of all ecclesiastical bodies in America.

In 1853 another Prebysterian church was built four and a half miles north of Cedar Grove on the Sauk Trail. A Dutch Reformed Church was later established at the same place and others of the same denomination were erected in the settlement later becoming the village of Oostburg and in Gibbsville.

 

 

 

 

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