Letter from Cornelius Vander Meulen to His Friends in the Netherlands

On this date, Rev. Cornelius Vander Meulen wrote to his friends in the Netherlands to give them a report about his settling in the Holland Colony in Michigan. He left the Netherlands on 27 May and arrived in New York 2 July. He estimated there were already 2000 persons in the Colony. Conditions were difficult causing sickness and death but his family was doing well. His congregation was worshipping in the open air. He was so pleased that the acrimony in the Netherlands was not evident in the Colony. The letter is very informative about the early days of the settlement. He, Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte, and Rev. Marten Ypma are the three pastors serving there currently.https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1840s/1155/thumbnail.jp