The Netherlands and Michigan



Holland -drenthe mapHave you discovered any ancestors from The Netherlands, especially from the Drenthe Province (in the northeast section) and if they immigrated to Michigan between 1847 and 1880?

There is a small group of Dutch young exchange students from the Groningen Province in The Netherlands who are visiting Holland, Michigan. Their goal is to find direct descendants of those who immigrated from the Drenthe Province in the mid-to late 1800s; then match up descendants in Holland, Michigan and Drenthe.

Holland-houses

In The Netherlands from the 19th century there was a log book kept which had some 67,000 Dutch citizens; their names, which province they were from and that they were moving to the United States. Only it wasn’t stated which area of the country. These researchers are concentrating on Holland, Michigan because of the town’s name and that many Dutch immigrants did settle there from Drenthe.

This is being done in connection with the ‘My Place Book‘ project in the Netherlands and Holland, Michigan. It is hoped new family stories and photographs can be located about the Dutch immigrates before they left The Netherlands and their life over the decades in America.

Holland-houses-a

So check out this site and see if there is any connection with your Dutch ancestors.

Contact Esther Fifelski, the human relations coordinator for the MYPLACEBOOK Project in Holland, Michigan (phone – (616) 355-1328.

Photos: Map of The Netherlands and where Drenthe is located. Typical scenes in Drenthe.

 

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