Netherlanders in America: Dutch Immigration to the United States and Canada, 1789-1950

by Henry S. Lucas

Three Early settlement, expansion and dispersal, and the Dutch character and contribution.

744 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book after seeing it on my Aunt's table. My family name is mentioned in it. My father is also related to the Ton's, which there were tons of (over 1000 people). If you know someone who is Dutch this would make a good present. It covers the earliest of settlements starting in the early 1600's and follows them across the country in many states.It is a lengthy book at some 670 pages and is roughly 40 lines a page.I don't have a hard time pronouncing all the Dutch names since I was raised in the Dutch and Polish city of Grand Rapids Michigan(such as :Grietje Blink,Kolvoord,Cornelius De Roo, Toon Baart,Klaas Boer,Andries Steketee, Hendrik Scholten, Gerrit Huizinga. Matter of fact when I traveled over seas and went to the Netherlands, aside from the buildings and the flatness of the land, it was like being in Grand Rapids at the time which I noted to myself (Early 70's) when I could read the Billboards there and see names no different then the store names here. The book does delve into quite abit about the organizations of their various church's. It is a good reference book for any kind of paper, but I don't think anyone would actually sit down and read it cover to cover unless forced to. There are no pictures or illustrations and there are only 3 tables so it is very reliant upon any word pictures. One wishes that there were some kind of singled out person that had had an adventure of sorts in all of this but alas there are a multitude of ill fortune spoken about, which is a Dutch thing I believe, having something to do with guilt which is embedded in our religion for some reason(Calvinist). Anyways I'm sorry I have moved away from the books content so much. There is much todo about land in this book, plots of this and buildings of that and acres here and there.I have picked this book up only a couple times in all the many years I've had it and have not read more than 3 pages at a time because there is just information overload and multiple scenarios covered in that short span, multiple lives, situations, places, etc, it is awhirl to keep straight.