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Tulip Transplants To East TexasThe Dutch Migration To Nederland, Texas, 1895-1915By W. T. Block
To the East Texas of 1900, whose non-native population can be delineated as the overflow of the Anglo-Saxon Lower South, a Dutch colonization scheme must have appeared somewhat phenomenal. To the promoters, who were owners of Kansas City Southern Railroad, it was sound business, designed to convert surplus railroad acreage into cash, and to stimulate business along those points of the line which were barren of population. Arthur E. Stilwell, dreamer and railroad entrepreneur of the late nineteenth century, expressed no qualms about accepting credit for the plan. Financier and head of Guardian Trust Company of Kansas City, Stilwell entered railroading, seeking a sea outlet for Midwestern wheat for export, hoping to keep that product more competitive in price, and to evade the exorbitant rates charged by the East-West lines. Stilwell must be remembered as the man who, when stymied in his efforts to build Kansas City Southern trackage (hereinafter abbreviated K. C. S.) to the sea, dug an eight-mile ship canal and carried the sea to the rails at Port Arthur. When likewise stymied for domestic capital during the panic of 1893-1895, Stilwell turned to Amsterdam bankers, and raised the $10,000,000 needed to bring the K. C. S. rails south from Siloam Springs, Arkansas - hence the appellation "Dutch-American railroad."[1] As a result of one of his famed ‘hunches,’ Stilwell envisioned a thriving community of Dutch rice farmers on the coastal plain north of Port Arthur, of which he said:
When the flow of domestic capital slowed to a trickle in 1893, Stilwell recalled a Dutch acquaintance, Jan de Geoijen, a coffee merchant of Amsterdam, whom Stilwell had met on a trans-Atlantic crossing. He rushed to Holland and upon enlisting de Geoijen (phonetically anglecized to "deQueen") as his Holland agent, managed to unload $3,000,000 of the railroad’s securities in twenty-seven minutes. Thereafter Dutch investors and workers were granted a large voice in the management and operation of Stilwell’s company.[3] By 1897, after K. C. S. trackage had reached Port Arthur, Dutch natives were employed at all levels. H. Visscher, an Amsterdam accountant sent over to examine the railroad’s books, remained in Kansas City as the company’s treasurer. In Port Arthur, the firm organized a number of subsidiaries, including Port Arthur Townsite and Land Company, with M. R. Bos as its first immigrant manager; Port Arthur Canal and Dock Company; and Port Arthur Rice and Irrigation, which also operated the Port Arthur Experimental Farm.[4] H. H. Beels, a Dutch immigrant railroad builder on the Great Plains, became resident engineer for Port Arthur’s canal project. Jacques Tutein-Nolthenius[5] became a trustee of the townsite company and vice president of another K. C. S. affiliate, the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Trust Company of Kansas City. Nolthenius was also right-of-way buyer for the railroad. W. I. Vandenbosch became the railroad’s emigration agent, commissioned to recruit Hollanders who had earlier settled in Iowa and Michigan. L. Zylekins was Port Arthur’s first depot agent. Jan van Tyen arrived in Port Arthur as Holland’s consul and de Geoijen’s personal emissary, became manager of Port Arthur Land Company and Holland-Texas Hypotheek Bank, amassing quite a fortune in the course of his lifetime. His business associate, E. J. Everwijn-Lange was another early and prominent Port Arthuran, who later returned to Holland. A. J. M. Vylsteke, Holland’s first vice-consul and agent for Joseph dePoorter Steamship Line, was one of Port Arthur’s first citizens, living in a tent on the townsite before it was surveyed. By 1903, Port Arthur’s Dutch immigrant population was estimated at 150 persons. In November, 1897, the Herald stated: "...Port Arthur is a new opening and the shrewd Hollanders are quick to take advantage of it..."[6] Stilwell’s south Jefferson County land holdings came into existence on October 15, 1895, when he purchased 41,850 acres of land from Beaumont Pasture Company at $6.75 an acre. On December 4 of that year, title was transferred to Port Arthur Land Company, Other than the railroad’s right-of-way, 4,000 acres were reserved immediately and platted for the townsite of Port Arthur. That left approximately 37,000 acres, which were surplus, to be utilized for agriculture and other purposes.[7] That Stilwell prudently planned to assure the success of his Dutch colonization attempt, to include a church and school, is quite evident. That his project essentially failed is more attributable to the temperaments and eccentricities of particular immigrants, who were unaccustomed to American soil, climate, language, and folkways; to actions of his emigration agents; and to the failure of rice markets and other uncontrollable factors. Vandenbosch made a number of trips to the Dutch colonies in Iowa and Michigan to recruit prospective settlers to the new colony. On one trip, he managed to induce eight Iowans to come to Texas and investigate conditions for resettlement. Texas Colonization Company of Iowa’s advertisements in the Dutch-language newspapers expounded concerning the agricultural advantages to be found in Southeast Texas’ soil and climate. During 1898 Bartle J. Dijksma, and immigrant horticulturalist at Port Arthur’s experimental farm, painted rosy, prosaic pictographs of Nederland in Holland, Michigan’s Dutch-language newspaper, De Grondwet.[8] One result of those early land promotions in the North was the arrival in May, 1897 of Gatze Jan (George) Rienstra, Nederland’s first settler. On his initial visit, Rienstra expressed satisfaction with the site of the proposed colony, with Port Arthur’s experimental farm and pleasure pier, and noted that his fellow Dutch immigrants, Port Arthur farmers J. Gautier and a Mr. Engelsman, were prospering. On his next trip, Rienstra left his kitchen stove, farm implements, and personal effects standing beside the railroad tracks at Nederland while he drove his wagon on to Port Arthur to purchase lumber.[9] In Holland, Jan de Geoijen employed J. E. Kroes, the former inspector of Netherlands-American Steamship Company, to screen prospective applicants and establish their suitability for resettlement. Emphasis was placed on the sturdy Dutch farmers of the provinces of North Holland, Friesland, Groningen, and Gelderland, among whom agents of Port Arthur Land Company circulated. Again, the picture most often painted was that of a ‘Garden of Eden’ in East Texas, rather than that of open pasture land which, as of 1897, had only one economic boon to warrant its habitation - the newly-laid railroad trackage. Tradesmen, clerks, shopkeepers, teachers, even pastors, were solicited as well, in order to stabilize the economic and social requirements of the planned community. When the first group of these settlers had liquidated their assets and prepared to travel, Albert Kuipers, a Dutch employee of the land company who had been recruiting in Holland, made arrangements at Antwerp to escort the first contingent of settlers to their new home in East Texas.[10] In the meantime, Stilwell moved ahead with his plans for Nederland and its rice industry. In 1896, he began Port Arthur’s experimental farm, the purpose of which was to experiment with all varieties of domestic animal and plant life, determining which strains were most suitable for growing in the climate of south Jefferson County. In March, 1897, he transferred F. M. Hammon, superintendent of the railroad’s farm at Amoret, Missouri, to Port Arthur as the new farm’s manager. At the same time, G. W. J. Kilsdonk, a well-known bulb grower and horticulturalist of Holland, arrived to work on the farm and as the vanguard of the Dutch settlers slated for Nederland. In July, 1897, the farm superintendent was reporting ‘great success’ in the growth of sea island cotton, rice, asparagus, two varieties of tobacco, and other farm products. By then the farm’s facilities included 80 acres of bearing pear trees as well as olive, fig, and orange orchards, and a large herd of imported Jersey cattle. That Stilwell overlooked no possibility is evident in the farm’s adoption of the umbrella china as the ideal shade tree for the Dutch immigrants’ front lawns. A thousand seedlings for transplanting in Nederland were awaiting the arrival of the human transplants from Europe.[11] During the late summer of 1897, Port Arthur Land Company began work on the first buildings at Nederland. The three-story, 33-room Orange Hotel (named for the ruling house of Holland and built on the northwest corner of N. 13th and Boston) was begun, and by November, was nearing completion. Its purpose was to provide room and board at reasonable rates for the new immigrants until each had completed his own home. As might be expected, the hotel soon became the center of social life in the new community, religious as well as educational. Kilsdonk was also transferred to Nederland as the land company’s resident overseer. He immediately began work on two store buildings, and soon afterward became Nederland’s first merchant.[12] On December 24, 1897, Stilwell, Jacques Nolthenius, and Judge J. M. Trimble, as trustees of the land company, platted the first townsite of Nederland, which spanned both sides of the railroad track, and reserved to themselves "exclusive rights to erect.... street car lines, railways, electric lights,... gas and water pipes, mains and conduits...." With particular intent to please the immigrants, they established two parks, Mena, named for the young and beautiful queen-regent of Holland, and Koning (King’s) Park. Street names were in the Dutch language, and included such names as Kuipers Straat (street), de Geoijen Straat, Wilhelmina Straat, and Heeren Straat.[13] In October, 1897, Stilwell organized the Port Arthur Rice and Irrigation Company, capitalized at $50,000, with intent to build a Neches River pumping plant and a system of 25 miles of rice canals sufficient to irrigate 5,000 acres. The company’s headquarters were built at a point two miles south of Nederland (on Rice Farm Road), and its management was assigned to Superintendent Hammon. Construction work on the canal system began in January, 1898, with 55 men and 27 mule teams, supervised by D. Zimmerman, a railroad engineer who had been transferred from Kansas City. At Smith’s Bluff, a mile north of Nederland on Neches River, a 100-horsepower steam pumping plant, with an outflow of 18,000 gallons a minute, was installed. Two miles of inclined, outflow flume were constructed above ground level, with the river end elevated fifteen feet. (In 1922 the canal levees were flattened to provide the plant road into Pure Oil (Unocal) refinery.) By the end of 1898, seven miles of the canal system had been completed and three other miles were still under construction. During 1898, the rice company planted 700 acres of rice (460 of which returned a $21,000 profit), which production along the canal system reached 13,000 acres by 1904. Rice production increased so rapidly, that the capacity of the pumping plant and outflow flume had to be tripled within two years, forcing the irrigation company to increase its capitalization to $150,000. Width of the outflow flume was increased to 100 feet and pumping capacity to 78,000 gallon per minute.[14] On November 18, 1897, Port Arthur Herald splashed its front page with news of the first contingent of Dutch immigrants for Nederland, 46 men, women, and children.[15] They arrived at Galveston on November 14th, but for some unexplained reason, did not arrive in Port Arthur until three days later. Galveston Daily News carried the following notation:
The Herald stated that many of the passengers spoke some English, and expressed favorable reactions toward their new country and Port Arthur. The article added that they were met at the depot by "several of their countrymen," as well as the land company representatives, after which the newcomers were fed at the Terminal Hotel and then taken to the Nash House for the night. Afterward, the immigrants "thronged the streets, bent upon sightseeing..."[17] In a letter written to Holland on the same day, Kuipers reported that he was immediately beseiged by prospective employers. In great demand were the Dutch women and girls to work as household servants at $10.00 per month. Kuipers reported as well that he immediately secured employment for the men as teamsters and railroad laborers at $1.50 daily, as well as carpenters and gardners.[18] After they had rested, the vanguard of settlers were taken to the Orange Hotel in Nederland, where they immediately selected their land and began preparations to build homes. The newspaper gave the following partial list of arrivals: D. Ballast, N. Rodrigo and six children; J. H. Muller, A. Teggelaar, N. Ernsting, L.Tynkema. R. van Dalen, H. P. de la Bye, P. Koimann, M. Jorritsma and son, B. H. Lans, W. F. Lans, A. J. Rysemann, J. G. van Tyl, K. Bronstsema, Miss Waterdrink, Jan Tromp, C. van der Bout, M. Koot; A. J. Ellings, wife and four children; T. ten Dekker, and J. C. van Heiningen.[19] The next known contingent to arrive, 16 persons, came on the Diederickson line steamer Lauenberg to Galveston, arriving there on March 1, 1898, after a stormy voyage of three weeks. More than half of that group were comprised of the Maarten Koelemay family, including his wife Antje, sons Peter, John, Klaas, Martin and Lawrence; and daughters Tryntje, Dieuwertje, and Klaasje, all of the latter at or approaching adulthood. Koelemay, a cheese maker of Hoogkarspel, near Enkhuizen on the Zuider Zee, brought his cheese molds with him, expecting to continue his former occupation, but that proved impossible in the warm and humid climate of Southeast Texas. The family, who arrived simultaneously with a blustering cold "norther," found the ‘promised land’ of Nederland to consist of one muddy street, " a few houses, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, a mercantile and a hardware store, a couple of saloons, and acres and acres of unfenced, unimproved lands...."[20] The third group of whom the writer has a record arrived at Galveston and Nederland on the same date, March 28, 1898, aboard the German liner Olinda, after a stormy, 21-day crossing from Antwerp, which saw the vessel’s stearing gear break. Again Galveston Daily News reported that the 26 passengers for Nederland, including 20 young men, were "the finest-looking company of immigrants seen at Galveston in many years." Each was reported as being clean-shaven, and freshly-attired "in white linen" and black ties.[21] These arrivals of Dutch immigrants at Galveston continued for many months and years thereafter, with a fourth group arriving on the German liner Curatyba on April 26, and still a large, fifth contingent arriving the following December 27, 1898 aboard the German steamer Ellen Rickmers.[22] The last party to arrive in March had been escorted from Holland by B. J. Dijksma of Port Arthur experimental farm, and had been met at Galveston by Kilsdonk. Upon arrival at Nederland, they too were taken to the Orange Hotel, by then being managed by Mr. and Mrs. Ellings, who had arrived earlier. As with the first group, Kilsdonk immediately found employment for the young men with the railroad in Port Arthur. Dijksma admitted that their first impressions of Nederland were mostly unfavorable (some immigrants returned to Holland almost immediately), but Dijksma’s attitude was reversed in the course of his latter writings. He did advise that no immigrant should attempt to settle in Nederland as either a farmer or orchard grower unless he had the "proper means" with which to support himself for one year.[23] By April, 1898, the population of Nederland could be reckoned at no less than 100 persons through immigrant arrivals from Holland, plus a handful who had resettled from the Dutch colonies in the North, as well as a few native families, who had taken up residence in the Dutch colony. In 1897, Louis A. Spencer, his wife and six sons arrived and began operating a brick kiln a mile north of Nederland. Handmade bricks fired in that kiln were used in the construction of Orange Hotel and in buildings in Port Arthur. In 1898 J. B. Cooke brought his family to Nederland and entered the lumber business.[24] The same month also witnessed the beginnings of religious life in the new community, and organization of a Dutch Reformed congregation (now Reformed Church of America). Services led by lay leaders had been conducted each Sunday at the Orange Hotel almost from the beginning, apparently by D. Ballast, whose signature appeared on existent baptismal certificates. Dr. Henry Beets, then of Sioux City, Iowa, made a special trip to Nederland to organize the parish, after which the new church (until it dissolved about 1905) was affiliated with the Classis (synod) of Iowa. A church was built at the corner of "Kuipers and Heeren Straats" (now Tenth and Boston). Church records indicate that the congregation remained too small to afford a full-time pastor. As of 1898, membership included four families and 28 members, and apparently did not vary greatly from those figures during its existence.[25] Education lagged only momentarily for Dijksma reported in the same article that plans were afoot to establish a school and engage a teacher. The first school was conducted in an outbuilding connected to the Orange Hotel, utilizing a teacher from Beaumont, with Klaas Koelemay serving as interpreter. It remained there until the small building was blown away during the hurricane of 1900. That the Dutch were dedicated to higher learning can be attested to by the 1,000-volume library that was maintained at the Orange hotel from its beginning.[26] On May 5, 1898, Kilsdonk resigned and was replaced as the colony’s resident manager by W. I. Vandenbosch, the emigration agent for the land company. Kilsdonk planned to visit his wife and son in Holland, but remained in Nederland until after the queen’s coronation festivities to serve as chairman of the preparations committee (of which Peter Koelemay was a member). He apparently never returned to America since he was still living in Holland as of 1900.[27] The early Hollanders of Nederland found it mutually advantageous to organize for their protection. For one thing, a definite language barrier existed between the Dutch and the native inhabitants, with few if anyone who could adequately translate in the complex legal and technical terminology which many problems required. As of July 1, 1898, Nederland’s Colonists Union had twenty Dutch farmers, plus some skilled craftsmen and laborers, as its members, with W. F. Lans serving as the organization’s president and P. J. van Heiningen as its secretary.[28] In an article published in Holland at that time, van Heiningen commented on the costs involved for those Dutch immigrants who chose to become rice farmers. Land sold at from $20 to $50 an acre. A team of mules was valued at $170, a span of horses cost $120, while good quality Jersey cattle sold at $70 each. In the same article, Willem Beukers, a Dutch visitor to Nederland in January, 1898, noted both the advantages and the disadvantages incurred by Dutch immigrants who settled in Southeast Texas. Because of the cultural habitat which Holland represented, Beukers concluded that "pretty good in the old country is better than very good in Texas."[29] On May 26, 1898, a meeting was called by the Hollanders of Port Arthur and Nederland for the purpose of preparing for a giant celebration on the following September 6, the date of the coronation of Holland’s young Queen Wilhelmina. All Dutch settlers in each town were required to attend. At that moment, "when Nederland could hardly be termed a settlement," the utter magnitude of the event attests to the importance accorded to it by the officials of Kansas City Southern railroad and by its affiliate, Port Arthur Land Company. No expense was spared, and fortunately Port Arthur Herald has left a most graphic account, filling five columns, more than half of its front page, for Septembr 6, 1898.[30] Between the lines, the writer interprets that Stilwell considered his Nederland experiment to be hanging in jeopardy. Life in the colony was undoubtedly both harsh and monotonous for the newcomers, as evidenced by those who sought greener pastures elsewhere or returned to Holland. Stilwell probably wished to placate the Hollanders who were still here, while at the same time calling attention to the rice growing potential of Nederland (whose canal system by then represented a huge investment) to the area’s farmers. At any rate, the land company sponsored a gala event long to be remembered by both Beaumonters and Port Arthurans as well, and although the Dutch continued to arrive for many years more, their numbers were augmented by an increase of native-born shopkeepers and rice farmers, who took up residence among them. The celebration demonstrated as well that the Dutch were as fun-loving as they were industrious. Throughout the day of September 6, from 7 AM until 2 AM the following morning, special trains were run from Port Arthur and Beaumont to Nederland, carrying the celebration participants, the pleasure-seekers, the spectators and the curious. At 7:45 AM the first train arrived from Port Arthur, carrying the first visitors and the Port Arthur band. After the latter had played a number of selections at the depot, the participants formed a line of march to the hotel. All of Nederland’s buildings were festooned with bright bunting and the national colors of both Holland and the United States. The Orange Hotel was decorated in like manner, inside and out, with large pictures of the young queen, and with holly and evergreens, "among which were interspersed red, white, and blue roses." Other "accoutrements" of the hotel on that date were 750 gallons of Dutch beer, brewed by Lans en Zoon of Haarlem, Holland.[31] Activities of the morning included marching with the band to meet arriving trains at the depot. At 9 AM the crowd assembled in King’s Park, where a memorial orange tree was planted and dedicated to the young queen. Kilsdonk addressed the crowd in the Dutch language, and was followed by J. E. Kroes, who read a brief history of the young queen and of Nederland’s founding, also in Dutch. This was followed with translations by Vandenbosch, after which all documents were signed by the festivities committee and buried in an air-tight bottle with the tree. The day’s principal activities consisted of competitive games at the race track. These included foot races over a specially-designed obstacle course, bicycle races for both men and women, followed by kite racing, greased-pole climbing, and a horse race. Betting was permitted with participants soon learning that their favorite horse could place no better than third. Since an election was imminent, political candidates campaigned freely among the crowd. At noon the crowd was treated to a Dutch menu with all the trimmings, including fish, veal cutlets, roast beef, roast chicken, and vegetables. Desserts included ice cream (the first that many Dutch had tasted), mixed fruits, and cake. Drinks included coffee, tea, and beer.[32] Festivities of the evening included one of the most brilliant pyrotechnic displays ever witnessed in Southeast Texas up until that time, as well as dancing at the Orange Hotel until 2 AM. The Herald noted that the most popular dance number was the "Rose Grip Polka," and that many dancing prizes were awarded. Vocal selections were rendered throughout the evening by members of the Koelemay family, with musical accompaniment on the zither. The Herald also conceded that, as the Beaumont and Port Arthur visitors boarded trains after midnight, they were "all convinced that the Dutch know how to conduct an affair of the kind, so that all the people present can have a good time."[33] Generally speaking, Nederland’s rice farmers subsequent to 1899 were about equally divided between the colony’s Dutch and non-Dutch inhabitants. Most often the Hollanders who were able to begin rice farming immediately, as S. R. Carter had in 1899, were those who had resettled from the Dutch colonies in the North. High operational costs required that others work as laborers until they had acquired sufficient land and means to begin. Perhaps, due to language barriers, the Dutch, almost to a man, shunned any connection with the mercantile activities in the colony.[34] By 1900 Nederland’s railroad tracks were lined with large storage warehouses for, lacking a rice mill, farmers had to sack all harvested rice in order to ship it elsewhere for milling. Elimination of the sacking system was a principal cause for the organization in 194 of Nederland Rice Milling Company, Inc.[35] By May, 1903, Nederland’s economy was booming. Rice production increased steadily, and the Spindletop oil boom, seven miles to the north, brought new money and settlers to the town. By that time, the Dutch colony could boast of a population of 500 persons, two-thirds of whom were Hollanders. In 1902, First National Bank and a newspaper, the Nederland News, were established. The town’s principal retail houses, Cammack Brothers, King Mercantile Company, and Nederland Supply Company were all described as "doing a handsome grocery, feed, and farm implement business..."[36] However economic setbacks in the year 1905 were to have a disruptive effect on Nederland’s growth. A number of causes can be cited as contributory. In one year rice acreage under cultivation plummeted from a high of 13,000 to 6,000 acres. With little thought given to market demands (and that in an era when rice, like grits, was regarded as a cereal grain or dessert ingredient), unsold backlogs of rice began to appear, and delegations of Jefferson County rice millers began to visit Europe in search of new markets. By 1905 the oil boom at Spindletop had ended, which eventually caused the closing of the Orange Hotel due to insufficient lodgers. Within two years time, a number of the town’s leading merchants, namely, the bank, the newspaper, the rice milling company, and retail businesses had folded in bankruptcy. From that year until it eventually ceased operation, Port Arthur Rice and Irrigation Company was beset with problems due to disrepair of its facilities, and the continuous threat of salt water as the Neches River channel was deepened. And in 1906-1907 a serious national recession arrived.[37] By 1912 no more than thirty Dutch families remained in Nederland. Three-fourths of the original colony had moved away in search of better economic opportunity, a few to neighboring points in Port Arthur or Winnie, but many went to Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa or Michigan. The Dutch who remained were those who had already acquired sizeable land holdings, and most of them turned to dairying, ranching, or truck farming when the rice economy crashed.[38] The Rev. Ralph Koelemay, formerly of Plover, Wisconsin, laughingly advised this writer by letter many years ago that, on occasion, Nederland’s Dutch colonists were equally as guilty of misrepresentation in Holland as were the agents of Port Arthur Land Company. Among Nederland’s permanent colony that remained, it appeared that some of the men arrived single, and later returned to Holland to marry their childhood sweethearts. Fearful that their finacees might renege if they really knew how primitive that living conditions in Nederland amounted to, some men resorted to fantasy, and at least one bride arrived to find a squalid, one-room bachelor abode instead of the livable quarters which she had expected. In that instance, however, the bride accepted her new circumstances stoically and "pitched in" to help her husband carve out an acceptable and prosperous existence for themselves.[39] In retrospect, the Dutch migration to Nederland could hardly be expected to leave a large and permanent mark in view of the large number of colonists who moved away. And of those who remained, their numbers were insufficient to bequeath a heritage comparable to the Acadian regions of Louisiana or other large migrations. In fact one characteristic of the Dutch personality strongly counteracted any such possibility, for successful competition in the market place simply required that the Dutch assimilate as rapidly as possible. Henry S. Lucas, an immigration historian, concluded that "Nederland became a place which is Dutch in name only," but careful scrutiny reveals that his assessment is not entirely correct.[40] It is true that Nederland’s 18,000 inhabitants are primarily of East Texas, Louisiana, or other native extraction, but a goodly number remain whose parents or grandparents were Dutch immigrants. Most of the thirty Dutch families of permanent residence fared well economically and educated their children accordingly. The late C. Doornbos and his family have contributed immensely toward Nederland’s growth, and the C. Doornbos Trust remains a family-operated, diversified enterprise. Their most recent bequest was the 22-acres and funding for Doornbos Park, the city’s main recreational facility. Children of the Dan J. Rienstra family have contributed in like fashion, providing Nederland with two principal merchants (Albert and the late D. X. Rienstra were longtime directors or board chairmen of Nederland State Bank, now Bank of America, from its founding in 1948); Beaumont with two leading attorneys, two school teachers, and a U. S. naval commander and graduate of Annapolis. Other Dutch settlers, namely, George Rienstra, Jacob Doornbos, S. R. Carter, George Vanderweg, Christian Rauwerda; John, Klaas, Martin and Lawrence Koelemay; Gerrit and Peter Terwey, Baucus Westerterp, Carollus Bruinsma, and John van Oostrom to name a few, made similar contributions, many becoming economically independent as well. And for the most part, many have made substantial contributions to the city’s growth and well-being, for idleness and criminality were vices virtually unheard-of among Hollanders. Whatever the heritage left by them, Nederland is justifiably proud of its origins, and has built a towering memorial as proof of that assertion. Its broad-sailed Windmill Museum testifies in silence each day as a tribute to that little band of Hollanders who braved the unknown in search of a better way of life.
1 A. E. Stilwell and Jas. R. Crowell, I Had A Hunch (Port Arthur: 1972), 44-52, 75-85, as reprinted from Stilwell’s memoirs published in Saturday Evening Post during months subsequent to Dec., 1927; T. W. L. Scheltema, "A Dutch-American Railroad: The Kansas City Southern," Knickerbocker Weekly Free Netherlands (Nov. 23, 1942). 15-18. The writer is indebted to John Vandenberg, now deceased, for translations of numerous Dutch-language articles. 2 Stilwell and Crowell, I Had A Hunch, 77. 3 Ibid., pp. 50-52; Scheltema, "Dutch-American Railroad," 15. 4 Port Arthur News, March 18, 1897; J. van Hinte, Nederlanders in Amerika II (Dutch-language, Groningen, Holland: 1928), 268. 5 For Nolthenius’ unsuccessful efforts to buy right-of-way for a terminus at Cameron, La., and later at Sabine Pass, TX, see his Dutch-language memoirs, Nieuwe Wereld: Indrucken en Aanteekeningen Tijdens Eene Reis Door De Vereenigde Staten Van Nord Amerika (Dutch language: Haarlem, Holland: 1902). 6 Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 11, 1897; Jan. 28 and March 18, 1898; Van Hinte, Nederlanders II, pp. 268-272, 293; Henry Lucas, Netherlanders in America (Ann Arbor, MI.: 1955), 436. 7 John R. Rochelle, Port Arthur, TX: A History of Its Port To 1963 (unpublished M. A. thesis, Beaumont: Lamar University, 1969), 45; Vols. 42, pp. 64-74, and 22, p. 50, Deed Records, Jefferson County, TX; deed records indicate that A. E. Stilwell, E. L. Martin, C. A. Braley, and J. M. Trimble organized Port Arthur Land Company. Martin was Stilwell’s closest associate and president of Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad, the parent company of K. C. S. Braley and Trimble was Kansas City attorneys and genersl counsel for the firms. See Stilwell, I Had A Hunch, 23, 32-33. 8 Port Arthur Herald, January 27, 1898; Holland, Mich. DeGrondwet, Dutch language, April 12, 1897 and May 24, 1898; Orange City, Iowa DeVolkswriend, Dutch language, August 20, 1896. 9 Anna A. Cooley, "From The Netherlands in Europe to Nederland, Texas, U. S. A.," (Devers, TX, unpublished 27-page manuscript, 1969), 4; Letter, G. J. Rienstra to Jan de Geoijen, Liverpool, TX, May 17, 1897, as published in Albert Kuipers, Waarheen? Wegwijzer Voor Den Nederlandsche Landbouwer, Veeboer, Tuinder, Bloemist, Boomkweeker, enz met Beperkte Middelen (publ. booklet, 2nd ed., N. P., N. D., but about 1900), 60, copy owned by Mrs. Christine Stappers. 10 Van Hinte, Nederlanders, 271; Galveston Daily News, Nov. 15, 1897; clipping, Advertisement of B. J. Nauta, Port Arthur Land Company, published in Leeuwarden, Holland, on March 30, 1898; (Netherlands) Heerenveensche Courant, December 4, 1897; Letter, A. Kuipers to deGeoijen, Nov. 15, 1897, as reprinted in Kuipers, Warheen?, 62-63. 11 Port Arthur News, March 18, 1897, Port Arthur Herald, July 22, 1897. 12 Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 4, 1897 and March 17, 1900; Cooley, "From The Netherlands in Europe to Nederland," 2; Marie Fleming, "History of The Orange Hotel," (unpublished manuscript, Nederland, 1972), 1-3. 13 Map Record No. 1, p. 38, Jefferson County, TX Archives. Mena Park is still city-owned, but King’s Park has reverted to private ownership. The original townsite is bounded by present-day Ninth and Fifteenth Streets and by Nederland and Chicago Avenues. 14 Port Arthur Herald, Oct. 28 and Dec. 30, 1897; Jan. 20, July 2, 14, Aug. 25, and Sept. 15, 1898; March 30, 1899; and Feb. 24, 1900; Beaumont Journal, Dec. 11, 1899 and July 23, 1905; (Port Arthur) The Evening News, May 13, 1903; Lucas, Netherlanders in America, 436. 15 Actually a group of Hollanders led by J. E. Kroes, a land company representative in Holland, had arrived via New York two weeks earlier. See Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 4, 1897. 16 Galveston Daily News, Nov. 15, 1897. 17 Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 18, 1897. 18 Letter, A. Kuipers to Jan deGeoijen, Port Arthur, Texas, Nov. 15, 1897, archives of Port Arthur Land Co., Amsterdam, Holland, as reprinted in the (Netherlands) Heerenveensche Courant, Dec. 4, 1897, and in Kuipers, Warheen?, 62-63. 19 Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 18, 1897. 20 Galveston Daily News, March 2, 1898; Cooley, "From Netherlands in Europe to Nederland," 1-2; Koelemay family exit permit, entitled "Getuigschrift van Verandering van Werkelijke Woonplaats," issued by the Burgomaster of Hoogkarspel, North Holland, on Feb. 2, 1898, original in Windmill Museum, Nederland. 21 Galveston Daily News, March 29, 1898; Port Arthur Herald, March 31,1898. 22 Galveston Daily News, April 17 and Dec. 28, 1898; Baucus Westerterp family exit permit, entitled as in footnote 20, issued by the Burgomaster of Oldeboorn, Vriesland, Holland, Nov. 25, 1898, original owned by Rev. Ralph Koelemay. 23 Holland (Mich.) DeGrondwet, April 12, 1898. 24 "History of The Louis A. Spencer Family," (Nederland, unpublished manuscript, 1972), p. 4; (Port Arthur) The Evening News, May 13, 1903; Port Arthur Herald, May 18, 1898. 25 Yearbook of The Christian Reformed Church-1899, pp. 34-35, Dutch Heritage Collections, Calvin College and Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Scheltema, "Dutch-American Railroad," p. 18; van Hinte, Nederlanders, p. 271; Lucas, Netherlanders in America, p. 437; Holland (Mich.) DeGrondwet, May 24, 1898. Although unverified except on baptismal records, D. Ballast apparently served as lay minister throughout the church’s existence. 26 Holland (Mich.) DeGrondwet, May 24, 1898; "History of Nederland Schools," (Nederland, unpublished manuscript, 1972), pp. 1-3; "Nederland: The Story of Our Town," (Nederland Independent School District: 1971), 22, 24. 27 Port Arthur Herald, May 5, 1898; March 17, 1900; van Hinte, Nederlanders, 273. 28 P. J. van Heiningen and W. Beukers, "Vraag en Antwoord," Neerlandia (publication for the Algemeen Nederlandsche Verboon for Dutch emigrants overseas) July, 1898, pp. 38-39. 29 Ibid. 30 Port Arthur Herald, May 26 and Sept.1, 8, 1898; (Port Arthur) The Evening News, May 13, 1902. 31 Port Arthur Herald, September 8, 1898. 32 Ibid. 33 Port Arthur Herald, Sept. 8, 1898. 34 Ibid., Oct. 14, 21, 28. 1899; June 9, 1900; July 6, 1904. 35 Port Arthur Herald, Aug. 25, 1898; June 9, 1900; July 6, 1904; also Map Record No. 1; plat of A. Burson Addition, townsite of Nederland, 1902, Jefferson County, Texas Archives. 36 (Port Arthur) The Evening News, May 13, 1903; Port Arthur Herald, Aug. 30; Oct. 11, 25; Nov. 22, 1902; and March 7, 1903. 37 "History of The Orange Hotel," pp. 1-3; Port Arthur Herald, Nov. 21, 1903; Beaumont Journal, April 30 and May 7, 1905. 38 Holland (Mich.) DeGrondwet, January 18, 1910 and June 1, 1920; also A. Kuipers, Der Hollandsche Kolonie van ‘Nederland’ in Jefferson County, Zuid Oost Texas, Een Spoorwegstation Tusschen Beaumont en Port Arthur, published booklet, N. P., N. D., p. 60, courtesy Mrs. Christine Stappers. 39 Letter, Rev. Ralph Koelemay to W. T. Block, Plover, Wisconsin, Feb. 18, 1973. 40 Lucas, Netherlanders in America, 440.
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