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Albertus Christiaan van Raalte (17 October 1811 – 27 July 1876) was a 19th-century
Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family an ...
clergyman.


Early life and education

Van Raalte did not set out to follow in his father's footsteps and become a clergyman. He was initially attracted to medicine, but he enrolled in the theological school at the University of Leiden to please his father. After being spared by cholera, which ravaged the Netherlands, Van Raalte was inspired to devote his life to preaching.


Emigration to America

Van Raalte was first ordained in the Secession Church in 1836, before moving to the United States, and was eventually ordained in the
Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
. When he visited the lower peninsula of Michigan, he met with
Grand Haven Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand H ...
founder
William Montague Ferry William Montague Ferry Sr. (September 8, 1796 – December 30, 1867) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and community leader who founded several settlements in Ottawa County, Michigan. He became known as the father of Grand Haven and fathe ...
. Ferry encouraged Van Raalte to settle in the Holland area. He found the area to be what he believed to be ideal for farming, the occupation of many in the Netherlands who were being burdened by high taxes and very little land, so little that farmers could no longer divide their land between their sons as an inheritance. Van Raalte sent home a handbill with such glowing descriptions of the area that many farmers' sons emigrated, cleared the heavily wooded land and found the farming to be fruitful. Van Raalte himself was the spiritual leader for the Protestant, Reformed,
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
who founded the city of
Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River). ...
in 1846 and played an important role in establishing the school that would become
Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricul ...
. In addition to settling Holland, Van Raalte also later started a Dutch colony in Amelia Court House, Virginia.


Legacy

Van Raalte's personal papers are housed at the Heritage Hall Archives of
Calvin University Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a Private university, private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, Ch ...
.


References


External links


"Heritage Hall"


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raalte, Albertus van 1811 births 1876 deaths People from Steenwijkerland 19th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Dutch emigrants to the United States Van Raalte, Albertus Reformed Church in America ministers Van Raalte, Albertus Van Raalte, Albertus 19th-century American clergy