The Reformed Dutch immigrants who began to come to West Michigan in 1847 were known for their piety and love for the songs of Zion. At home, at work, at church, they sang the Psalms in all their joys and sorrows, and trials and toil. They had been grievously persecuted in the Netherlands, and as […]

It was May of 1849 when a visitor in black coat and top hat rode into the city of Holland. Who was he? By now Holland had grown to over 200 log cabins and several shops. The surrounding woods were steadily being cleared to make room for fields and farms. Though the Dutch immigrants worked […]

The forest rang with the crack of axes and the zip-zeep of saws. It was the sound of hard work. Several log buildings joined the site of the tiny Indian settlement on Black Lake, and as more Dutch immigrants continuously arrived, more and more dwellings were needed. Amidst all the chop-chop-chopping in the woods, the […]

Though the sun shone brightly overhead, the shadows were thick and dark in the forest. The trees were massive and the foliage was dense. The faraway rat-a-tat beat of a woodpecker’s tapping was the background to other bird melodies nearby. It was a joyful chorus, with only the rustling of leaves in the breeze now […]