The first emigrants to North America recorded in Aalten’s population register left in early August 1835. In the years that followed, the numbers initially remained small. From 1846 the movement became much more pronounced, and several Seceders were among the emigrants. The reasons for leaving, however, differed from one person and family to another. Religion demonstrably played a part for some emigrants; research into the wider emigration from the Achterhoek also points to economic circumstances and the prospect of a better life in America.
The first emigrants: 1835
Aalten’s population registers begin as early as 1823. For 1835 they record sixteen people who emigrated to North America. The first entry dates from early August 1835. These first recorded emigrants were Catholic and eventually settled in Cleveland. The information in Old Aalten’s emigrant list has been taken directly from the population register.
Emigrants are also recorded in 1838, 1843 and 1845. Emigration from Aalten therefore began before the emigration of Seceders in the mid-1840s. The earliest demonstrable emigration from Aalten cannot therefore be explained as a consequence of the Secession.
A larger wave from 1846
In 1846 the movement becomes much more visible. Historical research into the Secession identifies that year as the first time a group of Seceders from Aalten left for the New World. Ten heads of household were among them.
Passenger lists also make 1846 visible. At least 43 people from Aalten left that year aboard the sailing ship Hector. The ship sailed from Rotterdam and reached New York on 17 September 1846.
Not every emigrant in those early years left for exactly the same reason. Faith was important to the Seceders, but economic circumstances mattered too. The 1840s were difficult: failed harvests and potato blight affected large parts of Europe, while many rural families had little prospect of obtaining enough land or establishing an independent livelihood.
More than faith alone
The Secession of 1834 had also created a separate Reformed community in Aalten. During the first years, Seceders faced government pressure and social opposition. For some, this was a reason to consider emigration. But they were only one group within a much broader migration movement.
This is clear from the later figures. When another large group left in 1854, research into the local Secession shows that only four of the 54 departing heads of household were Seceders. Their share of this group was therefore small. Wherever possible, the decisive motives of the other emigrants must be established person by person or family by family from the sources.
Research into emigration from the Achterhoek identifies poverty, failed harvests, limited economic prospects and the availability of land in America alongside religion as contributing factors. How heavily those motives weighed for individual emigrants from Aalten is not always known. Letters and family contacts could also make the move to America easier and help set chain migration in motion.
Wisconsin as an important centre
Many emigrants from Aalten settled in Wisconsin, particularly in and around Sheboygan County. Places such as Cedar Grove, Oostburg and Sheboygan developed communities in which Achterhoek family names remained recognisable for generations.
Other people from Aalten settled in Michigan, New York, Iowa, Minnesota and, later, further west. There was therefore no single fixed destination. Some families remained in the first place where they settled, while others moved on after several years in search of farmland or work.
The Phoenix disaster
The journey to a new life was not without danger. In November 1847 the Phoenix was lost on Lake Michigan, just off the coast of Wisconsin. Many Dutch emigrants were on board, including people from Aalten and the surrounding area.
The disaster became one of the best-known tragedies of early Dutch emigration to the American Midwest. Several Aalten families lost relatives during the crossing or shortly before reaching their destination.
New waves of emigration
After 1847, emigration from Aalten’s Seceder congregation declined for several years, but the movement to America did not end.
In 1854 another notably large group left. On Old Aalten, 90 travellers from Aalten and Bredevoort have now been linked with certainty to the voyage of the sailing ship Leila. Another large movement followed in 1869; 44 travellers from this emigration cluster have been linked with certainty to the voyage of the Nestorian.
Emigration remained part of life in Aalten for decades afterwards. Motives differed from person to person and from period to period. For some, faith was central; for others, land, income or family reunification. Often several reasons played a part at the same time.
More than 1,600 emigrants from Aalten
Old Aalten now maps emigration person by person, linking migration events, ships, addresses and family relationships. The public list contains more than 1,600 emigrants from Aalten and Bredevoort who left for the United States.
The data make clear that emigration was not a one-off exodus, but a movement that linked families and rural districts with America throughout much of the nineteenth and into the early twentieth century.