In 1847, a large group of people from the Achterhoek departed for America, hoping for a better life. Among them were dozens of residents from Aalten. Just before they reached their final destination, their ship, the ‘Phoenix’, caught fire on Lake Michigan. An estimated 250 to 300 people lost their lives.
The beautiful wooden boat named ‘Phoenix’ was only two years old when it steamed toward the west coast of Lake Michigan on November 20, 1847, carrying approximately 175 Dutch passengers, 23 crew members, and an unknown number of other occupants. The emigrants on board came from Winterswijk, Aalten, Varsseveld, Apeldoorn, Holten, and various other places. A day later, they were to reach their Promised Land in Sheboygan after an exhausting voyage. Children were put to sleep in the cabins for the last time.
On November 11, the Phoenix had departed from Buffalo to sail via Lake Erie and Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. Only thirty miles from their destination, the Phoenix entered the harbor of Manitowoc. Some cargo was unloaded, but when the captain noticed the weather conditions were too stormy, he kept his ship in the harbor until the lake would calm down. The crew went ashore. Some claimed they were intoxicated upon their return.
At one o’clock in the morning, with the lake calm and the night filled with stars, the Phoenix departed for the final leg of the journey to Sheboygan. Due to the heavy load, the boilers overheated, but the crew treated the matter lightly. However, around four o’clock in the morning, thick smoke and the stench of smoldering wood emerged from the engine room, and the alarm was raised.
Burn or drown
Vain attempts were made on board the Phoenix to extinguish the fire with buckets of water. But the wooden vessel soon burned like a torch. Two lifeboats were lowered into the water, with which 43 occupants managed to cover the five miles to the coast—one using a wooden shoe as an oar; twenty-five of them were Dutch.
The remaining passengers had two options: burn or drown. They jumped into the water but stood no chance. The water was ice-cold, and they became hypothermic within minutes. Even if one could swim, any attempt to reach the shore was futile.
An estimated two hundred and fifty to three hundred people died, including nearly 100 children. It is remarkable how the handful of surviving emigrants still managed to start a new life. They had no choice.
Residents of Oud-Aalten on the Phoenix
In the middle of the last century, many people from the Achterhoek left for religious reasons. They were mostly dissenters from the Dutch Reformed Church who no longer felt at home here due to their liberal thinking. This was also true for the Achterhoek passengers on the Phoenix, including the Aalten residents Brusse, Navis, and Krajenbrink from the rural district of Lintelo.
From oral tradition, the names of fourteen people from Aalten who became victims of the disaster are known. Regarding others, one is left in the dark. They departed from Aalten on August 16, 1847, together with 78 others. However, conservative estimates suggest that fifty to seventy-five residents of Aalten perished.
A list of (possible) passengers of the Phoenix and who likely did or did not survive the disaster can be found on the website dutchgenealogy.nl by Yvette Hoitink.
Podcasts and documentary
At the end of 2020, Winterswijk podcast creator Joske Meerdink from Omroep Gelderland accidentally came across the story of the Phoenix disaster. She was surprised that she did not know the story and noticed that the Phoenix disaster was also relatively unknown to her fellow villagers. Consequently, she decided to delve into the story.
During her search, Joske, together with documentary filmmaker Diny van Hoften, visited Sheboygan, where they spoke with descendants of the disaster’s survivors. They also joined a shipwreck hunter to search for remains of the Phoenix (and found them!).
Her search resulted in a series of podcasts and a two-part documentary. These can be heard and viewed at Omroep Gelderland.
The documentary that Omroep Gelderland broadcast in early 1998 about the Phoenix disaster can also be seen here. In the documentary, made by Sacha Barraud, a group from the Achterhoek, including Aalten resident Evert Smilda, is followed as they travel to Sheboygan in late 1997 to attend the 150th anniversary commemoration of the Phoenix disaster.
Emigration to North America
During the 19th century, thousands of people left the Achterhoek region to build a new life in the United States. Many residents also departed from Aalten, searching for freedom, land, and new opportunities.
