In the nineteenth century, thousands of people from the Achterhoek emigrated to the United States in search of land, freedom and new opportunities. Among them was the Haartman family from Aalten. They were among the first European pioneers to settle in the largely undeveloped wilderness of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.
The Haartman family lived at the farmstead of the same name in the rural district of Haart near Aalten. The household consisted of father Derk Jan Haartman, mother Hendrika te Bokkel, five sons and one daughter. In 1846 they sailed from Rotterdam to America aboard the Hector. The crossing took 46 days and they arrived in New York City on 17 September.
After a short stay of six weeks in Rochester, New York, the family travelled on via the Great Lakes to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, Derk Jan Haartman bought sixteen hectares of undeveloped land. Soon afterwards tragedy struck: illness hit the family, and mother Hendrika, three sons and the daughter died.
Settlement in Sheboygan County
Together with his two surviving sons, Evert and Derk Jan Jr, Derk Jan Sr moved on to Sheboygan County. In Wilson Township they bought a tract of woodland in Section 32 for three dollars per hectare. The land had never previously been settled by Europeans and had to be cleared and developed from scratch.
Pioneer life was hard. They had little food, hardly any clothing and none of the comforts they had known before. The family’s first home was a simple log cabin with a plank floor and a stovepipe for a chimney. Many Indigenous Americans still lived in the area. They generally caused no trouble, though they sometimes came to beg.
Surviving in the wilderness
Milwaukee was the nearest trading centre, but at the time it had only about five hundred inhabitants. Sheboygan had three small shops and there were not yet any churches or schools. The surrounding area consisted of dense pine forest and the settlers literally had to cut roads through it.
The settlers regularly needed provisions. On one occasion, Evert Haartman walked to Milwaukee with money he had collected locally. He bought three barrels of flour, some meat and buckwheat flour. On his return, these supplies were carefully divided among the residents of the settlement. The only goods they themselves could offer for trade were ash and cedar shingles, which they exchanged in Milwaukee for food.
Family and descendants
Evert Haartman, born on 15 May 1824, married Janna Berendina (“Jane”) Beskers in Wilson Township on 12 May 1855. She was born on 25 July 1830 at Haverland farmstead in Henxel near Winterswijk. They had ten children: two sons and eight daughters. The family lived on a farm of almost 100 hectares, four kilometres from the village of Oostburg and thirteen kilometres from Sheboygan.
Evert was respected locally as a man of principle and dedication. He served several times as Township Supervisor and supported initiatives promoting education and community life. The family belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church in Wilson Township, and Evert helped build three churches. He cast his first vote as an American citizen for Abraham Lincoln and remained loyal to the Republican Party thereafter.
Derk Jan Haartman Jr, Evert’s elder brother, was born on 18 July 1821. He married Aleida Gesiena Kortschot in Wilson Township on 2 October 1855. She was born on 20 September 1838 at Roerdink Kortschot (Roerdinkpoorthuis) farmstead in the Woold near Winterswijk. They too had ten children: four sons and six daughters.
Final resting place: Hartman Cemetery
Father Derk Jan Haartman died in 1860. Derk Jan Jr died in 1889, Jane Beskers in 1896 and Evert himself in 1910. All were buried at Hartman Cemetery in Wilson Township, a small family burial ground where other descendants and relatives by marriage were also laid to rest.
