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About Zeeland, MI

In 1847, nearly 500 Dutch citizens sailed for America ostensibly to achieve religious freedom, although their decision to immigrate was probably also influenced by other factors, such as their failure to thrive under dire economic conditions in their home province of Zeeland, Netherlands and their opposition to modern scientific and social advances of the time. The emigrants were led by Jannes van de Luijster, a wealthy landowner who sold his holdings in the Netherlands to advance money for the members to pay their debts and buy passage to America. Their settlement, some 16,000 acres (65 km 2) of land once occupied by the Odawa people, was named after their home province of Zeeland. Van de Luyster arranged for three ships to sail for the United States. He came on the first ship, arriving on June 27, 1847.