Letters Archive

This is the first letter from America that was preserved by the TeSelle family. The author, Gerrit Willem Bloemers, is married to Janna te Selle, and they emigrated to Wisconsin in 1846. In October 1865 Gerrit Willem and Janna welcome and take care of her nephews, brothers Jan Hendrik and Harmen Jan te Selle, when they also emigrate from Winterswijk to America.

The first letter (Letter 1-a) was returned to G.W. Bloemers four or five months after being sent. Bloemers added the new letter 1-b) and sent both together. Letter One-b has some interesting insights on how the U.S. Civil War was affecting rural farm life in Wisconsin. The South has surrendered and now President Lincoln has been assassinated.

This is the first letter from Harmen Jan and Jan Hendrik te Selle since their arrival in the United States in October 1865. They are staying with their Uncle Gerrit Bloemers and Aunt Janna te Selle Bloemers in Wisconsin. This letter contains a fascinating detailed account of the journey from the Netherlands to Liverpool via train and then on to New York via ship. After 17 days at sea, they finally arrived in New York harbor on October 29. They spent the night aboard ship, and were taken to Castle Garden Immigration Center the next day. From New York they headed toward Gibbsville, Wisconsin, by way of Buffalo and Detroit. This letter is a wonderful record of a difficult, but ultimately rewarding, journey.

Harmen Jan te Selle is doing well in Wisconsin, and is anxious to share all this news with his mother and brothers back home. He met with J. A. Sikkink and Dulmer, who are newly arrived in Wisconsin from Winterswijk. Harmen Jan took them both 9 miles by wagon to see his brother, Jan Hendrik te Selle — a trip of 3 hours.

Harmen Jan describes in detail the large barn he built. He also describes his accident, cutting himself severely with a scythe. His crops are doing well and should be profitable. It is a good thing, because he says the price of land is “getting mighty expensive.”

Harmen Jan inquires about the marriage of his older brother Gerrit Jan. Harmen also reports on the sale of some forest land, and on the status of his ever-expanding inventory of livestock. He also asks brother Derk Willem to please send a large-size Bible like the one at home.

Letter 4 is the first letter written by Jan Hendrik te Selle. He and his wife, Hanna Berendina Onnink, are still in Wisconsin, but are thinking about moving further west where “the land is better and cheaper.” Jan Hendrik talks a little about the Homestead Act, where settlers can get land for free if they stay on it for five years. He also talks at length about his land, crops, livestock, the weather, and about his life in Wisconsin.

Harmen Jan announces the birth of his first child, Dela (Dillije), born in April 1968 and named after his mother. Harmen Jan then writes a lengthy discussion of the weather, the crops, and the livestock, and compares the farming techniques of Wisconsin to those of Winterswijk — an interesting insight into the similarities and differences between the two areas.

Harmen Jan spends most of this letter berating the behavior of his older brother Hendrik Jan back home in Winterswijk, who is unhappily married to his second wife, and now wants to leave her and come to America. Harmen Jan has few kind words for Hendrik Jan, and advises him not to come, for he will not be well received by other Dutch immigrants in Wisconsin. Harmen Jan also touches on a number of other topics, and announces that brother Jan Hendrik has had a daughter named Dela.