Born: August 3, 1917, in Winterswijk-Dorpbuurt, Netherlands Died: April 27, 1983, in Winterswijk, Netherlands Married: July 4, 1942, to Janna Gesiena Toebes Gerrit was born as a second son in the family of Derk Willem te Selle and Grada Johanna Demkes in Winterswijk in the building on Bocholtsestraat where later the supermarket and bakery of… Read more »
Why did so many Dutch farmers decide to emigrate to America in the mid-1800’s? What would inspire two young farm boys in 1865 to leave their friends and family in rural Winterswijk, Netherlands, in order to undertake an uncertain venture across the Atlantic Ocean to an unknown future in America? Read about the powerful cultural and economic forces that motivated our ancestors to seek their future prosperity in a far away land across the sea.
