Published on: January 12, 2013Date revised: June 12, 2018
Jan Hendrik te Selle wants to assure his family back in the Netherlands that the new territory of Nebraska is safe and prosperous. He describes the rich soil and extensive grassland. He describes the good profit he made by selling his Wisconsin land, and then moving to Nebraska, where he could get 80 acres of land for free, just by occupying and farming it for 5 years. He sounds very pleased with his decision to leave Wisconsin, and to venture southwest to Nebraska.
Published on: January 10, 2013Date revised: June 12, 2018
Harmen Jan writes to his mother and brother, reporting that all is well with him and his family in Wisconsin. He received a letter two weeks ago from his brother Jan Hendrik in Nebraska. Jan Hendrik and his family are apparently all healthy, but the weather has been very dry and crops have not done well. Harmen Jan says that the weather and crops in Wisconsin have never been better. However, the bountiful crop has caused the crop prices to drop. The farmers are hurt by the falling prices, but the day laborers who harvest the plentiful crops are all doing well. Farm land for purchase or rent is expensive and scarce, which discourages more Holland farmers from immigrating to Wisconsin.
Published on: January 9, 2013Date revised: June 21, 2022
Harmen Jan reports that his brother, Jan Hendrik has moved his family from Wisconsin to the new territory of Nebraska. The news from Nebraska so far is sketchy, but conditions there sound fairly difficult. Harmen Jan does not yet express any interest in moving to Nebraska himself, but he certainly seems anxious for news about his brother’s situation there.
