Source: Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line]

Ancestry.com. Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Various maritime reference sources.
This database is an index to passenger ships. For each ship listed in this database there is a description of it, containing such information as:

– Line sailed under
– Builder
– Ship type
– Tonnage
– Dimensions
– Number of masts and funnels
– Ship history
– Years in service
For about 1,000 ships there will also be an image of the ship (either a photograph or artistic rendering).

Voyage to America – 1873


Gerrit Jan te Selle (1841-1921), a brother of Jan Hendrik and Harmen Jan te Selle who emigrated in 1865, emigrated from Winterswijk in 1873 with his wife and family to join his brothers in America.

S.S. Helvetia Description


SS Helvetia Photo

Years in Service: 1864-1894 Funnels: 1 Masts: 3 Builder: Palmer’s Shipbuilding and Iron Company Ltd., Newcastle, England Tonnage: 3,325 tons gross Note: In 1877 the ship was lengthened to 419 feet (as seen in the picture) with new tonnage of 4,588 tons gross Dimensions: 371 feet x 41 feet (lengthened to 419 feet in 1877)… Read more »

Voyage to America – 1865


SS Helvetia Photo

Jan Hendrik and Harmen Jan te Selle October 1865 S.S. Helvetia Two te Selle brothers, Jan Hendrik (1838-1921) and Harmen Jan (1844-1919), along with Jan Hendrik’s wife Hannah Berendina Onnink (1841-1929), emigrated from Winterswijk, Netherlands to Gibbsville, Wisconsin, USA, in October 1865.  Harmen Jan te Selle describes their journey in interesting detail his Letter 2… Read more »

te Selle, Harmen Jan (1844-1919)


Harmen Jan te Selle, 1844-1919

Harmen Jan te Selle (1844-1919) was born on the “De Selle” farm, near Winterswijk, Netherlands. He and brother Jan Hendrik te Selle (1838-1921) emigrated to Wisconsin in 1865, where they lived with their Aunt Janna and Uncle Gerrit Bloemers. Within a few years the brothers moved from Wisconsin to Lancaster County, Nebraska, where they homesteaded farm land, raised their families, and remained for the rest of their lives.