In April 1852 Dirk Jans Miedema, his wife Trijntje
Gerrits
Riemersma and their baby daughter Janke had left for America in search
for a better life. They settled in Holland, Michigan where Dirk became
a successful farmer. In 1881 he returned to his native village of
Ferwerd
to visit his brother and during this return trip he agreed to act as an
agent for the N.A.S.M., in particular to the benefit of the less
privileged.
For that reason Dirk had put the following announcement in the local
newspaper:
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Dirk Miedema, for
29 years
American citizen and now temporarily in Marrum, leaves on April 23,
1881
with the N.A.S.M. from Rotterdam to America. Everybody who wants to
join
this trip can get information and make application at J. Stroosma,
innkeeper
in Marrum, and J. van der Veen, agent in Dokkum.
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No doubt that his status as a native son of Ferwerd
along
with being the exponent of a successful emigrant, increased his
credibilty
and thus also increasing the number of tickets he sold. At any rate, 54
"Ferwerdians" joined the group of travelers which Miedema assembled.
They
had signed up at one of the several and well attended meetings which
Dirk
organized in various towns of Ferwerderadeel and were deeply interested
in what he had to say about economic prospects in America. Due to a.o.
cheap American grain flooding European markets a large number of farm
hands
was rapidly getting unemployed and many of them were attracted to the
U.S.A.
where expanding agriculture required a growing work force. Even better:
the possibility of becoming farm owners was real in America and wasn't
Dirk Jans Miedema the living example of that potential? Still, some of
those who joined the group were not interested to become farmers, one
of
them being Johannes Kornelis van Dijk from Ferwerd who came along in
order
to spend some time in America. Johannes worked and stayed in Michigan
and
Chicago and kept a detailed journal of his visit entitled Six
months in America.
The Ottawa County US GenWeb Volunteers in Michigan
published a
biography
of Dirk Jans Miedema on their
website and generously granted us permission to copy it:
DIRK MIEDEMA
By Charles Armstrong
Dirk Miedema, an energetic general
agriculturist
and brave
veteran of the last Civil War, is a native of Vriesland in the year
1823.
His parents, John and Jane (Wiersma) Miedema, born, reared and educated
in the Netherlands, after their marriage kept an hotel in a village of
their native land, in which employment the father continued until his
death,
at thirty-eight years of age. The father was a son of Henry and Jante
(Koopman)
Miedema. The parental grandfather, beginning life as a poor man,
through
superior business ability and keen intelligence won his upward way to
prosperity
and wealth. He was a manufacturer of different varieties of extracts,
and
lived in a flourishing village, owning a farm of sixty acres adjacent
to
the place. His death he left to his family a fortune of $40,000. The
father
received a good education and began life for himself at the age of
twenty-two,
when he married. At his death he left to the care of his widow three
children:
Henry, deceased; Dirk, our subject; and Baarnd, yet living in the
Netherlands.
John Miedema was a devout member of the Reformed Church and a sincere
Christian
man. Our subject was about twelve years of age at the time of demise of
his father, and dutifully worked for his mother in the hotel until he
reached
manhood.
Having arrived at his majority, Mr.
Miedema
hired
out
eight years to farmers, his mother meantime having married Dirk
Terpstra.
While working out by the month our subject was united in marriage with
Miss Catherine Riemasma, daughter of Gerrit Anna Riemasma. The one
child
born of the union in the Old Country is Jane, married to Rinke DeVries.
After emigrating to America in 1852, six children were born, four of
whom
died young. The two surviving are: Anna, wife of Jacob Dagger; and
Maggie,
wife of John Ter Beek. Our subject received some money from his
grandfather’s
estate and with his bequest paid for the passage of himself and family
across the sea to the land of promise, America. When Mr. Miedema, with
his wife and child reached Kalamazoo his capital consisted of $6 in
money,
supplemented by a large stock of hope and self-reliance. Very soon
receiving
employment, he worked by the day for one year, and then came to
Holland,
Ottawa County, where he has since continued to reside. Through hard
work
and prudent effort our subject was in a comparatively brief time
enabled
to purchase thirty acres of ground where he now lives, and to whose
extent
he has thriftfully added until he possesses seventy valuable acres,
once
heavily timbered but brought by Mr. Miedema up to a highly profitable
state
of cultivation and improved with excellent buildings.
In 1861 our subject enlisted in Company D,
Second
Michigan
Cavalry, and was in the army of the Cumberland. Engaging in many
decisive
battles of the long campaign, Mr. Miedema fought with courage at
Shiloh,
Perryville, Boonville, Corinth, Franklin, Murfreesboro and Brandwood.
During
the latter battle our subject was severely wounded in the head, on the
left side, by a Minnie-ball. Falling from his horse his foot caught in
the stirrup and he was dragged some twenty rods. After remaining at the
camp hospital about two months, he went to the hospital in Nashville a
few days and was later taken to the convalescent camp, where he
received
his discharge in July, 1863. Mr. Miedema is an honored member of A. C
.Van
Raalte Post No. 262. G.A.R. He is in religious affiliation a member of
the Seceder Church of Holland. Interested in all matters of mutual
welfare
and ever ready to assist in the public work of his home locality, our
subject
is highly respected and possesses the regard of many friends.
The above stories are based
on
information
from:
- Annemieke Galema's book "Frisians to
America
1880-1914".
- "Origin" magazine published by Calvin
College
Archives,Grand
Rapids, Michigan.
- Many thanks to the Ottawa County,
Michigan US GenWeb Volunteer Project.
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