My family first arrived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, between 1860 and 1864, when the immigrant Boudewijn DeKorn(e) family moved from Zeeland, Michigan. Their residence was still Ottawa County in 1860, but the mother, Johanna Reminse DeKorn, was buried in Kalamazoo in 1864. This nails the time period unless, of course, Johanna was first buried near Zeeland and then her body later buried in Kalamazoo. I find that to be highly unlikely for many reasons.
In 1869, Alice Paak and her family (her father Teunis and her siblings) immigrated from the Netherlands to Kalamazoo.
In 1872, Richard DeKorn, the only son of Boudewijn and Johanna, married Alice Paak in Kalamazoo.
Richard DeKorn
picking strawberries
on Maple Street
In 1878-79, Richard was brick mason for the new and gorgeous building for the Ladies Library Association. In 1895 he would be lead brick mason on the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital Water Tower. According to his obituary he also was the contractor for the Pythian building and the Merchants Publishing Company building.
Richard built the brick house at the corner of Burdick and Balch Streets in Kalamazoo for his family in the early 1880s.
In the beautiful video I am posting here, Kalamazoo is “seen” during 1884, the year the village of Kalamazoo (the largest village in the entire country) became a city. My relatives are not mentioned in the video, but the Ladies Library Association and the “asylum” (where Richard would build the water tower 11 years later) are mentioned. To give you an idea where my family fits into the city at that time, using the terminology of the film, they had arrived in the United States from the Netherlands, but quickly could be classified as “middle class.” They were literate people as they could read and write. In some cases, they had trades, although I think they mainly learned their trades on the job as young men. Teunis became a successful farmer and land owner. Boudewijn’s son Richard became a successful building contractor and brick mason.
Kalamazoo was founded by mainly English settlers, beginning in 1829, but the Dutch began to immigrate to southwest and west Michigan in increasing numbers in the 40s and 50s and 60s. My ancestors were part of this group that ended up becoming a sizable chunk of the Kalamazoo population. If I have any quibbles with the video it is that other than mention of the first Reformed church in town, it is that there is no recognition of how the Dutch would help shape the City of Kalamazoo, but in all fairness it’s possible that the influence wasn’t yet felt in 1884.
(This film lasts about a half hour. If your interests are not with the city, I won’t be insulted if you decide to skip it; however, it gives a nice overview of the time period, as well). Either way, Happy Thanksgiving and please stay safe!
The Family Kalamazoo 
Fascinating history, Luanne.
I thought so, too!!! Thanks, Derrick.
This might be your girl.. Good photo of DeKorn too.
Grady, thanks for popping by! I love that photo of Richard DeKorn. It reminds me of my grandpa, his grandson, playing in the garden. I wasn’t sure what you meant about “be your girl”?
Great posting – who knew it was the largest village in the nation back in the beginning 1880’s – always love a good trip down bygone years ~ Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Isn’t that wild? I had no idea! It’s really amazing how fast that village grew and then then the city. It was only founded a few short decades before! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I hope Skye is getting a scrap or two!
I just watched the video, which I found quite interesting. I know very little about the Midwest. The clothes those Victorian women wore looked torturous. And now I know how to tell the little boy Victorian dresses from the little girl Victorian dresses: location of the buttons!
The dresses’ buttons struck me, too! But i have a hard time remembering which is which. Was it boys buttoned in the front? I wanted to make a note of it but couldn’t figure out where to put the note that I wouldn’t forget hahahaha. I agree about the women’s clothing. I am super picky about how clothes feel, so I can’t even imagine.. Happy Thanksgiving, Liz!
Yes, the video said boys’ dresses buttoned in the front, and girls’ dresses buttoned in the back. I hope you’re having a good Thanksgiving, Luanne.
Great to see this, and what a terrific video! My 2x gr grandparents William Stephenson and his wife Juliaetta Harrington lived in Kalamazoo County in the 1870s (Comstock, Pavilion, Galesburg). She died in 1879 and he remarried a few years later and moved to Kansas. Juliaetta is my most frustrating brick wall. I think she was born in Michigan in 1843, but can’t find her birth or parents…
Oh my. That is so frustrating. I do find Michigan records to be difficult, especially if you want to research online. I have better luck with Dutch and Illinois records, for example. I know a genealogy volunteer in Kalamazoo who has helped me. I wonder if he has ideas for those towns. Let me know if you want me to ask him and see if I can give you his email address. By the way, BIRTH records are very rare to find in Michigan back then. Maybe impossible.
Thanks, Luanne! I’d love to be pointed in any direction at all. I’m in Massachusetts and have never been to Michigan and have been poking around exclusively online. There’s an 1850 census record listing a Juliet Harrington, age 8, living with a family not her parents (Chauncey and Mary Dean) in Pavillion. I don’t know if it’s her and I’ve researched the Deans and haven’t found any connection. Meanwhile I’ve got a ton of DNA matches that most rate to Juliaetta, connecting to a Mormon family that may have passed through Michigan before settling in Utah. Much polygamy and many, many descendants. Of course I’m dying of curiosity to figure out the connection.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I will try and find time to watch the video over the weekend. Sounds interesting.
Happy Thanksgiving, Amy! xo
It wouldn’t be the first time an ethnic minority was overlooked for their contributions!
LOL so true. Happy Thanksgiving, Eilene!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
Finally got around to watching the video. Very nice – lots of history.
By the way, in the old letters and diaries I have two different references of relatives’ remains being moved to a different cemetery.
Now that is interesting. I have heard of that before, actually. In fact, a long time ago I wrote about how Garret Leeuwenhoek who died during the Spanish-American War, was first buried in Cuba and then brought home to Kalamazoo. But would a mom be moved over such a short period of time when it was costly? Not sure they would do that.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video, Barb!
Not sure what the cost would be. In my families’ instances, they dug up the remains themselves and moved them to a closer cemetery. Of course the travel to and from Cuba would be an expense. I’m thinking it probably bothered his mother so much that he was “all alone” in a foreign country that it was worth the expense to the family to ease her suffering.
Oh that would save on the cost!
What happened with Garret/Gerrit, I’m pretty sure, is that Uncle Lou felt a duty to take care of Garret (and his body). They were orphans. Lou was older and Garret followed him to the United States from the Netherlands. Garret had only been here something like a year and he joined the military as a patriotic gesture. Then he died of disease in Cuba during the war. So Lou probably felt it was his responsibility to move the body to the country Garret had embraced.