I am at a complete block with my Nordholt family and the origins of William
H. Nordholt.
He came to the U.S in 1847 on the bark "Dank Caasliest" Rotterdam to New
York. Most of the passengers settled in Graafschap, Michigan. Where do I look to
trace his town of birth?
Mark T. Weeger
Mark,
If you look on this page, this will tell you the history of the people
who emigrated from Holland and Germany in 1847. There were Germans(from
Graafschap Bentheim which was on the border of the Netherlands) who joined
the group from the Netherlands.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~miottawa/churches/graafschap.html
From that document it appears your people came from Graafschap and
named their new settlement with the same name. That is the spelling in the
above history. However, I think it may have been spelled Graftschaft--and I
am not sure that refers to a specific town on the border but rather an area
called that. It is somewhere around Nordhorn which borders the Netherlands
or maybe around Bentheim. I have a detailed autoatlas but cannot find a
specific town by that name. However, the Mormon website refers to a book on
the history of the emigrants from Bentheim area to Michigan. There it is
spelled Graftschaft. You might be able to find that book somewhere in a
library in that area of Michigan. I'm wondering if Graafschap is a Dutch
spelling for Graftschaft.
You should also look around the site for Ottawa County in Michigan:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~miottawa/
There will probably be other items of value to your research. I'm not
sure if you can find the exact town from all of this. Do you have any
evidence from census or whatever that William Nordhorn came from Hannover?
You may be able to find him in some church or civil records in the Bentheim
area, but I can't be sure which is the right town.
That's what I could find. Sorry it is not more definite regarding an exact
birthplace.
Barbara Stewart
Mark,
I was not spelling the word right--it is Grafschaft. Do a Google search
and you will find a lot with that spelling.
You should try to find that book the Mormons list:
The County of Bentheim and her emigrants to North America
by by Swenna Harger, Loren Lemmen
History and description of the emigrants from the former Grafschaft of
Bentheim, Hannover, Prussia, Germany, most of whom settled in Holland,
Michigan. Includes translations from primary source documents and extensive
biographical and genealogical data on the early settlers derived from
passenger lists and other sources.
Check in libraries in large cities.
Barbara