a large and speedy three-mast schooner with clean, first class accommodations. Not
only was the trip shorter than going over England, but the fares on the schooner were
20-25 francs per person cheaper than other shipping companies that went over
English ports. For poorer emigrants the discount was significant because transatlan
tic tickets cost from one to three times the average monthly wage of a laborer or
craftsman."
Ports of Arrival
The preferred arrival port in North America for immigrants was New York City. In
the early years, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Boston, together managed
to lure onethird of the Dutch emigrants, but after 1850 nearly 95 percent, Zeelanders
included, entered through New York (Tables 4 and 5). No other port could rival the
city's reception facilities. The Castle Garden reception center on the tip of Manhattan
Island, which opened in 1855, was so commodious, well-run, and protective of the
new arrivals that its fame spread throughout Europe. The New York Times in 1874
asserted somewhat boastfully that 'Castle Garden is now so well known in Europe
that few emigrants can be induced to sail for any other destination. Their friends in
this country write to those who are intending to emigrate to come to Castle Garden
where they will be safe, and if out of money, they can remain until it is sent to them.'20
The Empire City was less 'foreign' to the Dutch than other ports because of its
Netherlandic origins and culture. Dutch immigrant aid societies welcomed the new
comers. In early 1847, leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church of America, particu
larly the Reverend Thomas de Witt of New York City, formed the 'Netherlands
Society for the Protection of the Emigrants from Holland'. Pieter I.G. Hodenpijl, him
self an immigrant in 1840 and professor of modem languages at Rutgers College
from 1843 to 1846, served as the 'general agent' of the 'True Netherlands Society' (as
it was popularly known) until 1854.
Hodenpijl met all Dutch immigrants at the docks and directed them to several
rooming houses near the harbor run by Dutch proprietors, notably Albert's
Hollandsche Logement at No. 26 West Street on the North River and the Company
for Dutch Emigrants at 157 Cedar Street.21 Unfortunately, Hodenpijl incurred the mis
trust of the immigrants when he became involved as agent for Dutch-American land
speculators in western Michigan.22
Table 4: Port of Arrival by Decade, Dutch Immigrants, I820-1880
Port
1820-
29
1830-
39
1840-
49
1850-
59
1860-
69
1870-
80
1820-
80
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
New York
273
65
618
63
10122
78
14042
93
8066
95
15237
94
48358
89
Baltimore
0
0
45
5
1538
12
226
2
173
2
301
2
2283
4
New Orleans
29
7
94
10
879
7
574
4
36
0
55
0
1667
3
Boston
18
4
51
5
229
2
162
1
213
2
257
2
930
2
Philadelphia
85
20
170
17
163
I
48
0
8
0
416
3
890
2
Others
18
4
3
0
2
0
0
0
38
0
0
0
61
0
Source: Data file: Dutch Immigrants in U.S. Ship Passenger Manifests, 1820-1880
24
ZEEUWSE EMIGRATIE NAAR AMERIKA 1840-1920
