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

Tijdschriftenbank Zeeland

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