"We will build a beautiful Pella” - Reverend Hendrik Pieter Scholte, or Dominie (meaning “Pastor") Scholte
In the tall grasses of the midwest, stood a shingle nailed to a hickory pole was planted in the ground. On the shingle was written one word: Pella, meaning "city of refuge". On August 26, 1847, 800 Dutch colonists, in strange garb, speaking a strange language, and journeying from St. Louis, Missouri had arrived to find a new place to worship freely. Our ancestors were witnesses to the history of the founding and growth of Pella, Iowa.
My husband's family was some of the original colonists: Gerrit & Sophia Vander Giesen Vander Wilt and their children and Korstiaan & Anna de Hoeg Van Stigt and their children. They were among those early settlers from the three original ships. Bastiaan Vos and his new bride Gretje Kamp, arrived two years later, in 1849. This was the second emigration of Dutch settlers in the summer and fall of 1849, who were noted to have brought "considerable gold" which greatly helped the struggling colony.
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| Adriantje "Jane" Van Stight VanderWilt |
Adriantje “Jane” Van Stight Vander Wilt was born in Holland in 1831 to Korstiaan Van Stight (1801-1865) and Anna DeHoog Van Stight (1808-1859). Jane was the oldest child of four. As a 16-year-old girl, she immigrated to in 1847 with her family on “Nagasaki”. This family established themselves as cobblers in Pella.
In May 1847, 17-year-old Jacobus Vander Wilt arrived with his parents, Gerritt vander Wilt and Fijtje "Sophia" Spruijt and his siblings landed in Baltimore before making their way to Pella, Iowa after journeying by train, canal, and wagon. This van der Wilt family likely built a sod-house, one of the many homes to become Straw Town before they could build a home and establish their farm. Three years later, Jacobus wed Jane van Stigt. They had three girls. Their middle daughter Sijge “Sarah” wed William B. Vos in 1879 (our line).
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| William B. & Sarah Vos and their three oldest children: Jeannette, William, and James |
The pertinent history of Pella was recorded by a distant ancestor, Kommer van Stigt, a brother to Jane Van Stigt Vander Wilt. It was written in 1897, in Dutch (his native language) and titled Geschiedenis van Pella, Iowa, en Omgeving (The History of Pella, Iowa, and Vicinity). Written in three parts, it consisted of 391 pages. A few copies are floating around yet and have been translated into English. It has been a valuable resource to historians in learning about the founding of and the earliest people who resided in this Dutch community.
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