This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Yankee Historian’s Chapter on Pella and the Scholte Colony
A summary of William Donnel’s 1872 Des Moines printing on Pioneers of Marion County describes Hollanders at Lake Prairie, Henry Scholte’s leadership, motives for emigration, and the origin of a self sustaining colonization effort. It follows Scholte from Amsterdam through religious dissent, exile, and the 1846–1847 organization and voyage of settlers to Iowa, detailing early governance, member eligibility, and routes to Baltimore, St. Louis, and Iowa settlement choices, with initial scouting at Fairfield.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William M._ Donnel
Marion County
Des Moines
Stem
Lake Prairie
Church of
Old Country
Henry P. Schelte
Mr. Scholte
Amsterdam
Holland
University of Leyden
France
Netherlands
Belgium
Scholte
Leyden
National Reform
Ilis
Synod of
William II
Savernil
Rotterdam
Amst Dam
Baltimore
Scholt
Pittsburgh
Pittburgh
St. Louis
E. V. Grafe
Louis
Aaust