Page 96 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

A MOVE TO GRAND RAPIDS AND HUDSONVILLE, MICHIGAN

Probably in the summer of 1891, Rev. J.W. Poot left the Presbyterian
Church in Kalamazoo and moved the family to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This move would have been an opportunity for J.W. to minister to a larger
congregation. Grand Rapids possessed more than three times the
population of Kalamazoo and also had a much larger Dutch community.
In addition, the Poots may have moved here seeking a more healthful city
to live in. While living in Kalamazoo, Freda Poot gave birth to two more
children, but they died there as infants in 1888 and 1890. Kalamazoo
health officials repeatedly warned their community about dangerous water
contamination. The contamination caused frequent outbreaks of typhoid
and other diseases that were often deadly to infants and young children.

Grand Rapids is located 50 miles due north of Kalamazoo and 20-25 miles
Northeast of the all-Dutch colonies of Holland, North Holland, New
Holland, Vriesland, Drenthe, Overisel and Zeeland. The best known of
these neighboring towns is Holland, which is famous for its annual Tulip
Festival that attracts over 1,000,000 visitors each May. Holland is also the
home of Hope College where many Reformed Church ministers, including
Robert Schuller, have been educated. The "Joint Archives of Holland", at
Hope College, is an outstanding research center for Dutch-American
History and Reformed Church History.

Missionaries and fur traders first settled the Grand Rapids area in the
1820's. They lived in reasonable peace alongside the Ottawa Indians
whose settlements were near the Grand River. (Only a tiny number of
Indians were still living here by the 1890's.) The official founder of Grand
Rapids was Louis Campau, a French fur-trader who arrived in November
1826 to trade with the Indians. He filed land claims then proceeded to
promote the area and sell plots of land to new settlers. Yankee
immigrants and others began arriving from New York and New England in
the 1830s. They were later followed by many Irish and German laborers
who built Michigan's railroads and canals or worked in the lumber
industry.

The Grand River went through a drop in this area that created a short
section of rapids, hence the name Grand (River) Rapids. Boats could not
go through these rapids and had to stop. Traders might drag a small boat
over the land to bypass the rapids or transfer their cargo to another boat
waiting on the other side. Large boats could travel from here to the port
of Grand Haven on the great Lake Michigan. Grand Rapids was a
convenient location to build a settlement. The river was modified and the
rapids were replaced by a series of shallow dams many years before the
Poots arrived. The river was an important source of mechanical power and
later a source of electrical power used to operate local factories.

(12-2005) - Grand Rapids - - page 1 -