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Dirk B.K. Van Raalte (March 1, 1844 – February 10, 1910) was a Union soldier during the American Civil War and served as a member of the Michigan State Legislature for three different terms. Van Raalte was an active member in the community of Holland, Michigan, as a local businessman. He died from pneumonia and is buried in Pilgrim Home Cemetery.

Early life

Born on March 1, 1844, in Ommen Netherlands, Van Raalte was the fifth of ten total children of Albertus van Raalte and Christina Van Raalte; seven of those ten children survived into adulthood: three boys and four girls. He was named after a business partner of his father Albertus, who founded Holland, Michigan, and Hope College.

Military service

Van Raalte enlisted in the army a week after his older brother, Benjamin enlisted on August 20, 1862. The decision to enlist was supported by his father, Albertus, who encouraged Dutch boys to enlist. Christina, his mother, was not thrilled to have two of her three sons enlisted in the army. Christina would send both him and Benjamin treats along with extra clothes even against their wishes. In a letter home Benjamin explains "If I need anything I will write for it. Mother must not send me anything unless I ask for it." Van Raalte was part of the 25th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During his time of service he lost an arm during the Battle of Atlanta. While riding his horse through the woods, trying to deliver a message, Van Raalte was ambushed by Confederate soldiers and was shot in the forearm and shoulder after attempting to escape on horseback. His wounds led to the amputation of his right arm from the shoulder down. His family received the news of his injury through a letter written home on August 30, 1864, composed by Van Raalte himself, with help from his brother Benjamin. The horse Van Raalte was riding during the time of his injury was black, so for the rest of his life he refused to ride anything other than a black horse. After hearing the news of his son's injury, Albertus attempted to go south and bring his son back, but did not make it past Nashville, Tennessee, before being told to turn around by soldiers guarding the city.

Van Raalte began as a private in the army and was discharged as a hospital steward on April 13, 1865. He returned to Holland the spring after the war's close in 1865. All the letters from both Van Raalte and his brother Benjamin corresponding during the war can be found in collection 300 in Calvin College's Heritage Hall known as The Van Raalte papers.

Michigan State Legislature

In October 1880 Van Raalte married Kate Ledeboer, the sister of Willie Ledeboer a man who was in his regiment during the war. Together they had two sons, Albertus Christiaan and D.B.K Junior. The couple lived in the family house which Van Raalte purchased in 1875. During his tenure on the state legislature, which began twelve years after his discharge from the military, Van Raalte served two consecutive terms, and then return for a third term in 1909 until his death in 1910. His primary job on the legislature was serving on committee of ways and means. Van Raalte was well-liked by everyone on the legislature from all the different political parties. One fellow member is quoted as saying "Van Raalte is no mean opponent in scathing debate, and the representatives who can better him in sarcasm and ironical oratory may be counted upon the fingers of a single hand."

Citations

1. "Death of D..B.K Van Raalte". Holland City News. February 17, 1910.
2. Jacobson, Bruins & Wagenaar 1996, p. 195.
3. Coakley, John (1999). Patterns and Portraits: Women in the History of the Reformed Church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 91.
4. E.J, Masselink (November 30, 1961). "Holland, Michigan Residents in the Civil War". Holland City News.
5. Bruins, Elton (2004). Albertus and Christina: The Van Raalte Family, Home and Roots. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
6. De Vries, Jay (2009). Dutch Heritage in Kent and Ottawa County. Dover: Arcadia Publishing. p. 19.
7. Jacobson, Bruins & Wagenaar 1996, p. 202.

References

• Jacobson, Jeanne M.; Bruins, Elton J.; Wagenaar, Larry J. (1996). Albertus C. Van Raalte: Dutch Leader and American Patriot. Holland, Michigan: Hope College. ISBN 9780963406118.

Further reading

• Bruins, Elton J., Karen G. Schakel, Sara Fredrickson Simmons, and Marie N. Zingle. Albertus and Christina:The Van Raalte Family, Home and Roots. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004.
• Brown, Ida C. Michigan Men in the Civil War. Michigan Historical Collections Bulletin No.9. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1959.
• Douma, Michael (2010). "Memory and the Myth of Albertus C. Van Raalte: How Holland, Michigan, Remembers Its Founding Father". Michigan Historical Review. 36 (2): 37–62. doi:10.5342/michhistrevi.36.2.0037.
• Lewis, Norma, and Jay De Vries. Dutch Heritage in Kent and Ottawa Counties. Dover: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.
• Michigan Legislature (1875). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan. Vol. 2.
• Mason, Philip P., and Paul J. Pentecost. From Bull Run to Appomattox: Michigan's role in the Civil War, Detroit: Wayne State University, 1961
• May, George Smith. Michigan and the Civil War years, 1860-1866: a wartime chronicle. Lansing, MI: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, 1964.
• Millbrook, Minnie Dubbs. Twice told tales of Michigan and her soldiers in the Civil War. Lansing: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, 1966.
• Robertson, J.N.O.. Michigan in the war. 2nd ed. Lansing: W.S. George &Co., State Printers, 1882.
• Shears, Laura. "Christina G. Van Raalte Gilmore" (PDF). Hope College. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Travis, Benjamin F. The Story of the Twenty-Fifth Michigan. Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Publishing Company, 1897. Accessed April 27, 2014.
• Swierenga, Robert P. "American National Biography." edited by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, 234-35. Vol. 22. New York: Oxford Press, 1999
• Van Raalte, Benjamin. Letter to Albertus van Raalte. 29 Aug. 1864. Albertus van Raalte Papers, Collection 300, Box 12. Heritage Hall, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI.
• Wichers, Wynand. The Dutch churches in Michigan during the Civil War. Lansing: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, 1965.
• Williams, Frederick D. Michigan soldiers in the Civil War. John M. Munson Michigan History Fund Publication No.2. Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1960.
• Wilterdink, John A. "The Civil War Letters of John Anthony Wilterdink." In My Country and Cross, edited by Albert H. McGeehan, Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1982.
• Woodford, Frank B. Father Abraham's Children. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1961.

External links

• Calvin College Heritage Hall

• 1844 births
• 1910 deaths
• Members of the Michigan House of Representatives
• Union army soldiers
• 19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature