The names of many places and families in this vicinity reflect the origin of its early settlers. Most of the settlers of Cedar Grove and Oostburg were from the Dutch province of Zeeland, although some had lived for a time in New York before catching the westward fever in the 1840s. Here the settler cleared sufficient ground for his new home, which was raised or "logged up" with the help of neighbors. Inside, wrote Pieter Daane in 1847, "very many had nothing but a ground floor; stools sawed from logs were the only seats, a chest answered for a table." One group of about 300 immigrants headed for new homes here in 1847 met with disaster. After completing the long journey from Holland, they were within five miles of their goal when fire broke out aboard the Phoenix and more than 200 lives were lost.

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