The material in this page was drawn from:

The County of Bentheim and Her Emigrants to North America
by Swenna Harger and Loren Lemmen

you may order this publication from:
Swenna Harger
663 W. 29th Street
Holland, Michigan 49423-7204
(616) 392-1033

Notes on the book. (from the introduction)

This volume, a product of persistent devotion, has reconstructed the main features of an immigrant community in the U.S.A. which has long been improperly identified with its neighbors. Before the Civil War people from the German county of Bentheim came to Michigan along with many of the Dutch folk who settled the Holland Colony. They have been so thoroughly acculturated in the Dutch-American context that even many of the Bentheimers have forgotten their German origins. This book will not only correct such misimpressions, but also provide researchers and the immigrants' descendants with precise information about nearly all the immigrants who originated in Bentheim. In addition the first segment provides an informative background which explains the specific characteristics of Bentheim's culture. That is an important and necessary prelude to understanding the culture of Bentheimers who may be happily among the Dutch, but were not originally of them.

H. J. Brinks
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 1990

Following is a list of surmanes of people who are known to have emigrated to America from the County of Bentheim. It is not clear that all those who bear one of these names necessarily came directly from the County of Bentheim. Over centuries, commercial interest provided incentive for
emigration in both directions. However, it is interesting to note that you will find only a few instances of surnames starting with De, Van and Vander in this list, as are so prevalent among Dutch names. We can only speculate about the extent of emigration from the Netherlands to the County of Bentheim. Records do indicate that some Bentheimers sought employment in the Netherlands and some of these people may well have emigrated later with natives of the Netherlands to America.