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Genealogy at Heritage Hall


Pillar Church (Holland, Michigan)

Family Records, 1847-1880


compiled by Willene De Groot, Richard H. Harms, and Cyndi Feenstra, 2009

 

In 1847, the first Dutch immigrants arrived in West Michigan and one of their earliest efforts was the formation of a church, which in 1850 joined the Reformed Church in America as First Church (Holland, Michigan). The leader of the immigrants and the congregation's first pastor was Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte. A division in the congregation in 1882 saw the majority of members, who retained ownership of the building, leave the Reformed Church in American and several years later join the Christian Reformed Church in North America. At this point the congregation changed its name to Ninth Street Church, reflecting its location in Holland. The current Greek Revival style edifice was completed in 1856 and the distinctive columns of its porch led to the structure popularly (and later officially) being known as Pillar Church,

The membership information available via the link below was extracted from the church's original hand-written records, which also contain the baptismal date for those baptized in Pillar church. Since the records include both birth and baptismal dates, the data presented in the link does not contain baptismal dates.

 

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