ENGLE VAN ZEE

Born in Heerwynen, Providence of Gelderland, Netherlands, in 1775. Died in 1868
at the age of ninety-three years. He was of noble birth. His grandfather,
Frederick van Zee, was born in 1695 and was a member of a prominent Dutch family
who used a coat of arms consisting of a double eagle with a background of gold.
He was united in marriage to Miss Maria Roose, a member of a Spanish family
whose members were driven from Spain for a religious cause in 1522. Engle van
Zee's descendants, Koenraad, wife and three children, and Stephen, wife and two
sons, Gerrit and Engel, arrived in America in 1847. Gerrit still remains in this
community. Engle, the brother, died in 1849. Five years later Mrs. H. ver Ploeg
and five children arrived in Peila to make their future home. The above
mentioned were members of that courageous band who came from the Netherlands
under the leadership of Rev. H. P. Scholle and were among the first settlers to
colonize the territory surrounding the city of Peila. Just before the band left
the Netherlands in 1847, Mr. van Zee wrote a chronology of the Zee families,
extending from 1695. There are now eight generations, numbering about four
hundred and seventy-five. Many of these descendants live in Pella and vicinity
and have aided in the development of the great farm industry which has made this
territory what it is today.