In His Own Words

This letter, written when Benjamin was approximately 69 years old (around 1931), offers invaluable firsthand accounts of pioneer life in Iowa during the 1860s-1870s. It connects the Van Dyke family's Revolutionary War heritage to their experiences as western settlers.

Key Historical Elements:

• Dutch Heritage Confirmed: Benjamin explicitly states his father's "forbearers were Holland Dutch who came to this country and settled at New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the early colonial days"—corroborating the Van Dyck family's New Netherland origins.
• Civil War Impact: His father's enlistment when Benjamin was two weeks old left his mother to manage the prairie homestead alone during the war years.
• Prairie Ecology: Vivid descriptions of vanished wildlife—prairie chickens, cranes, and massive goose formations—document the environmental transformation of the Midwest.
• Revolutionary Connection: Benjamin mentions family stories of his grandfather fighting in the American Revolution, placing him just two generations removed from the nation's founding.
• Values Transmission: He identifies specific Dutch-descended values: honesty, education, neighborly duty, and the binding nature of one's word.