THE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN 1872

Measured by some standards a quarter of a century is a long period of time, but in
the building of a civilized community in a virgin country, where farms and homes
had literally to be hewn from the forests, twenty-five years is but a very brief
span. And yet, be it said to the glory of our pioneers, that although they planted
their colony in a strange land, 120 miles from the nearest railroad, and although
they were strangers to the customs and even to the language of the new country, yet
such was their determination, industry and thrift, that in the brief space of time
between 1847 and 1872, they had developed a settlement here that would compare
favorably with many that were much older in Iowa.

We believe the facts justify us in stating that in every department of community
life, Pella was the peer of any similar settlement in the Mississippi Valley. This
was not only true in regard to commerce and in the industries, but it was even more
marked in the departments of religion and education. What is true today was true
then: that few if any towns of equal population were so well equipped with churches
and schools.

We would not be doing justice to our forefathers if we failed in this history, to
emphasize at every opportunity, that the men and women who planted this colony,
were of exceptional type and peculiarly fitted by character and ability, to lay a
broad and enduring foundation for the future development of a cultured and
Christian community.

If there is one fact established by a study of the early history of Pella, it is
that we have a just cause to remember the sturdy men and women of that time with
pride and gratitude. Occasionally we observe an attitude, on the part of the more
frivolous of the present generation, indicating that they consider our fathers and
grandfathers to have been crude nad [sic, and] uncultured, and fitted only for the
rough life of the frontier. Nothing is farther from the truth; and if this book
will do no more than to dispell [sic] this inexcusable ignorance, and to record for
all time to come, the fact that the most advanced and prosperous citizens of
present day Pella, have no greater cause for proper pride, than is to be found in
the character and worth of those who laid the foundation on which later generations
are building.

Not only is there just cause for pride in the history of the men and times of which
we write, but there is a direct and unescapable challenge to this and future
generations to perpetuate the virtues and to emulate the sturdy qualities that
more than any material prosperity is the brightest star in Pella's crown.

Much has been said and written of the manifest Providence that marks the history of
the discovery, colonization and development of this great country. And we believe
that in no other community is the guiding hand of God more clearly-visible than in
the events that led up to the planting of a colony here under the inspired
leadership of the Rev. Henry P. Scholte and the other Godly men who shared the
leadership with him.

On the 27th day of July, 1872, a meeting of the citizens was held for the purpose
of arranging for the proper observance and celebration of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the planting of the colony. A general committee was appointed
consisting of the following men:

Isaac Overkamp, Sr. 
Jan F. LeCocq 
Koenraad van Zee
Ads. Van Stigt 
Dirk Synhorst 
Hendrik Kars
Phillippus J. Koelman 
August Wigny 
Pierre H. Bousquet
Antonie J. Betten, Sr. 
Brouwer 't Lam 
Wiggert Rietveld
Jan Akkerman 
Jacob van de Roovaart 
Levi Beintema
Auke H. Viersen 
Ads. Veenman 
Jan Hospers
Gerrit H. Overkamp 
Stfanus van Zee 
Jacobus Muntingh
Ernest F. Grafe 
Pieter O. Viersen 
Jacobus Verhey