American connection??

Browsing through the internet, we find many Brassers in America.
We also learnt that on 2 January 1844 the ship 'Maria' arrived in New York from Antwerp, Belgium. On board were Jacob Brasser, his wife Joanna plus another 29 children, borthers, sisters, cousins(?) Their ages ranged from 2 to 59 years. Unfortunately Jacob died only a few months after arriving.

Actually the story started many years before in Westkapelle. This is a village on Walcheren, which is part of the province Zeeland in Holland. At present Westkapelle is just a village, but it appears that back in 1272 it enjoyed 'city-status'. This meant that they were allowed to have markets. It even had a harbour, although it could only be used by flat-bottom boats. It was quite a prosporous place. However, in the 15th and 16th century they lost a lot of land and dunes because of storms. Civil engeneers decided to built a dike. Somehow half of Westkapelle finished up on the seaside and was lost. They also lost the harbour, and with it income from fishing and trading. Things became rather desperate. Without any income, the only option was to find better opportunities elsewhere. Stories went around of another continent with lots of space, work and good soil for growing crops. No doubt the stories grew by the day. This appealed to Jacob Brasser and his family. They sold everything they had, secured a loan (which they never paid back) and left for Antwerp. They boarded the ship "Maria" and arrived in America on 2nd of January 1844. A bold and most couragious step, especially in those days, when there was no cmmunication, and returning was next to impossible.
Family connection?   May be.   May be not.    Just interesting.
Jacob and his family were not the only ones to leave. Just read the letters in the following section written back in 1845; 'The Good Old Days?'

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