Randy Decuir, one of our readers in Marksville (LA), mailed us his feedback on our story in last month’s Newsletter about Belgian migrations to the USA in the 19th and 20 century. Randy tells us that several of the first pioneer families in the French colony Louisiana came from Wallonia. Documents prove that these families signed contracts in 1720 in the village of Maubeuge (Wallonia) to come to Louisiana. The facts that their Walloon language was a romanic language and that the common language in Wallonia became more and more French in these days, helped them to migrate to a French speaking colony.
Church of Kobbegem

But the Walloons didn’t go exclusively to French speaking colonies. In 1624, the first settlers arrived in Manhattan. Most of them were Protestant refugees coming from Wallonia and other parts of the Low Lands (which is today’s Belgium and the Netherlands). Indeed, the Southern Low Lands (Flanders and Wallonia) were occupied by Spain, who terrorized, chased and killed all non Catholics
The Northern Low Lands were a free Republic where all religions were welcome. Did you know that the Pilgrims, lived for about 10 years in the Netherlands before they came with their Mayflower to Plymouth? Yes, they had already fled England for their religious beliefs.

Last month I spoke with Hendrik Van Leuven, a teacher in Pasadena, who’s ancestors were part of these first settlers of Manhattan.
Leuven was the capital of Brabant, the central part of Flanders, and was the home of King Jan Primus (Gambrinus, king of beer). Since over 1000 years, Leuven is the home town of one of the most respected Catholic Universities in the world, and the home town of Interbrew, the sixth largest brewery in the world.

Dr. Beer did the math, and mailed us a printing error in last month’s article. Thank you, at least one of you is awake. 1.5 % of the US population is about 3,500,000 people from ‘Belgian’ descent. ‘Belgian’ between quotes, since Belgium was only created in 1830, more than two hundred years after the first immigrants from its territory left for America. Newsletter October 1998