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Meetjesland
The Meetjesland forms the historical heartland of many families in this study. From villages such as Adegem, Maldegem, St Laureins, and Watervliet, people left for America during the great migration waves of the nineteenth century, while others remained rooted in the region for centuries.
Explore the Meetjesland
Village of Maldegem
Browse emigrants of Maldegem by family groups.
Emigration Map
Interactive map showing destinations in the United States, 1848–1892.
United States — Migration Stories
Discover stories of emigrants from the Meetjesland who settled in America. Follow journeys from Belgium to places such as Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, including census records and remarkable historical stories.
Village Lists
Browse emigrants by village and consult the reconstructed local migration lists.
Migration Charts
Graphs and visual summaries for Adegem and Maldegem migration patterns.
Early Pioneer: Cornelius Langevelt
One of the earliest known emigrants from the region to North America.
Early Pioneer: Jacobus Michiels
A Meetjesland emigrant who settled in Missouri during the frontier period.
United States Census
Follow Van Landschoot households in America through the census decades 1850–1900.
Empress of Ireland (1914)
De ramp op de Sint-Laurens met slachtoffers en overlevenden uit het Meetjesland, Moline en de Belgisch-Amerikaanse wereld.
Moline, Illinois
De eerste Vlaamse emigranten vestigden zich in Moline aan de rand van de Mississippi Rivier rond 1850, waar ze de eerste Vlaamse gemeenschap stichten in de American Midwest.
Go West — Adegem to Moline
The “Go West” monument in Adegem visualizes the historic emigration from the Meetjesland to the United States. A long stone bench points precisely toward Moline, Illinois — the destination of many emigrants from Adegem and Maldegem who left their homeland in search of a new life in America.
Meetjesland — Geschiedenis (External)
Historisch overzicht van het Meetjesland: landschap, polders, dorpen en de oorsprong van de naam van deze streek tussen Gent, Brugge en de Nederlandse grens.
Meetjesland History (External)
Historical overview of the Meetjesland region in northern East-Flanders: villages, landscape and local history of the land between Ghent and Bruges.