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Belgians in the Civil War

Emigrants arrival

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BELGIANS IN AMERICA:    Biographies of Belgian settlers  

John Francis Veulemans, born 1802 and Mary Theresa (Van den Poel) Veulemans, born 1798, emigrated to the U.S. from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1835. With their seven children, they came to the port of New York. By boat they came up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal to the Ohio River, where he constructed a flat boat. Then on it, the family floated down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the mouth of the Red River, Louisiana. Here he ascended the Red River to Natchitoches (a town near Shreveport), where they stopped and settled. It was their home until 1841, when due to the unhealthy climate--three of their youngest children had died--they moved north with two horse teams to Versailles, Missouri and then to Round Hill in Cooper County, Missouri. John homesteaded land in this area (presently owned by Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Potts) and became a successful farmer, marketing his livestock by foot to the market in St. Louis, Mo. When John bought some additional acreage, a clock and a Negro slave named "Larry" were included with the farm. The family liked Larry and found him to be very trustworthy. After the Civil War, he was free to leave but stayed with them off and on for some time. They tried to educate him as best they could. He became a Baptist preacher, using the name "Larry Veulemans," and his name is on record at the Second Baptist Church in Tipton. He is buried at Prairie Grove Cemetery, Tipton, Missouri. John Francis Veulemans and his wife were the parents of nine children, and then three of those children reared families in this community. Among their descendants are: Elva Whittaker and Dick and Clara Bull Scott, Bunceton; Henry F. Hartman, Joe J. Hartman, John D. Veulemans and Thomas P. Veulemans, Tipton. The Veulemans' brought with them two wooden chests in which they kept their most valuable possessions while crossing the ocean. Only one chest still exists and is the property of Joe J. Hartman, Tipton. It was made by Martin Van den Poel in Belgium. The chest (with the year "1814" engraved on the lid) was used as an altar when Mass was celebrated at Round Hill. Every so often a priest would come through on horseback and read Mass at the Veulemans' home. Mr. Martin Van den Poel (maker of the chest) and his wife, a brother and a sister to Mr. and Mrs. John Veulemans, also came to America and settled at Round Hill. They had no children."

Tipton - A History of the Community, published by the Tipton Bicentennial Committee in 1976, Gloria Knipp, Editor