How Holland came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Holland.
Ottawa County was originally populated by Ottawa Indians. In 1846, Reverend George Smith established the Old Wing Mission as an outreach to the native population. The Ottawa living here were primarily practicing Catholics, but Smith tried converting them to Protestantism. While generally unsuccessful in converting the Native population, the two groups worked together relatively closely for a short time. This attempt to work and live together was not valued by the next group who arrived.
Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus van Raalte. Dire economic conditions in the Netherlands compelled them to emigrate.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
