DePree was born in 1870. In 1906, working in Holland, he invented a fumigator that used formaldehyde. Then, he opened his own drug store on the corner of Central Avenue and Eighth Street.
Cornelius Dekker was a watchmaker. He opened a jewelry store in The Netherlands in 1850. In 1876, his son Dirk Henry Dekker immigrated to Zeeland and opened a grocery store in front of his house at 37 E. Main Ave.
Anthony DeKruif was born in 1851. His father Henry DeKruif Sr. immigrated with Albertus Van Raalte. His mother, Dina Van de Luyster, was the daughter of Jannes Van de Luyster.
In 1878, at age 44, Den Herder opened a bank in Zeeland. In 1880, he was elected to the office of elder in his church, First Reformed Church in Zeeland. It wasn’t his first time.