Like his brother, Ben, Dirk Blikan Kikkert (DBK) Van Raalte was a patriot and businessman. He was also a politician. Dirk was born in 1844 in Ommen, The Netherlands. He was the third son and fourth child of Albertus and Christina Van Raalte.
Cornelius De Roo was born in 1855 in Holland, Michigan, to Cornelius De Roo, Sr. and Elizabeth Vander Meulen De Roo, daughter of Cornelius Vander Meulen, the pastor who co-founded the colony of Zeeland with Jannes Van de Luyster.