Arend John Nyland Portrait and Biographical Record, Pgs. 312, 313 AREND JOHN NYLAND affords in his life and its success another evidencethat industry, economy and integrity constitute the keynote to honorablecompetency. He is now the President of the Grand Haven Leather Company, of GrandHaven, Mich., of the details of which business he has a thorough and verypractical knowledge, and this, combined with his own rigid sense of right andwrong, and his earnest desire to do as he would be done by, has made his name asynonym for all that is upright and honorable. He is a native of Holland, wherehis birth occurred on the 9th of October, 1828, he being the youngestof four children born to the marriage of John D. Nyland and Angeline Bovink,whose lives were spent in the Old Country, and who were well known and highlyhonored in their own immediate neighborhood. A. J. Nyland acquired a good common education in the schoolsof the Fatherland, and being a young man who thought for himself, he becamedeeply impressed with the numerous opportunities to rise in the world offered bythe United States to young men of push and enterprise, and in this country hedetermined to carve out a home for himself. At the age of eighteen years he cameto this country, and after a short time spent in the city of New York he removedto Buffalo, where he put his hands to any honorable work which he found to dountil he secured employment in a tannery, where he learned all the intricaciesof the leather business, and where his intelligence and energy soon brought himto the notice of the proprietors and secured for him good wages. At the end ofseven years, or in 1854, he came West to Michigan, and for one year thereafterhe was a resident of Kalamazoo. With a view to bettering his prospects heremoved to Breedsville, Mich., where he worked for two years at his trade, atthe end of which time he went to Holland, Mich., in the vicinity of which placehe followed farming for four years, and although unfamiliar with the work made areasonable success of it. From Holland he removed to Grand Haven, where he actedin the capacity of superintendent of a tannery for eighteen months, hissuperintendency only terminating by the burning of the building in which he wasemployed. He then engaged in business on his own account in Grand Rapids, Mich.,for eighteen months, when that building was also burned. This entailed quite aheavy loss, as the building and contents were not insured, and threw him out ofemployment for a time, but it was not long before he was following the same lineof work in an establishment at Milwaukee, Wis., owned by Herman Zohrlant, withwhom he remained in friendly relations for seven years. When this time had expired Mr. Nyland returned to Holland, Mich., and becameSuperintendent for Cappon & Bertsch, the proprietors of an extensivetannery, fourteen years being profitably spent in this service. Since that timehe has been a resident of Grand Haven, having previously purchased an interestin the Grand Haven Leather Company, which is one of the solidly establishedinstitutions of the place, and of which he has been President for some time.Success has attended him as a business man, the result of his untiring energy,diligent application and strict integrity. To the coming generation and to thosealready embarked in business life his example is most worthy of imitation. Hewas married in 1851 to Miss Dena Schowenaar, of Buffalo, N.Y., by whom he becamethe father of eleven children, seven of whom are living: Nellie, wife of C.Landaal; Jennie D., Cornelius C., Henry, Arend J., Martha M. and Herman Z. Fourchildren, two sons and two daughters, are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Nyland are members of the Dutch Reformed Church and are highlyrespected by all the citizens of Grand Haven. They have a good residence,comfortably and tastefully furnished, and their home has come to be recognizedas one of great hospitality. Politically, Mr. Nyland is a Republican, and hissketch may appropriately be closed by saying he is an honest man, a good citizenand an honor to his native country, as well as to the land of his adoption. Hehas held positions of trust, being at one time Alderman while a resident ofHolland. His sons, following in his footsteps, have the confidence of thepublic, and C. C. served as Alderman in Grand Haven, while Herman is an Aldermanat present.

Portrait & Biographical Record of Muskegon & OttawaCounties, Michigan 1893, Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company

Transcriber: Susan Gates Davis
Created: 29 January 2003
URL: Biographies