Ellis Island

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several Brolsmas were among the millions who emigrated to the United States and Canada. Many of them passed through Ellis Island, New York. Ellisislandrecords.org allows you to search among them all by name and, for each person located, review information about them, including detailed ship's manifests (passenger lists) and, in many cases, a photo and description of the ship. There are records of 14 Brolsmas, almost all of them from St. Jacobi parish in the Netherlands:

Name of Passenger		Residence		Arrived		Age on Arrival
1.	Gerrit Brolsma		Jude Bildzyl, Holland		1913	21
2.	John Brolsma		Netherland		1914	24
3.	Grietje Brolsma		St. Jac. Par, Holland		1916	13
4.	Yan Brolsma		St. Jacoba Par.		1900	26
5.	Geertje Brolsma		St. Jac. Par, Holland		1916	10
6.	Hessel W. Brolsma		Stiens		1892	20
7.	Jacob Brolsma		St. Jac. Par, Holland		1916	51
8.	Simon Brolsma		Leeuwarden		1904	16
9.	Etske Brolsma		St. Jac. Par, Holland		1916	49
10.	Hasmen Brolsma		St. Jacobi Par, Holland		1912	17
11.	Herman Brolsma		US		1906	30
12.	Jacob Brolsma		St. Jacobi, Parochi, Netherlands		1911	18
13.	Jan Brolsma		St. Jacoba, Pa.		1892	18
14.	Sybien Brolsma		St. Jacobi Par		1903	31

For example, Jacob (#7 above) and his wife Jitske (#9 above; note the first name spelling variant Etske, not uncommon in the ship manifests) traveled with their two daughters Grietje (#3 above) and Geertje (#5 above) en route to Sherburn, Minnesota, where their two sons already were living along with Jacob's father. Life expectancy was shorter in those times: Jacob and Jitske had had three other children who were already deceased, two of them in separate car accidents. And Grietje would take sick and die within two years after arriving in America. Nevertheless, the family would prosper and carry on, and today there are many Brolsmas still living in Sherburn and other Minnesota communities.