[1] Soon after the family arrived in Detroit, and in the company of a companion, Carl Post, a friend of similar thought and character, they began to explore the country toward the Saginaw River.
The Veenfliets named Blumfeld Township after Robert Blum, also a political offender, who was shot in 1848 by the King's soldiers for daring to take the part of his oppressed fellow men.
It represented him kneeling on the ground, his Executioners ranged in front, and he in the act of tearing the folds from his eyes, and saying: "An honest brave man does not fear death, he glories in the thought of dying for his country."
This would later inspire many young men in Blumfield County to join the Union Army, including Richard Veenfliet and his older brother Fred.
[5] Richard Veenfliet's brother Fred died in the Battle of Nashville, December 15, 1864, when rebel General John Bell Hood surrounded and attempted to capture the city.
It is highly likely that Richard Veenfliet had to register as German and report to county court during World War I, as records have confirmed his younger sister Augusta's registration.