13, 1865. He returned to Holland the spring after the war's close in 1865. All the letters from both Van Raalte and his brother Benjamin corresponding during the war can be found in collection 300 in Calvin College's Heritage Hall known as The Van Raalte papers. Michigan State Legislature In October 1880 Van Raalte married Kate Ledeboer, the sister of Willie Ledeboer a man who was in his regiment during the war. Together they had two sons, Albertus Christiaan and D.B.K Junior. The couple lived in the family house which Van Raalte purchased in 1875. During his tenure on the state legislature, which began twelve years after his discharge from the military, Van Raalte served two consecutive terms, and then return for a third term in 1909 until his death in 1910. His primary job on the legislature was serving on committee of ways and means. Van Raalte was well-liked by everyone on the legislature from all the different political parties. One fellow member is quoted as saying "Van Raalte is no mean opponent in scathing debate, and the representatives who can better him in sarcasm and ironical oratory may be counted upon the fingers of a single hand." Citations References Further reading Bruins, Elton J., Karen G. Schakel, Sara Fredrickson Simmons, and Marie N. Zingle. Albertus and Christina:The Van Raalte Family, Home and Roots. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. Brown, Ida C. Michigan Men in the Civil War. Michigan Historical Collections Bulletin No.9. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1959. Lewis, Norma, and Jay De Vries. Dutch Heritage in Kent and Ottawa Counties. Dover: Arcadia Publishing, 2009. Mason, Philip P., and Paul J. Pentecost. From Bull Run to Appomattox: Michigan's role in the Civil War, Detroit: Wayne State University, 1961 May, George Smith. Michigan and the Civil War years, 1860-1866: a wartime chronicle. Lansing, MI: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, 1964. Millbrook, Minnie Dubbs. Twice told tales of Michigan and her soldiers in the Civil War. Lansing: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, 1966. Robertson, J.N.O.. Michigan in the war. 2nd ed. Lansing: W.S. George &Co., State Printers, 1882. Travis, Benjamin F. The Story of the Twenty-Fifth Michigan. Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Publishing Company, 1897. Accessed April 27, 2014. Swierenga, Robert P. "American National Biography." edited by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, 234-35. Vol. 22. New York: Oxford Press, 1999 Van Raalte, Benjamin. Letter to Albertus