Johannes Theodorus Polhemius II (1598 - 1676)

Born 1598 in Wolfstein, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Catharine (Van Der Werven) Polhemius — married about 1643 in Itamaracá, Nieuw-Holland

Descendants

Died 9 Sep 1676 at about age 78 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, Province of New York

Problems/Questions Profile manager: New Netherland Settlers WikiTree [send private message]

Johannes Polhemius II was a New Netherland settler. Join: New Netherland Settlers Project Discuss: new_netherland

Biography

Johannes was born in Boikirchen, a no longer extant town near Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He enrolled in university as "Johannes Theodorus Polhemius, dictus Hammerstein, Boikirchensis Westriacus" (of Boikirchen in the West). ^[1] He was also listed as from Wolfstein. ^[2]

Why he was "dictus" (called, known as) Hammerstein is not clear. It may have been his grandmother's maiden name. ^{[1] [2]} One of the family was previously called "Von Hammerstein", possibly referring to the town of Hammerstein as a place of origin. ^[3] This as well as Johannes's parentage are largely the subject of conjecture.

Johannes took a degree in divinity at the University of Heidelberg and served as a minister in Rhineland Germany and then in the village of Gieten, Netherlands. ^[4] There he encountered theological disagreements as well as language difficulties, and he had to sue the congregation for payment of salary when he left in 1627. He then took a position in Meppel, Netherlands, where he evidently met with greater success serving for seven years as minister and rector of the local Latin School.

In 1635 he applied to the Dutch West India Company for a position as chaplain in New Holland, the Dutch colony in Brazil, established in 1630 when the Dutch took the State of Pernambuco from the Portuguese. ^[5] He arrived there in 1637 and was assigned a parish out of Fort Orange on the inshore island of Itamaracá along the coast north of Recife. According to Peck he possessed a plantage (plantation) on the island from which, prior to his eventual departure, he sold his 17 slaves. ^[1] He married in present day Pernambuco, Brazil.

Johannes’ wife and children sailed back to Amsterdam in 1649. The good reverend, however, remained at his post until 1654. Soon after his ship finally did set sail it was commandeered by a Spanish privateer. Fortunately, the captives were in turn rescued by a French man-o-war on its way to Dutch New Amsterdam, which was how he ended up there. ^[6] it was not until 1656 that his wife and children rejoined him after over seven years of separation.

On his arrival Director General Peter Stuyvesant rather forcefully recruited him to be the first Dutch Domine assigned to Long Island, where he accepted the pastorate of several parishes: Midwout (Flatbush), ^{[7] [8]} Amersfoort (Flatlands) and Bushwick (1654-1676); Gravesend (1655-1676); and Brooklyn (1656-1660,1664-1676); which Jasper Danckaerts described as, “…a small and ugly little church standing in the middle of the road.” ^{[9] [10]} -- He often walked up to two hours between churches. He was generally well accepted, despite certain of his congregations’ complaints that he was unable to allot them adequate time. His family slept on the floor and shivered through the first winter while their parsonage on the back of the Flatbush church was under construction. ^{[11] [12]} 100 hemlock boards Peter Stuyvesant sent were scandalously diverted elsewhere. ^[13] From 1665 on he limited his services to the church in Brooklyn, ^[14] though he kept his home in Flatbush. It was more central to the other churches, and he had acquired land there. ^{[15] [16] [17]} Nonetheless, throughout his time on Long Island he forever struggled financially; his parishioners were poor, his sources of income inadequate and unreliable. ^[18] The Dutch West India Company never did compensate him for some of his time in Brazil or for his time held captive by Spanish pirates. It even deducted from his meagre salary the expense of his family sailing to rejoin him. ^[19] Between his arrival in 1654 and his death in Flatbush in 1676; ^[20] he repeatedly wrote, always in the politest of terms, to ask he be paid his due. There is nothing to suggest he ever was. ^{[21] [1]}

Johannes had married (1) an unknown spouse probably in Meppel, Netherlands about 1628, since a daughter was born there in October 1629. He married (2) Catharina Van der Werven in Brazil in about 1643 (first child born 1644). She was too young to be Christina's mother and there is a fifteen year gap between births.^[1]

Johannes had the following children. The first with an unknown spouse, the rest with Catharina Van Der Werven:

1. Christina Polhemus
2. Adrianna Polhemus
3. Theodorus Polhemus
4. Lammetje Polhemus
5. Anna Polhemus
6. Maragrietje Polhemus
7. Elizabeth Polhemus

Research notes

From Teunis G Bergen Register of King's County settlers: ^[22]

Rev Johannes Theodorus, the common ancestor of the family, [p 227] emigrated in the employ of the West India Company from the Netherlands to Itamaracá, Brazil, and thence to Long Island where he officiated in the churches of Kings County; m Catharina Van der Werven; and d 08 Jun 1676. Obtained 25 Jun 1662, a patent for 25 morgens in Flh, and bought 06 Mar 1674, of John Sebering an adjoining patent of 24 morgens which had been originally granted, 25 Jun 1662, to Cornelis Swaelwood, and sold by the latter to Sebering. 25 Dec 1680, a confirmatory patent was granted by Gov Andros to Catharine widow of Domine Polhemius for all the above premises with a small addition, containing 104 acres and 360 rods. 19 Dec 1702, the heirs of Domine Theodorus and Catharine Polhemius conveyed the same to Daniel Polhemus, as per p 247 of Lib 2 of Con. From a map on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, made by "Ja. Cortelyan" and filed 08 Aug 1681, of farms in Flh, it appears that "Polhemius" owned a "double lott, broad before 48 Rod 4 foot (about 583 ft. English), after 57 Rod (about 687 9/10 ft. English), long 600 Rod" (about 7241 ft. English), cong. upwards of 52 morgens. These premises cover the farm of the late Jeremiah Lott on the south side of the Little Lane in Flh. Issue:--Theodorus of Ja; Lammetie, who m Johannes Willemse; Anna, who m Cornelis Barentse Van Derwyck or Van Wyck; Daniel of Flh; Maragrietje, m Wm Guilliamse Cornell; Adriana, m John Roelofse Suebering; Elizabeth, m Dionys Teunise of Gowanus; and (sup.) Catrina. Signed his name "Johannes Theod Polhemius.

From Historical Handbook of the Van Voorhees Family: ^[23]

We come now to consider briefly the earliest Dutch churches on Long Island. Before 1654 the people had to come over to New Amsterdam for regular preaching and communion. In 1654 came Dominie Johannes Theodorus Polhemus from Brazil, now about 56 years-old to serve the churches then formed to Midwout and Amersfoort, continuing here till his death on 08 Jun (9) 1676; and serving also at Breuckelen (Brooklyn) 1656 to 1660 and again from 1664 till his death at the age of about 78 years.

Polhemus was, indeed, Johann Theodore Polheim, probably of German-Swiss origin, whose earlier pastorates seem to have been in the Palatinate; then at Meppel in the provence of Overyssel, Netherlands; again in the Palatinate, until 1635; and from 1637 to 1654, in successive ministries at Olinda and at Itamaracá, both in Brazil. We have already shown that from Brazil he came to Amersfoort as the first Dominie of this historic parish. Polhemus was the first regularly stationed minister of the Dutch on Long Island.

He came to New Netherland at the evacuation of Brazil by the Dutch, upon the surrender of that country to Portuguese domination. It is said that Polhemus preached in French and Portuguese while in Brazil and, undoubtedly, in Dutch. He of course, knew Latin and German and probably other languages. When he came here his wife did not accompany him. She had sailed ahead to Holland to seek collection of the arrears owing to him by the Dutch West India Company. Bemcause he was taken by pirates, they were apart for 7 1/2 years. His transfer to Long Island was ratified by the classis in 1656, and arrangements were made to aid Mevrouw Polhemus to come to Long Island to join her husband. Classis characterized her thus: "She is a very worthy matron, has great desire to be with her husband, and has struggled along here in poverty and great straits, always conducting herself modestly and piously."

Tolerance

The Rev Polhemus got his living in Brazil largely from a plantation granted him by the West India Company; which he cultivated by the labor of slaves from West Africa, whom he bought and sold…though it is recorded that, “most of them ran away and joined the natives in the bush”. He did sell 17 of them when he departed Het Ilha Itamaracá. When he left he embarked on a vessel with Portuguese Jewish merchants and the household freight of the Colony. (Those Jews had formerly taken refuge in Amsterdam from persecution in Portugal and joined the Dutch colony in Brazil.) The ship had hardly left the harbor when it was captured by a Spanish privateer. This was in turn captured by a French man-of-war, the “St Charles”. An old Hebrew Journal, published at Amsterdam says of their rescue: “God caused a Saviour to arise; the Captain of the French ship arrayed for battle, and he rescued the sons of Israel from the hands of the outlaws; and He conducted them until they reached the end of the inhabited earth called New Holland (New Amsterdam), and none of them was missing.” Twenty-three of these Jewish families, who had kept their faith, became the nucleus of the first Hebrew congregation in North America, the venerable Portuguese Synagogue, founded in 1656, now located on Central Park West at 70th Street, New York (1954). The old mill stones in possession of this congregation match those in the cellar of the Church of St Nicholas, which shows that the Dutch shared their earliest meeting place with them (the loft of the horse-mill), and there is no doubt that this courtesy was due to the kind offices of the Rev Polhemus. ^[24] He also kept himself free from the persecuting spirit of Peter Stuyvesant and his fellow ministers against Quakers in particular in New Amsterdam. He wrote to the Classis of Amsterdam four months before Stuyvesant's capitulation to the English: "The Quakers also are compelled to go before the court and be put under oath, but such compulsion is displeasing to God.” ^[25]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} I Heyward Peck, "The Rev Johannes Theodorus Polhemus and Some of His Descendants", Genealogies of Long Island Families, Vol 1, Henry Hoff, ed. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company; orig. NYGBR, Vols 90-92 (1959-60), add/corr, Vols 92-94, 97, 105: 1987 ), pp 609 ff. Ancestry.com. Note : Peck and Seversmith incorrectly list Johannes's birthplace as "Rhenish Bavaria"; however, the Rhenish Palatinate was annexed to Bavaria only in 1815 (to 1945).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Herbert F Seversmith, "The Dominy Johannes Theodorus Polhemius of Flatbush, Long Island", National Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol XLIII (National Genealogical Society: Dec 1955) pp 125ff.
3. ↑ Lyn Miller, "Parents of Rev Johannes Theodorus Polhemus (1598-1676)", (Genealogy.com, 9/17/2007), Online forum.
4. ↑ Clayton, James Wilbur “History and Genealogy: Polhemus, Totten, Clayton, Bedell” : privately published; West Orange, New Jersey 1954 p 4 https://archive.org/details/historygenealogy00clay/page/4/mode/1up?view=theater
5. ↑ Wikipedia: Dutch Brazil.
6. ↑ Clayton, James Wilbur “History and Genealogy : Polhemus, Wolley, Totten, Clayton, Bedell” : privately published; West Orange, New Jersey 1954 p 5 https://archive.org/details/historygenealogy00clay/page/5/mode/1up?view=theater
7. ↑ Wood, Silas “Sketch of the First Settlement of the Several Towns on Long Island“ : Arden J Spooner, Brooklyn 1828 p 29 https://archive.org/details/asketchfirstset00woodgoog/page/n35/mode/1up?view=theater
8. ↑ O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey “History of New Netherlands” : D Appleton & Company, New York 1848 Vol II pp 272 https://archive.org/details/historyofnewneth02ocal/page/272/mode/1up?view=theater
9. ↑ James, Bartlett Burleigh & J Franklin Jameson “Journal of Jasper Danckaerts”: Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 1913 p 52 https://ia600403.us.archive.org/3/items/journalofjasper00danc/journalofjasper00danc.pdf
10. ↑ Corwin, Charles E “Manual of the Reformed Church in America” : Board of Publication and Bible-School Work of the Reformed Church in America, New York 1922 5th Edition pp 16, 17, 723 https:// archive.org/details/manualofreformed00corw_0/page/16/mode/1up?view=theater
11. ↑ Stiles, Henry R “History of the City of Brooklyn” : published by subscription, Brooklyn 1867 Vol I pp 111, 133-138, 140, 166, 239 https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb01stil/page/133/mode/1up?view=theater
12. ↑ Thompson, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Jolly Werner “History of Long Island from its Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time” : R H Dodd, New York Vol III 1918 pp 457, 458 https://archive.org/details/historyoflongisl03thom/page/n518/mode/1up?view=theater
13. ↑ Brodhead, John Romeyn; Berthold Fernow; Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan “Documents Relating to the Early Colonial Settlements Principally on Long Island” : Weed, Parsons & Company, Albany 1883 Vol XIV p 376 https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ14brod/page/376/mode/1up?view=theater
14. ↑ Reynolds, Cuyler “Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley” : Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York 1914 Vol I p 503 https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami02reyno/page/503/mode/1up?view=theater
15. ↑ Riker, James “Annals of Newtown in Queens County New York” : D Fanshaw, New York 1852 pp 348, 349 https://archive.org/details/annalsofnewtowni00rike/page/348/mode/1up
16. ↑ Bergen, Teunis G “Register of the Early Settlers of Kings County” : S W Green’s Son, New York 1881 pp 226, 227 https://archive.org/details/registerinalphab00berg/page/227/mode/1up?view=theater
17. ↑ Wiltsee, Jerome “Genealogical and Psychological Memoir of Philippe Maton” : G W Myers (Printer), Atchison Part I 1908 Part 1, p 96 https://archive.org/details/genealogicalpsyc00wilt/page/95/mode/1up?view=theater
18. ↑ Brodhead, John Romeyn “History of the State of New York” : Harper & Brothers, New York 1853 Vol I p 639 https://archive.org/details/historyofstateof01brod/page/639/mode/1up?view=theater
19. ↑ Brodhead, John Romeyn; Berthold Fernow; Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan “Documents Relating to the Early Colonial Settlements Principally on Long Island” : Weed, Parsons & Company, Albany 1883 Vol XIV p 352 https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ14brod/page/352/mode/1up?view=theater
20. ↑ Stiles, By Henry R “History of the City of Brooklyn” : Brooklyn 1867 Vol I pp 166 https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb01stil/page/n189/mode/1up?view=theater
21. ↑ Zwierlein, Frederick J “Religion in New Netherland” : John P Smith Printing Company, Rochester 1910 p 94 https://archive.org/details/religioninnewn00zwie/page/94/mode/1up?view=theater
22. ↑ Teunis G. Bergen, Register in Alphabetical Order of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, New York (New York: S W Green's Sons: 1881), p 226 Archive.org.
23. ↑ Oscar M Voorhees, ed., Historical Handbook of the Van Voorhees Family in the Netherlands and America (New Brunswick, New Jersey : Van Voorhees Association, 1935; Ancestry.com), pp 143ff.
24. ↑ Clayton, James Wilbur “History and Genealogy: Polhemus, Totten, Clayton, Bedell” : privately published; West Orange, New Jersey 1954 pp 2-8 https://archive.org/details/historygenealogy00clay/page/2/mode/1up?view=theater
25. ↑ Zwierlein, Frederick J “Religion in New Netherland” : John P Smith Printing Company, Rochester 1910 pp 45, 47, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 243, 275 https://archive.org/details/religioninnewn00zwie/page/243/mode/1up?view=theater

• Riker Jr, James The Annals of Newtown, in Queens County, New York (D. Fanshaw, New-York, 1852) p 348-9

See Also:

• "Ancestry Family Trees". Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. ** https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/50792133/family