Polhemus.Net Home Page

Polhemus.Net was established, among other reasons, to provide a forum for the exchange of Genealogy information relating to the descendants of Johannes Theodorus Polhemus. The initial information was, primarily, supplied by my paternal Grandmother, with additional updates as they have become available. Further updates will be heavily dependant on input from other descendants and researchers.

Johannes Theodorus Polhemus (a.k.a.: Johann Theodore Polheim) was a minister, probably of German-Swiss origin. His earliest pastorates seem to have been in the Palatinate; then at Meppel in the province of Overyssel, Netherlands; again in the Palatinate, until 1635; and from 1637 to 1654, in successive ministries at Olinda and at Itamarcas, both in Brazil. We also know 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 upon the evacuation of Brazil by the Dutch to the Portuguese. It is said that Rev. 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 went to Holland to seek collection of the arrears owing to him by the Dutch West India Company. His transfer to Long Island was ratified by the classis in 1656.

If you believe you are a descendant of Johannes Theodorus Polhemus, or you simply have additional information regarding the family, I would appreciate hearing from you. As such information becomes available, it will be added to the database and be made available for use by others. If you have any questions or can supply additional info, please feel free to drop me a line at webmaster@polhemus.net.

If you would like to be advised when changes are made to the database, please supply me with your email address and I will be glad to add you to the notification list. Privacy note: These email addresses will be utilized ONLY to notify those who request it of changes in the database. I am not trying to sell anything to anybody and will NOT loan, lease, or sell the list to anyone!

This site will be constantly under construction, so please check back often for the latest updates. As additional Polhemus-related sites become available (and I have the time), I will attempt to keep the "Links" list current. If you have a "new" site that you would like to see posted, please feel free to drop me a line at webmaster@polhemus.net.

Since this is my first attempt at building and maintaining a website, all constructive comments and suggestions will be appreciated !

Under Construction.gif (50907 bytes) Please note: As of January 30, 2008 , this website is being redesigned and/or re-organized. Most of the original pages are still in place, but some new ones are being added and some of the existing ones are being restructured. During the coming two weeks, I will endeavor to finish them and get the site fully operational.

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