Jacob Leisler Papers Project

A recent query to the Jacob Leisler Institute relating to a possible relationship between New Netherland Domine Johannes Theodorus Polhemus/Polhemius (1598-1676) and Jacob Leisler took me back to my research in the 1990s resulting in an article published in the Van Voorhees NIEUWSBRIEF (Winter/Spring 1999), p. 3ff. My theory at that time was based primarily on research done in the 1920s by genealogist Louis P. DeBoer. An excellent analysis of that article is found on rootsweb:
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bodine/genealogy/n14900.html

My subsequent in-depth research into a possible connection of Polhemus and Leisler revealed that contemporary documents showed that THERE IS NONE! Unfortunately, by that time my interests had shifted to other topics and I did not write a follow-up essay. Nonetheless, I am surprised to discover that many current genealogies show this connection, although more likely derived from DeBoer’s work rather than my 1999 article. I would like to make it clear, however, that A FAMILIAL CONNECTION TO THE POLHEMUS FAMILY IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THE EXTENSIVE LEISLER FAMILY PAPERS.

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Thank you for those who listened to the New York Historical "Live From New Amsterdam" podcast with Russell Shorto. I was overwhelmed when asked which book I would recommend, as several works came to mind. However, the work I meant to say was David Lovejoy, "The Glorious Revolution in America" (1972). An interesting comparison is in volume one of William Smith's "History of New York" (1757), which focuses on the Indigenous nations during this period. No work has yet appeared using all the materials available at the Jacob Leisler Institute.