Johannes Theodorus Polhemus (1598-1676)
Johannes Theodorus Polhemus ministered at what became the New Castle Presbyterian Church, New Castle, Delaware. John W. Christie writes in Presbyterianism in Delaware: “The first Presbyterian religious service in what is now Delaware appears to have been conducted in New Amstel (New Castle), in 1654, by the Dutch Domine Johannes Theodorus Polhemus, on his way to New Amsterdam from Brazil. The first pastor sent to this church by the Classis (Presbytery) of Amsterdam was Everardus Welius, in 1657. Previous to Welius’ coming Evert Pietersen, sent out as a schoolmaster, had opened there Delaware’s first school, enrolling twenty-five children. This church had a precarious existence, being without a pastor for long periods. After the English took the colony from the Dutch in 1664 some of its services were conducted in English. The last recorded services under Dutch religious auspices were in midsummer 1690, when Domine Rudolphus Varick preached three Sundays, and administered the communion.
“As was natural the next pastor was not Dutch. He was the Rev. John Wilson, from New England. He arrived in 1698, and preached in the court house, because the old Dutch church building had gone to decay. In 1707 a new church was erected. The New Castle church, therefore, appears to be the oldest Presbyterian church, and its building the oldest fabric still in use as a Presbyterian church, in Delaware.”
It is believed that Johannes Theodorus Polhemus is buried at the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery, Flatbush, New York.
July 31, 1657 Letter to the Classis of Amsterdam (1657, 1901)
June 4, 1658 Letter to the Classis of Amsterdam (1658, 1901)
August 8, 1662 Letter to the Classis of Amsterdam (1662, 1901)
September 11, 1663 Letter to the Classis of Amsterdam (1663, 1901)
April 21, 1664 Letter to the Classis of Amsterdam (1664, 1901)
