My Grandmother – “Aunt Jesse” – Recording Star

Starting in the late 1940s and up till the early 60s, my Grandmother – Jesse Rofheart – used to produce one-off 78RPM records for children’s birthdays … which seemed amazing to kids back then … of course even toddlers today make their own recordings. Here is a recording I just got my hands on and …

Born in Brazil: Margarietja Polhemus – my 8th Great Grandmother

My 8th great-grandmother Margarietje Polhemus was born in 1642 in‪ Itamaracá‬, Pernambuco State, Brazil and died in 1702 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. Her father Dominie Johannes Theodores Polhemius was a Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland and in 1637 he was part of the Dutch migration to Brazil, taking over the Colony of Recife from the …