Jacob Leisler Papers Project

10/09/2026

10/08/2026

After fifty years, I am rereading the late Alice P. Kenney’s Stubborn for Liberty: the Dutch in New York (1975). Kenny’s work introduced me to New Netherland studies. It still holds up as an introduction to the topic, even considering the discoveries made because of the translation work of Dr. Charles Gehring and the New Netherland Institute and other scholars. (Kenney, for example, repeats the popular myth that Leisler married a wealthy widow and prospered through her connections, when it was an extremely indebted widow who married Leisler for his economic potential). Despite this caveat, I highly recommend it as a general introduction to the topic.

09/22/2026

In filing the Jacob Leisler Institute's prints displayed in our recent Glorious Revolution exhibition, I discovered on the back of our 1660 print of Jacob Leisler's mother's first cousin, Johannes Jacobus Wissenbach, a Latin dedication by Ulricus Huber (See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrik_Huber). We know from Wissenbach’s papers that he remained in contact with, and visited in Geneva, Leisler’s mother’s family. Wissenbach was prominent in his own era but is largely forgotten today. Attached are the Wissenbach portrait, inscription, translation, and biography of Huber.

09/02/2026

As I pulled together the Jacob Leisler Institute's Glorious Revolution exhibition to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I became increasingly aware of the influence of the New York Assembly of 1683-1686 and its 1683 Charter of Liberties and Privileges on Jacob Leisler. Indeed, Leisler clearly stated he based his interim New York administration on the 1683 Charter. Such scholars as John Murrin, Evan Haefeli, and Owen Stanwood have recognized this connection. The recent discovery of more unknown materials relating to the 1683-1686 assembly and the Charter beg for a fuller investigation into the topic. As a result, the Charter of Liberties and Privileges is a central element of my exhibition and I presented its text in full on five panels. I intend for my brief introduction panel presented here to provoke discussion and debate. The exhibition runs until September 12.

07/30/2026

The Jacob Leisler Institute is having a reception for our exhibition "From Glorious Revolution Toward Independence" at 46 Green Street from four until seven this Saturday, August 1. I hope you can make it.

07/07/2026

Coinciding with the Jacob Leisler Institute exhibition opening at Circle 46 Gallery in Hudson, NY, my post on the Glorious Revolution in New York for the New York City Municipal Archives is now online at

On May 16, 1691, in a drizzling rain, two middle-aged men climbed gallows erected at present-day One Pace Plaza near the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Before the largest crowd yet gathered in the small city of 5,000 inhabitants, Jacob Leisler and his newly wed son-in-law, Jacob Milborne

05/22/2026

Berthold Fernow’s mistranslation of a May 11, 1663, document published in the "Orphanmaster’s Records" has colored historical belief by saying that Jacob Leisler “has no acquaintances in Holland.” A translation by early modern Dutch expert Jordi Noort on behalf of the Jacob Leisler Institute clarified the statement to read, Leisler “does not have any knowledge of the trade in Holland.” Later research reveals that the phrase refers to his knowledge of a specific shipment. As German colleague Antonia Kolb and I continue to collaborate on transcribing and translating the papers of Leisler’s father, the Reverend Jacob Victorian Leisler (1606-1653), Frankfurt-am-Main French Reformed (Huguenot) pastor from 1638 until his death, close connections are emerging between his congregation and the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company. Particularly relevant are the Rev. Leisler’s relationships with the Reepmaker, De Famars, and d’Orville families and, particularly, their familial connections to WIC director Jacob Pergens (the handsome dude shown here).

02/20/2026

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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12/11/2025

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.

12/04/2025

https://www.nyhistory.org/programs/live-from-new-amsterdam-jacob-leislers-new-york?date=2025-12-11

Explore the world o New York merchant Jacob Leisler, who led a rebellion against King James in New Amsterdam.