De Nederlandse Brazilianen

for the longest time Thomas Robinson (abt 1803 - aft 1860) and his wife "Thurzy" (1811 - 1872) were a proverbial genealogical brick wall/dead-end. Always frustrating when you can't find any ancestral leads. Plenty of other folks with mysterious pasts (Eli Rowell, Minerva Winslow, Caroline Clarissa Covell, John Henry Carothers), but sometimes discovering a bit of info can led to the a whole bunch more ancestors. The 1925 Iowa Census is awesome. 84 year old Mary Elizabeth Carothers (née Robinson) lists her parents as Thomas Robinson and Theresa Howland. WHOOO HOO ! ! !

mother's maiden name = all I need. Still don't know anything 'bout Thomas Robinson and not trusting any info 'bout William Howland 'til someone can tell me who his mother was, but her mother Sarah Wiltse is descended from some interesting folks



the Dutch didn't have quite as much success in the New World as did the other European countries. They lost New Holland (Brazil) to Portugal and New Amsterdam (New York) to the British. Our ancestors participated in the loss of both

here is the story of our Brazilian-born 9x great-grandma Margaret Jansen Meyers. Don't really have any additional information about her parents. The history of her second husband (our 9x great-grandaddy) is also unknown. Maybe he was born in Copenhagen or maybe not. Nobody really knows the origins of Hendrick Martenszen Wiltse. In 1900, Jerome Wiltsee wrote a book in which he fabricated a swashbuckling father for him who was one of the first Dutch settlers who built Fort New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island and was killed by Indians. Then 9x great-grandpa was born at sea and he and a brother were kidnapped by Indians and taken to Canadia and blah blah blah. And of course we are descended from European royalty. Typical sham genealogy

if anyone cares (you really shouldn't), Jerome Wiltsee's embellished family history is available for download or can be read online

A genealogical and psychological memoir of Philippe Maton Wiltsee and his descendants : with a historical introduction referring to the Wiltsee nation and its colonies


our other Brazilian-born 9x great-grandmother was one of the daughters of Jonannes Theodorus Polhemius, who was born in Germany, but we really don't know any further back than that

same for her husband Cornelius Barentse Van Wyck. There are rumors and unsubstantiated links of him to royalty too, which is always a red flag. If you were royalty, would you come to 'Merica and hang out with Pilgrims? Pilgrims weren't exactly a fun-loving bunch, and life in the 1600s wasn't easy. Maybe come to the New World and be a wealthy land-owner or a merchant or somthing, but not some share-cropper. I'm calling shenanigans on us being related to Jan van Wyck who converted from Catholism when he married Wynanda van Asch because her brother died without issue and named her sole heir to his fortune on the condition that her kids carry the van Asch name and family coat of arms. That might have actually happened, and there are folks who had the name van Asch van Wyck (also his daddy , and granddaddy), but 10x great-grandpa Cornelius didn't have that double last name. And without any birth or death dates or siblings or uncles or cousins or ANY SORT OF ANYTHING, our lineage ends with his arrival in the New World