Sunset at Gowanus Bay

Sunset at Gowanus Bay
Sunset at Gowanus Bay, Henry Gritten, 1851

Monday, October 22, 2012

Jacob Brouwer and his wife, Marike

Jacob Brouwer is a presumed son of Derck Brouwer and Hannah Daws. No record of baptism has been found for Jacob and as no record of probate or estate settlement is known for either Derck Brouwer or Hannah Daws. Jacob's relationship as a son of Derck and Hannah cannot be stated with absolute certainty. The likelihood that he is a son is based upon his naming a son Dirck and a daughter Annatie (Hannah). If so, then Jacob was probably born between 1700 and 1703 in the vicinity of Flushing, Queens Co., Long Island.

Jacob Brouwer is found in Bridgewater Twp., New Jersey when his property is mentioned in a patent of 1749. However, he is not found on the list of Freeholders conducted there in 1753, and therefore may have moved from the area between 1749 and 1753.

Jacob's wife is identified simply as Marike (an equivalent of Mary or Maria). The identification is from the baptism record of their children. Her family name is not known. The couple had seven children baptized in New Jersey starting with Annatie in 1731 at Raritan (Somerville). She is followed by Sara in 1733 and Mareytye in 1735, both at Raritan, Dirck in 1737, and Elizabeth in 1739, both at North Branch (Readington), Sara (second) in 1742 at Raritan and finally Antje (second) at North Branch in 1745. In all of the baptisms, with one exception, no witnesses or sponsors are recorded. The exception being the baptism of daughter Elizabeth in 1739 where the sponsor is an Elizabeth Folkerson. The sponsor has not been identified with certainty, although an Elisabeth, daughter of Volkert Hendricksz Bries and Elizabeth Paulus was baptized at Raritan in 1703. It is probable that Elizabeth may be a member of the Bries family, whose descendants could have adopted the patronymic, Volkertsen or Folkertsen as a surname. Whether or not this is a clue to Marike's family is not clear at this time. As only one known son (Dirck) was born to Jacob Brouwer and Marike, and if we accept the assumption that he was named for Jacob's father, Derck, we do not have a possible name for Marike's father (which would be a second born son). Possibilities for Marike's mother's name are Sara and Elizabeth.

As mentioned above, it appears that Jacob Brouwer left the area of Raritan, New Jersey by 1753. Some families from this area of New Jersey did begin migrating westward into areas of Pennsylvania by this time and it is possible that Jacob followed this route. No probate or estate settlement records have been found for Jacob in New Jersey. If he can be located in Pennsylvania with some degree of certainty, then Jacob may be a missing link for some genetic descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands whose "paper trail" back to Jan Brouwer is not yet known.

Among those who may be a son of Jacob Brouwer is John Brewer of Scioto Co., Ohio. It is reasonable to suspect that John was born in the period of 1745 to 1755 (in New Jersey or Pennsylvania). John did name his eldest daughter, Mary, and he did name a son Jacob, and another son, Richard (Dirck/Derck). John Brewer of Scioto Co., Ohio has been featured in a number of blog posts here beginning in August of 2011. He was also a subject of "DNA Analysis: Adam Brouwer Berckhoven, Elias Brouwer of New Jersey, and John Brewer of Ohio," by Richard Brewer, Scott Kraus and William B. Bogardus, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol. 138, no. 4 (October 2007), page 245. Based upon what is known as of this writing, and acknowledging just how limited that information is, I am of the opinion that Jacob Brouwer is the most likely candidate to be the father of John Brewer of Scioto Co., Ohio. A goal for anyone interested in further researching this possibility, would be to locate Jacob Brouwer post 1753.

Family Group Sheet for Jacob Brouwer

Jacob Brouwer is no. 29 in Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I.

Details and source citations for the above can be found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website. In addition there are three PDFs online regarding John Brewer, all of which are intended as working documents based upon was known at the time they are dated: Descendants, Descendant Chart, Family Group Sheet.

BGB 181

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