Sunset at Gowanus Bay

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

Friday, June 26, 2015

Nehemiah Brower (1828-1915) of Middletown, New Jersey

Nehemiah Brower, of Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, was born in November, 1828 (1900 U. S. census) and died in 1915. He was a great-great-great grandson of Adam Brouwer, of Gowanus, Long Island. Nehemaiah Brower was, in his time, a well known home builder in the area of Red Bank, New Jersey.

Hugh Brower, a descendant of Nehemiah Brower, has sent me a newspaper clipping from the Red Bank Register, October 1905, featuring the 50th wedding anniversary of Nehemiah and his wife, Amelia (Sewing) Brower.

Red Bank Register, October 1905
Hugh also sent a separate image of the photo in the article.

Red Bank Register, October 1905
As mentioned above, Nehemiah Brower was a noted home builder in the area of Red Bank, New Jersey. Found in the William B. Bogardus Collection was a piece from the Newsletter of the Middletown Township Historical Society, vol. 5, no. 3, June 1989, titled, "Nehemiah Brower, Locust Builder." Here is a PDF of that article: Nehemiah Brower, Locust Builder.

Some quick research using U. S. census records, and a few New Jersey vital records, tells us that Nehemiah Brower and his wife, Amelia Sewing, were married in 1855. They had eight children, five reached adulthood and three died young. The children were: George W. Brower, born 12 October 1857; a son (unnamed in the birth record) born in 1859, who I would assume was stillborn or died very soon after birth (as he was not given a name); Anne Elizabeth, born 18 September 1862, who apparently never married; Silas, age 5 in the 1870 census, but not found afterwards; Emma, died 10 December 1870, age 4; Amelia, age 9 in June 1880; Carrie, age 6 in June 1880; and Arthur, born in June 1876. 

Thanks again to Hugh Brower for passing along the article and photo.

PDF version of this post.

BGB 468

3 comments:

  1. I owned the home located at 3 Blueberry Lane in Leonardo NJ from 1993 to 2003. The Brower family burial plot is located directly behind my home. Both Nehemiah, Amelia and three of their children are buried in a marked off area. The parents of both are buried there as well if memory serves me. This is located at the extreme north end of Bay View Cemetery at the (previously) 5 corners of Kings Highway, Portland Road, Whippoorwill Valley and Monmouth Ave. The fifth road was the original entry to the plot and eventually the cemetery. The road can still be followed to the now main entrance to Bay View Cemetery.

    While residing at 3 Blueberry I kept the plot neat as well as filling the hole that was insistent on forming over the heart of Nehemiah. I later found the source of the continuing hole that negated the haunted , he's trying to get out story that persisted among graveyard employees who vowed to never go near that plot EVER! The source is a flood plain from the neighboring inlet off the Navisink that also ran thru several farms to the south of my property. It culminated in a small creek that ran straight thru the divide between Portland Rd and Kings highway as it curved around to the west.

    Ive always felt proud to be the caretaker of The Brower Family.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know your blog post is several years old, but I wanted to share that Nehemiah is my great-great grandfather. I spent a large portion of my childhood living in a house that he built on Locust Point Road in Locust, NJ. My mother donated his logs, where he recorded his work projects and the cost of labor and materials, to the Monmouth County historical society. I still own his desk, but may donate it to the society at some time in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liz,thank you very much for sharing this. It's nice to see that aspects of your ancestor's life have been preserved for future generations to explore and admire.

    ReplyDelete

Because of spamming issues, all submitted comments are moderated. Your comment is appreciated, but it will not appear online until it has first been reviewed. All relative comments will be sent through. Comments of a commercial nature will be blocked. It may take as little as a few hours or as long as a few days for submitted comments to appear online. Please do not resend the same comment. Please do not include personal identification information for living persons, i.e. names, addresses, DNA testing account numbers, in your comments. Comments or questions including such information will be rejected. Please address questions regarding specific DNA test results to the Brewer DNA Project. A link for the Project can be found in the column on the right side of this page. Thank you.