Jacob Brewer of New York City, Will dated 1815

Digital images of the will of 1815 will of Jacob Brewer can be found online. Jacob was baptized 22 August 1744 at the First Reformed Dutch Church at Tarrytown in Westchester County, New York (the Old Sleepy Hollow Dutch Church). He was a son of Johannes Brouwer and Elizabeth Conklin, and a descendant of Adam Brouwer. Jacob was married to Abigail Yerks. The family lived in Westchester County and in New York City.

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Notes, Research, Reports

The "Notes, Research, Reports" page, found at the old Brouwer Genealogy website, has been relocated and now a a new URL. It can now be found here. The old page has been removed from the Brouwer Genealogy website.
At the right, in the column of links on this website, is the heading, "Notes, Research, Reports." Here are some, but not all, of the links that are also found on the new page mentioned above. The "Alternate site with additional links," found in this column, will also take you to the new page.

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Jacob Brouwer (b. 1710), Will dated 23 October 1781

Digital images of the will of Jacob Brouwer (1710-1781-84) have been placed online. Jacob Brouwer, baptized 24 September 1710 in Brooklyn, was a son of Jacob Brouwer and Petronella de la Montagne; a grandson of Jacob Brouwer and Annetje Bogardus; and a great-grandson of Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, and of Willem Bogardus and Wynnetje Sybrants. Jacob was married to Maria de Lanoy and they had ten children. The family lived in New York City, although during Revolutionary War, the family relocated to Kakiat in Orange County. It was there, "in the fifth year of American Independence" (1781), that Jacob Brouwer wrote his will. The will was proved in New York County, on 5 April 1784. It can be found in New York County (Surrogate's Court) Wills, vol. 36, pages 336-339. (Note: this is a later day copy of the original will).

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Brewer Families of New England

The website, Brewer Families of New England, has been updated. An important change in the database is the discovery that Col. Jonathan Brewer (1725/26-1784), a commander at Bunker Hill, did not marry as a second wife, Dorothy Fowle. This incorrect claim has appeared in published accounts of this family dating back to the late 1800s. I was recently contacted by Jean Brewer, who kindly provided documentation, to support the fact that Col. Jonathan Brewer could not have been the Jonathan Brewer who married Dorothy Fowle on 30 Dec 1772 at Watertown, Massachusetts. Col. Jonathan Brewer made his will in 1783, and in it he appoints his wife Frances (Buckminster) as executor. Frances outlived Jonathan by 39 years, and died at Woodstock, Vermont on 27 March 1823, age 84 years (Vermont Vital Records). The question now is, who is the Jonathan Brewer who did marry Dorothy Fowle in 1772? Is he another Jonathan Brewer who already is known? Or is he a yet undiscovered Jonathan Brewer? Research continues.

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Church records published in the Somerset County Historical Quarterly

The Somerset County Historical Quarterly (SCHQ) was published from 1912-1919. During this period it published transcribed and translated records of the various Reformed Churches found in, or associated with, Somerset County, New Jersey and the surrounding area. I have a list of the records, and the issue in which they were published, available online.

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Battle of Long Island, by Alonzo Chappel, 1858

The Battle of Long Island, or more appropriately, The Battle of Brooklyn, took place on August 27, 1776 and was the first battle of importance in the American Revolutionary War following the Declaration of Independence. The most intense fighting, which took place around the Brouwer family mill, was depicted by Alonzo Chappel in 1858.

Battle of Long Island (1858)

 This image, as well as a photograph of Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887), can now be found at a new location.

The Battle of Long Island, as it has traditionally been called, or more appropriately, The Battle of Brooklyn, was fought on August 27, 1776. An excellent, current account of the battle can be found in John J. Gallagher, The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776 (De Capo Press, 2001). Much of the fighting took place around the tide mills owned by the Brouwer family at Gowanus. On orders of the retreating Gen. George Washington, the mills and all their stores were burned so as not to fall into the hands of the British. Many later day accounts of the battle refer to the mill property as "Freake's Mill," which is not completely correct. At the time of the British attack, the mill properties were owned by the families of brothers, Abraham and Jeremiah Brouwer. It was only in 1798, that John C. Freeke became owner after purchasing the property, and rebuilt mills, from Adolph Brouwer (d. 1827). In 1818, descendants of Abraham and Jeremiah Brouwer petitioned the U. S. Congress in an effort to gain compensation for the losses which resulted from the British attack and the subsequent burning of the mills.
I have placed online a transcription of the 1818 testimony regarding the heirs petition, transcribed by Lily Martin in 2007.

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The Will of Rev. Cornelius Cozine (1718-1786)

Images of Rev. Cornelius Cozine's will are now at a new location. Rev. Cornelius Cozine was born at Bushwick, Long Island, the son of Jacobus Cosynse Cozine and his wife Aeltje. He lived in Kings County until 1754 when he sold his property and moved to Somerset County, New Jersey. He is mentioned as "of Somerset County" in 1768 when he was one of the appraisers for the inventory of the estate of Pieter Van Nest of Somerset County. Soon afterwards, Rev. Cornelius Cozine became the minister to the congregation at the Conewago Colony, then in York County (now Adams Co.), Pennsylvania. His first wife was Antie Staats, daughter of Pieter Staats, and his second wife has been identified as Maria Koning, widow of Stephen Van Orden, who married as her third husband, David Demarest. (See Barbara Terhune, on Dutch Colonies List Serve at Rootsweb, January 5, 2011, for the identification of Maria/Mary Koning). [Note: this archived entry on the message board has been lost when checked in July 2020].
The images of the will were provided by Barbara Hilyerd. Her transcription can be found in the footnotes for Rev. Cornelius Cozine's profile on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website.

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Brouwer Genealogy Database has been Updated

The Brouwer Genealogy Database website has been updated. Among the additions are a second grid chart for Y-DNA test results for those descended from Jan Brouwer. Titled, "Jan Brouwer - Alternate Y-DNA test results" it is found on the same page as the original Jan Brouwer grid chart. This second chart simply breaks down the participants by surname. Among, the descendants is a new surname, HERMANS. This participant is NOT a descendant of Jan Brouwer, however, he likely shares a common ancestor with the Jan Brouwer descendants who lived, perhaps, 700 or more years ago. He is identified as a distant cousin of the Jan Brouwer descendants by the unique value of 7 at allele DYS565. For more on this unique trait of Jan Brouwer descendants, and distant cousins, please see Richard Brewer's online article, "Jan Brouwer descendants carry a unique DYS565 Allele Value."
I have added two new BREWER progenitors to the Progenitors page. Jacob Brower is new to the BGD website. He was born in Prussia in 1763 and was in Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania by 1780 when he fought during the Revolutionary War. He applied for a pension in 1832 as a resident of Mifflin Co., Pa. Some have suspected him to be a descendant of Hubert Brower, however, there is no evidence to support this and his own claim as having been born in Prussia should lay to rest any suggestion that he was descended from Hubert Brower who came to Pennsylvania in 1726. Despite his late arrival, Jacob Brower does appear to have left many descendants, especially in Pennsylvania.
The second person added to the progenitors page is Henry Brewer, who is not new to the BGD website. He can also be found on the DNA Analysis page. Henry was born ca. 1735, lived in Bedford Co., Pa. and died in 1799. Descendants are found in Monongalia Co., W.V. and Darke Co., Ohio. A descendant has participated in the Brewer DNA Project, and results demonstrate that Henry and his descendants are not in anyway related to descendants of either Adam Brouwer or Jan Brouwer.
We would still very much like to find confirmed descendants of Hubert Brower to participate in the Brewer DNA Project. It would be very helpful for future research to have established a Y-DNA signature for the descendants of Hubert Brower.

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The Will of Abraham Brouwer, 1725

Abraham Brouwer, born about 1675 at Schenectady, New York, was a son of Pieter Brouwer and Petronella Kleyn. He was married to Lea Demarest and resided in Bergen County, New Jersey. Images of his will, written in 1725 and proved in 1736, are now available online at a new location. His wife, Lea Demarest, was a daughter of Jan Demarest and Jacomina de Ruine. After Abraham's death, she remarried to Roelof Lubbertsz Westervelt. Abraham and Lea had ten children, all baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church at Hackensack, New Jersey.

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Some Bridgewater, New Jersey Inhabitants in 1777

"Inhabitants of Bridgwater...Suffered to a Very Great Degree,"was published in the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly in 1983. Included is a brief description of the period in 1777 when Gen. George Washington and his 9000 man Continental Army made the Bridgwater area their temporary home, depleting the area of its resources. Soon after, some inhabitants drew up a petition requesting compensation for their losses, and presented it to the New Jersey Assembly in March 1778. A list of the petitioners, along with their signatures is included. A link will be left in the links column under "New Jersey Research."

You can now either receive this Blog via e-mail, or subscribe using a feed reader. These options can be found towards the bottom of the column to the right. Scroll down.

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Brewer, Brower, Brouwer Marriages

Back on March 3, 2011, I had made available compiled lists of marriages involving persons named BREWER, BROWER and BROUWER in all 50 States and the Canadian Provinces. These were placed on the William B. Bogardus Collection page at the old Brouwer Genealogy website (which will disappear from the web by June 2012). I have added the eight PDF files for this collection to my Google Docs account and have made them available for public access. A link for each file is found at the end of this blog.
In working with this documents myself, I have found that they are very useful for quickly finding a marriage date and location for any particular individual I happen to be working on at the time. The drawback to them is that they do not provide the original source for the record shown. I strongly recommend that anyone using this lists, use them as lead or direction for locating the original record or source. I have also noticed that there also some errors with the names given and that they are not complete. For example, I have found in another source, a few marriages in Ohio for Brewers who do not appear in these lists. I would also recommend that anyone researching Brewer marriages also check what is available at the new Family Search Website. The Family History Library is continuously adding new databases to their collections, and as I mentioned, I have found a few marriages in the Family Search databases that are not found in this collection.
The Links:
Brewer Marriages Index Cover Sheet
Brewer Marriage Index AL to ID
Brewer Marriage Index IL to LA
Brewer Marriage Index LA to MS
Brewer Marriage Index MS to NY
Brewer Marriage Index NY to RI
Brewer Marriage Index RI to WY
Brewer Marriage Index Canadian Provinces NB, NS, ON, PQ

I would also note that this Blog site is now searchable. A search application can be found at the right, above the column of links. The search feature also extends to many of the linked sites. For example, your search results will include findings on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website, etc.

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Hillsborough Reformed Dutch Church, Somerset Co., New Jersey

The Hillsborough Reformed Dutch Church was organized in 1755 and was located at Millstone in Somerset County, New Jersey. An article giving a brief description of the church and its available records appeared in the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly vol. 1 (1983). Marriages for the years 1782 to 1785 were also included (43 total, if I counted correctly). I have placed a copy of the article in a Google Docs account and a link is provided at the right under "New Jersey Research."

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Jan Bouwer of Flatlands; Descendants Update

Both the journal report and the descendant chart for Jan Brouwer have been updated (links found to the right under Notes, Research, Reports). The principal change is that John Rose has been dropped from both documents. The reason for this is that after a review of the current information and evidence that I have for John Rose, I felt it was too speculative to assign him even a "possible" place within the descendants of Jan Brouwer. Previously, he had been suggested as a son of Derck Brouwer (b.1737).
We do know that John Rose is a genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Descendants of John Rose, through a number of his sons, are clearly close relations of numerous descendants of Jan Brouwer, as has been demonstrated by Y-DNA testing (see Jan Brouwer Group DNA Results). However, because we do not yet have enough traditional genealogical data on John Rose, and because the mutation rate and timing found in Y-DNA results is too random to obtain a narrow enough degree of relationship between those who have been tested, to be useful, it is presently not possible to state with a high enough degree of certainty where John Rose may fit in among the Jan Brouwer descendants. More traditional genealogical evidence, on both John Rose, and many of his Brouwer/Brewer cousins, is needed before anything more than a guess can be ventured. In addition, I am of the belief that the current database of Jan Brouwer descendants in the Brewer DNA Project, is just too small to be of use in trying to place any one ancestor. At this time, I strongly believe that it would irresponsible to try and assume even a possible placement for John Rose other then to say that he is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands. The previous editions of the above mentioned journal report and descendant chart had the potential to be misleading, even with the stipulation of "possible" attached to John Rose's parental relationship. It was therefore necessary to update the documents.

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Brouwer Mill Conveyances

The following first appeared on the Brouwer Genealogy website on March 29, 2011.

At sometime during the 1650s, Adam Brouwer established the first tide mill on western Long Island at Gowanus. After his death in 1692, two of his sons, Abraham and Nicholas, acquired full control of the property from their siblings. They added to the property, built a second mill, and negotiated water rights with their nearest neighbors. By 1710, Nicholas and his wife sold their share in the property and operation to his brother Abraham. In 1737, Abraham, conveyed the property and mills to his two sons, Abraham, Jr. and Jurie. The property remained with the two brothers, and their heirs, through the Revolutionary War. On August 27, 1776, during the Battle of Brooklyn, the mills and their stores were destroyed by the retreating patriots on orders of Gen. George Washington, so as not to fall into the hands of the British. The Brouwer families fled across the East River to Manhattan Island and most spent the remaining years of the war in Dutchess County or in Bergen County, New Jersey. In 1785, with the mills still in ruins, Adolphus Brouwer, grandson of Adam, bought the mill property, and all the timbers and material that had been gathered to rebuild the mills, from the remaining heirs of Jeremiah Brouwer. In the deed the selling heirs were careful to include a stipulation that they would still have rights to collecting oysters, from the highly regarded oyster beds of the streams on the property. In 1798, having rebuilt the mills, Adolphus Brouwer sold the property and operation to John C. Freeke. After roughly 150 years of continuous ownership, the mill property at Gowanus no longer was owned by a Brouwer.

The conveyance images are now found at a new web location: Brouwer Mill Conveyances 1737 ; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1785; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1798.

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