Sunset at Gowanus Bay

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

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Arent Brouwer of Stone Arabia, NY -Will dated July 10, 1793

Digital images of the last will and testament of Arent Brouwer of Stone Arabia, Montgomery County, New York, can be found online.

Arent Brouwer was baptized 29 March 1718 at the First Dutch Reformed Church at Schenectady, New York, the son of Willem Brouwer and Rebecca Vedder. His paternal grandparents were Willem Brouwer and Lysbeth Drickvelt. His maternal grandparents were Arent Vedder and Sarah Groot. Arent Brouwer, who has also been recorded as Aaron Brower, never married and had no children of his own. His lengthy will mentions his siblings and his nephew and nieces, the children of his siblings. It is an important instrument for reconstructing the family of Willem Brouwer and Rebecca Vedder, and the families of their children. Arent's will serves as an important example of why researching all members of a family, even the unmarried ones without descendants, is a step in conducting genealogical research that should not be ignored.

For a genealogical summery  see Descendants of Willem Brouwer for two generations.

Better quality digital images of Arent Brouwer's will can be found online at FamilySearch.org in "New York Probate Records, 1629-1971," Montgomery County, Wills, volume 1, page 90.

BGB 56

2 comments:

  1. Hi Chris, Do you have the full copy of Arent Brouwer's will of 1793. I found it on family search. It has some errors in translating some of the names such as Nisher for Fisher, Nidder for Vedder, and Dopstedder for Dockstader. It gives nice details about the property he left to my ancestor, Aaron Brouwer, b. 1766. Thanks for all of your research.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carole,The only copy that I know of, and the only one that I've seen, is the one that I assume you've found on Family Search. I've added a link to the post above as the digital images there are far better than the images I photographed some years back.
    The style of handwriting here is old, and what you are seeing as an N (Nisher, Nidder) I read as a V with a little hook (Visscher or Visher). Compare with the N in North or New York for example.
    If the original will still exists I imagine it is housed somewhere in the Montgomery County court house.

    ReplyDelete

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