Unplaced: Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887)

Jeremiah John Brower is one of a number of descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. who is currently unplaced.

Jeremiah John Brower was born 27 August 1815 in New York. In lived in Cass County, Indiana (1850 census) where he was married to Sarah Jane Woods on 4 Feb 1849. About 1853 he moved his family to Jackson Twp., Lucas County, Indiana and died there on 2 April 1887. Sarah Jane Woods, who was born in Lawrence County, Ohio on 23 October 1828, died in Lucas County, Iowa on 21 January 1891. She was a daughter of John Woods and Susannah Buffington. Both Jeremiah John and Sarah Jane are buried in Goshen Cemetery, Union Twp., Lucas County, Iowa.

It is known from the Y-DNA test results of a descendant of Jeremiah John Brower, that he is a descendant of Adam Brouwer. The results of the Y-DNA test can be found on the DNA Analysis page for Adam Brouwer descendants at the Brouwer Genealogy Database website. The participant who is a descendant of Jeremiah John Brower is kit #107708, and he shares the same allele values on, between 33 and 36 out of a possible 37 markers, with many of the other descendants in this group. A table of this data can also be seen at the Brewer DNA Project website.
Although the Y-DNA test results cannot tell us the participant's direct lineage all the way back to Adam Brouwer, it does give us some valuable information which can help narrow down the search for Jeremiah John Brower's ancestors. First, it does confirm that the participant is a direct ancestor of Adam Brouwer. Knowing that much eliminates the need to be concerned with looking for ancestors among the descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands or of Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck, or of any other Brower family found in the U. S. in the 1700s.
In this case, we also can see that the participant has the allele value of 14 at allele 439 (marker no. 9). This is compared to the majority of those in the group who have the value of 13 at this marker. The exceptions, those that have the value of 14, are all descended from Adam Brouwer's son, Nicholas Brouwer. Therefore, the second hint we can take from the test results is that we should focus on the descendants of Adam's youngest son, Nicholas Brouwer.
That is not all. There is one more observation to take from the Y-DNA test results. At allele 385b (marker no. 6) the participant has the value of 18. All of the other members of this group, including those in the sub-group descended from Nicholas Brouwer, have the value of 19 at this marker. So here we have a mutation that is unique to the descendant of Jeremiah John Brower. Somewhere between Nicholas Brouwer and the present day, living, descendant, a mutation occurred at marker no. 6, that is unique to this line. Perhaps in the future some new participant in the Brewer DNA Project will be shown to have this same mutation. If so, we can then compare that future participant's known pedigree to that of the other group members, and then perhaps we will be able to narrow down our search even further.

Traditional genealogical research provides a few possible clues in this case as well. Found on the 1840 U. S. census in Cass County, Indiana, is a man named John Brower, with a household that includes a male aged 20-30, a male aged 70-80, and a female aged 20-30. Assuming, that the male aged 70-80 is the head of household, i.e. John Brower, that would leave the male aged 20-30 as a probable son, born between 1810 and 1820. Jeremiah John Brower, born in 1815, could fill this role. The location is right, and the age is right. John Brower may be the father of Jeremiah John Brower. No other person named Brower (or Brewer) are found in Cass County in 1840. No other Browers (or Brewers) are found in Cass County in 1850, with the exception of Jeremiah John Brower.
John Brower is aged 70-80 in 1840, therefore born between 1760 and 1770, and very possibly in New York, if he in fact is Jeremiah John's father (we know that Jeremiah John Brower was born in New York). A search of the census records in New York for 1800, 1810, 1820 and 1830, finds one man, a John Brower, at Petersburg, Rensselaer County, New York. In 1830, he is aged 60-70, thus also born between 1760 and 1770, just as John Brower of Cass Co. in 1840 is assumed to be born. The two mentioned John Browers could well be the same man (after 1830, no John Brower is found at Petersburg, N.Y.). If nothing else, this would at least provide a location to search for records that might help identify John Brower and (or) Jeremiah John Brower. Probate records, land records and even other court records for Petersburg in Rensselaer County, New York, and surrounding area, for the time frame of 1760 to 1840, need to be searched. The vicinity of Petersburg, New York, is also known as a location where others descended from Nicholas Brouwer lived during the period of 1760 to, at least, 1820.

Jeremiah John Brower and Sarah Jane Woods had seven children, John Wesley, Mary, Susan J., Albert W., Eliza J., James Allen, and Martha C., and what is known of their descendants has been assembled into a summery that has been placed online, Descendants of Jeremiah John Brower. This is largely the work of Lois Brower, a descendant of Jeremiah John Brower. She would be interested in hearing from others, either descended from Jeremiah John Brower, or who are researching his possible ancestry, especially if they may have any bit of information that might open the door to finding the ancestral line back to Adam Brouwer. Lois can be reached by e-mail.

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