Hendrick Brouwer of Schenectady, New York, Will, 1706

Digital images of the will of Hendrick Brouwer of Schenectady, New York, are available online.

Hendrick Brouwer's will was dated 12 December 1706. In the will he calls himself, Hendrick Brower of Schaennectady; names his wife, Maritje, who is to receive all of his estate; mentions his wife's son, Benjamin, by a former marriage; and mentions his son, Johannis, the eldest son, who is to receive ten pounds for his birthright. The other children of Hendrick Brouwer are not named. The will was brought before the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in Albany, New York on 8 June 1710 by Philip Livingston on behalf of Maritje Brower the widow of Hendrick Brower, deceased. It was proved at the New York County Surrogate's Court on 20 May 1711. The images found online are from the Albany Court's files. The original was written in Dutch, and the the last (fifth) image is a typed English translation (obviously done many years later). The images were taken from FHL film #0824735, Albany Wills AB:6. It can also be found in New York Co. Wills, v.8, page 618 (FHL film #0874517). The abstract that is found in Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York, Vol. II, 1708-1728, Collections of the New York Historical Society (New York: the Society, 1893), page 57, might leave you with the impression that Benjamin was a son of Hendrick. He was not. Benjamin was a son of Hendrick's wife, Maritje Pieterse Borsboom, and her first husband, Teunis Carstensen. Benjamin was later known as, Benjamin Van Vleck.

Hendrick Brouwer was baptized on 9 May 1652 at the Oude Kerk (Old Reformed Church) at Amsterdam. He would have come with his parents to New Netherland as a small child. History of the Schenectady Patent in Dutch and English Times (Albany: 1883), page 100, states that he owned a lot on the east side of Church Street, beginning at a point 108 feet north from the church lot and extending probably to Front Street. Pearson, in First Settlers of Schenectady, page 27, states that the will was proved (first?) on 16 February 1707/08, and states that he was deceased before 10 March 1707.

Hendrick Brouwer and Maritje Pieterse Borsboom had eight children whose records of baptism can be found in either the Schenectady or Albany Reformed Dutch Church records. Of them, daughter, Elizabeth (1695-1783) never married. Daughter, Eva (1702-1747) married Johannes Dellamont and had eleven children. Son, Pieter (1697-1758) was married to Lena Fonda and had three known children. Son, Cornelis (1704-1765/67) married Cornelia Barheit and had three known children. Son, Hendrick (1706, living in 1765) married Elizabeth Van Eps and had four known children. Son, Jacob was baptized in 1700 and was murdered in the spring of 1730, "at the falls on the Oswego river, by an Onondaga Indian," leaving no known family. The sons, Johannes (bapt. 1693 and mentioned as eldest in his father's will) and Willem (bapt.1704) have not been identified in later records as adults. It is possible that they died at early ages, prior to marrying or having families, or it may be that some of the records pertaining to men named Johannes/Jan/John Brouwer or Willem/William Brouwer found in the first half of the 1700s, belong to these sons. The existence of possible descendants for both Johannes and Willem, remains open.

Family Group Sheet for Hendrick Brouwer and Maritje Pieterse Borsboom

BGB 82