Annetje Jans and Antje Berge

The post of September 15, 2013, "Correction to the Family of Pieter Jansz Brouwer and Annetje Jans," corrects an error that is found in a 2007 published account of the descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands (NYGB Record, vol. 138, no. 4, p. 250). As mentioned towards the end of the post, the correction leaves us with two women, one being Annetje Jans who we know married a Pieter Brouwer in 1687, and the second being Antje Berge, who we know was a widow of a Pieter Brouwer in 1731. Left with that, I suspect that Annetje Jans and Antje Berge are one and the same, and that their respective husbands, both named Pieter Brouwer, are also one and the same.

We'll start with a timeline of events and locations.

• On 15 February 1687, marriage banns were recorded with the Reformed Protestant Dutch of Flatbush in Kings County reading, "Pieter Brouwer, j.m., tot nieu amersfort met Annetie Jansen, meede woonachtigh aldaar." This translates to "Pieter Brouwer, young man at New Amersfort; with Annetie Jansen, also residing there." [Source: Voorhees, David William. Records of The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush, Kings County, New York, Vol.1, 1677-1720. New York: Holland Society of New York, 1998. Pages 256 and 257]. This record establishes that Pieter Brouwer was never before married and was living at New Amersfoort (a.k.a. Flatlands) and that Annetie's patronymic was Jansen (her father was named Jan), and she was also living at New Amersfoort. Whether or not she had previously been married is not stated in the record and is therefore not known with certainty.
• On 30 October 1695, we have the baptism of Hans, child of "Piter Brouwer and Antie Brouwers," recorded in the Town Records of Flatbush. The sponsors were "Cornelis willemse and machiel willemse," believed to be the brother-in-law and sister of Pieter Brouwer, who is the father of the child, Hans. [Source: Voorhees, David William. Records of The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush, Kings County, New York, Vol.1, 1677-1720. New York: Holland Society of New York, 1998. Page 449, which copied the record from "Flatbush Town Records, Misc., Vol. 1, 1652-1708, page 237]. Note that in this record both the names of the mother of the child and the female sponsor (or witness) is rendered with the surname of their husbands, and not with their own surname or patronymic. This is probably because the record is found in the Town records of Flatbush, which was under English governance. The English, generally, recorded women with their husband's surnames or patronymics. The Dutch, on the other hand, generally, recorded women with their own (maiden) surnames or patronymics. In this record, Annetje Jans is recorded with her husband's surname as Antie Brouwers.
• On 20 December 1706, Antye Browers, is listed with 23 acres on the tax assessment roll at Flatlands in Kings County. [Source: Kings County, New York, Deeds v.1-4. FHL #1413189. New York, New York, Salt Lake City, Utah: Recordak Corp.; Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957. Vol. 3, page 92. A digital image of this record is now available online at FamilySearch, New York Land Records, 1630-1975. Kings. Conveyances 1679-1736, Vol. 1-4, image 418]. Antye Browers is recorded between Marten Roelofse Schenk and Evah Van Sycklyn. Here she is again recorded with her husband's surname, and it is inferred from this record that Pieter Brouwer is, on this date, deceased. If not, his name would have appeared on the assessment list. And again here, this being a Town record, Annetje (Antye) is recorded with her husband's surname.
• On 4 November 1715, "Antie Browers, received by certificate," is recorded as a member of the Reformed Dutch Congregations at Freehold and Middletown in Monmouth County, New Jersey. [Source: "Records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vol. 22 (1947), page 4]. As this was a Dutch congregation, we would expect that women would be recorded with their own surnames or patronymics. However, the pastor of the congregation, at this time, was Joseph Morgan, an Englishman who was born at either Preston or Stonington in New London Co., Connecticut. Examining the Freehold-Middletown records as a whole during the pastorate of Joseph Morgan, we can see that often women (when they are mentioned) are recorded with the surnames of their husbands. Joseph Morgan recorded Annetje Jans' name the way any Englishman would, with her husband's surname, as "Antie Browers." (For an interesting comparison, compare the baptism register of the Freehold-Middletown "Dutch Congregation" during the pastorate of Joseph Morgan, with the baptism registers of the Congregational Churches at Preston and Stonington, Connecticut during the same period. You will find that in most records, the mother's name is not recorded). The fact that Antie Browers was received into the Freehold-Middletown Congregation, "by certificate," tells us that she was a member of a Reformed Dutch Congregation elsewhere, prior to November 1715. That elsewhere, was likely the Flatbush Church in Kings County, Long Island.
• On 11 September 1720, Anke, child of Hans Brouwer and Nelke Golder was baptized at Freehold-Middletown. The lone witness was Anke Browers. [Source: "Records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vol. 22 (1947), p. 85]. Anke is the first known child of Hans Brouwer, who was aged 25 when she was baptized. Following the tradition of the period among Dutch families, it would be expected that Hans would name a daughter for his mother, Annatje (Anke). In such cases, the witness, or sponsor of the child being baptized is usually the very person for who the child is being named. In this case "Anke Browers," is the grandmother of the child, Anke, and therefore, Annetje Jans. She, once again, is recorded by the English pastor, with her husband's surname. From this record we can also deduce that Hans Brouwer had made a move from Kings County, where he was born, to Monmouth County, New Jersey. He had additional children baptized there in 1723, 1725 and 1731 (after which he has not been located).
• On 23 August 1731, "Antie Berge, widow of Pieter Brouwer," is recorded among the members of the Dutch Congregations at Freehold and Middletown, "at Middletown." She is followed on the list by "Lucretia Brouwers, wife of Joh: Luyster." [Source:  "Records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vol. 24 (1949), page 22]. Now, this list is not a roster of members in a strict sense. What it is, as explained in the prelude to the list, is a declaration, signed by the members of the congregation, acknowledging their new pastor, Dom. Gerardus Haeghoort, and making a commitment to conduct themselves as members of the congregation, and to do what ever they can to support the congregation. In effect, it is a list of members, as only members signed the declaration, but what appears to be different here is that the members themselves signed the declaration. This is not a list written by the pastor or some other official of the church. So here, Antie Berge, is using the name by which she refers to herself as. That she is followed by Lucretia Brouwers is significant as well. Lucretia is most probably a daughter of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans. There is no record of her baptism, and there is no probate or estate settlement for Pieter Brouwer, so proof is not absolute, but the placement of Lucretia as a daughter of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans is near certain. She was born at New Amersfoort, as per her marriage banns, and she named two of her children, Pieter and Anna, for her parents.

During the period of time covered by the events listed above, it is clear that Pieter Brouwer and Annatje Jans had at least three children who relocated to Monmouth County, New Jersey and who were recorded in the records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown. In addition to Hans and Lucretia, son Jan Brouwer (married to Neeltje Van Cleef) had children baptized between 1724 and 1738 at Freehold-Middletown. It would not in anyway be a stretch to assume that Annetje Jans, widowed sometime before December 1706, would follow her adult children to Monmouth County, New Jersey. That "Antje Berge, widow of Pieter Brouwer," signed the declaration immediately before "Lucretia Brouwers, wife of Joh: Luyster" signature is probably because she was living in the household of her adult married daughter (therefore they signed the declaration at the same time). It is reasonable to presume that Antje Berge is Lucretia Brouwer's mother, and she is the person recorded as Anke Browers, Antie Browers, Antye Browers, Antie Brouwers, and Annetje Jansen in the records that came before the 1731 declaration.

Could there be another woman, known to exist, named Annetje Brouwer, to whom the some or all of the above records apply. Among the descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, the answer is no. Jan Brouwer did not have any known daughter named Annetje, and only his son Pieter married a woman named Annetje. Among the granddaughters of Jan Brouwer, only Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans themselves named a daughter, Annetje. She was probably born between 1700 and 1705, and was married to Abraham Lane by 1730 (they had a daughter, Jannetje, baptized on 15 April 1730 at Harlingen, New Jersey). Annatje Brouwer, the wife of Abraham Lane, cannot be "Antje Berge, the widow of Pieter Brouwer," on 23 August 1731. While it is possible that she is the Anke Browers who witnessed the baptism of Hans Brouwer's daughter, Anke, in 1720, it is more likely that the witness was the grandmother for whom the child was named.

Among the descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island, the answer is, also, no. Adam Brouwer named a daughter Anna, but she was married to William Hilton and all evidence points to her having spent her entire adult life in Albany, New York. Among Adam Brouwer's sons, only Jacob was married to a woman named Annetje (she being Annetje Bogardus). On the same assessment list mentioned above, this "Annitje Brower" is assessed in Brookland, with 26 acres (see image 417 of the above cited source at Family Search). She is listed in succession following Nicholas Brower (with a mill), Abraham Brower and Marya Brower, who, along with Annitie, would be widows of Adam Brouwer (Jr.) and Jacob Brouwer, respectively. Annetje (Bogardus) Brouwer is found as late as 1714 when she witnessed the baptism of a granddaughter at the New York Reformed Dutch Church. Although two of her sons did relocate to Monmouth County, New Jersey, and although one of them (William Brouwer) had a child baptized at Freehold-Middletown in 1723, there is no reason to suspect that Annetje (Bogardus) Brouwer relocated to Monmouth County herself (the other son, Adam Brewer, joined the Quakers and had no children baptized in any Reformed Dutch Church). Of the two granddaughters of Adam Brouwer, named Annatje (or some variation thereof), Anna Jacobse Brouwer was married to Jacob Quackenbosch in 1716 and had children baptized at New York and at Tappan, and Antje Pieterse Brouwer was married to William Ennes in 1726, and had children baptized at Hackensack. Neither had any association with the congregations at Freehold and Middletown.
Among the descendants of Adam Brouwer, named Pieter, who were born early enough to have been married and dead by 1731 (when Antje Berge is a widow) we have: Pieter Brouwer, b. 1701, son of Abraham Brouwer and Lea Demarest, was married to Dina DeGroot and died by 1734. Pieter Brouwer, b. 1699, son of Jacob Brouwer and Annatje Bogardus, who married (first) Elizabeth Quackenbosh in 1721, second Catharina Thong in 1750, and third Sarah Kip in 1751. And, Pieter Brouwer, baptized in 1704 at the Old Sleepy Hollow Dutch Church in Tarrytown, New York, son of Samuel Brouwer and Grietje Smith. No further record of this last Pieter Brouwer has yet been found.
Among the descendants of Jan Brouwer is Pieter Brouwer, probably born between 1700 and 1703, son of Derck Brouwer and Hannah Daws. He was married to Susanna Titsoort and had children born between 1732 and 1747.
Among those descended from Willem Brouwer, we have Petrus Brouwer, b. 1697 at Schenectady, son of Hendrick Brouwer and Maritie Borsboom. He was married to Lena Fonda in 1742.
It does not appear that there are any other known candidates who could possibly be the Pieter Brouwer, deceased by 1731, leaving a widow named Antje Berge at Middletown, New Jersey.

This leaves us with only one possibility. Annetje Jansen, Antye/Antie/Anke Brouwers, and Antje Berge, widow of Pieter Brouwer, named in the above records, are one.

Possible parents for Annetje Jans/Antje Berge (or Annetje Jans Berge) will be suggested in a follow-up post. (Update posted November 7, 2013, Annetje Jans/Antie Berge Part II).

For additional source citations, not specifically mentioned above, please see the Brouwer Genealogy Database.

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