The Brower Family Circle, Volume 5

Volume 5 of The Brower Family Circle has four issues bearing the dates April 1980, July 1980, October 1980 and January 1981. Here are summaries of each issue. PDFs of each issue can be accessed online through The Brower Family Circle page of this website.

No. 1, April 1980 (6 pages): The entire issue covers Inscriptions from the Old Brower Cemetery, Jefferson Twp., Miami County, Indiana (pages 1-5. The Browers here are descendants of Christian Brower, d. 1771, Chester Co., Pennsylvania).

No. 2, July 1980 (19 pages): Information furnished by William B. Bogardus (pages 1-4, essentially a bibliography of sources). "Dutch Records Anneke Jans and Brower - McClow Lines" (pages 5-7. Yet another Bogardus-Brower ancestry that is chock-full of false claims. The errors on page 5 have been covered in previous posts. On page 6 is the claim that Elizabeth Brower, the daughter of Isaac Brower and Jane Quackenbush married Cornelius McClow on May 10, 1785, Trenton, New Jersey. In fact, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Brouwer and Jacomyntje Quackenbosch, was born 1 December 1770 and baptized 23 December 1770 at Fishkill, New York. That would make her age 14 and a half at her marriage in May 1785, which raises doubts about this claim. I have been unable to verify the date of this marriage, and the fact that the couple did not give the names Isaac or Jacomyntie/Jemima to any of their claimed ten children, raises doubts to the accuracy of placing Elizabeth in the family of Isaac Brouwer). A summary of the family of Adam Brower and Charity Foust of Randolph Co., North Carolina (pages 7-8) with some info on their son Ephraim Brower (page 8. This family is fairly well known and has been well documented). Daniel M. Brower, born 4 August 1847, died 8 August 1931 (page 9. This is a Preble Co., Ohio family descended from Christian Brower of Chester Co., Pennsylvania). Page 10 has a lineage in which Daniel Brower (1847-1931) is fifth in line (the ancestry here shows Daniel's earliest ancestor as a Jacob Brower which disagrees with his placement as a descendant of Christian Brower). Queries: James A. Brower married Annette Wager on 27 October 1870 with five children born between 1871 and 1877; Who were the parents of Jeanette Brower who married Peter Strong on 21 June 1764 at New York's Trinity Church?; Request for info on Magdalena Brower who married John Drake in 1716 or 1718 (we now know that this marriage did not happen); Lewis William Brower, b. 20 August 1845, Preble Co., Ohio, married Sarah Reed, 4 Feb 1872 in Claiborn Parish, Louisiana; Whereabouts of Jay and Midge Brower (all on page 11). Comments from Mrs. James E. Hart on items in Volume 4, no. 1 regarding Sophia Brower (1807-1893) daughter of Jacob and Anna (Rudy) Brower. Sophia married Jacob Deardorff/Dierdorff. Includes info on the Deardorff/Dierdorff ancestry (page 12). A couple of additional corrections from Mrs. James E. Hart (page 13). An excerpt from History of Preble County, Ohio, by R. E. Lowry on Daniel M. Brower (pages 14-15). BROWER Marriage records of Preble Co., Ohio (page 16). An account of the family of Daniel Brower and Sarah Flora, followed by one of their daughter Lydia Brower and her husband Abraham Overholser, then their daughter Barbara Overholser and her husband Robert S. Harris, then of two of the children of this couple (pages 17-18).

No. 3, October 1980 (13 pages): Some data and information regarding Brower and Dockstader of Montgomery County, New York (pages 1-2. Families here are descended from Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck). Query on a Canadian BREWER line (page 3, Brewer and Pattison). Information on the family of George H. Acree and Almira A. Brower of Howell Co., Missouri and later Oklahoma (page 3). Inscriptions from a graveyard in Dripping Spring, Missouri (page 3). Seeking information on Hendrick Brower "born in Holland and was in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812" (page 4). Info and a query from Alfred H. Brower (page 4, take Alfred's claims here with a grain of salt). Query into John Clark Brewer, b. 12 October 1854 in Alabama, died in 1944 in Travis Co., Texas (page 4). Data regarding Brower and Davidson from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana (page 5. A check of the census record mentioned finds that the surname here is BREWER, not Brower. Zion and Harlan Brower [sic] are likely descendants of George Brewer of Brunswick Co., Virginia). A pedigree of Inez L. Schenk back to Anneke Jans who is incorrectly called "Anneke Jans Webber" (pages 6-7. Use all Anneke Jans pedigrees with caution). Obituary of Avery G. Brower who died Sept. 17, 1980 (page 8). Lineage of Veva Brewer Mann, b. 15 August 1906 in Sedwick Co., Kansas (page 9. This lineage takes us back to her great-great grandfather Stephen Brewer, b. ca. 1774. Y-DNA testing of a direct male descendant of this Stephen Brewer, the tested descendant being a descendant of Veva Brewer's father, William David Brewer, proves that the Brewers of this line are descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, Long Island). Queries on Adaline Brower of North Carolina who married Peter Shamburger; Jeremia Brower, miller of Kings County, New York who administered the estate of Thomas Stillwell in 1759; Marie Brower/Brouwer who married John Heaton in 1785 in Bergen Co., New Jersey; parents of Catherine Brower, b. ca. 1810, Rome, New York, married Edward Mott; seeking info on the family of Seth Brower of Gloversville, New York (page 10). Queries continue on page 11: John Brewer, died 1809 in Scioto Co., Ohio (see here and here, Y-DNA testing tells us that John Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. and is not a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. Also see Richard Brewer, Scott Kraus, William B. Bogardus, "DNA Analysis: Adam Brouwer Berckhoven, Elias Brouwer of New Jersey and John Brewer of Ohio," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 138, October 2007, page 254). William Thomas Brower, had son George William Brower, b. 1862 in California who married Clara Estella Hunting (George W. Brower's father was actually Thomas Jefferson Brower who died 23 September 1869 in San Jose, California. His ancestry remains unknown). Queries on page 12: Elizabeth Brewer married Daniel Ridenour, Washington Co., Maryland, died in Rochester, Iowa. Who are the parents of Alfred D. Brewer, b. 16 Jan 1830, New York City, married Marrietta Rogers in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, moved to Columbus, Wisconsin and had six children there between 1863 and 1880 (use the index at the Brouwer Genealogy Database website to find Alfred D. Brewer, b. between 1824 and 1830, d. 2 June 1881, to find a bit more on his ancestry).

No. 4, January 1981 (12 pages): Notes regarding Uriah Hand and his wife "Affa, Assa, Ascenath Brewer," of North Carolina (pages 1-3). A lineage from Adam Brouwer (pages 4-5. The claim that Adam is a son of a Frans Simonsen Brouwer and the family given for Frans is incorrect, the family given and the birth date stated for Adam Brouwer is by all accounts fictitious. See here for more on the origins of Adam Brouwer). A lineage from a New England BREWER family (page 6. The Nathaniel Brewer, b. 20 Jan 1756 was a descendant of John Brewer of Sudbury, Massachusetts. You can look him up on the New England Brewers website). A lineage back to Jacob Brower, b. 16 Feb 1756, of Mifflin Co., Pennsylvania (page 7. The lineage suggests that Henry Brower, 1720-1784 was his father, but this does not appear to be correct). Brower Family Records compiled by Charles Major in 1936 (pages 8-11. Use this account with caution, especially with the earlier generations. The author places Jacob Brower of Mifflin County as a son of Henry Brower, 1720-1784, but I do not believe that this is correct).

Please use all claims and statements found in The Brower Family Circle, not as proof, but rather as step to additional research.

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