Sunset at Gowanus Bay

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

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Y-DNA Testing Identifies Another Branch of Descendants of Hubert Brower


The Y-DNA test results of a direct male descendant of Nicholas Brower (1771-1847) of Randolph County, North Carolina, match the results of previously tested descendants of Hubert Brower who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1726. The results allow us to confidently state that the tested descendant, and therefore his direct paternal ancestor, Nicholas Brower, are descendants of Hubert Brower.

The Hubert Brower sub-group of the Brewer DNA Project now has eight Y-DNA tested members.

The first paragraph found below the chart on the document, "Revisions to the Chart of Descendants of Hubert Brower," placed online in January 2017, can now be revised, as the sought after descendant has been found, and Nicholas Brower's likely place on the chart can be suggested.

Nicholas Brower died on 10 July 1847 and is buried in Brower Cemetry in Seagrove, Randolph County, North Carolina. Every account I have seen regarding Nicholas give him a year of birth as 1771. Although none are documented, the 1771 date is an acceptable approximation. He is found on the 1830 U. S. census in Regiment 1, Randolph Co., North Carolina, age 50-59, so born in the 1770s. All known records regarding Nicholas as found in Randolph County and I no of no records outside that location that can confidently be attributed to Nicholas. Therefore, since he is only found in Randolph County, it is logical to assume that he is, previously unidentified, son of John Brower (a.k.a. Johannes Brauer) and Hannah Echelbaur, who had sons Christian, Abraham, David, Adam and Jacob, baptized at the Trinity Reformed Church, York County, Pennsylvania, between 1762 and 1765 (the sons were born between 1756 and 1765). A sixth presumed son, John Brower, whose will and estate was administered in Randolph County in 1814, was likely born around 1770, although no baptism record has been located for him. This John Brower's will was witnessed by Nicholas Brower and Eli Brower. Eli, born about 1792, died 1863, was a son of Nicholas, and he too lived his entire life in Randolph County, North Carolina.

 

Placement of Nicholas Brower as a son of John Brower and Hannah Echelbaur, would make Nicholas a grandson of John Brower who died about May 1777 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and a great-grandson of Hubert Brower, the immigrant. In looking at Hubert's other two sons, Christian and Henry, I find no suitable place among their immediate descendants to place Nicholas. As Christian and Henry's descendants are not known to have migrated to Randolph County, North Carolina, it seems that the only place that Nicholas can "fit" is within the family of John Brower and Hannah Echelbaur, whose sons are known to have migrated to Randolph County.

The Hubert Brower database, compiled at Ancestry.com, now includes Nicholas Brower as a son of John Brower and Hannah Echelbaur.


Location of Randolph Co. in North Carolina (from the UNC School of Social Work website)

 Y-DNA testing is conducted through the Brewer DNA Project, and FamilyTreeDNA.

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