Nicholas Brouwer in Dutchess County, New York Mortgages and Deeds

I have scanned copies of two pages of correspondence between Avis Watkins of Exeter, New Hampshire and William Bogardus. I originally received the copies from Bill back in late 2008. Avis and Bill had a correspondence that ranged over a few years during the 1980s. It was centered around Avis' search for the ancestry of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, Vermont. I don't know that Avis ever satisfactorily completed her search, and although the correct ancestry of Jeremiah Brower is not 100% certain, a highly likely ancestry for Jeremiah has been proposed in a series of posts found on this website. But I digress. The purpose of this post is to share a list of  mortgages and deeds in which the name of Nicholas Brower (or Brewer) is found. Avis had sent this list to Bill in the midst of her search for Jeremiah's ancestry (she was getting close). The two pages are online and can be accessed with the following links:

Nicholas Brower (Brewer), Dutchess County, New York, Mortgages & Deeds, page 1

Nicholas Brower (Brewer), Dutchess County, New York, Mortgages & Deeds, page 2

These pages may serve as an index to finding the originals. I will emphasize that the entries DO NOT pertain to one man named Nicholas Brouwer, but rather to multiple men of that same name. When using the records, please be careful to identify the individual record with the correct Nicholas Brower (or Brewer).

Back in the 1980s searching out these records would have required either a trip to Dutchess County, or accessing microfilmed copies of the records through either a local library that could provide such a service or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and one of its many local Family History Centers. Today, we are fortunate in that the Family History Library has digitized the microfilmed copies and has made them available online at FamilySearch.org. In this case we can find the records under "New York Land Records, 1630-1975," then selecting Dutchess County. These digitized microfilm records at FamilySearch are not searchable. It is a browse only database (at least at the time of this writing). And so, this list compiled by Avis Watkins some 30 or so years ago, comes in quite handy today.

In a series of follow up posts, and as time permits, we'll go through the records we can find online, provide links to the documents, and see if any helpful genealogical information can be discovered.

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