A Summary of My Involvement With The Brewer DNA Project

"The Brewer DNA Project is a Y-chromosome project focused on the direct male (paternal) lines of ancestry of men with the surnames BREWER, BRUER, BROWER, BROUWER, BRAUER, BRUERE, BROWERE, and other possible variations." This is taken from the Overview page of the Brewer DNA Project, which is hosted by Family Tree DNA. In short, it is a Y-Chromosome Project that seeks the participation of males with the surname BREWER and all those variations mentioned above. The larger purpose of the Brewer DNA Project is to identify by way of Y-Chromosome DNA testing, the numerous and unique families with variations of the surname BREWER with origins found primarily (but not limited to) colonial America. The Project's Goals page will tell you more. The Brewer DNA Project was initiated in 2004 by Grant Johnston, was administered by Richard Brewer until January 2017, and is now administered by Hank Graham. I was involved as a co-administrator from 2010 through December 2017. The current co-administrators are David V. Brewer, Foy Varner, Janet Brewer and Daniel H. Brewer who is new to the role as of last week. I'll refer you to the Project's Background page for more. I often wanted to, but have yet to taken the time to review, summarize or in some way, recap, my experience with the Brewer DNA Project, how it's contributed to Brouwer Genealogy, and how it is used to augment traditional genealogical research. And so, that is what this post is all about.

I was first introduced to the Brewer DNA Project through corresponding with William B. Bogardus, Richard Brewer, Karen Brewer Sims and a few others just prior to the publication of the groundbreaking article "DNA Analysis: Adam Brouwer Berckhoven, Elias Brouwer of New Jersey and John Brewer of Ohio," authored by Richard Brewer, Scott Kraus and William B. Bogardus, which appeared in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, volume 138, no. 4 (October 2007) on pages 245-49. To my knowledge it is one of the first, if not the first article published in a major genealogical publication that addressed the use of Y-DNA testing to solve long standing genealogical problems that were not solvable by using traditional genealogical research methods alone. In addition it corrected some previously claimed, but erroneous lineages descended from Adam Brouwer.

At the time I had my own genealogical "brick wall" to solve, that being the ancestry of my wife's 5th-great grandfather, Jeremiah Brower/Brewer of Highgate, Vermont. Back in 2007 I was unable to prove Jeremiah Brower's ancestry using the usual genealogical methods. No record of his birth or baptism has been found (and at this point I doubt one survives or exists). It was only though Y-Chromosome DNA testing, through the Brewer DNA Project, of direct male descendants of Jeremiah Brower, that we were able to conclude (without a doubt) that Jeremiah was somehow a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I.  This experience is an example of the primary usefulness of the Brewer DNA Project (and other Y-Chromosome focused projects). That is, Y-DNA testing of a direct male descendant of your earliest known Brewer or Brower (etc.) ancestor, will, if nothing else, direct you one of the many unrelated early American Brewer (etc.) families, allowing you to focus continued research on that ONE family. Not only will the results of a Y-DNA test point you in the direction of where to look for your unsolved ancestry, it will eliminate many false leads that you may have received from less reliable sources (such as "family trees" found online at many varied websites, or in old 19th and early 20th century published genealogies and "mug books," that are often in error).

In the years since its inception, and as membership and participation has grown, the Brewer DNA Project has been to separate out and identify the following unique colonial period families:

1. Adam Brouwer, Gowanus, L. I., whose members are identified by the haplogroup E-M35 and its equivalent E-L117. Descendants who have taken SNP Y-DNA tests identify the haplogroup more narrowly as E-BY6201 or the equivalent E-Y19643. 
2. Jan Brouwer, Flatlands, L. I., whose descendants are identified by the haplogroup I-M223, and more narrowly through further SNP testing, I-Y7214. 
3. Hubert Brower, Immigrant to Pennsylvania in 1726, descendants are identified by haplogroup R-M269, and one member having taken additional SNP tests narrows this down to R-Y30608.
4. John Brewer, Sudbury, MA. Three descendants are identified by haplogroup R-L21. Advanced SNP testing of two descendants narrows this to R-FGC46823
5. Arthur Brewer, Pitt Co., NC, identified by haplogroup J-M172 and more narrowly by additional SNP testing as J-CTS6804 and J-Y18828. 
6. Ambrose Brewer, of Moore Co., NC and later TN. Descendants are identified by haplogroup R-M269, and more narrowly by R-Y53883.
7. The sub-group known in the Project as Lanier-Brewer or Brewer-Lanier. Certainly the most poorly named subgroup (I'd suggest changing it) it by far has the most members, now over 80. We know that some members are descendants of George Brewer of Brunswick Co., Virginia, and while others most likely are descendants of George, it cannot yet be ruled out that the common ancestor may have been an ancestor of George Brewer by a generation or two. Members are identified as haplogroup I-M253, and further SNP testing of many members narrows this down to I-Y15031 with even further sub-branches I-Y23078, I-Y21524, and I-Y29640.

The above seven are singled out because each group has a meaningful number of matching participants, and/or because existing traditional research on the progenitor and many of his descendants is significant. In addition to those above there are seven other sub-groups with fewer members and less research for, but who have identified a common earliest known ancestor (EKA). And there is yet another six sub-groups whose EKA is not known. Meanwhile there are still dozens of "Unplaced" members whose Y-DNA test results have yet to match another individual with the Brewer surname, who are hoping that a match some day joins the project.

Since its inception the most note worthy findings discovered by the Brewer DNA Project has been the identification of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. and Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. as two unrelated progenitors of families with origins in New Netherland, and early colonial New York and New Jersey (see the NYGBR article mentioned above). The other note worthy finding would be the comparison of Y-DNA test results that now demonstrate that Ambrose Brewer of Moore Co., NC is not a genetic descendant of George Brewer of Brunswick Co., VA. Although there may still be some family relationship between the two, we now know that George is not the father of Ambrose, and he is not a direct paternal grandfather of Ambrose.

I have spent many years researching, by traditional genealogical research methods, lines of ancestry that lead back to the Brouwer families of the colonial period in America, and I can say without hesitation that there are some locations and places in time, where due to an absence or the loss of vital records, court records, land records, i.e. the traditional material we look at for evidence of family relationships, continuing particular lines of ancestry further back is very difficult and in some cases probably not possible. The short time I spent researching some Brewer families in the southern colonies underscored this and showed me that there is even less traditional material available in the southern colonies. My involvement with the Brewer DNA Project has shown me that genetic genealogy, especially Y-DNA testing, can make up for the lack of evidence from traditional research. Many members first came to the project with a genealogy that stopped somewhere in the 18th or early 19th centuries, with little idea as to where to look next. Y-DNA test results have at least shown them where to focus continued research and has given them a colonial period ancestor to concentrate their efforts on.

With that, I would strongly recommend to those who have reached a brick wall with their Brewer (etc.) lineage, to consider Y-DNA testing. I would also ask those who do know their complete lineage back to the colonial progenitor, to also participate by taking a Y-DNA test. Your test results add to what is known and will eventually help some previously unknown cousin, get closer to discovering their unknown ancestors.  

I hope to follow (soon) with one more post offering tips, based on my experience, for those considering Y-DNA testing and joining the Brewer DNA Project.

BGB 584