Databases Are Back Online

The databases hosted by RootsWeb Free Pages are now back online. Links are available in the column of links on the right side of this page under Databases. They all have new URLs, so any bookmarks or links that anyone might have to them from the past will not work. They will have to be changed. Here are the new URLs:

Brouwer Genealogy Database - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/index.htm

The Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) is the "main" website as originally created at Free Pages back some years ago. The other databases are all sub-directories of BrouwerGenealogyData.

Brewer Families of New England - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/NEBrewer/index.htm

Brewer-Lanier Database - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/BrewerSouth/index.htm

Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/Freeman/

Drake Genealogy - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/Drake/index.htm

Drake in the County of Devon - http://sites.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/Devon/index.htm

Although the sites are back up, all is not perfect. While links within each of the individual databases appear to work within that database, links between databases do not work. For example, at the top of the Brouwer Genealogy Database page, you'll find a link for Brewer of New England. That link does not work. It directs you to the Ancestry.com sign in page (signing in will not get you to Brewer of New England). The reason for this is that the original URLs for all the pages uploaded to RootsWeb (years ago) have been changed. I have presently have no inclination to go about changing all of these bad links by updating the URLs. In addition, many PDF pages where housed on sub-directories of BrouwerGenealogyData, and so those URLs have also been changed. Many links to PDFs (and a few pages in html that I may have created), whether found within any of the databases, or within the posts of this, Brouwer Genealogy blog, do not work. Again, I have no desire to go about changing all of these links. Any PDFs or pages that I can locate, will be placed online elsewhere, and a link will be added to the Replacement Links and More Page. So, if you try a link, and it does not work, look on the Replacement Links and More Page for an alternate link. It will take many, many months to locate and replace all of them, and to be honest, I may never get the chance to do it all.

As I mentioned, links within each database do appear to work (obviously I can't test them all). For example, parent to child links appear to work. If you should come upon one that doesn't, it is likely because a page is missing, and I will not be able to replace it.

Finally, the BGD shows a date of April 6, 2016 (scroll down to the bottom of any page). That was the last time I uploaded the entire database to RootsWeb. As I recall, that was after the first RootsWeb meltdown was corrected, and RootsWeb had restored the site with an older edition because they had not backed up their servers for some months prior to the meltdown. The data in the databases is actually from sometime in 2015, so it's at least three years old (older for some of the other databases). I will not be updating these databases again. So, what you find there now will stand so long as the RootsWeb hosting service exists. Needless to say, you may find errors within the databases, so use them carefully. They are not, and never were, intended as "final words" on Brouwer family genealogies, but instead were placed online as a resource to help those researching their Brouwer, Brower, Brewer, etc., ancestries. So, after checking a database, look to verify. If you find any errors, or found some new evidence that changes a previously believed relationship, or whatever, write up a post explaining the error, correction, new info, send it to me, and I'll place it online here on this blog site.

Way back when, I thought the databases were a good idea. They helped a lot of folks, especially those also using Y-Chromosome DNA analysis as well, in their attempts to identify their Brouwer/Brewer ancestries. But, because of their size (the BGD alone is over 700 web pages) they became a bit unruly, and a burden to maintain and update regularly. The problems with RootsWeb's servers, and the sites going down for periods of months at a time added frustration. With all that, I have no desire to update or maintain them any longer. There are other things I'd rather do. Any new Brouwer research, findings, etc., will be posted to this blog going forward (probably in short spurts followed by periods of inactivity as seen in the rate and frequency of posting over the past year).

So, it's nice to see them back online. They're not perfect. But hopefully they'll be of help to some.

Best of luck with your research.

BGB 593