The Patrick Family and Burwell Brewer

In his will, George Brewer, leaves his son Henry, "a young horse that we call Patrick." Some months ago, and again very recently, some of us had an e-mail exchange regarding the horse's name, which is generally associated with those who are Irish, although the name's origins and historical use is more complicated than that (I'll leave it to the reader to research the name). Recently, David V. Brewer, a co-administrator of the Brewer DNA Project and focused in the "Lanier-Brewer" sub-group, brought up what follows. I thought there might be some valuable leads in his comments for those looking to place Burwell Brewer among the descendants of George Brewer, and so asked Dave for permission to to post what follows. And so, in Dave's words:

     I'll just add a couple of comments about the name "Patrick," given to the horse in George Brewer's will. That name, as a surname, was known in Southern Virginia in the 18th century and may have been connected to relatives of George Brewer. In particular, a couple named Lewis and Sarah Patrick appear to have lived in Bristol Parish, Prince George (later Dinwiddie) County, Virginia in the 1720s. I am told (but have not seen) that there are vestry records in Bristol Parish showing the birth of their children in that decade, apparently including a man named Paul Patrick, who later lived and died in Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

     Perhaps relatedly, a man named Burwell Brewer appears to be the progenitor of one of our group's Big-Y members. This member is positive for haplogroup I-Y15031 and has a pretty solid record connection back to a man named John Brewer, who probably was Burwell's son. Some researchers list Burwell as a son of George Brewer by his second wife, Alice, but (consistent with your discussion) there is no record proof of this to my knowledge.

     As early as 1778, land entries were found for Burwell Brewer in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He, a William Brewer, and a George Brewer were in the 1782 tax list in that county. In about 1784, Burwell Brewer and George Brewer are believed to have immigrated to Georgia, settling on Long Creek, then in Wilkes County, but now in Oglethorpe County. According to a compilation of Georgia probate records by (Jeannette Holland Austin), a guardian was appointed for his minor son, John, in 1800:

     "John Brewer, minor son of Burwell, deceased, 6/18/1800, William Stone guardian - sureties, Joshua Grass, George Phillips, Oglethorpe (Northeast Georgia)."

     The maiden name of Burwell's wife (at the time of his death) is reputed to have been Elizabeth Patrick. Burwell and Elizabeth may have had a son named Patrick Brewer, who died in Oglethorpe County around 1801. There is much speculation about the dates of birth of Burwell and Elizabeth. Burwell frequently is shown as having been born around 1730, but other sources suggest that he and Elizabeth (or at least Elizabeth) may have been at least a decade or more younger that that. I suspect, without hard proof to date, that Elizabeth Brewer may have been the granddaughter of Lewis and Sarah Patrick of Bristol Parish, perhaps through their probable son Paul. Remember that in the early 1720s, George Brewer acquired land in the part of Prince George that later became Dinwiddie County.

     Whether the Patrick family had anything to do with the naming of George's horse is purely speculative, but your discussion of the name reminded me of the reputed Brewer connection to that family name, for what it's worth. Obviously, there's much more work to be done in this corner of the garden, and it's ironic that the name of a hrose has provoked this discussion about a possible connection.

     [End of Dave's comments]

Mention of Burwell Brewer can be found in Marvin T. Broyhill's, The Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia, 1626-1776, at page 90 where Burwell is suggested as a son of George Brewer and his second wife, who Broyhill claims is Alice Burwell. Here it needs to be pointed out that while we do know that George Brewer's second wife was named Alice, her maiden (or family name) is not known. Broyhill's claim that Alice's maiden name was Burwell is not supported by evidence (at least none that I've been able to find) and the suggested placement of Burwell Brewer in George Brewer's family is also unsupported. Having said that, the likelihood that a descendant of Burwell Brewer (as mentioned by Dave, above) is a Y-DNA match with other descendants of George Brewer, does tell us that Burwell is a descendant of George. If not a son, perhaps he is a grandson. The point here being that more needs to be learned regarding Burwell Brewer before he can be placed, with any confidence, within the family or descendants of George Brewer.

In our e-mail exchanges I suggested that a good deal more can be learned about George Brewer's family if only the correct identity of Alice could be learned. And to that, I offer the following questions that should be explored: Was Alice previously married? Did she bring children from a prior marriage into George's household who then took the Brewer name (and may not have been named in George's will)? Did Alice give birth to a posthumous child of George's after his death, who would not have been named in his will? Did Alice remarry after George died? Did she have a child by someone else after George died, did not marry that man, and gave the child the Brewer surname? Did Alice (perhaps remarried) leave a will that mentions her children, both with George or with some other father? And, very importantly, what was Alice's correct family name?

The Burwell Family of colonial period Virginia is relatively well known, and for what it's worth there is even a Wikipedia page about them, which does include a list of references with links (those interested in pursuing this should start with these references). No doubt, Burwell Brewer's given name originated with this family, but whether there was a direct family connection, or whether he was simply named for a family friend, or just a family that was generally admired, is not certain. But still, his given name, and any possible connection with George Brewer, or one of George's sons, and the Burwell family, should be expolored by those researching George Brewer's descendants. I've said this before to those who I have had correspondence with regarding the early generations of this family, and so I'll throw it out here for public consideration as well: one of the bug hurdles that has yet to be cleared with regards to George Brewer's sons and grandsons, is the fact that most of their wives have yet to be adequately identified. Whoever can clear that hurdle will gain a better understanding of the composition of the early generations of George Brewer's family than is currently known.

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