The Will of James Brewer of Wyandot County, Ohio, 1881

The will of James Brewer of Pitt, Wyandot County, Ohio is found in Wyandot County Wills, Volume 3, pages 78-80. Images are online at FamilySearch.org in Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996, Wyandot County. An order was made on 22 April 1881 in the Wyandot County Probate Court on the matter of James Brewer's will, with a hearing scheduled for 2 May 1881. The widow and heirs were to be notified by the order. A copy of the will follows (pp. 79-80). James calls himself of the township of Pitt. He leaves to his beloved wife, in lieu of dower, "the farm on which we now reside situate in Pitt Township, Wyandot Co., O., containing about 21 acres during her natural life and all the stock and household goods, etc." At her death, five acres "of the north end of the real estate," are devised to his youngest son, Marion (sic) C. Brewer and his heirs. The balance, of about 16 acres, are left to Jacob Brewer, Philip Brewer, James W. Brewer, Mary E. Hall, and Sarah A. Stevens. He authorizes his heirs, after his wife's death, to pay her doctor bills and funeral expenses. The will is dated 8 April 1881, and James signs with his mark. Witnesses are John W. Holloway and Augustus Smith. Z. L. (or T) Smith is authorized to "hold" his will. Ordered to appear on 2 May 1881 at the Probate Court are Mary A. Brewer, widow, and Jacob Brewer, Philip Brewer, James W. Brewer, Mary E. Hall, Sarah A. Stevens and Marvin C. Brewer, "heirs at law of the said James Brewer, deceased." On the 23rd of April the heirs acknowledged the order by signing, with Jacob and Philip signing with their marks.

With the family of James Brewer set by his will, tracking his descendants is relatively easy using Ancestry.com. What interests us, however, is James Brewer's ancestry. Just recently a direct male descendant of James Brewer took a Y-Chromosome DNA test and the results of his test match the others in the Brewer DNA Project who are descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. The tested descendant tells us that James was born in Fulton County, New York in 1808. Fulton County was created in 1838 out of Montgomery County. Therefore, we will also need to look into Montgomery County records for possible parents for James. A number of Ancestry.com "trees," give James' parents as Daniel Brewer (1771-1849 or 1851 depending on the tree) and Sarah Clark (1773-1850). This is certainly possible, but we would like to see proof for this claim. Many of the "trees" found at Ancestry.com are poorly researched, and contain conflicting records regarding a Daniel Brewer within them. I won't go into details, and will just say that none leave me with enough confidence to consider them as correct. Having said that, there is a Daniel Brewer, age 79, born in New York, on the 1850 U. S. census at Pitt, Wyandot Co., Ohio. The age would place his year of birth as about 1771. This Daniel Brewer is enumerated in the household of David Williams, age 36, born in Pennsylvania, a farmer. The household also includes Sarah Williams, age 25, born in New York, and four (probable) children, including Daniel, age 6 and Sarah, age 3. I would suspect that Sarah Williams is a daughter of Daniel Brewer, but again, we want to see some further evidence.

1850 U.S. Census, Pitt, Wyandot, OH (NARA via Ancestry.com)

Other BREWER heads of households on the 1850 census, found in Pitt Township, are: Parrish C. Brewer (age 37, born in New York), and Jacob A. Brewer (35, NY). In addition, we have back in Fulton County, New York, a Daniel Brewer of Broadalbin who died there in 1887. His gravestone gives his year of birth as 1796. I've placed some info on this Daniel Brewer online in this PDF. What catches my attention here is that Daniel (1796-1887) has a son named Parris Brewer. The 1850 U. S. census for James Brewer's household includes is (assumed) son, "Parrish H. Brewer." And as just mentioned, a Parrish C. Brewer, also heads a household in Pitt Twp. in 1850. With this unusual name, Parris, or Parrish, found in these Brewer families who lived in same locations, I have no doubt that all of these families are closely related.

1850 U.S. census, James Brewer household, Pitt Twp., OH (NARA via Ancestry.com)

This is not the first time we've encountered unplaced Brewer descendants of Adam Brouwer at Broadalbin, New York. The March 15, 2017 post, "John Brewer (1796-1849) of Broadalbin, New York," mentions the fact that we have a direct male descendant of this John Brewer in the Brewer DNA Project who also (by the results and matches of his Y-DNA test) tells us that he is a descendant of Adam Brouwer. 

And so with this, we have a start. What we are looking for is confirmation of the identity of the parents of James Brewer, who have been suggested as a Daniel Brewer and Sarah Clark. And secondly, how is James Brewer of Pitt, Wyandot Co., Ohio related to John Brewer (1796-1849) of Broadalbin, Fulton Co., New York? Are they brothers? Are they first cousins? (We know that both must be descendants of Adam Brouwer, and most likely through Adam's son Nicholas Brouwer).

Some links that should be helpful for continued searching:

Wyandot County, Ohio Probate Records - The records start in the year 1845 which is the year the county was created out of parts of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock Counties. All of these counties will have to be explored for records prior to 1845.

Here is the Wyandot County Wiki page. There are a lot of links and suggestions here, although not much with regard to deeds and land records which is what I was looking for. Not to fear, browse only deed records are online at FamilySearch via links on this page, Deed Records 1826-1886; index, 1826-1946. I'd be looking for any transactions between and/or involving Brewers, especially in Pitt Township. Perhaps there is record of the transfer of inherited property which would imply, or even specifically state, family relationships.

The Montgomery County, New York Wiki page has some general links, but I'd start with New York Probate Records, 1629-1971, Montgomery County, and New York Land Records, 1630-1975, Montgomery County. Montgomery County was the parent county of Fulton County.

Fulton County was created in 1838. Here is the Wiki page, New York Probate Records, 1629-1971, Fulton County, and New York Land Records, 1630-1975, Fulton County.

If anyone can add to and advance our efforts to find the connection between James Brewer and John Brewer, and the connections for both to Adam Brouwer, we'd appreciate input via the Comments for this post (below). Any help is appreciated. I anticipate having more to add with future posts as well.

BGB 614