E-BY52668, A New Sub-Clade For Descendants of Adam Brouwer

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) has identified a new haplogroup, E-BY52668, based on the results of advanced Y-DNA testing (the BigY-500 test). E-BY52668 is a sub-clade of E-BY6201 which is a haplogroup that has been identified exclusively by the Y-DNA testing of known descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I.

The new sub-clade can be seen under BY-6201 on Family Tree DNA's Public Haplotree here (hit that little + icon on the left).

E-BY52668 was identified by the comparison of the tests of two descendants of Adam Brouwer. One of the participants can trace is ancestry directly back to Adam Brouwer through Adam Brouwer's great-grandson Nicholas Brouwer (1714-1777) who lived most of his life in Dutchess County, New York at Wappingers Falls, and was married twice, first to Mary Dutcher and second to Sarah Drake. Nicholas had a large family, in effect two families, of thirteen children, six by his first wife and seven by his second wife. Some day we'll have to write up a more detailed post of Nicholas Brouwer. For now here is a chart of Nicholas Brouwer's ancestors, and here is chart is of Nicholas' known children and grandchildren (more work needs to be done here especially with the grandchildren).

Nicholas Brouwer's father was Adolphus Brouwer (1693-1742), and Hank Graham, administrator of the Brewer DNA Project, tells us that the SNP E-BY52668 appeared in the combined lines of the two individuals tested, "no earlier than Adolphus Brouwer (1693-1742)."

The second tested descendant can presently trace is paternal ancestry back only to Charles H. Brower (1820-1860) who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I mentioned Charles H. Brower in the post of November 8, 2018, "Caleb Pell Brower and Caleb S. Brower." Caleb Pell Brower is a grandson of Nicholas Brouwer (1714-1777) and a great grandson of Adolphus Brouwer (1693-1742). Caleb Pell Brower has also been claimed as the father of Charles H. Brower in a submission to the Family History Library (you may need to be signed in to FamilySearch to view this). This claim has not been proved and while we search for documents that might prove (or disprove) this father-son relationship, we can state that the new Y-DNA test results do suggest that the relationship is certainly possible, and time spent on further research is justified.

And so we now have a new sub-clade for descendants of Adam Brouwer to consider. By my count the Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. sub-group at the Brewer DNA Project now has 49 members, 15 of whom have taken the advanced BigY-500 test. If more members would take that test Family Tree DNA may well be able to identify additional sub-clades which will in turn help those trying to complete their paternal ancestry back to Adam Brouwer narrow down the lines of ancestry that they should spend their time focusing on.

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