Peter Brewer (1826-1887) of Franklin, Warren County, Ohio (continued)

Continued from the post of May 30, 2019.

Julia (Swartzel) Brewer, wife of Peter Brewer (1826-1887) is found on the 1850 U. S. census at Germantown, Montgomery Co., Ohio in the household of Frederick Swartzell (sic). Julia is recorded as Jeliloh Swartzell and her age is given as 16. She was born in Ohio. The household is large and included are Elizah (sic) Swartzell, age 5, male (this is her brother Elijah mentioned in her will), and Henry Swartzell, age 0. The surname is variously spelled with one l or two (ll) over different historical records. In addition there are other variations on the surname, some from mis-transcriptions for indexes and the like.

The will of Frederick Swartzell is found in Montgomery Co., Ohio Wills, vol. M, p. 207. The will was presented to the Probate Court of Montgomery County on 20 July 1885. The will itself begins on page 208. He leaves property to his daughter-in-law Jane Swartzell (land; she would be the wife of son Elijah Swartzell), his son Isaac Swartzell (land), son Elijah Jackson Swartzell (land), daughter Geliea Brewer and her heirs (a 64 acre tract of land), grandchildren Clara Smith, Robert Smith, Charles Barkelow and Perry Swartzell ($100 each), granddaughter Marietta Barkelow ($200). The will is dated 30 August 1884 and Frederick Swartzell signed with his mark. Additional items are then added to the will in which Frederick Swartzell mentions that his sons Henry and Isaac are to support their mother Margaret Swartzell. The full probate file is not available at FamilySearch.org, however, it is available at Ancestry.com (with a subscription to the U. S. records). As with Julia Brewer's will, there is a sheet on which heirs are mentioned.

Montgomery Co. OH Estate File no. 14315. Frederick Swartzell (Montgomery Co. OH Probate via Ancestry.com)

Julia Brewer, her name rendered as Gelilia Brewer. Also listed, although not mentioned in the will, is son Michael D. Swartzell. We will get back to him soon. First we should take a step back and mention some general information regarding the location and settlement of the towns in which the Swartzell and Brewer families lived.

The Swartzells lived in the Township of German, Montgomery County, Ohio and that is location of the marriage of Peter Brewer and Julia Swatsley (sic). Peter and Julia then lived in Franklin, Warren County, Ohio. Warren County and Montgomery County are adjacent to one another and are found in the southwest corner of Ohio. Montgomery County borders Warren County on Warren's northwest. The town of Franklin is on Warren County's north line and it abuts Montgomery County and the Township of German (which includes the village of Germantown). The History of Warren County, Ohio (W. H. Beers, 1882) which is available online, gives us a brief history of Franklin Township beginning at page 509. The first settlement at or near Franklin appears to have happened in 1804 (Ohio had been admitted as a state in 1803) and the first there were brothers, William and Derrick Barkelow. They were from New Jersey. As you read through the history you will find mention of the names Vanderveer, Dubois, Lane, Schenck, Conover, Poast, Wyckoff, Denise and Barkelow. Those who have spent time researching the Brewers and Browers of New Jersey (particularly in Monmouth County) will recognize these surnames. Turn (scroll) to page 515 and you will find mention of the New Jersey Presbyterian Church. Both Peter and Julia Brewer are buried in the "New Jersey Presbyterian Cemetery" in Carlisle, which a village partly in Franklin Township and partly in German Township. Although not mentioned by name in The History of Warren County, Ohio, there can be no doubt that Peter Brewer's parents came to Franklin, Ohio with these families. Peter himself was born in Ohio, as per census records, in 1826. On the 1880 U. S. census the place of birth of his parents is stated to be New Jersey.

As mentioned above, Michael D. Swartzell is listed as a son of Frederick Swartzell in the file for Frederick's estate. He is listed first (although not mentioned in the will) and on that 1850 U. S. census record for Frederick Swartzell's family he is recorded as age 18, the eldest of Frederick's children. On 10 October 1855, Michael Swartzell married, in Warren County, Sarah Jane Brewer. Records of the New Jersey Presbyterian Church at Carlisle, Ohio, record the birth of Sarah Jane, daughter of Aaron and Patience Bruer (sic) as 29 September 1834.

NJ Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, OH. Record of birth and baptism of Sarah Jane Brewer (Ancestry.com)

Sarah Jane (Brewer) Swartzell died 13 June 1893 and his buried in the New Jersey Presbyterian Cemetery. Her husband, Michael Swartzell died in 1903. Sarah's father, Aaron Brewer can be found in Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio on the 1850 U. S. census. Aaron is age 52, and was born in New Jersey. In the household are Oletta Brewer, age 22, Aaron Brewer, age 17 and Anky Brewer, age 15. All three were born in Ohio. Aaron's wife was Patience D. Wikoff (Wyckoff). She had died in 1839. Aaron died in 1856, and both are buried in the New Jersey Presbyterian Cemetery. The profile for Aaron Brewer on the BGD is incomplete, and we can now add daughter Sarah Jane Brewer, born 29 September 1834 in Warren Co., Ohio, to the family. The first I find of Aaron Brewer in Franklin, Ohio is on the 1830 U. S. census where he is listed tenth up from the bottom on page 199, just above Aukey Wycoff who would have been Patience Wycoff's father. Examine this census page and you will notice that it is dominated by family names familiar to anyone who has conducted research in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

1830 U.S. census Franklin, OH, p. 199 (NARA via Ancestry.com)

Aaron's household is recorded as one male under age 5, 1 male 30-39, two females under 5, one female 5-9, one female 20-29. The family for Aaron Brewer as found on the last edition of the BGD does not include a son who would have been born between 1825 and 1830 as the 1830 census suggests. Although we have to continue to search for more convincing proof, I strongly suspect that the male child under age 5 is our Peter Brewer, born in 1826, the husband of Julia Swartzell. I'll just add to this that the only other Brewer family in Franklin, Ohio by 1850 is the family of the elder Peter Brewer, born ca. 1797. In the May 30, 2019 post, we concluded that the younger Peter was not a son of the elder Peter as had previously been suggested.

The Find-A-Grave memorial for Aaron Brewer (#32008264) includes a photo of a worn gravestone, and gives his date of birth as 25 April 1796. On the Brouwer Genealogy Database, I suggested that Aaron Brewer might be one and the same as Aaron Brower, who according to a Bible record, was born 15 April 1796, a son of Peter Brower (1760-1821) and his wife Anne (1761-1811). The difference in the birth dates is just the first digit of the day of birth, and I can't help but suspect that this is simply a transcription error somewhere along the line which is re-enforced by the fact that Aaron's gravestone in Carlisle is worn. Again, we want to find more evidence, but I'd suggest that Peter and Anne Brower's son, Aaron, went to Carlisle, Ohio. The ancestry of Peter Brower (1760-1821) is not certain. The Bible record says that he is a son of Cornelis Brouwer (1713-1768) and who was a son of Sybrandt Brouwer and Sara Webber. I very much doubt that claim. Cornelis Brouwer's family is fairly well documented and there is no record of a son Peter. In addition, Sybrandt Brouwer is a very popular but often incorrect "gateway ancestor" for those desperately seeking a link to the infamous Anneke Jans (who was his great grandmother). I think that this is just another case of that. The mentioned Bible record can be found online here. A transcription of the Bible record begins at page 7. Previous to that (pp. 4-6) we have the supposed Anneke Jans lineage (there are errors within this as well). The link of Peter to Cornelis is likely an addition by the transcriber. Probably wishful thinking and yet another false Anneke Jans lead.

I'd suggest that it is more likely that Peter Brower, whose birth is given only as 1760, but who apparently lived in New Jersey, was the Petrus Brouwer, baptized on 23 September 1759 by the Reformed Dutch Congregation at Freehold and Middletown, New Jersey, a son of Pieter Brouwer and Antje Van Dyk. If correct, he would then be a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and not of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus. Y-DNA testing of a direct male descendant of Aaron Brewer of Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio, may help us here. If there is one out there, the Brewer DNA Project would love to hear from you.

Lizzie E. Brewer has not been forgotten. She was the niece named in the estate file of Julia Brewer (see the May 30 post). BREWER was Lizzie's married name. She was born Lizzie E. (or Elizabeth) Swartzel in about 1876 (January 1876 according to the 1900 U. S. census) and was a daughter of D. Calvin Swartzell and Louisa Rexsold. D. Calvin Swartzell (1841-1913) was a brother of Julia (Swartzel) Brewer, and so Lizzie E. was Julia's niece through her own family and not through her husband Peter Brewer's family. Lizzie E. Swartzel was first married to George W. Wagner on 7 September 1893 in Montgomery Co., Ohio. George died in 1894. On 30 October 1907, in Montgomery County, Lizzie Wagner married Albert Brewer. The record of this marriage lists her parents as Calvin Swartzel and Louisa Rerroad (sic). Albert's mother is given as Anna Davis. Anna Davis was married on 21 February 1858, in Warren County, to Aaron Brewer who in turn was a son of Aaron Brewer and Patience Wycoff. Albert and Lizzie Brewer can be found in City Directories and census records for Dayton, Ohio beginning in 1910. Albert's full name was Jeremiah Albert Brewer. According to his WWI draft card he was born 25 October 1878. They did not have children.

Research for much of the above was done using Ancestry.com. For sources please consult the various pages for Aaron Brewer, Peter Brewer, Julia Swartzel, Frederick Swartzel, Lizzie Swartzel,  and Jeremiah Albert Brewer. A paid subscription is required to access these pages - I know, that stinks, but Ancestry.com is, like it or not, the most efficient way to research 19th and 20th century families and genealogical records. For other sources please consult the Brouwer Genealogy Database with the links found above in this post. Finally, an important note: the Ancestry.com pages are located with a "tree" (I prefer calling it a database, but Ancestry calls them trees) titled, "Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I." It is important to note that it has not yet been proved that Aaron Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer. These profiles are found there because research began with Peter Brewer (b. ca. 1797) and once things got rolling it was more efficient to keep it all together in this database (tree). Having said that, I do think that Aaron Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer, but we do want more convincing proof, and perhaps a Y-DNA test from a direct male descendant.

In summary: Peter Brewer (1826-1887) is not a son of Peter Brewer (b. ca. 1797) of Franklin, Ohio. Peter Brewer (1826-1887) is more probably a son of Aaron Brewer (1796-1856) and Patience Wicoff/Wycoff. Peter Brewer (1826-1887) married Julia Swartzell. They had three daughters (and possibly a son Willie H. who died as an infant, but that's not certain and needs further investigating which we have no room for here). None of the daughters appear to have had children and it is looks as if there are no living descendants of Peter Brewer (1826-1887). Aaron Brewer (1796-1856) is probably the Aaron Brower born to Peter Brower and his wife Anne. He was born in New Jersey and came to Franklin, Ohio with other families whose origins are in Monmouth County, New Jersey. I suspect that Aaron Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, and that he and Peter Brewer (b. ca. 1797 in New Jersey) who is also found in Franklin, Ohio, are somehow cousins. Peter Brewer (b. ca. 1797) is a descendant of Jan Brouwer. Aaron Brewer had descendants and some may well be living today. Any living direct male descendants of Aaron Brewer could help the cause of identifying his ancestry by taking a Y-DNA test, the results of which could be compared to known descendants of both Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. and Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I.

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