The Will of Benjamin Brewer of Galena, Indiana (1878) and A Correction

The will of Benjamin Brewer of Galena Township, La Porte Co., Indiana can be found in La Porte County Wills, Book C, pages 73-74. This book was accessed at Ancestry.com and the images below were taken from that site. I imagine it can also be found on the FamilySearch.org website. The will is dated 31 August 1878 and was proved 12 April 1883. This later date forces a correction in the believed date of death for Benjamin. More on that to follow.

The will is brief, and here is a brief abstract:

• Benjamin Brewer of Galena Township, La Porte Co., Indiana, being of sound mind and memory. To grandson, Benjamin Arthur Brewer, my silver watch and my riding saddle. To my daughter Margaret Van Wagenen, wife of Charles Van Waganen, all rest residue and remainder of my estate of every name and nature whatever whether real, personal or mixed to have and hold the same to her and her heirs and assigns forever subject nevertheless to the payment of the following legacies to wit to my granddaughter Henrietta Towner the sum of five hundred dollars for the payment of which I charge my estate and desire that my said daughter Margaret shall enter upon the possession of the said estate as bequeathed and devised to her immediately upon my decease without any administration or legal proceedings whatever. Witnesses: A. P. Ireland, James Moore.

Images of the will pages. Will is on page 73. Proof is on page 74.

La Porte Co., IN Wills C:73 (image from Ancestry.com)

La Porte Co., IN Wills C:74 (image from Ancestry.com)

 The only child of Benjamin mentioned in the will is his daughter Margaret, the wife of Charles Van Wagenen. Two grandchildren are mentioned - grandson Benjamin Arthur Brewer, and granddaughter Henrietta Towner.

Benjamin Brewer can be found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) here. It is strongly believed that he is a son of Henry Brewer and Jane Hundley, although absolute proof of that has not been found*. We do know from Y-DNA testing (Brewer DNA Project) of direct male descendants that Benjamin is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. His direct ancestry back to Adam Brouwer, however, has not been proved. The BGD entry shows a date of death for Benjamin of 6 April 1885, this taken from his memorial (# 73568927) at Find-A-Grave. The page includes a photo of his gravestone. We now know from the date his will was proven, 12 April 1883, that Benjamin had to have been deceased by that date, and so could not have died in 1885. His gravestone is marble (see the photo) and unfortunately inscriptions in marble stones erode with time (largely due to the effects of acid rain). I would assume that the error is simply a misread of a difficult to read inscription. Benjamin's age at death is given as 89 years on the Find-A-Grave page. The age on the BGD is 87 years, 2 months, 9 days which was taken from this page back in 2013. Benjamin's date of birth on the BGD (27 January 1796) is taken from History of La Porte County, Indiana (Chicago: Charles C. Chapman and Co., 1880): 699-700*. This date would be very close to correct (off by a day) if is age at death (87y 2m 9d) is calculated from 6 April 1883, rather than 1885. A date of death of 7 April 1883 would square the published date of birth with the age at death, assuming the later is a correct read (again, the stone is worn).

*History of La Porte County, Indiana (1880), p. 699, gives us Benjamin's date of birth and states that he was born in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, son of Henry and Jane Brewer. It does not identify Jane's family name, but other evidence has provided the proof that her name was Hundley. As this history was written during Benjamin's lifetime, albeit towards the end, Benjamin himself may have been the source for his date and place of birth and the names of his parents. I suspect it is all reliable.

BGB 663