Correcting Two Men Named Gilbert Brewer, Both of Monmouth County, New Jersey

The Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) last revised in early 2016, includes two men named Gilbert Brewer, both of whom lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey during the first half of the 1800s. The two are currently shown as Gilbert Brewer, born 11 September 1801, son of Cornelius Brewer and Jane Williamson, married to Hannah Voorhees, and Gilbert Brewer, born 1799, died 12 May 1847, parents unknown, and married to Deborah Morris. A deed involving the heirs of William Williamson shows that the two Gilbert Brewers need to be switched. That is to say, Cornelius Brewer's son Gilbert Brewer married Deborah Morris, while the parents of the Gilbert Brewer who married Hannah Voorhees are now unknown.

The deed that helps to clarify the two Gilbert Brewers is found in Monmouth Co., New Jersey Deeds V3:33-35.

This indenture dated 20 March 1838 between Cornelius Brewer David Brewer & Caroline his wife Gilbert Brewer & Deborah his wife Johnston Brewer & Louisa his wife and Elizabeth Brewer all of the Township of Shrewsbury County of Monmouth State of New Jersey party of the first part and Garret W. Wycoff of the same place party of the second part...in consideration of the sum of two hundred and forty dollars lawful money of the United States to them in hand well and paid by the said party of the second part...the equal undivided four fifths of those certain tracts or lots of land and premises situate lying and being in the Township Freehold County and State aforesaid and are numbered lots No. 4 and No. 10 on the map and division of the Real Estate of William Williamson Dec'd made by the Commissioners appointed to divide the same among the heirs of said dec'd under which were set off in said division to the said David Gilbert Johnston and Elizabeth together with William Brewer who is now deceased children and heirs at law of Jane Brewer dec'd late Jane Williamson the wife of said Cornelius Brewer above named Lot No. 4 butted and bounded as follows...

Anyone interested in the full description of the property can access the original document via the link above. I'm not going to transcribe it all out here, the important genealogical information is spelled out in the first portion of the deed (although there is one point of confusion which will need clarifying and will be addressed in a separate post). The deed is signed on page 35 by Cornelius Brower, David Brower, Gilbert Brower, Deborah T. Brower, Johnson Brower, Louisa Brower and Elizabeth Brower (the signatures all use the spelling BROWER while the deed uses the spelling BREWER).

In addition to correcting the placement of the two Gilbert Brewers, further research has yielded additional details and corrections regarding the family of Cornelius Brewer/Brower of Shrewsbury, New Jersey. They will be addressed in a separate post, for now we will just mention that the profile of Cornelius Brewer on the BGD is incomplete. Regarding the two Gilbert Brewers...

Cornelius Brewer and Jane Williamson's son, Gilbert, was born 11 September 1801 (presumably in Monmouth County) and was baptized by the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Freehold and Middletown on 18 November 1802. He married, prior to 8 September 1825 when their first child was born, Deborah T. Morris, who is called Deborah Tabor Morris in a Bible Record of her son Gilbert H. Brower. This couple had nine children (according to the Bible record). Gilbert died 12 May 1847 and is buried in the Old First Methodist Churchyard in West Long Branch, New Jersey (Find-A-Grave memorial #5011237 which includes a photo). His gravestone gives his age as 48, implying that he was born in 1799, but when compared with the Reformed Dutch Church's record of his birth is apparently overstated. Deborah T. (Morris) Brower remarried Francis Whitmill (who also is found as Thomas Whitnell, 1850 US census at Brooklyn, New York) and died 29 October 1857. She is also buried in the Old First Methodist Cemetery. Francis Whitmill lived until 1892 and is buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

The Gilbert Brewer, currently shown on the BGD as a son of Cornelius, but is not, died 1 January 1858 and is buried in Adelphia Cemetery, Monmouth Co., New Jersey (Find-A-Grave memorial #11481077, which includes a photo). His date of birth is given as 10 February 1799 by Florence A. Cristoph, The Van Voorhees Family in America: The Seventh and Eighth Generations, Vol. 1. n.p.: Van Vorhees Association, 2003, p. 62. The 1888 Genealogy of the Van Voorhees Family does not include Gilbert Brewer. He married Hannah Voorhees on 20 April 1823 in Monmouth County. This Gilbert Brewer can be found on the 1830, 1840 and 1850 U.S. census in Howell, Monmouth County, New Jersey. The 1850 census gives his place of birth as New York. Gilbert left a will dated 26 November 1857, proved 9 January 1858, which names his wife Hannah, daughter Deborah Jackson wife of Thomas Jackson, grandchildren Hannah Ann and Charles H. Brewer, children of deceased son Hendrick G. Brewer. His son John is to receive the real estate given to his wife Hannah, after her decease (Monmouth Co. Wills G:86). Gilbert and Hannah had six children. In addition to Hendrick, their children Kisia, Aaron and Ellen/Elenor predeceased their father. All are buried in the Adelphia cemetery. Only two children were living at the time of his will, daughter Deborah Jackson and son John G. Brewer who died on 25 December 1858 and is also buried at Adelphia. Deborah, the eldest child, born in 1824, died in 1889 and his buried in the Adelphia Cemetery (the Find-A-Grave memorial incorrectly gives her maiden name as Bowen). Also note that the Adelphia Cemetery is the Bethesda Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery. The son Hendrick G. Brower/Brewer died 11 June 1857 and is buried in the Adelphia Cemetery. He was married to Catherine Clayton, who according to her obituary in the Monmouth Democrat, July 31, 1913, married secondly, William T. Taylor. Hendrick's daughter Hannah Ann, died in 1860. Son, Charles H. Brower, according to his mother's obituary, was living in Pasadena, California in 1913. He was married twice, has descendants, died in 1938 and is also buried in the Adelphia cemetery (Find-A-Grave memorial #44530694).

Monmouth Democrat, July 31, 1913 (download from Newspapers.com)

The parents and ancestry of Gilbert Brewer (1799-1858), married Hannah Voorhees, are yet to be determined.

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Monmouth County, New Jersey, Records of Deeds, Grantors Index S-Z

The October 30, 2019 post extracting Browers, Brewers and Brueres from the Grantors Index to Monmouth County, New Jersey deeds ended with the letter R. We pick up here with the letter S which begins at image 177. Same format as the previous posts in this series.

Grantor Index, Given Name S-Z

The letter S beginning at image 177.

• 1808 Sept 10, Bruere, Sarah, John H. Bruere et al, R:436
• 1822 March 26, Brewer, Sylvanus (dec'd by adms), Robert Walker, E2:245
• 1831 Nov 9, Bruere, Sarah (dec'd), Joseph Holmes, Z2:67
• 1849 May 1, Bruere, Stephen H. ux, William Tilton, K5:75
• 1851 Sept 1, Bruere, Stephen H. ux, David Barcalow, R5:532
• 1853 April 11, Bruere, Stephen H. ux, Moses Taylor, Z5:328

Given names beginning with the letter T begin at image 187.

• 1818 Jan 29, Brewer, Tylee ux et al, George Tyson, A2:439 

The letter U is at image 195 (one page) no Brewers. All but one of the deeds is by a Uriah Bennett.

The letter V is at image 196. No Brewers.

Given names beginning with the letter W begins at image 197.

• 1727 Oct 27, Brewer, William, William Leeds, G:149
• 1810 Aug 4, Brown, William, John Brower, T:99
• 1831 Jan 25, Brower, William et al (dec'd by heirs), Richard S. Burr, X2:144
• 1832 July 31, Brower, William, Daniel Brower (assignee), B3:253
• 1833 Aug 14, Brower or Brewer, William, David Jones, E3:76
• 1833 Sept 23, Brower or Brewer, William ux, Samuel Hulet, E3:184
• 1837 April 30, Brower, William, James Cook, M3:364
• 1838 July 30, Brower, William (dec'd by heir), Garret W. Wycoff, V3:33
• 1839 Jan 11, Brewer, William H., et al, Isaac Van Kirk, V3:491
• 1849 June 1, Brewer, William H. ux, John Mathews, L5:10
• 1851 April 3, Brower, William W. (by adm.), Joseph W. King, S5:36
• 1852 Sept 7, Brower, William W. et al (by gdn.), Charles Brower, V5:520

There are no Brewers, Browers or Brueres in the indexes with given names beginning with the letters X, Y or Z.

As mentioned in the earlier posts of this series, there are many more deeds involving persons named Bennet or Bennett. We will not be conducting this exercise for the Grantees Index which is separate from the Grantors Index, the lette B begins here at image 102 of film #007895633.

Here is the page at FamilySearch for Monmouth County Deed Records. Links to digital images for each of the individual films can be found on this page.

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A Few Pre-1850 Deeds From Seneca County, New York

Here are a few deeds involving persons named BREWER that can be found in the Deed Books of Seneca County, New York. Links will take you to images published on the FamilySearch.org website. Seneca County was created in 1804 out of Cayuga County. It is within the region of New York State known generally as the Finger Lakes Region and comprises the area between Seneca Lake to the west and Cayuga Lake to the east. Links to various maps of Seneca County can be found on the Seneca Co., NY website. This page has some 1859 maps for the individual towns in Seneca County.

Deeds Y:304. Dated 13 June 1832. Joseph Brewer of Seneca Falls in the County of Seneca and Jemima his wife, to Henry Brewer of Cortland Village in the County of Cortland. For consideration of the sum of five hundred and seventy five dollars, a certain parcel of land situate in the Village of Seneca Falls on the south side of the Seneca Outlet, laid down and described in a certain map of the same made by David H. Vance of Village lot number seven (7) and is bounded on the south by Canal Street, west by lot number eight, east by lot number six and north by the canal and is thirty feet wide on Canal Street and extends of equal width back to the Canal. The east line of said lot number seven (7) is one hundred and fifty feet from the west line of Lock Street as measured on the north line of Canal Street and is parallel with the west line of said Lock Street. Together with all appurtenances, etc... Signed by Joseph Brewer and Jemima Brewer. (See D2:544 below).

Deeds D2:540. Dated 26 February 1836. Joseph Brewer of the Town of Cohocton, Steuben County, New York, to Chauncey Marshall of the Village of Seneca Falls, Seneca County, New York. For consideration of the sum of two hundred dollars, a certain parcel of land situate in the Village of Seneca Falls, being the east half part of that certain village lot known as lot number eight (8), bounded on the south by Canal Street, on the east by Village lot number seven (7), on the north by the towing path of the Canal, and on the west by a line drawn through the center of said lot number eight which is parallel with the east line and fifteen feet therefrom. Together with all appurtenances, etc... Signed by Joseph Brewer. Acknowledged by Joseph Brewer on 27 February 1836.

Deeds D2:544. Dated 26 February 1836. Henry Brewer of Courtland Village in the County of Courtland and State of New York, to Chauncey Marshall of the Village of Seneca Falls, Seneca County, New York. For consideration of the sum of five hundred and seventy five dollars, a certain parcel of land situate in the Village of Seneca Falls, on the south side of the Seneca River laid down and described on a certain map made by David H. Vance as Village lot number seven (7) and is bounded south by Canal Street, west by lot number eight (8), east by lot number six (6) and south by the canal being thirty feet in width on Canal Street and extends of equal width back to the canal. The east line of said lot number seven is one hundred and fifty feet from the west line of Lock Street measured on the north line of Canal Street and is parallel with the west line of said Lock Street. Together with all appurtenances, etc... Signed by Henry Brewer. Acknowledged by Henry Brewer on 26 February 1836.

Both Joseph Brewer and his son Henry Brewer are descendants of Thomas Brewer of Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut who can be found on the Brewer Families of New England database here. The work here largely follows that what was published in Dorothy Brewer Erikson's, Descendants of Thomas Brewer, Connecticut to Maine, 1682-1996 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996). Joseph Brewer (1783-1846) apparently came to New York's Finger Lakes Region, eventually settling at Dansville in Livingston County. His son, Henry Brewer (1809-1891) settled at Cortland in Cortland County. Those trying to solve their Brewer brick walls found in the Finger Lakes Region should take a look at the families descended from Thomas Brewer who settled there.

The earliest deed involving a Brewer in Seneca County that I can find is the one that follows.

Deeds A:99. Dated 23 November 1803. Sir William Pultney of the County of Middlesex in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Baronet (by Robert Troup his attorney) to William Brewer of Montgomery County in the State of Maryland. For consideration of the sum of seven hundred dollars a certain parcel of land situate in the Township of Williamson in the County of Cayuga, State of New York, it being three hundred and fifty acres of land lying east of Sodus Bay and bounded on the south by a part of the north boundary line of lot number seventeen as described by John Smith, on the north by a line to be run parallel to said north boundary line and at the distance of forty chains from the same on the west by Sodus Bay and on the east by a line to be run magnetically north and at such a distance east from said bay as to include as near as may be said quantity of three hundred and fifty acres... Signed by Robert Troup, Atty.

This deed is dated 23 November 1803, and as mentioned, Seneca County was not formed until 1804. The deed refers to the land being conveyed as in Williamson, Cayuga County. The Town of Williamson is in present day Wayne County which was created out of parts of Seneca and Ontario Counties in 1823. The town was named for Charles Williamson who was the land agent for Sir William Pultney who, with a couple of minor partners, had purchased 1.2 million acres from Robert Morris in 1792. I doubt that William Brewer, the grantee, ever came to New York. There is a marriage recorded in Montgomery County, Maryland for William Brewer and Mary R. Chriswell dated 5 February 1800. A memorial for Dr. William G. Brewer (1777-1861) of Montgomery County can be found on Find-A-Grave (memorial #69893566). The William Brewer, grantee in this deed, could be this man, or if not, then it's likely the grantee was his father also named William Brewer (1752-1835). A record of the younger William Brewer's birth can be found on FamilySearch.org in the Maryland Births and Christenings database, taken from FHL film #13279. The Find-A-Grave memorial page mentioned lists a good number of children for the younger William, none of whom seemed to have come to New York. Those interested may want to look for later deeds, perhaps of sales, in the Wayne County, New York deed books.

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New Viewing Options For YFull's YTree

Recent revisions to YFull's YTree have included new viewing options for their individual tree pages. The, very much welcomed, new options were initiated earlier this month. The current version of the YTree is v8.00.00.

Using the "Adam Brouwer Branch," presently defined by the SNP E-Y19643, here is the view, the only view, that we have been accustomed to. You'll note that in the yellow bar at the top of the page there are some new options, "scientific view", and "chart view." The original view is called the "classic view" when one of the other two views are displayed.

Scientific View is a timeline, present to the right, past to the left, on which the various sub-branches of a SNP are placed based upon their Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor, or TMRCA. The current tree has only three sub-branches of E-Y19643, but if we roll it back to an ancestral SNP, say E-V13, formed 8100 years before present (ybp) we can get a better look at how this view works. Here is E-V13 in scientific view.

I like the new chart view the best. The "Adam Brouwer Branch" now in chart view. It is a less ambiguous view than the original classic view which had a point of potential confusion as the parent branch (in this case E-Y19643) was shown twice. In classic view, one might get the impression that E-Y19643 was an equal branch to its sub-branches, rather than a parent branch. That potential confusion is eliminated with the new chart view.

The Lanier-Brewer (I-Y15031) sub-group of the Brewer DNA Project has the most participation and the most sub-branches. Here it is viewed on classic view. Now compare that to chart view.

Much better I'd say.


You may also notice now in the charts that many participants have a little beige box with the letter i in it.

The reason for this is that when Family Tree DNA introduced their BigY-700 test, many participants who had previously taken the original BigY, went back and took advantage of an upgrade offer. That new set of data was then submitted to YFull for their analysis. YFull then issued new id numbers to these new data sets. The id number now seen on the classic view chart is the new id number. Hover your cursor over the little box with the i and you will see the original id number for that participant.

Current members of the Brewer DNA Project who have not upgraded to the BigY-700 test are encouraged to do so. New members are always welcome, especially those who already can show a provable line of ancestry back to a colonial period ancestor. The more participants and the more data the Project has, the better the chances are that the Project can help those who are still working at determining their complete ancestry back to the colonial period. Those interested should contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project via links available on the left side of the Project's website.

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The Will of Philip Cortland Brewer of Ulysses, Tompkins County, New York

Philip Van Cortlandt Brouwer, born 7 March 1808, died 14 April 1876, a 3-great grandson of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island, can be found here on the Brouwer Genealogy Database. We can update his profile with the addition of his will and a bit more on his descendants.

Philip was a son of Nazareth Brouwer (1756-1817) and his third wife, Deborah Wiltsie (b. 1776) who were married 26 March 1802. Philip was baptized at the New Hackensack (Dutchess County, New York) Reformed Dutch Church on 27 March 1808, the entry in the register includes his date of birth. No witnesses are recorded [Tower, Maria Bockee Carpenter. Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2000 (org.1932):71]. He married Sarah Lawless on 25 October 1828 at Poughkeepsie, New York where is name is given as Philip C. Brewer. This is the name he is primarily recorded by in subsequent records.

The will of Philip Cortland Brewer of the Town of Ulysses, County of Tompkins, State of New York can be found in Tompkins County Wills, vol. N, p. 483, available online here at FamilySearch.org. The probate record begins on p. 481 where the proof is found. The will was proved 26 June 1876 by Henry Brewer of Enfield, Tompkins County and by Edgar Brewer, also of Enfield. Henry was Philip's brother. Edgar was a son of Henry. Philip's date of death, 13 April 1876, is recorded on this page. Philips, gravestone gives the date as 14 April 1876. He was buried in Grove Cemetery in Trumansburg, New York (Trumansburg being a village in the town of Ulysses). There is a Find-A-Grave page for Philip C. Brewer, but it does not include a photo of his gravestone.

In his will, Philip instructs his executrix to pay all just debts and funeral expenses. He leaves to his wife, Sarah Brewer, the interest on all real and personal property so long as she remains his widow for her use and support. He gives his executrix full power to sell and convey his real estate, but in he event that his wife should no longer be his widow (i.e. should she remarry or die) then two-thirds of all property is to be divided equally among his five children named: George I. Brewer, Sarah Jane Brewer, Rebecca wife of Samuel Manning, Susan Brewer and William H. Brewer, or their heirs. He appoints his wife, Sarah Brewer, executrix. The will is dated 25 March 1859, he signs as Philip Cortland Brewer, and is witnessed by the above mentioned Henry Brewer and Edgar Brewer, both of Enfield.

Administration on the estate of Philip C. Brewer was granted to Susan (Brewer) Farrington, "one of the Residuary Legatees," on 16 April 1886 (Tompkins Co. LOA 41:578 1/2). Philip's wife, Sarah (Lawless) Brewer had died in late March 1886, and letters of Testamentary were granted to Susan Farrington on 5 April 1886. (Tompkins Co. Executor Records 5:112 and 113).

The will of Sarah Brewer, widow, is found in Tompkins Co. Wills S:423. Sarah is of Trumansburg. She leaves bed, bedding, table spoons and tea spoons to her daughter Sarah J. Hall. To Carrie Brewer, daughter of William H. Brewer, bed and bedding. To Cortie Brewer, daughter of George I. Brewer, bed and bedding. Rest and residue to daughter Susan Brewer who is appointed executrix. The will is dated 4 April 1876. Sarah signed with her mark X, witnessed by D. S. Biggs and J. D. Smith. Proof is found on the proceeding page, 5 April 1886. Her date of death is stated as "on or about" 3 February 1886.

Final Settlement of the estate of Philip C. Brewer, by Susan Farrington, administratrix, is found in Final Settlements 13:376-377, dated 8 July 1887. The surviving heirs with their places of residence are recorded with the date 30 August 1887. Listed here are Mrs. Sarah J. Hall of Santa Clara, California; George I. Brewer of New York City; Rebecca Manning of Trumansburg; and William H. Brewer of Ithaca.

With the wills and records of the settlement of the estates of both Philip C. Brewer and his widow, Sarah Brewer, we can update the profile of Philip Van Courtland Brouwer as found on the BGD, which was last updated in April 2016, by adding children Sarah Jane Brewer and George I. Brewer, and the additions of spouses for daughters Rebecca and Susan. We will follow up with more details on the children and descendants in a separate post.

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