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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