A Bit of Brower Ephemera

This piece of a letter, bearing the letterhead of John Brower, Hardware, 81 Murray Street, New York, and dated 1884, was forwarded to me by Richard Brewer (former administrator of the Brewer DNA Project).

It was found at a flea market by an individual (who wishes to remain anonymous) who in turn contacted Richard. We thank that individual for, first off, contacting us, and secondly allowing us to make a digital image available online to others who may have an interest in such things.

The year is 1884, and 81 Murray Street is on Manhattan's lower west side in the block between Greenwich St. and West Broadway. It's just a couple of blocks or so northeast of One World Trade Center (which of course was not there in 1884). Google the address and you can get a present day street view of the address.

We thought we'd might try and figure out just who this John Brower might be. Hank Graham (current administrator of the Brewer DNA Project) suggested he was John Brower, born 8 September 1839, died 18 December 1900, son of John I. Brower and Sophia Wyckoff Olcott. The younger John Brower is found on the 1880 U. S. census at Fanwood, Union County, New Jersey (p. 15, line 18), where his occupation is recorded as "Hardware Merch(ant)." He is enumerated with his wife, Sarah, and six children (lines 19-25).

1880 U.S. Census, Fanwood, NJ (NARA, download from Ancestry.com)

Steve Eustis (who has contributed to this blog), a descendant of John Brower's brother, Henry Wyckoff Brower (1844-1880) confirmed this identification and added that John's father had owned the hardware business and in his later years it was known as "John Brower and Son Hardware." The senior John Brower died in 1878. An incomplete profile of John Brower can be found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) here. You can add to the three children listed on the BGD, an additional three (Catharine, Samuel and Theodore) found on the above census record. John Brower is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. He is an eighth generation descendant and his direct line back to Adam Brouwer can be seen here.

John Brower's wife was Sarah Louisa Beckley. Updating the BGD, she was born 13 November 1843 in New York City and died 9 March 1921. She is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, New York. Her Find-A-Grave memorial gives her parents as Samuel Marvin Beckley and Margaret De Milt Van Antwerp.

John Brower had pre-deceased his wife by 21 years, and he is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. He lived in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey when he died.

In addition to the children added from the 1880 census, the Find-A-Grave memorials add a daughter, Margaret DeMilt Brower (1883-1921). A son Van Antwerp Brower (1879-1889) who is buried with a young cousin, Grace Van Antwerp (1879-1880) would undoubtedly be the Theodore Brower, age 6 months on the 1880 census which was taken in June of that year. Steve Eustis provided the gravestone photos seen on the Find-A-Grave pages.

Thanks once again to the finder of this little piece of ephemera from 136 years ago. We're always on the lookout for such items, and should anyone have or find such items, and would like to share them with other Brower/Brewer descendants, please don't hesitate to contact us, or leave a comment.

And thanks to Steve for helping us with the identification of John Brower.

BGB 695