The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (8) Nicholas Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 (8) Nicholas Brouwer, youngest son, and child, of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon was baptized 16 April 1672 at the New York Reformed Dutch Church. The sole sponsor/witness was Ariaentie Scherps, an individual of whom I have no further information. Magdalena Verdon is recorded with her patronymic as, Magdalena Jacobs. Nicholas does not appear on the September 1687 Oath of Allegiance roll in Kings County, as he would have only been age 15. He is named in his father's will of 22 January 1692. On 14 May 1693, Nicolaes Brouwer and Rachel Brouwer (his sister) were recorded as witnesses at the baptism of Willemtje, daughter of (3) Mathijs Brouwer and Merritje Pieters.

(8) Nicholas married Jannetje Caljer with banns recorded 15 September 1692 by the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church at Flatbush. The banns record Nicholas as "Niclaes Berckhoven, j.m. op Breukelen," and his wife to be as, "Jannetie Callier, j.d. op Boswijke." Jannetje was a sister of Cornelia Caljer who, seven months earlier, had married Nicholas' brother, Abraham Brouwer. The two couples would own and operate, and expand the mill property at Gowanus, Long Island over the course of the next 20 years or so. [See the previous post in this series, as well as the post of November 23, 2015].

As Nicholaes Brouwer, he is found on the 1698 census of Kings County at Boswick (Bushwick) with a household of 1 man, 1 woman, 1 child, and 1 apprentice. He is recorded between William West (English) and Gabriel Sprong. His brother Abraham Brouwer is also recorded at Boswick on this census. In a deed dated 12 August 1698 (the same year as the census) Magdalena, widow of Adam Brouwer, conveyed to Abraham and Nicholas, her right in the mill property at Gowanus. An Assessment List of "Brooklands Improvable lands & meadows within ffence taken up by the assessors of said towne and peter Cortilleau surveyor December 20, 1706," includes Nicholas Brower, "mill sett down ffor" 30 acres. He is followed by Abraham Brower with 66 acres, Marya Brower with 26 acres, and Annitie Brower with 26 acres [Kings Co. Deeds 3:91]. Nicholas and Jannetje appear to have lived on the Gowanus property at least into 1712. In a deed dated 20 June 1712, Nicholas Brouwer and his wife "Jonica," of Brookland, conveyed their half of the mill property and business to Abraham Brouwer, also of Brookland [Kings Co. Deeds 4:12].

On 15 December 1714, Nicholas Brewer, of the Borough and Town of Westchester, divided a piece of meadow land with Samuel Vail of the same place. This indenture, abstracted in "Westchester County Miscellanea," New York Genealogical Record 60(1929):310, citing "Book 4, p. 146" can be found online at FamilySearch.org in Records of the Town of Westchester, v.56, book 4, p. 146. On 14 February 1715/16, Nicholas Brewer, of the Borough and Town of West Chester, sold to Clement Daniels, cooper of West Chester, two acres of land in Westchester. The deed is only signed by Nicholas [See NYGBR 60(1929):310, citing Book 4:211, which is found online here]. Apparently, (8) Nicholas Brouwer had relocated to the Town of West Chester after conveying their half of the Gowanus mill property to their siblings, Abraham and Cornelia (Caljer) Brouwer in mid 1712. In 1718 and 1719, Nicholas, referred to as of Westchester County, miller, purchased a number of properties in the City of New York [New York Co. Deeds 28:492, 494, 500, 501]. "Nicolaas Brouwer and Jannetje Coljer, his wife, of the Manor of Fordham," were listed among the members of the Refomed Dutch Church of New York City on 26 May 1719. On 1 April 1726, Mary Sinclair bought from Nicholas Brouwer and Jannetje, his wife, a lot in the East Ward of New York City.

We know of seven children of Nicholas Brouwer and Jannetje Caljer, five sons, two daughters, born between the years 1693 and 1707, at which time the couple lived at Gowanus, Long Island. Baptism records for sons (29) Adolphus, (30) Jurge, and (33) Nicholas, as well as daughter Lysbet (Elizabeth) are found in the records of the Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Breuckelen. Son, (32) Cornelis was baptized at the New York Reformed Dutch Church. Records of baptism are not found for daughter Magdalena nor for son (31) Nazareth. Magdalena, who married in 1725, Joost Vredenburgh, and so was likely born between 1700 and 1705, give or take a year. (31) Nazareth, who married Anne Rozell by 1730 would have been born during the first decade of the 1700s. [We will cover each of the sons in future posts]. The children of Nicholas Brouwer would have come of age while their parents lived in Westchester County, apparently at Fordham Manor, and would have reached adulthood between 1714 and 1730 or so. The couple's first known grandchild was born in 1714 and the youngest grandchildren appear to have been born in the late 1730s. It should be noted that today Fordham Manor is within the Bronx, which is now a borough of New York City (which is coextensive with Bronx County). Also note that the 1698 census (mentioned above) records Nicholas with but one child. That would have to be the son Adolphus who was baptized in 1693 and who we know reached adulthood and left descendants. Daughter Lysbet was baptized in 1699, after the 1698 census, which leaves a six year gap between the first and second child. With only one child recorded in 1698, we'd have to assume that if any children were born to Nicholas and Jannetje during this six year period, they did not survive to 1698.

We do not have dates of death, nor of burial, nor estate settlements or wills for either Nicholas or Jannetje. I'd like to search for more land records, but as of this writing, the last record that we have for both Nicholas and Jannetje is the deed of 1 April 1726 mentioned above. But again, I'd like to do some searching here. In a 2007 email from the late William B. Bogardus, I was told, "there was apparently an old bible of Nicholas and Jannetje supposedly at the "Old Stone Dutch Church in NY"; Nicholas, son of Adam, died "in or about the year 1749" and "at the time of his death left no child him surviving, but left his heir-at -law one grandchild, Hannah Brouwer, then the wife of Edmund (not Edward) Turner." Finding documented evidence to confirm this approximate date of death has to date not been successful. 

Contemporaries: Neither Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck, nor Jan Brouwer of Flatlands named sons Nicholas. None of (1) Adam Brouwer's other sons gave the name Nicholas to any of their sons. (8) Nicholas did name a son Nicholas. He was born in 1707. Thus far in my research I have not encountered any records regarding (8) Nicholas that might be confused for records regarding his son (33) Nicholas. As far as I have been able to determine, the given name Nicholas, within the descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer, is only found among the descendants of (8) Nicholas Brouwer, during the colonial period.

Genetic genealogy: As of this writing, and by my count, the Brewer DNA Project has 19 members who are either proved descendants of (8) Nicholas Brouwer, or are certain descendants by virtue of their Y-DNA test results, which match the provable descendants in the Project. More members represent (8) Nicholas Brouwer in the Project, then do any of (1) Adam Brouwer's other sons. The runner up, (2) Pieter Brouwer, has ten descendants in the Project. Of the 19 participants, eight have taken an advanced BigY test. While the test results of the eight have yet to identify a SNP that would separate all male descendants from the other descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer, FTDNA and YFull have identified three SNPs (E-BY52668, E-BY173116, and E-FT90657) that identify sub-branches whose common ancestor is (8) Nicholas Brouwer. We hope that more of the Project's current participants who are descendants of (8) Nicholas Brouwer, upgrade to the BigY-700 test so that an even more complete picture of the genetic descendants can be seen.

William J. Hoffman covers Nicholas Brouwer and his family in "Brouwer Beginnings," at TAG 24(1948):161-5. He mentions the numerous errors found in published accounts and manuscripts covering his children. The son (29) Adolphus is also covered on pages 165-9. Hoffman does not mention the son (31) Nazareth. He apparently was unaware of him.

Nicholas Brouwer and Jannetje Caljer were covered in the pages of this website back on December 14, 2012. Their profiles on the Brouwer Genealogy Database provide source citations.

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (7) Abraham Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 As a reminder, the numbers in parenthesis preceding some names refers to that individual's place on the simple chart featured in the Prelude post to this series. I will keep that post as the Featured Post, to the right, during the time that I am working on the posts for this series. Each grandson of (1) Adam Brouwer will have an individual post.

(7) Abraham Brouwer, the sixth of seven sons of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, was likely born previous to 1667. He does appear on the Oath of Allegiance taken in September 1687, as "Abram brouwer native," i.e. born in the province. From this it is safe to assume that he was at least age 21 in September 1687. Abraham, along with four of his sisters (Aeltje, Anna, Sara and Rachel) were certainly born during the ten year period between the recorded baptisms of their brother (6) Adam (baptized 6 May 1662) and brother (8) Nicholas (baptized 16 April 1672). 

Marriage banns for (7) Abraham Brouwer and his wife Cornelia Caljer are found in the Flatbush Reformed Protestant Dutch Church records, and dated 6 February 1692. The record reads as, "Abraham Brouwer Berks, young man at Brooklyn, with Cornelia Halsijen, young lady at Bushwick." So, here is another example of the use of the Berckhoven suffix to the Brouwer surname (in this case recorded as "Berks"). Cornelia's surname is probably mis-transcribed. The H may have been a mistake for a K as in "Kaljer" or "Kaller," as the family surname is sometimes recorded. She was a daughter of Jurian Caljer and Lysbeth Cornelis Van der Hoeven of Boswijck (Bushwick), Long Island. A record of her baptism does not survive. Her father was reportedly living in the area of Kinderhook (now in Columbia Co., New York State) during the time she would have been born (we estimate her birth as about 1677). Jurian Caljer was residing at the "Flatts" at Kinderhook in 1682, and only relocated to Boswijck in the early 1690s. He is not found on the Oath of Allegiance roll of Kings County in September 1687. During the 1670s the Kinderhook area would have been serviced by the Albany Reformed Dutch Church. Both Jurian and his wife are found on the members roll of the Albany Reformed Church in 1683 and 1687. Baptism records for that church prior to 1683 have not survived. Seven months after their banns were published, Cornelia's sister, Jannetje Caljer married (7) Abraham's younger brother (8) Nicholas Brouwer. The two families would together operate and expand the Gowanus mill property from the time of (1) Adam Brouwer's death until about 1710. The given name Jurian, also seen as Jurge, Jeury, Jurry and a bit later as Jeremiah, originates with the two Caljer sister's father, and is found exclusively among the descendants of (7) Abraham Brouwer and (8) Nicholas Brouwer through at least the colonial period. If that name is found in your ancestral Brouwer line (during the colonial period) you are near certainly a descendant of either (7) Abraham or (8) Nicholas.

As mentioned, Abraham is found on the September 1687 Oath of Allegiance roll at Brooklyn. He is found on the 1698 census at Boswijck (Bushwick) in Kings County, with a household of 1 man, 1 woman, 2 children and 2 apprentices. He is recorded between Humphrey Clay (English) and Alexandre Coquer (French) who in turn is followed by Abraham's father-in-law, Jurian Coljer (2 men, 2 women, 3 children). Abraham is named in Adam Brouwer's will of 22 January 1692. On August 1698, Magdalena, widow of Adam Brouwer, conveyed to her two sons, Abraham and Nicholas, her right in the dwelling house, mill houses and creeks in exchange for an annual payment of 300 guilders, 10 skipples of wheat, two of Indian corn and two loads of hay. From this point on we find a number of deeds by which the children of Adam Brouwer, and their heirs, convey rights in the Gowanus mill property to Abraham and his brother (8) Nicholas. By about 1710, Nicholas in turn conveyed his share in the properties to Abraham, leaving Abraham, and subsequently his heirs, as the owners of the Gowanus mill property throughout the remainder of just about the entire 1700s. See the post of November 23, 2015, "Documenting the Gowanus Mill Property" for specifics. Abraham Brouwer is on an assessment list at Brooklyn, dated 20 December 1706, with 66 acres.

We know of six children of (7) Abraham Brouwer and Cornelia Caljer, four daughters and two sons. The eldest, Elizabeth, was baptized at the New York Reformed Dutch Church in 1695. Baptism records for daughters Magdalena (1697) and Marytje (1699) as well as youngest child (28) Abraham (1706) are found in the Brooklyn RDC records. No records of baptism survive for daughter Jannetje who was likely born between 1700 and 1705 at Gowanus as she was married (to Johannes Burger) by 1725, and for son (27) Jeury who was also likely born during the years of 1700 and 1705 (he married in 1726). 

In the later part of 1732, (7) Abraham Brouwer married Elizabeth Gerritsen, who appears to be a daughter of Jan Gerritszen and Elisabeth Gysberts, and was a widow of Nathaniel Britton of Staten Island (will dated 1 June 1729, proved 11 November 1729). Elizabeth was Nathaniel's second wife and mother of six of his fourteen children. Abraham and Elizabeth engaged in a marital agreement dated 1 September 1732 and recorded in Kings County Deeds Lib. 5, p. 95. On 5 May 1734, Abraham sold a 135 acre farm on Staten Island to Peter Hagewout (Richmond Co. Deeds, Lib. D:157-161). The deed states that Abraham had acquired the land from Daniel Shotwell and Elizabeth, his wife, by deed dated 7 May 1722. The 1734 deed was not recorded until 7 October 1745, at the request of Peter Hagewout, and was acknowledged at that time by Daniel Corsen, one of the witnesses to the 1734 deed. 

As with his brothers before him, no date of death or burial, and no will or probate file has been found for (7) Abraham Brouwer. In September 1737 he did convey the Gowanus mill property in two separate deeds to each of his two sons (27) Jeury Brouwer and (28) Abraham Brouwer. The last record we have for both (7) Abraham Brouwer is dated 18 February 1739, in which he and his wife, Elizabeth, stood as sponsors/witnesses at the baptism of Abraham, son of (28) Abraham Brouwer and Sara Kimber, at the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church at New Utrecht. The last record we have for Elizabeth (Gerritsen) (Britton) Brouwer is dated 30 November 1743 when she consented to the marriage of her son, William Britton.

Contemporaries: Neither Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck, nor Jan Brouwer of Flatlands gave sons the name Abraham. The Abraham Brouwer closest in age to (7) Abraham would be (10) Abraham Brouwer, son of (2) Pieter Brouwer, who was born about 1675 (married in 1700). The later may have only been about ten years younger than his uncle. The given name Abraham is found not only among the descendants of (7) Abraham, but also among the descendants of (2) Pieter and (5) Jacob Brouwer. Confusing records between a number of various Abraham Brouwers becomes a problem with later generations (I count seven Abraham Brouwers born between 1701 and 1730, and many more throughout the remainder of the colonial period). However, there should be no problem in confusing (7) Abraham Brouwer with any other individual of the same name.

Genetic genealogy: Y-DNA testing (Brewer DNA Project) has given us the clearest picture of a Y-DNA signature for descendants of (7) Abraham Brouwer when compared to that of descendants of his brothers. Three descendants of (7) Abraham, two being descendants of (28) Abraham and one a descendant of (27) Juery have taken advanced BigY tests. The comparative results has allowed the Project to identify the SNP E-BY6312 as a SNP that is unique to descendants of (7) Abraham Brouwer, and not found among descendants of his brothers. If your Y-DNA test results are positive for E-BY6312, then you are a descendant of (7) Abraham Brouwer. We hope that with more participation and future testing the Brewer DNA Project will be able to identify unique SNPs for other sons of (1) Adam Brouwer as well.

(7) Abraham Brouwer was covered by William J. Hoffman in "Brouwer Beginnings" at TAG 24(1948):97-102. He covers some of the conveyances mentioned. 

You can find sources for the above on the Brouwer Genealogy Database profile of (7) Abraham Brouwer, and in this website in the post of December 4, 2012, "Abraham Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island."

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (6) Adam Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 (6) Adam Brouwer, the fifth son of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, was baptized 18 May 1662 at the Old First Dutch Reformed Church at Breuckelen (Brooklyn). The sole sponsor/witness was Neeltje Jans who was most likely the wife of Gerrit Dircksen Kroesen (m. 30 Oct 1661) a very near neighbor of the Brouwers, and a daughter of Jan and Elsje (___) Pieterszen (Van Huysen) whose descendants went by the surname, STAATS. They were also nearby neighbors. Neeltje Jans later, in 1680, married Volkert Hendrickszen Bries, another very near neighbor, who may well be the brother of (6) Adam Brouwer's wife, Marretje Hendrickse.

(6) Adam is on one occasion referred to by his patronymic, Adam Adamszen. That time being when recorded as a sponsor for the 29 May 1696 baptism of Helena, daughter of Willem Nazareth and Helena Brouwer. He is twice recorded as Adolph Brouwer, one such instance being as a sponsor for the 28 September 1684 baptism of Aeltje, daughter of Matthys Brouwer and Marietje Pieterse (Wyckoff), here specifically recorded as "Adolph Brouwer, de jonge" (the young, i.e. junior). The second occasion is two months later at the 30 November 1684 baptism of Jannetje, daughter of Evert Hendricksen (Van Gelder) and Fytie Brouwer. The sponsors here being "Adolph Brouwer, de jonge" and Marritje Brouwers. Both of these baptisms were recorded by the Brooklyn Church. His marriage banns, dated 18 May 1690 at Brooklyn, record him as "Adam Adamse (B)erkhoven" and his soon to be wife as Marretje Hendricks. Both resided at Brooklyn, and neither had been previously married. As best I can tell, the name Berckhoven used here is the first such appearance of that name. (1) Adam Brouwer used it, for the only known time, in his January 1692 will. (6) Adam's sister, Anna, is called "Antje Berkove" in her 6 April 1693 marriage record (Albany Reformed Dutch Church). His brother, (8) Nicholas, is called "Niclaes Berckhoven," in his marriage banns dated 15 September 1692 as recorded by the Flatbush Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. This surname of "Berckhoven" only appears to have been used during this short window of time between 1690 and 1693. [See New Insight Into The Origins of Adam Brouwer, pp. 9-10 for a bit more on this name].

(6) Adam Brouwer and Marretje Hendrickse would have married soon after the 18 May 1690 date of their banns. The identity of her parents hasn't been proved with complete certainty but she is most likely a daughter of Hendrick Volckerszen (Bries) and Geertien Claes who are recorded as residing at "the Ferry" in Brooklyn in 1661. [For this family see William J. Hoffman, "The Founders of the Bras(s), Brasser, Bresser, Bries and Brazier Families In America," TAG 21(1944):147-153 where the BRIES family (Long Island, Piscataway) is covered. On page 148 Hoffman very briefly mentions that Marretje "may have been a Bries"]. 

(6) Adam Brouwer and Marretje Hendrickse had four known children for whom we have records of baptism. Daughter Madaleentje was baptized 2 April 1692 at Brooklyn, the sponsors being Volckert Hendrickse and Hillegont Hendrickse, both of whom were children of Hendrick Volckerszen (Bries) and Geertien Claes, reinforcing the belief that Marretje was also a child of this couple. Daughter Marytje was baptized 4 May 1695 at Brooklyn. Sponsors were Willem Nasareth and Lena Nasareth [a.k.a. Helena Brouwer, sister of (6) Adam who married as her second husband, Willem Nazareth]. Daughter Hillegont was baptized 27 December 1696 at Brooklyn with sponsors Arien Claessen and Rachel Brouwer, the later being (6) Adam Brouwer's sister and the former being a brother of the above mentioned Geertien Claes. Both this sponsor and the child's name Hillegont support the idea that Marretje is a daughter of Hendrick Volckertszen and Geertien Claes, with the child being named for her mother's presumed sister Hillegond Hendrickse. The fourth, last known child and only son was (26) Hendrick Brouwer, baptized 15 January 1699 at Brooklyn, sponsors Willem Brouwer and Angenitie his wife. Willem being (6) Adam Brouwer's older brother. (26) Hendrick Brouwer is later found in New Jersey with children baptized at Raratin and at Three-Mile Run (New Brunsawick) between 1721 and 1733. His wife was Elizabeth (____). Her family name has not been discovered. We will cover (26) Hendrick in a future post.

(6) Adam Brouwer took the Oath of Allegiance at Brooklyn in September, 1687, recorded as "Adam brouwer Junior, native." On 11 December 1687 he was sponsor at the baptism of Jan (John) son of Josias Dratz (Drake) and Aeltje Brouwer. Here he is recorded as "Adam Brouwer, de jonge." (6) Adam is mentioned in his father's will of 22 January 1692. On 18 Mar 1694, Volkert Hendrickse Breets (sic) of Brooklyn sold to Adam Brower of Brooklyn, for fifty pounds, a lot of ground situated in Brooklyn towards Gowanus between the lands of Jacob Brower and Volkert Briez, aforesaid. This deed could be considered as another piece that supports the postulation of Marretje Hendrickse's family. (6) Adam Brouwer is on the 1698 census at Brooklyn with a household of 1 man, 1 woman and 4 children. He is enumerated between his brother (5) Jacob Brouwer and Claes Vechten. As this census is previous to the baptism of (26) Hendrick (15 January 1699), and since it records four children, perhaps (6) Adam had another, otherwise unknown child. There is a span of three years and one month between the baptisms of (6) Adam's first two known children. The possibility that (6) Adam Brouwer and Marretje Hendrickse had five, rather than four children, is something to be considered. But, if so, we don't have so much as a name to go on for a further search.

Adam Brower, Jr. is mentioned in a Kings County conveyance dated 23 October 1701: "Volkert Briez and wife Elizabeth of Gowanus deed Coll. Gerardus Beeckman of Kings Co. land in Gowanus bounded by land formerly owned by Adam Brower, Jr." (Kings Co. Deeds 2:344-5). Note that this deed, while mentioning land formerly owned by Adam Brower, Jr., does not state that Adam Brower, Jr. was deceased. It is conceivable that (6) Adam Brouwer sold the land and perhaps moved elsewhere (his widow however, is in Brooklyn in 1708). Gerardus Beekman then turned around and sold this property, seven days later on 30 October 1701, to Nicholas Brouwer and Abraham Brouwer. (Kings Co. Deeds 2:346-7).

As with his brothers, we do not have an exact date of death for (6) Adam Brouwer. There is no extant record of a burial in either the Brooklyn or Flatbush Church records, nor in the records of the New York Reformed Church. We have found no recorded will, appointment of estate administrator, nor of a recorded estate settlement. (6) Adam Brouwer is not found on the 20 December 1706 assessment at Brooklyn. However, "Marya Brower" is listed with 26 acres. This must be (6) Adam's widow. There is no other "Marya," Marretie, Maria, etc. Brouwer that we know of that might fill this role. (3) Matthys Brouwer's wife, Marietje, was living in Westchester County. (6) Adam Brouwer's sister, Marretje appears to have died prior to 1703 when her second husband, Barent Jansen Van Tilburg is on the New York City census with one male 16-60, but no females in his household. There are no other "Marya" Brouwers who could be considered. In 1708, Maritie Browers, along with other members and inhabitants belonging to the "Low Dutch Reformed Congregation at Breukelen," signed a petition asking for a minister from Holland for "whose support we will contribute." Maritie Browers signed with her mark. (6) Adam Brouwer's wife, Marretje Hendrickse, was living in 1708. Her date or place of death has yet to be discovered. It appears that (6) Adam Brouwer died prior to 20 December 1706.

Contemporaries: Neither Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, nor Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck had sons named Adam, and to my knowledge the name Adam does not appear among the descendants of either one at least through the colonial period. Of course, (6) Adam was a contemporary of his father (1) Adam for a period of about 30 years as an adult. There may be some records in which the two might be confused (see the Note following the BGD profile link below). Among the grandsons of (1) Adam Brouwer, we have (24) Adam, born in 1696, so of age in 1717, who is mostly found with his surname spelled as Brewer. There should be no reason to confuse the two. (17) Adolphus, son of (4) Willem was born in 1684, so of age in 1705, and (29) Adolphus, son of (8) Nicholas was born in 1693, so of age in 1714. Again, there should be no reason to confuse records between these two and their uncle (6) Adam Brouwer.

Genetic genealogy: To date no participant in the Brewer DNA Project, who matches the genetic descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer has claimed an ancestry back to (6) Adam Brouwer. (6) Adam Brouwer had only one known son, (26) Hendrick who himself had five sons baptized between 1721 and 1733, four of whom may have survived into adulthood, coming of age between 1742 and 1754 (two different sons were named Hendrick so one died in childhood). Descendants, if any, of the four sons of (26) Hendrick have not yet been identified. This is a family that needs work and we'll get to that when we cover (26) Hendrick Brouwer in a future post. There is a large group of participants in the Brewer DNA Project, found grouped under Adam Brouwer as "Sub-Unit A" (see the public results page) who are certainly genetic descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer, but we have not yet discovered their complete lineages back to (1) Adam. What this group has in common is that 1) they've all taken a BigY test. 2) the results of the tests tell us that they all share a common ancestry with either a son, or grandson of (1) Adam Brouwer. 3) the Earliest Known Ancestors (EKAs) of each participant can be traced back to either West New Jersey and/or Pennsylvania during the colonial period. We also know from the BigY test results that the members of this group cannot be descendants of (7) Abraham Brouwer. That they are very probably not descendants of (8) Nicholas Brouwer. That they are likely not descendants of (4) Willem Brouwer (as he may well not have any living descendants). That they are also less likely to be descendants of (3) Matthys Brouwer. That they could possibly be descendants of (2) Pieter Brouwer or of (5) Jacob Brouwer. Having said all that, right now my hunch is that this group is likely descended from (6) Adam Brouwer though the otherwise not yet traced sons of his son (26) Hendrick Brouwer.

(6) Adam Brouwer is covered by William J. Hoffman in "Brouwer Beginnings" at TAG 24:29-30. There is not all that much there. Hoffman notes that (6) Adam Brouwer died prior to 12 June 1712 as per a deed involving (8) Nicholas Brouwer. This is later than the date suggested above. I'll note that it was Hoffman who first suggested that the given names Adam and Adolph were synonymous (for lack of a better term) in the first two generations of descendants (see TAG 24:163). The fact that (6) Adam is referred to as "Adolph de jonge," in a couple of instances, supports this notion.

For source citations please see the post of November 25, 2012, "The Family of Adam Brouwer and Marretje Hendrickse," and the profile page on the BGD. [Note that the BGD profile shows (6) Adam Brouwer as the sponsor a baptism in 1679 (Hendrick son of Matthys Brouwer and Marietje Pieterse) and in 1682 (Hendrick son of Evert Hendricksen and Fytje Brouwer. In the former baptism (6) Adam would have been age 17, and in the later age 20. In reviewing these records again, I think it more likely that (1) Adam Brouwer, as grandfather of both children, would have been the sponsor].

Kings Co., NY Deeds 3:133 - 1708 petition of the Low Dutch Reformed Congregation at Brooklyn. 

Kings Co. NY Deeds 2:344-5 (old 264-5). Deed of Volkert Briez to Gerardus Beekman

[Please note that the Kings Co. Deed Books images are at FamilySearch.org. You will need to sign into their website to access the images. Access is free].

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (5) Jacob Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 (5) Jacob, or Jacobus Brouwer is listed as the fifth child and fourth son of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon by William Hoffman in "Brouwer Beginnings" (TAG 24:23-28). He is the first child of Adam Brouwer for whom we do not have a surviving record of his baptism. Traditional genealogical evidence places Jacob in the family of Adam Brouwer by virtue of the facts that he is named in Adam Brouwer's will, that he did live at Gowanus, Long Island, and by deeds between his heirs and brothers (7) Abraham and (8) Nicholas Brouwer. Over the past two decades we have been able to add to the traditional research,  evidence from genetic genealogy as four participants of the Brewer DNA Project, who are confirmed as descendants of Jacob Brouwer by their traditional genealogical research, have Y-DNA test results that unquestionably match them with other tested participants who can proof their descent from Adam Brouwer by way of some of Adam's other sons.

Jacob Brouwer was married 29 January 1682 to Annatje Bogardus, a daughter of Willem Bogardus and Wynnetje Sybrants and a granddaughter of Dom. Everardus Bogardus and Anneke Jans. The marriage is recorded in both the records of the New York Reformed Dutch Church with banns dated 8 January 1682 and in the records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush (banns 7 January 1682), with the later stating that the couple was married at Brooklyn. Both records place Jacobs place of birth as Gowanus, and Annatje's as New York (she was baptized on 3 October 1663 at the New York Reformed Dutch Church). They lived at Gowanus, Long Island and had nine known children born between 1683 and 1704, seven of whom have surviving records of baptism (five at Brooklyn, two at New York). Baptism records are missing for two children. Of the nine, six are sons. They are (20) Sybrandt Brouwer, (21) Jacob Brouwer, (22) Willem Brouwer, (23) Everardus Brouwer, (24) Adam Brewer, and (25) Pieter Brouwer (see the "Prelude" post to this series). The sons, born between 1683 and 1699 would have reached the age of maturity between 1704 and 1720. 

William B. Bogardus, in his book, Dear "Cousin": A Charted Genealogy of the Descendants of Anneke Jans Bogardus (1605-1663) to the 5th Generation - and of her sister, Marritje Jans, includes a tenth child and seventh son, a so called John Brouwer who married Antje Van Oort, a daughter of Goosen Van Oort and Maria Peeck. Antje's sister, Maritje Van Oort had married (22) Willem Brouwer, while her brother Willem Van Oort possibly married Magdalena Brouwer, who is one of (5) Jacob Brouwer's three daughters (See Chart 7A in Dear Cousin...). Actual records for John (claimed to be Brouwer) including that of his marriage to Antje Van Oort, consistently record his name as Broun (Brown) and not once as Brouwer. He (recorded as John Broun) did in fact witness a baptism in 1712 for a daughter of (22) Willem Brouwer, but his presence as a witness can be attributed to the fact that his wife, Antje Van Oort, was a sister of the child's mother, Maritje Van Oort. There is no direct or convincing evidence that (5) Jacob Brouwer had a son named John, and we do not include him among (1) Adam Brouwer's grandsons.

As mentioned, we do not have a record of baptism for (5) Jacob Brouwer. William Hoffman does not offer an estimate or approximate year for his birth in "Brouwer Beginnings." Hoffman arranges his genealogy with (5) Jacob Brouwer as the fifth child, after Adam Brouwer's fourth child, daughter Maritje who was baptized 4 June 1653 and before the sixth child, daughter Fytje who also does not have a surviving record of baptism. The seventh child, daughter Helena, was baptized 31 October 1660 at Brooklyn. Based on the dates of the marriages for both (5) Jacob and his sister Fytje, it is apparent that both were likely born during the seven year span between 1653 and 1660. I've estimated a date of "abt. 1655." His appearance on the September 1676 assessment roll at Breukelen (Brooklyn) would imply that he was at least age 21 in 1676. It is conceivable that Jacob could have been born earlier, sometime within a window from late 1647 to early 1648, between the baptisms of (2) Pieter Brouwer (23 Sep 1646) and (3) Matthys Brouwer (30 May 1649). (5) Jacob would have been named for his maternal grandfather, Jacob Verdon. The traditional custom of that time and place would have been to name a second son for the maternal grandfather. Although feasible, the widow is tight, and Magdalena Verdon would have been awfully busy with three children under age four in early 1650. Born "abt. 1655" might be the safer placement. It also should be remembered that conventional or traditional naming customs were often not strictly adhered to by many parental couples. In many cases, Adam Brouwer's own children are an example of this. Of Adam Brouwer's 13 children who did have sons, only four gave a son either the name Adam or Adolphus.

First mention of (5) Jacob Brouwer is 1675 and 1676 when Gerrit Kroesen was taxed in Brooklyn for land between the home lots of Jacob Brouwer and Volkert Hendricksen Bries. As mentioned above, Jacob Brouwer is assessed at Brooklyn in September 1676 with 1 poll. He is then assessed at Brooklyn on 26 September 1683 with 2 cows, 1 cow of 2 yrs., and 6 morgens of land and valley (a morgen is about 2 acres) for 42 pounds, 10 shillings. In September 1687 he took the Oath of Allegiance at Brooklyn as a "native," in other words, born in the province. Jacob is mentioned in his father's will dated 22 January 1692. He, along with his brother Pieter and sister Aeltje, being described as disobedient children. While Pieter at least received 3 shillings, Jacob and Aeltie were to receive, "not a penny." Their shares to go directly to their heirs. It's not known just what offense the three siblings committed. Some have speculated that Pieter went wrong by not naming a son for his father. The same cannot be said for Jacob, who did name a son Adam, although he was born in 1696 after his grandfather's death. It is true that Jacob's eldest son was not named Adam. We can never really know for sure, but certainly people will speculate. At a town meeting in Brooklyn on 25 February 1692/93, Jacob Brouwer's lands at Gowanus are mentioned in a "Division of Common lands and woods." [It should be noted for clarity that Gowanus was within the political jurisdiction of the Township of Brooklyn at this time]. He is on the 1698 census of Kings County, at Brooklyn, with a household of 1 man, 1 woman and 6 children. The children would be (20) Sybrandt, (21) Jacob, (22) Willem,, (23) Everardus, Anna, and (24) Adam. On 17 October 1704, "Willem Brower Junr. son of Jacob Brouwer of Brooklyn," put himself as apprentice to Stephen Bedent of Brooklyn, feltmaker. [Note here that the description, "Junr." is not used in regard to a father-son relationship as we would use such a designation today. In that time it referred to the fact that Jacob's son Willem was "junior" to Jacob's brother, Willem, who was also living in Brooklyn at the time. The record is differentiating between two Willems, one older, and one younger, or "junior"]. Both Jacob Brouwer and Willem (Junr.) sign this document (with their marks).

(5) Jacob Brouwer's date of death or burial is not known. Neither are recorded in either the Brooklyn or Flatbush Church records, nor in the records of the New York Reformed Dutch Church. There is no surviving record of a will, nor of a settlement of Jacob's estate, or the appointment of an administrator. It is known that Jacob was living on 17 October 1704 (see above). On 26 December 1706, Annitie Brower is found on the Kings County assessment roll with 26 acres. Jacob Brouwer does not appear on the roll, and Annitie Brower must certainly be his widow. (5) Jacob Brouwer died between 17 October 1704 and 26 December 1706. 

All known evidence tells us that (5) Jacob Brouwer lived his entire life at Gowanus, Long Island. We will look at his six sons in future posts, but for now we'll mention that sons (20) Sybrant, (21) Jacob, (23) Everardus and (25) Pieter lived out their adult lives in New York City, meaning specifically on Manhattan Island. (24) Adam Brewer and (22) Willem lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The former joined the Society of Friends (Quakers). Grandsons of (5) Jacob Brouwer were born between the years 1707 and 1745, and would have reached adulthood during the years 1728 to 1763.

Contemporaries: Neither Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck, nor Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. named sons, Jacob. The grandsons of these two progenitors, as well as grandsons of Adam Brouwer, who were named Jacob were all born too late to cause any type of incorrect identification with (5) Jacob Brouwer.

Genetic genealogy: Four members of the Brewer DNA Project are direct male descendants of (5) Jacob Brouwer. All four are descendants of Jacob's son (24) Adam Brouwer. Three of the four have paternal lineages back to Jacob that are proved by traditional genealogical research. The fourth is a descendant of John G. Brewer of Miami, Greene Co., Ohio. Advanced BigY-700 testing of the descendant has enabled us to conclude that he is a descendant of Jacob Brouwer and combining that conclusion with the known descendants of Jacob Brouwer has led us to place John G. Brewer as a great-great grandson of Jacob Brouwer, his most likely lineage now being John G. Brewer (1795-1886) > George Brewer (1770-1851) > Elazerus Brewer (1731-1820) > Adam Brewer (1696-1768) > Jacob Brouwer. While two of the four participants have taken the BigY test, their test results have not singled out a unique SNP that would identify Jacob Brouwer's descendants from the descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer's other sons. The Brewer DNA Project could use the participation of direct male descendants of some of (5) Jacob Brouwer's other five sons.

Sources for the above can be found on the BGB profile for (5) Jacob Brouwer and on the post of September 20, 2012, "Jacob Brouwer and Annatje Bogardus."

William J. Hoffman covered Jacob Brouwer in "Brouwer Beginnings" at TAG 24:23-28. Hoffman includes accounts of some of the earlier incorrect claims regarding children and grandchildren attributed to (5) Jacob Brouwer and his sons. 

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Broken Links

 A reader has sent an email alerting me to a few broken links found within the pages of this blog, specifically in the June 1, 2012 post, "The Family of Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon." The broken links here are to PDFs that were originally uploaded to RootsWeb Free Pages, which had some major troubles a few years back, it was down for some months, and when restored some of the PDFs that had been posted there still did not come back. I don't why. So, I've replaced the broken links in the June 1, 2012 post, both in the post itself and for good measure I'll post them in this post as well. I'm certain that there are other broken links as well. I don't have the time to go through each post to search for and correct broken links. Instead I'll rely on you, the reader to alert me of any that you might be interested in viewing or downloading. Just send me a note pointing out the post and specific document, I'll replace it and add a link below. And, Thank You to the reader who brought this to my attention.

Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, Family Group Sheet

Adam Brouwer's Will (Transcript)

New Insight Into The Origins of Adam Brouwer which is also archived in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine: New Insight Into The Origins of Adam Brouwer. 

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (4) Willem Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 Willem, likely the third son of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, was baptized 5 March 1651 at the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church. The baptism record only records his father, "Adam Brouwer," as was customary at the time Willem was baptized. The sponsors were Willem Beeckman, Johannes Marcus, Maria int houte paert ("the wooden horse," the name of a tavern) and Lysbeth Cregiers. There is no known family relationship with any of the sponsors with either of Willem's parents families. Lysbeth Cregiers was the wife of Martin Cregier/Kregier. "Maria in the wooden horse," may have been Maria du Trieux who also was a sponsor for Willem's brother (2) Pieter Brouwer.

Willem was married at least twice, and quite likely three times. His first wife, Elizabeth Simpson, was most probably a daughter of Peter Simpson who was one of the first settlers at Gravesend, Long Island, being among the first associates who were granted a patent there in 1645. He died sometime in 1696. Peter Simpson's wife (presumably Elizabeth's mother) survived him. Her name was Grietje, or Greetie, and she was living in 1698 at Gravesend. Her family name has not been learned. T. G. Bergen, in his Early Settlers of Kings County, does not include a daughter (of any name) for Peter Simpson (p. 263) but does list a son, Robert, of whom I have not been able to locate an existing record. There is no surviving record of marriage for Willem and Elizabeth. They were married by 1679, as their first child, daughter Magdalena, was baptized at Brooklyn on 14 September 1679. The record as found in the Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Breuckelen records calls the mother "Betje Brouwer," while the Flatbush church records names her as "Elsje Brouwer." Willem and Elizabeth had five children baptized between 1679 and 1690, the first (1679), third (1684) and fourth (1687) at Brooklyn, the second (1681) and fifth (1690) and the New York Reformed Dutch Church. In no baptism record is either of Elizabeth's presumed parents, Peter or Grietje Simpson, recorded as a sponsor, although both were living during this period. The mother in each record is named as (1) Betje/Elsje Brouwer, (2) Lysbeth, (3) Elisabeth Brouwer, (4) Elisabeth Brouwer, (5) Elisabeth Simpsons. She is called "Lijsbet Pietersen, wife of Willem Brouwer," on 11 June 1677 when she is recorded as a member of the Brooklyn Church. 

There is then a gap of twelve years between 1690 and 1702 before we find the next record of baptism for a child of Willem. This is Jannetje, parents: Willem Brouwer and Marta (no surname), 18 January 1702 at Brooklyn. She was Marthe Boulton, whose parents are not known. There is no surviving marriage record for Willem and Marthe. She is simply recorded as Marte or Marthe in the records of her first three children (1702, 1706, 1709 at Brooklyn), but in the record of her fourth child, Susanne, baptized at the French Protestant Church of New York, she is recorded as Marthe Boulten. Susanne Bourdet was a sponsor for two of Marthe's children, but any relationship between the two is not readily apparent. The Bourdet surname is one to be explored though. 

In the years between 1690 and 1702, Willem is found on the 1698 census for the Town of Brookland, with a household of 1 man, 1 woman, 2 children and 2 apprentices. On 15 January 1699, "Willem Brouwer, Angenietie his wife," are sponsors for Hendrick, son of Adam Brouwer and Marretje (Hendrickse). William Hoffman, in "Brouwer Beginnings" (TAG 23:204 footnote) notes that this is the only mention of Angenietie and "is probably a mistake," but then mentions the gap in baptisms and states, "so that he could have married Angenietje between these years." Considering the fact that records from Brooklyn during this period are incomplete, something Hoffman certainly would have been aware of, I'm not sure why he would write off the baptism record in which they are recorded as "Willem Brouwer, Angenietie, his wife" as a mistake. Although there is no other record to support it, there also is not one that contradicts it. It seems reasonable to me that Willem Brouwer's second wife was Angenietie (___), and that the couple simply did not have any children. By 1702, Willem (age now about 51) married a much younger woman, this being Marthe Boulten, who did have children between the years 1702 and 1712. If about age 40 in 1712, Marthe would have been born around 1672. 

The last record found for Marthe Boulten is the 1712 baptism record of her daughter, Susanne. On 29 May 1705, "Marta Brouwers" was the sole sponsor for the baptism of Sara, daughter of Jan Challwer and Sara Luwis (Brooklyn Church). In 1708, Sara Knight (Willem's sister, then wife of Thomas Knight) and Martha Brouwer were indicted by a grand jury for false swearing with regard to a riot that occurred at a tavern kept by Thomas Knight. When nobody appeared against them at the hearing during the next court session, the charges were dropped. On 7 May 1708, Willem Brower and Martha his wife of Brooklyn conveyed to Cornelius Sleght of Newtown (Queens County), a house and garden spot in Brooklyn (six rods in the front, seven rods in the rear) bounded easterly by "the highway," westerly by George Hanson's land, northerly by Thomas Knight (Sara Brouwer's husband) and southerly by he lot of said Willem Brower bought of Cornelius Vandewater. Willem and Martha both signed with their marks. 

As with his wife, Martha, the last record that we have for Willem is the 1712 baptism of their daughter Susanne in New York City's French Protestant Church. Willem's eldest married daughter, Lysbeth, was the wife of Harmen Gerretz Van Sant and was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church at Bensalem and Sammany in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on 22 June 1710. This couple had a son, William, baptized at the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in 1708. Willem's daughter, Catharina (baptized in 1690) married Joshua Cresson, 24 September 1710, at the North and Southampton Dutch Reformed Church at Churchville, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania. On 20 Jan 1701, Willem's son Adolphus, recorded as "Adalfas Bruer," witnessed a deed recorded in Bucks County, for a tract of land in Bensalem conveyed by Thomas Revel of Burlington Co., West New Jersey as administrator of the estate of Elizabeth Tathaem of Burlington, dec'd, relict of John Grey alias Tathaem of Burlington, to Thomas Stevenson (this deed was acknowledged 14 Dec 1704).

All told, Willem Brouwer had nine children, by two wives, who are documented by records of baptisms, six daughters and three sons. The three sons, (17) Adolphus, (18) Johannes and (19) Samuel will be covered in future posts. Three of Willem's children are the first among the descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer to be documented in the area of Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which bounds the city of Philadelphia. They were there during the first decade of the 1700s.

We really do not have any contemporary men to (4) Willem Brouwer who might be confused with him. Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck was deceased in August 1668, and was likely born three or four decades prior to (4) Willem Brouwer. Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck's supposed son, Willem Brower who wrote his will in 1757, was clearly a bit younger and is well documented in Schenectady and the Mohawk Valley region of New York. Records regarding these two cannot reasonably be confused with records that might belong to (4) Willem Brouwer. We also have no record of any sons of Willem, named Willem/William.

Genetic genealogy: The Brewer DNA Project has yet to encounter a member or participant who has claimed to be a direct male descendant of (4) Willem Brouwer. We will see when we look into Willem's sons, that he may well in fact have no direct male descendants living today. At least none that have yet been recognized or documented.

William Brouwer is covered by William Hoffman in "Brouwer Beginnigs" at TAG 23:204-6. 

For more, including source citations see the post of September 2, 2012, "The Family of Willem Brouwer (son of Adam Bouwer), and his profile on the BGD website.

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (3) Matthys Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 (3) Matthys Brouwer is the second son of (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon. "Mathys, child of Adam Brouwer," was baptized at the New Amsterdam Reformed Church on 30 May 1649. His mother's name was not recorded in the baptism register, but this was something that was not unusual at the time. Many of the baptism records from the years around 1649 only record the father's name. That same day, Aeltie, child of Paulus Van der Beeck was also baptized. Aeltie was Mathys' mother Magdalena Verdon's half-sister. The sponsors/witnesses for Mathys' baptism were Mathys and Barentje Molenaers. What if any family relationship they may or may not have had with Adam Brouwer, or Magdalena Verdon, is not apparent. The "surname" Molenaers is an occupational name, and it most probably describes Mathys Molenaers' occupation at the time. A molenaar (in Dutch) is a miller. Adam Brouwer would soon build and operate a grist mill of his own. Perhaps he was employed by Mathys Molenaer in 1649 and simply named his second son for his employer who may have taught Adam the trade of a miller. This is just speculation, albeit a plausible one.

Marriage banns for "Mathys Brouwer, j.m. Van N. Jorck, en Margrietje Pieters, j.d. Van N. Amersfort," were published by the New York Reformed Dutch Church on 26 January 1673. The banns tell us that Mathys was born in New York (City) which at the time he was born was New Amsterdam. This would imply that in May 1649 his parents, (1) Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon had not yet settled at Gowanus. Mathys married Marietje Pieterse. The marriage record incorrectly calls her Margrietje. In all other records she is recorded as Marietje, Marritje, or some other near variation in spelling. She was a daughter of Pieter Claesen and Grietje Cornelise Van Ness. Descendants of Pieter Claesen a took the surname Wyckoff (with many varied spellings). This would have first occurred during the later years of the 1600s. I have not found a record in which Marietje Pieterse, or her father for that matter, is found with the surname Wyckoff. Marietje Pieterse was likely born around 1648, at New Amersfort, a.k.a. Flatlands. 

On 19 November 1679, "Matthijs Brouwer and wife Marritje Pieters" were members of the Flatbush Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. They were recorded as living at "Brooklyn Ferry." A record from the Old First Dutch Reformed Church at Breuckelen (Brooklyn) under the date of 30 November 1680, states that the couple were "both from Manhattan Island." As "Mattys Brouwer," he is recorded on an Assessment List dated 26 September 1683 at Brooklyn with 1 poll, 1 cow and 1 cow of 3 years. On 26 September 1687, Matthys took the Oath of Allegiance in Orange County, New York. It is important here to point out the the Orange County, New York of 1687 is not the same as the Orange County, New York of today. In 1687 Orange County also included what is today, Rockland County, which in 1687 was the southern portion of Orange County. It's likely that this is where Matthys lived in 1687, and that would be on the west side of the Hudson River, just north of Manhattan Island and across from Westchester County which is on the east side of the Hudson River. Mathys was named in his father's will dated 22 January 1692. He stood as sponsor/witness for baptisms of three different grandchildren in 1706, 1708 and 1710 at the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow in Tarrytown, Westchester County. On 18 April 1716 both Matthys and Marietje were recorded as member nos. 83 and 84, "from Cortlandt Manor," at the Sleepy Hollow Dutch Church. Matthys Brouwer died prior to 29 July 1726 when he is described as deceased in the marriage banns of his daughter Jannetje Brouwer who married Jan Pell (Lutheran Church of New York City). Marietje was living on 26 September 1725 when as "Maretje Brouwer," she witnessed the baptism of her granddaughter Mattheus Vos, son of her daughter Willemtje Brouwer and her husband Jan Vos by the Lutheran Minister. She is described as the child's grandmother in the record. No record of death or burial has been found for either Matthys or Marietje. There is no record of a will, nor of the settlement of either estate.

We know of eleven children of Matthys Brouwer and Marietje Pieterse. There are surviving baptism records for seven of the children. The surviving records are dispersed between the New York RDC and the Reformed Churches at Brooklyn and Flatbush (whose records often overlap). The records of the later two churches have gaps and are not complete which may account for missing baptisms for four of the children. There are four sons, (13) Peter, (14) Samuel, (15) Hendrick and (16) Johannes. We will cover each in future posts. Six of the couple's seven daughters reached adulthood and married.

William J. Hoffman covers Matthys Brouwer in "Brouwer Beginnings" at TAG 23(1947):202-204. 

Floyd I. Brewer in his A Dutch-English Odyssey; Stories of Brewer and Estey Families in North America, 1636-1996 (1997) incorrectly places his post colonial period Brewer ancestry as descended from Matthys Brouwer. He recognized this error only after his book was published. In correspondence with the late William B. Bogardus, and in Floyd I. Brewer's defense, I was informed that Floyd did not research his colonial period ancestry himself. He had hired two professional genealogists, one of which suggested a lineage that led back to Matthys Brouwer. She was wrong. Floyd I. Brewer's correct lineage leads back to (1) Adam Brouwer's son (8) Nicholas Brouwer.

Frank J. Doherty, Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Vol. 2: 763-765, follows one line of descendants of Matthys' son (16) Johannes, but only to his sons. The account here essentially follows Hoffman's account in "Brouwer Beginnings" and adds a bit more on the last generation followed, that being grandsons of (3) Matthys.

On this website see the August 8, 2012 post, "The Family of Matthys Brouwer and Marietje Pieters (Wyckoff). 

For source citations see the profile of Matthys Brouwer on the BGD website.

We do not have any records or evidence of any contemporaries to (3) Matthys Brouwer who might bear the same name. Matthys did not name any of his sons, Matthys. He has two known grandsons with the name, they being Matthys, baptized 1695, son of (14) Samuel and Matthys, baptized 1711, son of (16) Johannes. There are a couple of records of men similarly named, from the colonial period that we will list here and try to expand on in the future:

1. Mattheus Brouwer and wife, Elizabeth had daughters Elizabeth and Maria baptized at the North Branch Reformed Church at Readington, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey in May 1750 (sponsors John Egbert and Metje Egbert) and 3 June 1753 (no sponsors recorded) respectively. 
2. Matheus Brouwer and Marijke Beker were witnesses for the baptism of Maria, daughter of Samuel Elsworth and Janneke (___), 15 May 1750, Lutheran Church, New York City.
3. A Mathew Brewer/Brower was sued by Joseph King in Hunterdon Co., New Jersey in 1764. (Post of April 27, 2020). 
4. A Matheus/Mathew Brewer is found in Dutchess County, New York, "Ancient Documents" involved in lawsuits from 1741 through 1743. (Post of August 7, 2013).
   

All of the above would have had to have been born prior to 1730, and in the case of no. 4 prior to 1720, most likely in the greater New York City area. I would venture to say that no. 3 above is likely the same individual as no. 1. There is also Mathew Brower/Brewer of Greene Co., Pennsylvania who has been covered in previous posts starting in 2013. This Mathew Brower/Brewer was living as late as 1820 and was perhaps born in the period of 1755-1760. He apparently was in Lebanon, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey prior to settling in Greene Co., Pennsylvania.

(3) Matthys Brouwer, born in New Amsterdam in 1649, lived in Brooklyn, certainly at or near Gowanus after he married. His eleven children were all born or baptized between 1673/74 and about 1695. In 1687 he is found in Orange County (that part now Rockland County) and afterwards at Courtlandt Manor in Westchester County, New York. Son (14) Samuel, born by 1677 had eleven children born between 1695 and 1716. Son (16) Johannes had five children born between 1711 and about 1720. The roster of Matthys' grandchildren may be incomplete. Records for both of the sons just mentioned are found in the records of the Old Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County, New York, through the first half of the 1700s. More on them in future posts.

Genetic genealogy: To date the Brewer DNA Project has no known direct male descendants of (3) Matthys Brouwer, whose Y-DNA test results match those of other descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer. However, the Project does have two members, both of whom claim to be descendants of (3) Matthys Brouwer through his son (14) Samuel, but whose Y-DNA tests do not match those of the members of the Adam Brouwer group. Their tests identify their predicted haplogroup as R-M512, while Adam Brouwer's descendants are identified by E-BY6201. The two, along with two other members, form the group "Under Consideration B" at the Brewer DNA Project. We will elaborate on this further when we take up (14) Samuel, but for now I'll just say that one of the two has a very strong claim, a solid ancestry based on traditional genealogical research, back to (14) Samuel, while the second has a very plausible ancestry, yet neither are genetic descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer.

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: (2) Pieter Brouwer, Son of (1) Adam Brouwer

 Before addressing the 25 grandsons of (1) Adam Brouwer we want to give a quick review or synopsis of Adam's seven sons and add any additional information that may have been learned since the initial profile posts were published in 2012. Again, numbers in parenthesis preceding an individual's name refer to their placement on the outline chart found in the Prelude post to this series. We start with Adam's eldest son (2) Pieter Brouwer. 

Adam and Magdalena (Verdon) Brouwer's eldest son Pieter was baptized at the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church on 23 September 1646. The sponsors/witnesses for the baptism were Mr. Paulus Van der Beek (at that time the third husband of the child's maternal grandmother Maria Badie), Willem Bredenbent (second husband of the child's maternal great grandmother), Aeltje Braconye (child's maternal great grandmother) and Mary du Trieux (unrelated. A well known and perhaps infamous citizen of early New Amsterdam).

Pieter married Petronella Kleyn by about 1673. She was a daughter of Uldrick Kleyn and Baefje Pieters who were married in New Amsterdam in 1641 and afterwards lived at Beverwijck/Albany which is likely the location were Pieter and Petronella were married. Surviving marriage records for the Reformed Dutch Church at Albany begin with the year 1683. Records for the years previous to 1683 are lost. The couple apparently lived at Schenectady during the early years of their marriage. The marriage banns for their two eldest sons, (9) Uldrick and (10) Abraham, record their places of birth as "Schoonegte" (Schenectady). The two sons were likely born around 1673 and 1675. Schenectady church records begin with the year 1694. Pieter and Petronella had ten known children. Baptism records are found for only four of the ten children. The couple, recorded as "Pieter Adamsz and his wife," were listed as members of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church at Flatbush on 19 November 1679, "living at Gowanus."

In September 1687, Pieter Brouwer took the Oath of Allegiance at Brooklyn, as a "native" (i.e. born in the colony). He was among the soldiers from Kings County sent to Albany in 1691. He is named in his father's will dated 22 January 1692 and is noted along with his brother (5) Jacob and sister Aeltje as "disobedient" children. 

On 10 October 1700, "Peter Brower of East New Jersey," deeded his share of the mill property at Gowanus to his brothers "Abram Brower and Nicholas Brower of Brooklyn." This deed states that Peter Brower is the "eldest son of Adam Brower, deceased." This is the last certain mention we have of (2) Pieter Brouwer in any record. In October 1700 he would have just turned 54 years old and so may well have lived longer. His two eldest sons were married and had settled in Bergen County, New Jersey by 1700. Petronella Kleyn is not mentioned in the deed and is not found in any record afterwards. She may have been deceased by 1700.

On 3 March 1723, Hendrik, son of Claes Bovey and Cornelia Brouwer was baptized at the Albany RDC. The sponsors were Petrus Brouwer and Hendr(ikie) Oothout. Cornelia was (2) Pieter Brouwer's daughter, and if he was in fact the sponsor Petrus Brouwer, it would imply that Pieter was living as late as March 1723 when he would have been in his 77th year. If the sponsor is not (2) Pieter, it is not clear who exactly he might be. (2) Pieter did not name any sons Pieter (Petrus, Peter) and so Cornelia would not have had any brothers by that name. Other, more distant family members who were old enough to sponsor a baptism in 1723 would be (13) Peter son of (3) Matthys Brouwer, and Peter (b. 1701) a son of (10) Abraham Brouwer. The former (a first cousin to Cornelia), born in 1676 has been difficult to otherwise trace (he will be covered in a separate post). The later lived in Bergen County, New Jersey and would be Cornelia's nephew. He would marry in 1724 (to Dina de Groot) and it is conceivable that he could have been the sponsor. Cornelia had named her first son, Pieter. He was baptized in 1717 and the sponsors there were Matheus and Maria Bovie who were Claes's parents. If available one would suspect that (2) Pieter would have been chosen as sponsor for his namesake grandson, but this was not what happened. 

No will or record of estate settlement has been found for (2) Pieter Brouwer. As alluded to above, the date and place of his death is not known. There is no known record of burial that can be considered to belong to him. It seems likely that his wife, Petronella Kleyn was deceased by 1700, and as Pieter's youngest two brothers Abraham and Nicholas were taking complete ownership of the Gowanus Mill property, he appears to have lived after the age of 50-54 in Bergen County, New Jersey where three of his four sons had settled. His youngest son, (12) Jacob, lived in the area of Albany, New York. Two of Pieter's younger daughters, the aforementioned Cornelia, as well as Maria (married Jacob Knoet) also lived in the Albany area. It is possible that Pieter spent is latter years with his children at Albany. He may have been alive as late as 1723 when he would have been in his 77th year.

(2) Pieter Brouwer had four sons: (9) Uldrick, (10) Abraham, (11) Jan, the three of whom settled in Bergen County, New Jersey and had children born between the years 1700 and the late 1720s, and (12) Jacob who settled in the area of Albany, New York and had children born between the years of 1717 and 1743. Many of these grandchildren (of Pieter) lived their adult lives through the colonial period and some into the post Revolutionary War years, the early years of the new United States.

A contemporary is Pieter, son of Jan Brouwer and Jannetje Jans of Flatlands, Long Island. He was baptized in 1660 and so 14 years younger than (2) Pieter. The two Pieters lived in Kings County, New York at the same time and so care is needed in not confusing records regarding the two. T. G. Bergen in Early Settlers of Kings County (p. 54) did just this and assigned (2) Pieter two additional wives. The second, Geertruyd Jans, can't be confirmed and it is not otherwise known who she was. The third, "Annetje Jansen of Flatlands," was Annetje Jans (Bergen) who married Pieter Jansz Brouwer in 1687. 

William J. Hoffman covers (2) Pieter Brouwer in "Brouwer Beginnings" in TAG 43(1947):197-202 with a lengthy diversion covering the ancestry of the noted sculptor John Henry Isaac Brouwere (as he styled is own last name) who was a direct descendant of (2) Pieter. For a less than flattering account of John Henry Isaac Brouwere see The Hemmingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon Reed (2008): Chapter 29. J. H. I. Brouwere had created a death mask for Thomas Jefferson among other famous people.

See also the July 12, 2012, "The Family of Pieter Brouwer and Petronella Kleyn" on this website, and Pieter Brouwer on the BGD which includes complete source citations.

Genetic genealogy: As of this writing the Brewer DNA Project includes 10 members who can confirm their direct paternal lines back to (2) Pieter Brouwer. Of the ten, four have taken the advanced Big Y test, the results of which show that they share the SNPs E-BY6201 (FTDNA) and E-Y19643 (YFull). These same SNPs identify the Adam Brouwer group as a whole and so no new "novel" SNP has yet been identified that might identify Pieter's descendants apart from those of his brothers. The ten participants are descended from three of Pieter's four sons, those being (9) Uldrick, (10) Abraham and (12) Jacob. Only (11) Jan has yet to see a descendant participate in the Project. If more of the six participants who have not upgraded to the Big Y-700 test would do so, we may be able to identify a SNP that identifies all descendants of only Pieter, and may even identify SNPs for individual lines from one or more of his sons.

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: Introduction, (1) Adam Brouwer, Sources, Genetic Genealogy

 Note: Whenever individuals in the direct male line of descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. are mentioned in this series of posts, they will be referred to with a number preceding their name. This number identifies each individual found on the outline chart found in the Prelude post to this series published on September 24, 2022. 

Before engaging the 25 known individual grandsons of (1) Adam Brouwer we will first very briefly review their direct known ancestors, i.e. their parents and grandparents. More details on these individuals can be found within the posts of this website and elsewhere. The purpose of this review is to summarize the important facts, dates and places concerning Adam Brouwer and his sons; to introduce any material found over the previous ten years since the original profiles were published; and to consider records found that may pertain to Adam Brouwer's sons, or may pertain to others of the same name. We also want to provide a perspective on place and time, i.e. when and where did these ancestors live.

(1) Adam Brouwer was most certainly born during the decade of 1610 to 1620. An exact date or record of his birth or of a baptism has yet to be discovered or identified. The identity of his parents is not known. After serving as a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Company in Brazil he came to New Amsterdam where he married Magdalena Verdon, daughter of Jacob Verdon and Maria Thomase Badie, on 21 March 1645 as recorded by the Reformed Dutch Church at New Amsterdam. The marriage record states that he was born in Köln, which is present day Cologne in Germany. At the time that Adam Brouwer was born Cologne was an independent city within the Holy Roman Empire. Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon had fourteen children born between the years 1646 and 1672. Their eldest son (2) Pieter Brouwer was 25 years old when their youngest son (8) Nicholas Brouwer was born. Soon after his marriage Adam Brouwer settled at Gowanus, Long Island, directly across the East River from New Amsterdam. He built and operated a grist mill, and remained there is entire life. Having said that, the 1678 list of "Estates of the Inhabitants of Newtowne, Long Island," includes an "Adam Bruer," with one head and two cows. As suggested by William J. Hoffman in "Brouwer Beginnings," it is possible that Adam owned property at Newtown, but did not live there. Adam's son (6) Adam Brouwer would have only been age 16 in 1678. In August 1670 he was granted a pass to travel aboard the ship Fort Albany, owned by Jacque Cousseau, bound for England and Amsterdam. Adam Brouwer died between 22 January 1692 (the date of his will) and 21 March 1692 (the date his will was proved) presumably at Gowanus. There is no extant record of his death nor of a burial in the records of the Reformed Dutch Church at either New York (formerly New Amsterdam) or in the records of the Brooklyn or Flatbush churches. Like most individuals during this time, he was likely buried on his own property at some certain location set aside for burials. It is likely that he was somewhere between the ages of 72 and 82 when he died. Magdalena Verdon, who according to her marriage record was born in New Netherland (perhaps around 1627), outlived her husband. The last known record of her is dated 22 Jan 1699 when she was a witness/sponsor at the baptism of her granddaughter Engeltje Pieterse Hendricksen, daughter of her daughter Rachel Brouwer and her husband Pieter Hendrickszen. Adam and Magdalena's lives spanned the bulk of the years of the 1600s and during the majority of that time they were found at Gowanus, Long Island.

(1) Adam Brouwer's seven sons, (2) Pieter, (3) Matthys, (4) Willem, (5) Jacob, (6) Adam, (7) Abraham and (8) Nicholas were born between the years 1646 and 1672. All lived into adulthood, married, and left children. There are records of baptisms, recorded by the New Amsterdam/New York Reformed Dutch Church for five of the seven sons. Baptism records have not been found for the sons (5) Jacob and (7) Abraham. They may have been baptized at the RDC in Brooklyn whose surviving records are incomplete. Jacob and Abraham, along with their five brothers, are mentioned as sons in their father's 1692 will. There are no surviving records of death or burial for any of (1) Adam Brouwer's seven sons. No wills or other records of estate settlements have been found for any of the seven sons. Collectively, their 25 sons were born between the years of about 1673 and 1707. Assuming an age of 18 for reaching adulthood, they would have come of age between 1691 and 1725. Most would have died during the colonial period, but at least two, (25) Pieter and (27) Jeury are known to have lived into the years of the American Revolutionary War. 

Sources: The earliest published account of Adam Brouwer and his sons is credited to Teunis G. Bergen and is found in Register in Alphabetical Order, of the Earliest Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N. Y., From It's First Settlement by Europeans to 1700 and published in 1881 (pages 51-55). This early account is chock-full of errors and rather than spend time on them here I will refer readers to the post of April 23, 2012. It is flawed enough that I would recommend avoiding T. G. Bergen's account of Adam Brouwer's family altogether. The highly regarded genealogist William J. Hoffman published "Brouwer Beginnings," in a series of pieces in The American Genealogist in 1947 and 1948 (volumes 23, no. 4 thru 24, no. 3). Hoffman's account remains the most complete and accurate reference for the first three generations of Adam Brouwer's descendants and will be mentioned frequently when we cover Adam Brouwer's grandsons individually. With that in mind, it must still be mentioned that there are errors, including errors of omission in Hoffman's work and we'll point them out when warranted. Please see the post of May 22, 2012 for more on Hoffman's other articles featuring Adam Brouwer's descendants. I have used numerous other sources and as they can be found mentioned within the pages of this website and in more detail on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website, I will largely not take the time to repeat them in this series of posts. The exceptions will be when some new information is introduced. So, please consult the Brouwer Genealogy Database if you desire detailed citations. 

Genetic genealogy: To date there are 59 direct male descendants of (1) Adam Brouwer who have participated in Y-DNA testing with the Brewer DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA. Thirty-two of the participants have taken advanced Y-DNA tests in the form of either FTDNA's original Big Y test or the newer Big Y-700 test. Twenty-four of the participants have joined in for further analysis of their Y-DNA test results with the independent company YFull. Adam Brouwer's descendants, and therefore Adam Brouwer himself, can be identified on the larger Y-Tree by the SNP E-Y19643. All of the individuals found on this page of the much larger Y-Tree are genetic descendants of Adam Brouwer. Participants joining the Brewer DNA Project who take the basic STR marker Y-DNA test and receive a predicted haplogroup of E-M35 from FTDNA's analysis, can assume that they are descendants of Adam Brouwer only if their various STR marker values match with those of the known descendants of Adam Brouwer who have already been tested. A predicted haplogroup of E-M35 does not in itself identify the tested individual as a certain descendant of Adam Brouwer. In fact the Project has two members who are identified by E-M35, but are not descendants of Adam Brouwer. The reason being, their STR marker values do not match up with those of the known descendants of Adam Brouwer. Those interested in augmenting their traditional genealogical research with genetic genealogy are encouraged to contact and join the Brewer DNA Project. Those who have already joined and taken the basic Y-DNA STR marker test are encouraged to upgrade to the BigY-700 test.

Transcription of Adam Brouwer's Will

Profile of Adam Brouwer on the BGD website. Includes complete source citations.

Brief posts reviewing each of (1) Adam Brouwer's seven sons will follow.

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The Grandsons of Adam Brouwer: Prelude

 Back in mid 2012 I posted notes, summaries, profiles, whatever you wish to call them, on Adam Brouwer and his fourteen children, all of whom had children of their own. My intention back then was then to start on the grandchildren and post notes on each of them. But then everything else got in the way including side trips exploring the other Brouwers of New Netherland (Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck) and then even further afield into the Brewer families of New England and Hubert Brower the immigrant to Philadelphia, and then onto the Brewer families who originated in the colonies of the American southeast. This blog site was originally intended to focus on Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. and his descendants, and so now, it's time to do just that.

As Adam Brouwer researchers and descendants know, Adam Brouwer and his wife, Magdalena Verdon had fourteen children. [I do not count the sometimes supposed son Daniel who was baptized in the New York Reformed Dutch Church on 7 May 1678 with the parents listed as Adam Brouwer and Aeltje Van der Beek in the church register of baptisms. I don't think he was a child of either Adam or Aeltje, who is Adam's wife's half-sister]. Of the fourteen, seven were sons and seven were daughters. These fourteen children in turn were parents to, by my count, 96 known grandchildren. For now I am only going to focus on the grandsons who carry on the Brouwer surname, that is to say, the sons of Adam Brouwer's seven sons, Pieter, Matthys, Willem, Jacob, Adam, Abraham and Nicholas. What follows is a numbered outline of sorts naming and numbering them (since some given names are found more than once, I will refer to these numbers in the proposed future posts). Profiles or notes that I have on each will be published here as posts in the future as time permits. It's going to take awhile, and I don't doubt that in between there will be diversions into other subjects and the like. The goal is to get this completed by next spring.

Outline:

1. Adam Brouwer

  2. Pieter Brouwer

     9. Uldrick Brouwer

    10. Abraham Brouwer

    11. Jan Brouwer

    12. Jacob Brouwer

  3. Matthys Brouwer 

    13. Peter Brouwer

    14. Samuel Brouwer

    15. Hendrick Brouwer

    16. Johannes Brouwer

  4. Willem Brouwer

    17. Adolphus Brouwer

    18. Johannes Brouwer

    19. Samuel Brouwer

  5. Jacob Brouwer

    20. Sybrandt Brouwer

    21. Jacob Brouwer

    22. Willem Brouwer

    23. Everardus Brouwer

    24. Adam Brewer

    25. Pieter Brouwer

  6. Adam Brouwer

    26. Hendrick Brouwer

  7. Abraham Brouwer

    27. Jeury Brouwer

    28. Abraham Brouwer

  8. Nicholas Brouwer

    29. Adolphus Brouwer

    30. Jurge Brouwer

    31. Nazareth Brouwer

    32. Cornelis Brouwer

    33. Nicholas Brouwer

By my count that is 25 known grandsons of Adam Brouwer who carry the Brouwer surname forward. It would be nice to be able to profile all 96 grandchildren, and perhaps in time that can be done, but for now it's most feasible to focus on this subset of 25 grandsons. The reason for doing this is 1) narrowing the list of grandchildren down gives me more optimism that this undertaking can be accomplished and therefore more incentive to get it done, and 2) this exercise will be of benefit to the Brewer DNA Project, which as a surname focused Y-DNA project, is limited to male descendants of Adam Brouwer. The current administrator and co-administrators of the Project believe that, largely with the help of newer advanced Y-DNA tests (the BigY-700 at FamilyTreeDNA specifically) the Project is on the verge of identifying missing links in many of the lineages of those members of the Adam Brouwer Group who are still trying to identify their complete Brouwer line back to Adam Brouwer. Some traditional genealogical data and notes, made available publicly online to all who are interested, should augment the genetic genealogical data that is being accumulated by the Brewer DNA Project.

Finally, I urge all current members of the Adam Brouwer Group at the Brewer DNA Project, to upgrade their tests to the advanced BigY-700 test. This is especially helpful for those who know with certainty their ancestral paternal line back to Adam Brouwer. Your results and matches may help those who are still seeking their connection find their way back to Adam. Please contact the administrators at the Brewer DNA Project with any questions. And of course, the Project always welcomes new members.

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"Tracing A Branch of the Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia to North Carolina and Beyond"

 David V. Brewer, a co-administrator of the Brewer DNA Project and responsible for the "Lanier-Brewer" Group has just published online his latest book of research focused on the Brewer families descended from or closely related to George Brewer of Brunswick County, Virginia. And so, in David's words as posted to the Brewer DNA Project's Activity Feed on September 5th:

"I’ve now completed a book entitled Tracing A Branch of the Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia to North Carolina and Beyond, which follows the historical path of a numerous branch of Brewers who migrated from England to Virginia in the 17th Century. That branch is identified as Haplogroup I-Y15300, subclade I-Y21524. We currently have 10 members in the Brewer DNA Project who are confirmed for this subclade through BigY/700 testing. We also have several other members who haven’t tested at the Big Y level yet probably are members of this extended family group. 

 For the most part, the book covers the period between the late 17th Century and mid-19th Century, which constitutes the primary “brick wall” era for many people with roots in the Colonial and Early American South. The record evidence suggests to me that the most recent common ancestor for those tested in subclade I-Y21524 probably was born in England or Virginia in the latter 1600’s. Specifically, the book concludes that this group probably descends from a family that lived in Surry/Sussex Counties, Virginia between the late 1600’s and early 1750’s, through men named Thomas Brewer and John Brewer and their possible father, another John Brewer. It’s sometimes asserted that the above mentioned Thomas Brewer might have been a direct descendant of John Brewer I, the so-called Ancient Planter of Jamestown, through his probable descendant Thomas Brewer of Nansemond County, Virginia. The book concludes that available record evidence doesn’t support that hypothesis but further concludes that the two lines nevertheless might be related. 

 The book follows the path of the members of subclade I-Y21524 from southside Virginia to Edgecombe and Halifax Counties, North Carolina, from there to Rowan and Surry Counties, North Carolina, and from there to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, with respect to one sub-branch, from Rowan and Surry Counties to Indiana (some via Tennessee) and from there to other midwestern states, with respect to a second sub-branch, and from Halifax County to Tennessee, then to Mississippi and later Texas, as to a third sub-branch. By the mid-19th Century, this family group had dispersed throughout the Midwest and Southern states, following a similar path to that of many Colonial Virginia families. 

The book also covers in detail several other distinct branches of the Brewer families of the Colonial and Early American South, including among others the descendants of John Brewer I of Jamestown, John Brewer I’s probable descendant Thomas Brewer of Nansemond County, William Brewer of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, Nicholas Brewer of Prince George County, Virginia, John Brewer of Southampton County, Virginia, Robert Brewer of Nansemond County, Virginia, the John Brewer family of Nansemond County, Virginia, the Moses Brewer families of Halifax and Wayne Counties, North Carolina, the Joseph Brewer family of Granville/Bute/Warren Counties, North Carolina, and the Sackfield Brewer and Sackford Brewster lines in Virginia. In addition, the book considers several men that have not been broadly discussed, including one or more (possibly overlapping) men named John Brewer who, in the early 1700’s, owned land on Assamoosick Swamp, Virginia, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, and in Prince George County, Virginia, another John Brewer from Halifax County, North Carolina, and William, John, and Robert Brewer of Martin County, North Carolina. 

 My approach was to start with the most reliable available record evidence, which almost always is found in more recent generations. This requires a reverse chronological approach. When I hit a logjam, I tried to remember four things: (1) many records have been lost or destroyed, especially from the pre-Civil War South where we are focused, but that doesn't mean that more finds won't be unearthed in the future, especially with improved digital access to old records; (2) many of our ancestors didn’t read or write, so they left a much smaller written legacy than we would like; (3) having an open mind and being willing to revisit previous opinions is important; and (4) like it or not, this line of Brewers constantly recycled first names, generation after generation, which has created an obstacle for researchers trying to sort out individuals, even within the same generation and geographical area. Of course, our ancestors couldn't have cared less about that, but we certainly do. 

 This book is a work in progress, meant to be supplemented, corrected, and superseded, where appropriate, by the fruits of further research. I will accept all comments and suggested edits with a positive spirit. The identities of individual members of this subclade have been screened to protect their genetic privacy rights. Whether they choose to waive those rights in the course of future dialogue is strictly up to them. I’m pleased to share the book with members of the Brewer DNA Project through the following Google Drive share link: Tracing A Branch of the Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia to North Carolina and Beyond. I look forward to your thoughts and comments. Once I compile comments and make corrections, I’ll add an index and circulate the book more broadly. In the meantime, you can key word search the draft by using your standard pdf search method. Thanks for your interest. Dave Brewer."

And to the above I will just add that in a comment to the post of August 20, 2022, "Edmund Brewer of Robertson County, Tennesee: A Correction to the Brewer-Lanier Database," David mentions that Edmund Brewer is briefly discussed on page 132 of the book and that it is possible that he was originally from Martin County, North Carolina.

Thanks David, I am sure that this work will be of great interest and help to those researching this very large group of Brewer families. And once again, I very strongly encourage those researching their Brewer family ancestry, to contact the administrators at the Brewer DNA Project, through email links available on the Project's website, and join the project by having a close male relation (if you are not one yourself) take a Y-DNA test. 

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