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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