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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