Q: Who is Jacob BREUER, Born at Bergen, Married (1711) Lea Beeckmans, Born at New York ?

 A: He is Jacob PREYER, a son of Andries Preyer and Joanna Steynmets

In the previous post (January 2, 2023) I made mention of the problem of identifying transcription errors in the published transcribed church and vital records of original record books that are otherwise not available to the public at large for inspection, of which we now rely upon as "primary" source material for compiling genealogies. So here is an example.

The Jacob Breuer in question is found here on the BGD. He was married to Lea Beeckmans at the Lutheran Church of New York City on 6 May 1711 ["Some Early Records of the Lutheran Church, New York", Year Book of the Holland Society of New York (1903):5. Jacob Breuer born at Bergen, New Jersey and Lea Beekmans born at New York. Also at 11, "At the same time and place" (meaning from the previous record in the register, the house of Samuel Beeckman, our Voorleser)]. 

We also show the baptism of one son, Jacob, 27 May 1720, which I would note here is nine years after his parents marriage. This would lead one to suspect that there must be other children who were born to this couple, and we'll get to that soon. There are also notes from William J. Hoffman, found in "Brouwer Beginnings," TAG 23(1946):198fn. Hoffman's explanation as to who this Jacob Breuer might be: 

"There was also at Bergen one Jacob Breur (Brewer) apparently not related to the family under consideration (Adam Brouwer Berckhoven). He was probably of German extraction, for he married as j.m. born in Bergen, Nova Caesaria (another name for New Jersey) in the German Lutheran Church at New York, May 6-May 26, 1711, Lea Beekmans. He was a member of the Lutheran Church at New York in 1719. A child, Jacobus was bapt. at home 27 May 1720, sp. Samuel Beekman, Sr., Magdalena, his wife. Jacob Brewer of Bergen signed on Jan 14, 1714 the new charter."

Hoffman clearly did not have an interest in pursuing this further, but had he done so, he would have rather quickly come to the conclusion that Jacob was NOT a Breuer, and that the transcription of the Lutheran Church marriage record, published in the 1903 Year Book of the Holland Society, was an error, B-r-e-u-e-r a mistaken transcription for P-r-e-y-e-r. To his credit, Hoffman did not try to force a fit for Jacob Breuer into one of the known Brouwer families. He simply reported the existence of this marriage record, offered a plausible although incorrect explanation, and then moved on. 

Consider the following run of chronologically listed records involving Jacob Preyer and Lea Beeckman.

1. 6 May 1711. Marriage of Jacob Breuer and Lea Beeckmans [Luth. Ch. YBHS 1903:5 and 11].
2. 16 March 1712. Baptism of Johanna; parents: Jacob Preyer, Lea Beekman; sposnors: Casparus Preyer, Celitje Preyer [Evans, Thomas Grier (Ed.). Baptisms from 1639 to 1730 in the Reformed Dutch Church, New York. Collections of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Vol. 2. (New York):359. Hereafter RDC NY Bapt.].
3. 5 March 1714. Baptism of Johannes; parents: Jacob Preyer, Lea Beekman; sposnors: Pieter Post, Catharina Beekman [RDC NY Bapt.:374].
4. 15 December 1717. Baptism of Samuel; parents: Jacob Pryer, Lea Beekman; sposnors: Denys Woertman, Ytje Beekman [RDC NY Bapt.:401].
5. 4 January 1718. Baptism of Maria; parents: Denys Woertman, Margrietje Beekman; sponsors: Jacob Pryer, Maria Walton [RDC NY Bapt.:401].
6. 25 October 1719. Lutheran Church, NYC Communions:  Jacob Breuer [Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. "First Communions in the Lutheran Church of New York City, 1704 to 1769," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol. 104 (1973)].
7. 27 May 1720. Baptism, At N. Y. At the house of Jacob Breueer, Jacobus, child of Jacob Breuer and wife Lea. Witnesses: Samuel Beeckman, Sr., and wife Magdalena [YBHS 1903:77]
8. 17 February 1723. Baptism of  Andries; parents: Jacob Preyer, Lea Beekman; witnesses: Ary Van Wolgum, Celia Preyer ["Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island, N.Y., Baptisms," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol.36, 37 (1905, 1906) at 37:29].
9. 27 July 1725. Baptism of Andries; parents: Ary Van Woglum, Celia Preyer; witnesses: Jacob Preyer, Margrietje Ten Eyk [RDC Port Richmond, RECORD 37:33].
10. 12 December 1725. Baptism of Andries; parents: Johannes Preyer, Maria Rall; sponsors: Jacob Preyer, Lea Beekman [RDC Port Richmond, RECORD 37:33].
11. 31 July 1726. Baptism of Johanna; parents: Jacob Preyer, Lea Beekman; witnesses: Symon Symonsz, Maria Woersman, RDC Port Richmond, RECORD 37:122].
12. 24 April 1732. Will of Jacob Pryor of Richmond County, house carpenter, being very sick. My wife Leah shall have power to sell my negro man and as much goods as necessary to pay debts. I leave to my son Johannes, 5 shillings for his heirship, as heir in law, when he is of age. My wife has power to sell my lot of land which I now live on, also my tenement or dwelling house. After payment of debts, I leave 2/3 of remainder to be divided among my six children, Johannes, Samuel, Jacob, Andre, Peter and Johana, when they are of age. I make my wife executor. Witnesses: Richard Cole, Tunis Bogart, Simon Bogart. [New York (County) Surrogate's Court. Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York (Vol. III 1730-1744). Collections of the New York Historical Society. New York: Printed for the Society, 1894):109. Abstracting Lib. 12:19. Digital image of the complete will is online at FamilySearch.org, New York Probate Records, Record of Wills, 1665-1916 (New York County), Wills, Vol. 12 1732-1736].
13. 4 April 1733. Inventory of Estate of Jacob Prier of Richmond County, taken by Symon & Tunis Bogert. Executor: Leah Prier. [Jones, Jas. Abstracts of Inventories, 1730-1752, Filed in the Surrogates Office, N. Y. City. Manuscript, 1898:11].
14. 5 February 1735. Indenture of Laghlon Fallen and Leah his wife of the County of Richmond in the Provence of New York, yeoman, executrix and executor of the last will and testament of Jacob Pryer late of the above said County of Richmond, deceased, and Johannes Pryer of the same place, eldest son and heir at law to the said Jacob Pryer deceased (of the one part) to William Johnson of the same place, yeoman (of the other part). For one hundred and eighty six pounds, a parcel of land in Richmond County against Smokeing(?) Point...eighty acres of land and eight acres of salt meadow. [Richmond County, N.Y. Deeds, D:36. Digital image online at FamilySearch.org, New York Land Records, Richmond Deeds 1732-1769 vol. D].

Of the above 14 entries three record Jacob's surname as Breuer. All three are the records from the New York Lutheran Church (marriage, communion and one baptism) so perhaps the error lies with the original records and not so much with the transcriptions which were done by different persons and at different times. Perhaps the originals are in very poor condition or perhaps the minister or scribe who wrote out the original entries simply wrote Ps that looked a lot like Bs. Either way, it is clear from the intermixing of these three records with the remaining eleven, that Jacob's correct surname was Preyer with variations of Pryer, Prier, Pryor. Other than these three records, there are no others involving a Jacob Breuer and a Lea Beeckman. Conclusion: there was no person named Jacob Breuer married to a woman named Leah Beeckman.

Finding a Family for Jacob Preyer

The Lutheran Church marriage record does state that Jacob was born at Bergen. This Bergen being the one in New Jersey and not the city Bergen in Norway. As he was married in 1711, and assuming that he was likely married while in his early twenties, as would have been typical for the time, we can approximate Jacob's birth as about 1690. The only family named Preyer who is found at Bergen at this time is that of Andries Preyer and Joanna Steynmets who were married by the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bergen (now Jersey City, New Jersey) on 13 May 1688 ["Marriages in the Village of Bergen in New Jersey Beginning 1665," Yearbook of the Holland Society Bergen Book, 2nd Vol. (1914):65,  no. 85. May 13. Andries Preyer, y.m., from Crevelt in County Meurs, and Johanna Steynmetz, y.d., from Bergen, both living at Ahasymus. Were married after three proclamations of bans]. This record of marriage tells us that Andries Preyer was this family's immigrant ancestor from Europe to America. He was from "Crevelt in County Meurs." The County of Moers was (according to a Wikipedia entry) "a historical princely territory on the left bank of the Lower Rhine that included the towns of Moers and Krefeld." It appears to me that Krefeld (or Crefeld) would be the Crevelt mentioned in the marriage record. Present day Krefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Joanna Steynmets was baptized at Bergen, 29 December 1667, a daughter of Casper Steynmets and Jannetje Gerritse ["Baptisms in the Village of Bergen in New Jersey Beginning 1666," Yearbook of the Holland Society of New York Bergen Book 1st Volume (1913):21]. This couple had three children born or baptized at Bergen: Seelitje (Celitje), 24 February 1694 [YBHS(1913):40]; Johannes, 18 May 1696 [YBHS(1913):42]; and Jenneke (Tenneke), 24 February 1699 [YBHS(1913):46]. Neither birth nor baptism records are found for their other two sons, the aforementioned Jacob Preyer, and Casparus Preyer who married in 1714, Sarah Andries. Both were certainly born between the year of their parent's marriage, 1688, and 1694. Andries Preyer was buried by the Church at Bergen, 16 November 1698 ["Burials in Bergen," Year Book of the Holland Society of New York Bergen Book, 3rd Volume (1915):30].

Lea Beeckman

We do not have a record of birth or baptism for Lea Beeckman. Married in 1711, it may be safe to assume that she was born around 1691. The baptism records of her children provide clues for her parents. We are also fortunate in that although there were two or three, apparently unrelated families named Beeckman/Beekman in the New York City area during the later half of the 1600s and early 1700s, and scores of individuals with that surname, there appears to be only one, Lea (Leah) Beeckman/Beekman. She is no doubt a daughter of Samuel Beekman, who was the voorleser (reader) for the New York Lutheran Church, and was buried by that church 14 February 1729. He was a son of Jochem Beekman and Margriet Hendricks. For the origins of this Beekman family I suggest that one start with Macy, Harry. "Origins of Some New Netherland Families," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol.123 (1992):20 BEEKMAN. My hunch is that there is room to expand this work, however, I still suggest that any ambitious researcher out there start with this article. Samuel Beekman's wife, and Lea's mother, was Magdalen Fonteyn, a daughter of Carel Fonteyn and Catharina de Balie. She was baptized 2 October 1659 at the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church [RDC NY Bapt.:54]. Although baptism records for children of Samuel and Magdalena are not found, my reconstruction of this family using other records finds six children, all of whom reached adulthood and left descendants, viz.: Charles Beekman (m. Ytje Van Zandt), Margarita Beekman (m. Denys Woertman), Catharina Beekman (m.1 Pieter Harlandt, m.2 Pieter Post), Lea Beekman (m.1 Jacob Preyer, m.2 Laughlon Fallon), Rachel Beekman (m.1 Johann Schmidt, m.2 John Woodside), Samuel Beekman (m. Mary Cordes). [I am not going to provide source citations here, again, any careful researcher wishing to do so should be able to reconstruct this family using the sources mentioned elsewhere in this post].

Lea Beeckman and Jacob Preyer, a house carpenter, lived first in New York City (meaning on Manhattan Island, and then likely around 1720-1723 relocated to Staten Island. Their children are all found above. There were seven. I have not followed them further. However, we can assume that the first child named Johanna (1712) died early as a second Johanna was baptized in 1726. The remaining five were sons. Samuel (1717) married by New Jersey license, 3 March 1749, Annatje Van Gelder [Nelson, William. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Volume XXII. Marriage Records, 1665-1800. Archives of the State of New Jersey. First Series. Paterson, N.J.: Press Printing and Publishing Co., 1900:306. Samuel Pryer, Staten Island, and Anne Van Gilder, Staten Island]. She was baptized 25 April 1709 [RDC NY Bapt.:338, Annatje; parents: Hendrikus Van Gelder, Femmetje Wynants; witnesses: Jacob Swaan, Helena Van Gelder, j.d.] and so age 40 when first married. I don't believe the couple had any children. I believe that it was Jacob and Lea's son, Jacob (1720) who was the Jacob Prier who married Rachel Reckhow by New Jersey license, 16 January 1746 [NJ Marriage Records, 1665-1800:305. Jacob Prier, Staten Island and Rachel Reckhow, Staten Island]. I did notice records which may well belong to the other sons, Johannes (1714), Andries (1723) and Pieter (1732), but again, I did not spend time reconstructing this generation. I don't doubt that there are descendants living today. The above six children were named in Jacob's will dated 5 February 1735.

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