Henry Brewer and Mary Wickoff, New Jersey Marriage License

 The January 13, 2023 post, "New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800: BREWER and BROWER," includes an entry for Brewer, John, Hunterdon, and Mary Wickoff, taken from"Index to Marriage Bonds and Marriage Records in the Office of the Secretary of State at Trenton," found in 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., 1900:32. I followed this up with a note that the New Jersey State Archives Searchable Database for Colonial Marriage Bonds, shows the couple as Henry Brewer, of Hunterdon (County) and Mary Wickoff. So, which one is it? Was it a John Brewer, or was it a Henry Brewer who had a license to Mary Wickoff dated April 5, 1783?

For a small fee a copy, either physical or digital, can be ordered from the New Jersey State Archives. I did just this. Turn around time was fairly quick. And the original license shows that it was a Henry Brewer who married Mary Wickoff with a license dated April 5, 1783. I received via email a digital copy which was delivered as a PDF, which you dear reader, can now view here. The bond of five hundred pounds for the license was put up by "Henry Brewer of Hunterdon County and Jacob Johnston of the same place yeomen." The marriage license itself does not state the residence of the bride, Mary Wickoff.

A quick search at FamilySearch.org's database titled, "New Jersey Marriages, 1678-1985," using the name, Henry Brewer, gives us a bit more info into the couple. The search results tell us that Henry was born in Hunterdon County and that his father was named Daniel Brewer. Mary Wickoff's place of birth is not recorded, but the record names her father as William Wickoff. 

William F. Wyckoff, in "Notes On The Wyckoff Family," published in the Somerset County Historical Quarterly volumes 2 and 3 (1913-1914) at 3:202, tells us that the above mentioned William Wickoff, whose wife was named Mollie or Mary (see 3:42), had children Nicholas (the eldest), Phebe (m. Sickles) and Mary (m. Brewer). It is also stated that William Wickoff "moved to Central New York and died there in 1812 at Fayette, Seneca County." The previous entry for William Wickoff (at 3:42) had omitted these three children, but had included a son Edward, baptized 12 April 1772 at the North Branch Reformed Church in Readington, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey. This baptism can be found in Readington (North Branch) Baptisms in SCHQ 5:305, where the parents are recorded as Williem Wickoff and Mollie, but no witnesses/sponsors are given.

If we assume that both Henry Brewer and Mary Wickoff were young adults when married, it is probable that they were both born in the early 1760s, or perhaps the late 1750s. William F. Wyckoff presumably did not find baptism records for Mary or the other two children included in his followup piece. I have not looked for such baptisms myself. Perhaps he learned the names of these children from some probate record, but if so, he does not mention it specifically. His "notes" do not provide source citations. I have not had the opportunity to check the Seneca County, New York probate records.

There is a Daniel Brouwer, variously recorded as Brouer and Brower, who along with his wife Maria/Marya had six children baptized in the Raritan River valley Reformed Churches, one in 1755, then a gap of nine years, followed by five more 1764 through 1770, which includes two, Daniel and Maria (perhaps twins, but not specifically stated as such) on 24 June 1764 at Readington (SCHQ 5:146). The previous post of February 25, 2023, mentions this baptism. I have not found a record for the baptism of a son named Henry, however as just mentioned, there is a nine year gap where other children may have been born, but who were either not baptized, or for whom baptism records have not been found, at least not among the Reformed Dutch Church records. This Daniel Brouwer is not found on the BGD, and perhaps we'll look into him a bit more in a future post.

An important take away from all of this is off course the fact that transcribed records, even highly regarded and frequently cited ones such as William Nelson's "Index to Marriage Bonds and Marriage Records..." can have errors. In this case the error clearly is on the part of the transcriber/compiler. The original record, once sought out, reveals that is was a Henry Brewer, and not a John Brewer, who married Mary Wickoff with a bond dated April 5, 1783.

BGB 746