An Update to "Joseph Driggs Is Not Josias Drake, Jr."

 It has been fifteen years since "Joseph Driggs Is Not Josias Drake, Jr." was posted online. While this update does not change the conclusion of the original post (Joseph Driggs is still NOT Josias Drake, Jr.) it is here to bring to the attention of those interested in the question of Joseph Driggs' ancestry, the research of Richard Davis who has now found the origins of Joseph Driggs who died in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1748. This post will be short and any interest, further inquiry or questions should be directed to Richard Davis.

First a bit of housekeeping. Links provided on the original June 3, 2012 post, which itself was a copy of a post originally from 2008 (see Broken Links, The Ephemeral Nature of the Internet) were in need of repair. The original, "Joseph Driggs Is Not Josias Drake, Jr." is now online as a PDF. Please use the link found in the text of the June 3, 2012 post.

The incontestable proof that Joseph Driggs could not possibly be Josias Drake, Jr. was the result of Y-DNA testing of direct descendants of both Joseph Driggs and of Josias Drake's father, Josias Drats/Dratz whose wife was Aeltje Brouwer (a daughter of Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon). Josias Drake, Jr., himself, is not known to have left any descendants. This work was initiated by Richard Davis and now some fifteen years later he has contacted me to inform me that he has "finally found the origin of Joseph Driggs (1681-1748) of Middletown, Connecticut." Richard did this by first matching five Y-DNA test results of five Driggs descendants with three Y-DNA matches from Sao Roque, Pico Island in the Azores, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean which today is an autonomous region of Portugal. Through the traditional genealogical work that followed, Richard was able to trace Joseph Driggs paternal ancestry back to the late 1400s to some of the earliest settlers of Pico Island. 

Richard has written a 29 page report (including addendums) describing and explaining his research, which includes both genetic and traditional genealogical research. All and all it's a pretty interesting adventure that includes a visit to Pico Island itself. Richard has also created a couple of charts showing the paternal lineages of those tested.

I will not be making available online any of Richard's work. Again, those who are interested should reach out to Richard Davis directly. 

BGB 753

Theoretical Computed Paths for Sub-Groups of the Brewer DNA Project

 The links below will take you to "Theoretical Computed Paths," of ancestral migration as computed by Hunter Provyn (the Phylogeographer) and available on his website "mygrations." He has a YouTube channel as well. They were first posted by Hank Graham to the Activity Feed at the Brewer DNA Project website, but since that page is only available to members of the Brewer DNA Project, and as it was posted back in January and is now getting buried in the feed, I figured I'd transcribe the links here. Hopefully they will reach a wider audience and perhaps inspire a few BREWERs, BROWERs, BROUWERs and BRUERs (etc.) to join the Project. So, here goes:

Listed in order of Brewer DNA Project sub-groups as they appear on the Project's Y-DNA Results Page.

Adam Brouwer, Gowanus, L. I., E-Y19643

Ambrose Brewer (born ca. 1753), R-CTS1751 (see YTree links below)

Arthur Brewer, J-Y18401 (see below)

Hubert Brower, Immigrant to Philadelphia 1726, R-Y84707 

Jan Brouwer (of Flatlands, L.I.), I-Y7214 

John Brewer of Great Waltham near Coggeshall, Essex, England, R-A298 

John Brewer of Sudbury, Massachusetts, R-FGC46823 

Lanier-Brewer (includes descendants of George Brewer of Brunswick Co., VA and others), I-Y15031 

Sackfield Brewer, b. 1634 Berkshire, d. 1699 Virginia, R-FGC11784 (see below)

Under Consideration L - Group includes a non-Brewer surname (Campbell), BigY proven haplogroup match beyond the Genealogical Period, I-Y57730 (see below)

Under Consideration M - Ancestor: John Brewer, b. 1775 GA, d. LA, and Patience Sibley, R-ZP85  (see below)

What can I say, it's all just kind of fun to watch and imagine. Thanks to Hank for the original post and to Hunter Provyn for creating this wonderful visual tool. And to YFull, whose published YTree is the basis for the "paths."

Just for good measure here are links to the above haplogroups on the YFull YTree. Some of these are sub-clades of haplogroups whose Theoretical Computed Paths are included above. The Phylogeographer has not created paths for every SNP found on the FTDNA and/or YFull trees.

Adam Brouwer

Ambrose Brewer - R-Y53883 which is a sub-clade of R-CTS1751

Arthur Brewer - J-Y18828 a sub-clade of J-Y18401

Hubert Brower

Jan Brouwer

John Brewer of Great Waltham

John Brewer of Sudbury, MA

Lanier-Brewer haplogroups

Sackfield Brewer - R-FTA60564 a sub-clade of R-FGC11784

Under Consideration L - I-A6543, equivalent to I-Y57730

Under Consideration M - R-FTA10684 a sub-clade of R-ZP85

BGB 725

Sunset At Gowanus Bay and A Note on the Bennett Project at FamilyTreeDNA

 The image of Henry Gritten's painting, "Sunset At Gowanus Bay," has occupied a prominent space on this blog's pages since inception. I have no plans or desire to change this. It's simply a beautiful image. The image I used is of relatively low resolution and was taken from the White Mountain Art & Artists website, which has since moved to this new online location. 

A much higher resolution image is available elsewhere. Ron Bennett, in a just recently received email has directed me to an online image of "Sunset At Gowanus Bay," at the website of the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Art in Hobart, Tasmania. And with this link provided by Ron, you can find a much higher resolution image that is downloadable. 

And just to stretch this post out a little further, Ron tells me that he is a descendant of Willem Adriaense Bennet who Adam Brouwer descendants will recognize as the second husband of Maria Badie, who in turn is the mother of Adam Brouwer's wife Magdalena Verdon by her first husband Jacob Verdon. There is a Bennett surname project at FamilyTreeDNA. Group 02 of this surname project is comprised of descendants of Willem Adriaense Bennet (see the project's public Y-DNA colorized chart page). Tested members of this group are identified by the ancient haplogroup E-M35 which, coincidentally, is the same ancient haplogroup in which descendants of Adam Brouwer are found. I say, "coincidentally," only to emphasize that despite sharing a common haplogroup (E-M35) Adam Brouwer and Willem Adriaense Bennet were not closely related. E-M35, as calculated by Y-Full, was formed 34,700 years before the present (ybp). The Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) is 23,900 ybp. Looking at the Bennett project chart I linked to, we can see that two members have taken the advanced BigY tests and have been identified by two different SNPs, E-FTA645 and E-BY164190. Neither of the two SNPs are found on YFull's current YTree (v10.04.00), but hopefully in time as more Bennet descendants take advanced Y-DNA tests like the BigY-700, and submit their results to YFull, we will see an appearance on the larger Y-Full Y-DNA tree. We then may get a better idea of just how far back in time Adam Brouwer and Willem Adriaense Bennet shared a common paternal ancestor.

Thanks to Ron for directing us to a better image of "Sunset At Gowanus Bay."

Update August 22, 2022: My mistake on not finding haplogroup E-FTA645 on the YFull YTree. I was using their SNP search tool incorrectly. Ron has pointed out that it is equivalent to E-FTA557 which is a sub-branch of E-Y32590 and you can see that branch here. The earliest haplogroup that is shared between both the descendants of Adam Brouwer and those of Willem Adriaense Bennet is E-M78. As of YTree v10.04.00, YFull calculates that E-M78 was formed 19,100 ybp and that the time to most recent common ancestor was 13,200 ybp.

Using the Phylogeographer's "Theoretical Computed Paths" tool, we find E-M78 placed in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of the Aegean Sea, on the island of Crete. Theoretical Computed Path for E-M78. 

Update November 21, 2024: As per the comment below dated November 20, 2024, from Ron Bennett, the link to the Bennett Projects Y-DNA Results page has been updated in the above text. Here are the current links to pages at FTDNA's Bennett Project website:

FTDNA Bennett Project About Page

Bennett Project Y-DNA Results Overview page (colorized chart)

Bennett Project Group Time Tree (public view)

BGB 724

Updating the Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L.I. Branch on YFull's Y-Tree: E-Y19643 (E-BY6201)

 The current version of YFull's Y-Tree is v10.02.00. It is dated 6 April 2022. The branch of the greater tree which is populated by descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. and identified by the SNP E-Y19643, is found here. Y-DNA testing by FamilyTreeDNA's BigY-700 test supplies the data used by YFull to create the E-Y19643 branch of the Y-Tree. FamilyTreeDNA's reported results show the SNP E-BY6201 as the identifying SNP for all descendants of Adam Brouwer. YFull does not include this SNP in its database. In effect E-Y19643 and E-BY6201 represent the same place on the larger Y Haplotree. When you test at FamilyTreeDNA (through the Brewer DNA Project), your reported results will include the SNP E-BY6201. Should you submit your data to YFull for inclusion on the Y-Tree, they will show this SNP as E-Y19643. The SNPs identifying the sub-branches of E-Y19643/E-BY6201 are shown with the same identifying numbers by both FTDNA and by YFull. They, as of this post, are: E-BY173116, E-BY52688, E-BY6312 and E-BY6313, E-FT90657, E-FTC5921, E-BY6245, and E-FT40569. A summary of the ancestors of those whose Y-DNA tests have "discovered" these SNPs follows.

As stated, E-Y19643, identified by FTDNA as E-BY6201, is common to all descendants of Adam Brouwer. If you are one who is researching your Brouwer, Brower or Brewer ancestry, and you suspect but are not certain that you may be a descendant of Adam Brouwer, a BigY-700 test with the Brewer DNA Project will definitively answer your question, yes you are a descendant, or no you are not. The less expensive STR marker tests with FTDNA will give you a predicted result of either E-M35, or some other SNP. A predicted result showing positive for E-M35, coupled with your traditional genealogical research, will inform you to some degree (dependent on the accuracy of your traditional research) whether you are or are not a descendant of Adam Brouwer. Any other predicted result tells you that you are not. E-M35 is a deep ancestry SNP. It was formed, as calculated by YFull, 34,700 years before the present (ybp). The time to the most common ancestor (TMRCA) as calculated by YFull, is 23,900 ybp. Needless to say, there are very many lines that descend from E-M35 to the present day, and not every present day individual testing positive for E-M35, who also has the surname Brouwer, Brower or Brewer, is a descendant of Adam Brouwer. We have a couple of examples of this among the members of the Brewer DNA Project. The BigY-700 test will provide certainty. The standard STR marker tests may not.

As listed above, we now have eight SNPs identifying sub-branches (sub-clades) of E-Y19643/E-BY6201. These SNPs would have first come into being during the years between Adam Brouwer's life and the present day. Adam Brouwer's sons were born during the period of 1646 to 1672, and so we are looking of a span of some 376 to 350 years from present to past as the earliest time in which these SNPs first came into being*. They define descendant lines from Adam Brouwer. I have created this Descendant Chart illustrating the sub-branches of E-Y19643/E-BY6201 by combining the results of BigY tests with the traditional genealogical research that has accumulated over many years and is the basis for our present understanding of the descendants of Adam Brouwer. In using this descendant chart it is essential that you consult the endnotes. They are critical to understanding and applying the chart to the search for placement of unconnected ancestries among the sons of Adam Brouwer. 

Adam Brouwer had seven sons, all of whom reached adulthood and left male descendants. As of this post, the Brewer DNA Project includes confirmed descendants of four of those sons, Pieter, Jacob, Abraham, and Nicholas. The latter two, Abraham and Nicholas, are now represented by sub-branches on the YFull tree. The descendants of sons Pieter and Jacob have not yet been defined by an identifying SNP and are shown under the main branch (E-Y19643). The Descendant Chart that I created includes a branch for Pieter and Jacob simply to illustrate the fact that known descendants of the two are among the participants whose test results create the YTree. The latter can be used by members of the Brewer DNA Project in conjunction with the sub-unit groups for the Adam Brouwer group that are found on the DNA results page (the Y-DNA Colorized Chart). We do not have confirmed descendants for Adam Brouwer's other three sons, Mathew, Willem and Adam. I'll just briefly summarize the sub-branches here.

The YTree's main branch (E-Y19643) is comprised of five tests which include two confirmed descendants of Pieter Brouwer, one confirmed descendant of Jacob Brouwer, along with a second participant who we believe is a descendant of Jacob Brouwer but whose ancestry back to Jacob has not been confirmed by traditional research methods to the degree we would like to have. The fifth is a participant who does not share the Brouwer/Brower/Brewer surname, but who is by virtue of his Y-DNA test is a genetic descendant of Adam Brouwer. This participant's connection to a Brouwer ancestor has not been discovered, although current opinion is that he is likely a descendant of Adam's son Nicholas Brouwer. At the Brewer DNA Project at FTDNA, we currently have four participants who are confirmed descendants of Pieter Brouwer (two of the four have not joined YFull). We also have six other confirmed descendants of Pieter Brouwer who have not upgraded to the advanced BigY-700 test. Should some or all of them do so, we may be able to discover SNPs that would identify new genetic sub-branches of the E-Y19643 tree. This in turn may help those who have not been able to confirm their line among Adam Brouwer's descendants do so.

As with Pieter Brouwer, Jacob Brouwer's descendants, one of whom is confirmed by traditional genealogical research, the other is suspected to be a descendant but has one unconfirmed link in his ancestry, are found on the E-Y19643 main branch. The Brewer DNA Project includes STR marker (basic YDNA tests) results for two other confirmed descendants of Jacob Brouwer (one of whom is since deceased). Finding SNPs that will define a specific branch for Jacob Brouwer will require finding more direct descendants of Jacob who are interested in joining the Project and taking a BigY-700 test.

E-BY6312 and its sub-branch E-BY613 on the YTree represent descendants of Adam Brouwer's son Abraham Brouwer. All three are positive for E-BY6312. Abraham Brouwer had two sons, Jeury and Abraham, and both left descendants. The individual shown on the branch labeled E-BY6312 is a descendant of Jeury Brouwer. The two found on the sub-branch, E-BY6313, are an uncle and nephew, and they are direct descendants of the younger Abraham Brouwer. Testing positive on a BigY-700 test for E-BY6312 will confirm that the tested individual is a descendant of Adam Brouwer's son Abraham Brouwer. Also testing positive for E-BY6313 will confirm that you are a descendant of Abraham Brouwer's son Abraham.

Adam Brouwer's son Nicholas Brouwer is represented by three sub-branches on the YTree. The three are identified by three different SNPs: E-BY173116, E-BY52688 and E-FT90657. Each of these SNPs is unique to a single line of descendants beginning with a specific son of Nicholas. The current data, however, does not tell us if that SNP originated with that one specific son. A SNP that can be identified as unique to all descendants of Nicholas Brouwer while being unique from Nicholas' brothers, has not been identified. This means that when looking at these three branches on the YTree, we see them as sub-branches of E-BY19643 and on the same level as E-BY6312 (Nicholas's brother Abraham) and this might be a bit misleading when trying to understand actual genealogical relationships among the descendants. The Descendants Chart that I created is a more accurate picture of how these lines are in fact related. E-BY52688 has two tested descendants, one of whom is a confirmed direct descendant of Nicholas Brouwer's son Adolphus Brouwer (1693-1742). E-BY173116 includes two tested descendants, one of whom is a descendant of Nicholas Brouwer's son Jurge Brouwer (1701-?). The third SNP, E-FT90657 has three tested descendants, one of whom is a descendant of Nicholas Brouwer's son Nazareth Brouwer (probably b. between 1702 and 1710). The other two in this last branch are descendants of a Daniel Brewer (b. ca. 1771) who lived at Lee, Oneida Co., New York. Please see Endnotes 23, 26 and 29 on the Descendant Chart.

This leaves us with the sub-branch E-FTC5921 which includes nine tested individuals and represents either a son or grandson of Adam Brouwer who is a common ancestor of all nine. That common ancestor has not been identified as all nine members of this branch have been unable to complete their ancestry completely back to Adam Brouwer. Of Adam Brouwer's seven sons, we can eliminate Abraham and Nicholas. The nine would not be descendants of either of those two. We are then left with Adam's sons Mathew, Willem and Adam, none of who have any confirmed direct male descendants among the participants in the Project, and Pieter and Jacob, both of whom do have confirmed participating descendants (see above) but of those participants, none show a unique match with any of the nine who form E-FTC5921. Below E-FTC5921 we have two sub-branches, E-BY6245 and E-FT40569. E-BY6245 is represented by three descendants of Peter Brewer (b.1750-60, d.1840/41) of Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania and later Hardin Co., Kentucky (see Endnote 13). The three seen on the YTree (a fourth has yet to take the BigY-700 test) are first cousins (they share a common grandfather). E-FT40569 is represented by three descendants of Henry Brewer (b. 1750-60. liv. 1840) of Fayette Co., Pennsylvania and later Clark and Owen Counties, Indiana. Two of the three share a great-grandfather (see Endnote 16). Of the three who are grouped under E-FTC5921, two are descendants of Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania and later Washington Co., Indiana. The third is a descendant of Mathew Brower of Greene Co., Pennsylvania. Not shown on the YTree, but shown on the Descendant Chart is a third sub-branch, E-BY114218. This SNP, while not identified by YFull, is identified by FamilyTreeDNA as a unique SNP to the descendant of Mathew Brower (post of September 11, 2013)** and the participant's brother who was also tested by FTDNA but has not submitted his results to YFull and so is not on the YTree. Also not yet seen on the YTree are two other participants at FTDNA who are identified by E-FTC5921, one a descendant of Henry Brewer (1765-1829) of Berkeley Co., Virginia (now W. Virginia) and later Adams Co., Ohio, and the other a descendant of Thomas Brewer (d. by 1830) of Annville, Lebanon Co., Pennsylvania (see the post of February 25, 2022). The current version of the YTree includes nine tested participants, while at the Brewer DNA Project, we have twelve members in this group with another two awaiting BigY-700 test results. What all of the participants have in common, besides having incomplete lines back to their genetic ancestor Adam Brouwer, is the fact that all of their known lineages can be traced in time back to the late colonial/early post Revolutionary period, and to locations in Pennsylvania and northern Virginia (areas now within West Virginia) with indications of prior origins in New Jersey. 

This post has gotten kind of long so we will explore some possible connections for the incomplete lineages within the known descendants of Adam Brouwer, using the Y-DNA test results and matches described above in combination with the traditional genealogical research that has been accumulated over the course of many years, in a follow up post (or two). In the meantime please also refer to the posts of November 6, 2013 and December 20, 2013, as well as those linked above.

*To be clear, the SNPs identifying the various sub-branches would have first come into being sometime between 350 to 376 years ago and the present. Some may have been first come into being sometime within the past one or two hundred years. TMRCA estimates are calculated by YFull. Also see the YFull's simple chart for E-Y19643.

**The tested descendant is NOT a descendant of Mathew Brower's son Conrad Brewer who is mentioned in the follow up September 18, 2013 post. He is a descendant of Mathew's son John B. Brewer.

BGB 720

 

Update of the Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Branch on YFull's Y-Tree

 This post takes a quick look at the Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. branch as found on YFull's Y-Tree v10.02.00 (6 April 2022 (classic view). This link takes you to the live view, which includes tests that have come in since the previous update, but have not yet been completely analyzed. The simple chart very clearly illustrates the relationships of the sub-branches within the Jan Brouwer branch. 

As of this post, the Jan Brouwer sub-group at the Brewer DNA Project (FamilyTreeDNA which is not directly associated with YFull), has 40 members, 23 of whom have taken the BigY test (either the original 500 SNP version or the newer BigY-700). The current Y-Tree at YFull includes 19 of the 23 who have taken FTDNA's BigY test.

Those who are familiar with what has been published on this website over the past eleven years of existence know that descendants of Jan Brouwer are identified by the SNP I-Y7214. Learning as to whether or not an individual is positive for I-Y7214 requires taking a BigY-700 test. Those who take the less expensive STR marker tests will see a "predicted" results identifying them as I-M223*. This SNP dates much further back in time. YFull calculates that it was formed 17,400 year before present (ybp), and the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) for those within this branch (or clade) is 14,600 ybp. When we look at I-M233 on the YTree we see that it includes many different sub-branches, I-Y7214 being only one such branch. YFull's estimation for the formation of I-Y7214 is 4200 ybp. Their estimated time to most recent common ancestor (which thus far only includes individuals who we know are descendants of Jan Brouwer) is 250 ypb. We have, for a number of years now, estimated Jan Brouwer's birth as "ca. 1628." He apparently died in late 1702 or perhaps 1703, and so actually lived between 320 and about 394 ybp.

We now have four sub-branches of I-Y7214 that have been identified by BigY tests. This is best seen on the simple chart that was mentioned above. Eight of the Project's 19 BigY tested members, who are also on the YFull YTree are identified by the "parent" branch I-Y7214. The four sub-branches are identified by the SNPs I-Y87452, I-FT175879, I-FT135755, and I-Y41503, which is itself a sub-branch of I-FT135755.

I-Y87452 is identified by two members of the Project. Their known, or at least strongly believed, common ancestor is Elias Brower/Brewer who was likely born during the decade of 1725-1735 and is certainly a great-grandson of Jan Brouwer. See the post of April 3, 2022 and No. 20 in the "Summary of the Male Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. during the Colonial Period."

I-FT175879 is identified by three members of the Project. Their known paternal ancestries lead back to three different men who lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey during the mid to late 1700s. The three are Phineas Brewer, Wright Brewer, and Richard Brewer who is likely a son of a William Brewer. Phineas, Wright and William are likely brothers. See the post of April 12, 2022.

I-FT135755 is identified by six individuals, two of whom also identify the sub-branch I-Y41503. Of the six tested individuals, one is a direct descendant of Richard Brower (Oneida and Oswego Counties, New York) who is believed to have been a son of David Brower of Lee, Oneida Co., New York. See the post of April 12, 2022. A second individual has the surname Embody, but as evident from his Y-DNA tests, is unquestionably a descendant of Jan Brouwer. Where the "non-paternal event" (NPE) occured between his Embody ancestor and a male descendant of Jan Brouwer, has not been determined. See the post of April 3, 2022. The remaining four individuals are all descendants of John Rose. The two individuals who identify I-Y41503 are both descendants of John Rose's son Anthony Rose (1792-1857). I-Y41503 is now a SNP that will help descendants of John Rose confirm whether or not they are also descendants of John Rose's son Anthony Rose. See the post of March 28, 2022.

The addition of the BigY-700 test to FamilyTreeDNA's lineup of Y-DNA tests, and the increased participation of members of the Brewer DNA Project taking this test has very much enhanced our ability to reconstruct the earlier generations of Jan Brouwer's descendants. It is certain that if the members who have not yet upgraded to the BigY-700 test would do so, we would likely be able to solve the problems of the still broken and uncertain lines of ancestry for many of the participants. And of course new members are always welcome. Please contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project if you have an interest, and with any questions. 

For those who would like to see an animation of the theoretical computed path of migration of I-Y7214, see this page at the Phylogeograher's "mygrations" website.

From this end I hope in the coming weeks to find the time to review the Adam Brouwer branch, E-Y19643 on the YFull Y-Tree. I would also like to begin working through a still large number of unidentified BROUWERs, BROWERs and BREWERs from the colonial period that I have some information on.

*There is a group project for I-M233 at FamilyTreeDNA.

BGB 719

Update: John Brewer, Revolutionary War Patriot, of New Jersey and Pennsylvania

 This post is an update to the post of October 28, 2012.

Back in late 2012, in the above post, I suggested that John Brewer, born about 1749 or 1750, who's wife was Hannah Timpson, might be a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Some recent research developments suggest that this initial suggestion may not be correct. Specifically, I suggested that John Brewer might be Johannis, son of Jan Brouwer and Helena Van Cleef who was baptized at the Readington, New Jersey Reformed Dutch Church on December 26, 1749, as this baptism date and suggested age for John Brewer match. Again, this may not be correct.

Particulars for John Brewer and Hannah Timpson are mentioned in the October 28, 2012 post and I will not repeat them here. However, some new information can be added. The previous post mentions the appearance of a John Brewer on the 1820 U.S. census at Loyalsock, Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania. What is not mentioned are findings on the 1810 U.S. census, and here we find John Brewer at East Buffalo, Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania with a household of 2 males under age 10, 2 males age 10-15, 1 male age 26-44 (presumably John), 1 female under age 10, 1 female age 26-44 (presumably Hannah). A D.A.R. application gives John and Hannah a son Matthew Brewer, born 13 January 1787 in Pennsylvania (see the 2012 post). Matthew is also found on the 1810 U.S. census at East Buffalo with a household of 1 male aged 16-25. Not previously mentioned, but also found at East Buffalo in 1810, is a Thomas Brewer, with a household of one male age 16-25. Neither Matthew or Thomas are apparently married at the time of this census. Names on this census were recorded alphabetically, so we can't determine whether or not the three Brewers were living near or next to each other although we do know from the D.A.R. application that John and Matthew were father and son, and I'd suspect that the young Thomas is a son as well.

 

Recently a new member of the Brewer DNA Project, received his results from a BigY-700 (Y-DNA) test. The results confirm that the tested individual is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L.I. This new member is a direct male descendant of a Thomas Brewer and his wife, Anna Maria Stroh, and is found on the 1820 U.S. census at Annville, Lebanon Co., Pennsylvania (formed in 1813) with a household of 2 males under age 10, 1 male age 26-44, 1 female under 10, and 1 female age 16-25, so, a young family. Thomas Brewer, recorded in 1810 as Thomas Bruer, is otherwise not found as a head of household in 1810, and I suspect that he is the Thomas Brewer found (in 1810) with John Brewer and Matthew Brewer in East Buffalo, Pennsylvania. 

A deed dated 18 April 1828 in Lebanon County is summarized as follows: Anna Maria Stroh of Annville, widow and relict of John Stroh late of the same place deceased, David Spotz and Elizabeth his wife, John Stroh, Thomas Brewer and Maria his wife, John Brewer and Rebecca his wife and Hannah Stroh, all of Annville, the said Elizabeth the wife of the said David Spatz, John Stroh, Maria Brewer wife of the said Thomas Brewer, Rebecca the wife of the said John Brewer and Hannah Stroh, all being children and legal heirs of John Stroh deceased aforesaid, for consideration of the sum of eighty dollars paid by Abraham Herr of Annville convey to Abraham Herr all right to that messauge or house and lot of ground with apurtanences situate in the Township of Annville, late the real estate of John Stroh, deceased... Signed by all the grantors, some with their marks. Recorded 6 Dec 1830. [Lebanon Co., PA Deeds D:595-6].

The deed tells us that sisters, Maria and Rebecca Stroh were both married to men named Brewer, Thomas and John respectively. It's reasonable to assume that the two sisters married brothers. Thomas Brewer and John Brewer are likely brothers. John Brewer (recorded as Bruer) is also found in 1820 at Annville, Pennsylvania, with a household of 2 males under age 10, 1 male 16-25, 1 female under age 10, and 1 female age 16-25. John Brewer is found again in Annville in 1830 with a household of 1 male under 5, 2 males 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 30-40, 2 females under 5, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 30-40. Enumerated next to Mary Brewer. Thomas Brewer is not found in 1830 (nor in any later census records) and he likely died sometime between the date of the above deed and the taking of the 1830 census, the official enumeration day having been June 1, 1830. Mary Brewer's household consists of  2 males under 5, 2 males 5-9, 1 male 10-14, 1 female under  5, 1 female 10-14, 1 female 30-40. Mary Brewer is again found in 1840 at Annville and then in 1850 at Millerstown, Pennsylvania, as "widow" Brewer with (presumed) children Gideon Brewer (age 22) and Mary Ann Brewer (age given as 16, which I believe is understated, as she is 29 in 1860). Anna Maria Stroh was baptized February 8, 1796 at Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church in Annville. She was born October 6, 1795 and was the daughter of John (Johannes) Stroh and Anna Maria Muese. She evidently went by her "call name" Maria or Mary, in later records. A baptism record has not been found for her sister Rebecca, the wife of John Brewer. In the 1800s Annville (or Anville) was a village in Millersville Township, Lebanon County.

As mentioned, we know from Y-DNA testing of a direct male descendant of Thomas Brewer, that Thomas is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L.I. If we are correct in our assumption that Thomas is son of John Brewer (of Northumberland and later Lycoming Counties, PA) and Hannah Timpson, then the 2012 suggestion that John Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, cannot be correct. It would also be apparent that in addition to a son Matthew, John and Hannah (Timpson) Brewer had sons Thomas and John (and apparently from the 1810 census, other children as well). No probate records for either Thomas or John Brewer were found in an initial search. To emphasize, the assumption that Thomas and John Brewer are sons of John and Hannah (Timpson) Brewer is just that, an assumption. Further evidence should be located, but proximity and the fact that the younger John Brewer also named a son Matthew, suggest that we are on the right course with this assumption.

From some preliminary research done on Ancestry.com it appears that Thomas and Maria/Mary (Stroh) Brewer had perhaps eight children, six of whom were sons. John and Rebecca (Stroh) Brewer apparently went to Auglaize County, Ohio and had at least two sons (Matthew and James) and perhaps a daughter Elizabeth (married Henry Nye). John Brewer's estate was probated in Auglaize County in 1859 and is found in this probate court entry in Auglaize County. See also, this entry.

John and Hannah (Timpson) Brewer's son Matthew Brewer was still in Pennsylvania in 1840, at Penns, Union County. He died 3 January 1849 in Tazewell County, Illinois. He and his wife Mary White (d.1853) had a son Matthew T.* Brewer who died 28 February 1850, also in Tazewell County, Illinois. He and his wife, Mary Bequeath (Beckwith?) who afterwards married Isaac Dwyer, had two children, a son Vitruvious Mathew Brewer (1848-1934) and a daughter Mary E. Brewer (b. ca. 1850). Interested researchers should be able to easily trace more recent descendants further using Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org.

*Is that a T for Timpson? Hannah Timpson's ancestry has not been researched.

BGB 709

Jan Brouwer Group Report on 23 BigY Participants: Abstract

 This abstract is from Hank Graham, Administrator of the Brewer DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA. He has recently completed a report of his analysis of BigY test results of participants in the Jan Brouwer Group of the Brewer DNA Project. His abstract was posted to the Project's Activity Feed page which is only available to members of the Brewer DNA Project. Hank has given permission to reproduce the abstract here.

JAN BROUWER GROUP REPORT ON 23 BIGY PARTICIPANTS: ABSTRACT

 Johannes Brouwer b.ca.1630 had five sons, but only two sons, Pieter Brouwer b. 1660 and Derck Brouwer bpt.1666, had sons whose male Brower/Brewer lines continue to the present time. Based on the research of Richard Brewer and Chris Chester there are six grandsons and most of their approximately 18 sons in Gen.4 expected to have living paternal line male descendants. In Gen.5, there are 32 known sons from ten of the 18 Gen.4 men are , but this is an undercount because sons from eight of the known Gen.4 Brouwer great grandsons of Johannes Brouwer b.ca.1630 are not represented and the Johannes Brouwer descendants in the Rose and other Families are not represented in the count. A greater estimate of the Gen.5 male Brouwer/Rose and other surname descendants is not 32, but approximately 50-60. The missing sons and later grandsons of the 18 Gen.4 men create a different picture of the continuous paternal lines of Johannes Brouwer – 2 sons, 6 grandsons, 18 great grandsons, and about 50-60 great great grandsons. 

The first five generation of the Jan Brouwer Family is located here: “Descendants of Jan Brouwer, of Flatlands, L.I.” provided by Chris Chester on 15 June 2018.

In this report focus is on four sons of Derck Brouwer bpt.1666 - Each of Derck's sons named a child after their father: 

1) Derck’s son Jan Brouwer bpt. 9 June 1695 m. Aegje Sprong – three Brouwer sons, Jan 1726, Derck 1730 ,and unnamed “last and youngest son” 1732 ( a descendant of Jan b. 1726, has a proven pedigree). 

 2) Derck’s son Elias Brouwer b. ca. 1697 m Lena Willemse -three Brouwer sons, Dirck bpt.1732, David bpt. 1738, and Elias bpt.1740 (a descendant of Elias bpt. 1740 descendant, has a proven pedigree). 

3) Derck’s assumed son Pieter b.ca.1700 m. Susanna Titsoort - three Brouwer sons, Petrus bpt.1732, Abraham bpt.1734 , Dirck bpt.1743 (two descendants of Abraham 1734 through his son Pieter have good pedigrees). 

4) Derck’s son Jacob Brouwer b.ca.1701 m. Marike – one Brouwer son, Dirck bpt 1737. 

For Brewer Project members to complete their pedigree back to Johannes Brouwer (Gen.1), uncertainty / aka. brick walls appear between Gen.7 and Gen.3 the grandson level Beginning in Gen.4 and Gen.5 several forenames and their variations (for example Jan/John, Derck/Derick/Richard, and Elias) appear in multiple lines of the family with many similarly named men with close birthdates. The grandsons and great grandson’s families began to migrate at the beginning of the 18th century making it difficult to follow, with certainty, the paper trails of Brewer/Brower with the common forenames Jan/John, Derck/Dirck/Richard, or Elias. The identification of SNP and STR markers that identify the lines of three grandsons of Johannes Brouwer, makes it possible to follow their lines, with less ambiguity, to their living descendants (the BigY participants). 

 Genetically proven descendants of Johannes Brouwer with a surname other than Brower or Brewer (Rose, or Embody) have the additional challenge of identifying the time of an event that connects their surname line with their biological Brouwer ancestors. 

The following summarizes the SNP and STR results of Gen3. to Gen.5 of the Brower/Brewer families of four of grandsons of Johannes Brouwer and his son Derck : 

1- I-FT135755+ paper trail -Descendants of Pieter Brouwer b.ca. 1700 includes Rose and Embody Families (8 Men). 

a. STR FTY466=12>11 – Descendants of Abraham Brouwer b. 1734 (3 Men) 

b. I-FT210419 + paper trail - Descendants of Pieter Brouwer son of Abraham (2 Men) 

 2- I-Y7214* and STR DYS523 =15>16 - Descendants of Elias Brouwer b.ca 1697 (7 Men) 

 a. DYS19=15>16 + paper trail – Descendants of Elias Brouwer b. 1740, proved by Richard Brewer (1 Man) 

b. STR DYS523=15>16 and DYS19=15 Descendants of brothers Dirk Brouwer bpt 1732 or David Brouwer b. 1738 (4 Men with YFull test + 2 Men no YFull Test) 

c. YFull STRs DYR125.2=25>26 and DYR170=36>35 – probable descendants of Dirk Brouwer bpt. 1732 (3 Men) 

d. YFull STR DYR164=25>26 Descendants of John Brewer d. bef. May 1808, Scioto Co., Ohio (2 Men) 

3- I-FT175879 - Descendants of Jacob Brouwer b. between 1700-1703 and his only son Dirck b. 1737 (3 Men) 

4- I-Y87452 combined with I-Y7214* from FTDNA and Nebula Genomics on YFull - Descendants of Jan Brouwer b. 1695- d 1732 (4 Men) 

These SNP and STR markers will be helpful identifying the lines of participants and overcoming their brick walls in the 1700s. 

 Full report will be sent to the participants, and a special thanks to Richard Brewer, Chris Chester and Marg Bond and the BigY participants for their contributions to this effort.

____________________

 The branch of Jan Brouwer's descendants on YFull's Y-Tree can be found here (classic view) and here (live view). The above SNPs (in Bold) can be seen, with the exception of I-FT210419, can be seen on the Y-Trees.

Questions regarding the Brewer Y-DNA Project should be directed to the administrators of the Project. Contact links are available on the Project's home page. As I have done for many years now, I would encourage any direct male descendants of Jan Brouwer, or those who think they may be direct male descendants, to join the Project by taking a Y-DNA test. Current members of the Project's Jan Brouwer Group, who have not yet upgraded to the Big-Y700 test, are encouraged to do so. Over the years the Project has been valuable in helping members solve, or at least narrow down, their previously unknown lines of ancestry back to Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, Long Island. Hank Graham's full report itself, available only to participating members of the Brewer DNA Project, would be valuable to those researching their ancestry back to Jan Brouwer. 

BGB 707

Jan Brouwer Group Y-Tree Update

 Members of the Jan Brouwer group of the Brewer DNA Project (FTDNA) who have taken either the original Big-Y test or the currently available Big-Y 700 test, and then joined and submitted their results to YFull (a company independent of FTDNA) are found on this branch of YFull's public YTree. 

The link I just provided takes you to version 9.01.00 of the YTree which was last updated February 18, 2021. The current "Live" version of the tree, which is accessible via the little button, "live" found on the top bar, includes a new additional sub-branch for the descendants of Jan Brouwer, of Flatlands, Long Island. The newest branch is identified by the SNP, I-FT135755.

To quickly review that what was previously known: The SNP I-Y7214 is common to all descendants of Jan Brouwer. This includes both, those tested individuals who can trace their paternal ancestry completely back to Jan Brouwer using traditional genealogical research, and those who can only trace their direct paternal ancestry back to some ancestor who lived between Jan Brouwer's time and the present. Most of our "brick wall" ancestors for this group lived during either the colonial period, or during the first few decades after the formation of the United States as an independent nation.

The two previously known sub-branches of I-Y7214, were I-Y87452 and I-FT175879. 

The two members who test for the SNP I-Y87452 to Elias Brower/Brewer, who was likely born during the decade of 1725-1735, and whose wife was Elizabeth Palmer. The two were married by a New Jersey license dated 27 January 1753, both being of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Elias Brower's ancestry back to Jan Brouwer remains undetermined. However, based upon his estimated time of birth, he was most likely a great-grandson of Jan Brouwer, and based upon the fact that his name is Elias, a grandson of Jan Brouwer's son, Derck Brouwer whose wife, Hannah Daws, was a daughter of Elias Daws. 

The three members who test for SNP I-FT175879 are descendants of three different men who lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The three ancestors are Wright Brewer, who appears to have been born during the decade of 1755-1765; Phineas Brewer, who was born in New Jersey, about 1769 (age 81 on the 1850 U. S. census at Roaring Creek, Montour County, Pennsylvania), and Richard Brewer, who was born 1810-1813 (his age varies on the different U. S. census records consulted). He was married to Miriam Lundy (ca.1820-1884) daughter of Jesse Lundy and Phebe Bunn. Richard Brewer lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, although the census records consistently give his state of birth as Pennsylvania. He died 10 December 1889 at Alexandria, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, age 76 years. Richard may be a son of William Brewer and Anna King. William was aged 60-70 on the 1830 U. S. census at Alexandria, Hunterdon County, so born 1760-1770. It is apparent from the BigY-700 test results that the three ancestors above are closely related. Their presence in Hunterdon County, New Jersey adds some support here. It may be that Wright and Phineas Brewer are brothers, and that Richard is a nephew or perhaps a son of one or the other. If the identification of William Brewer as Richard's father is correct, then William may well be a brother of Wright and Phineas as well. All, are certainly descendants of Jan Brouwer and based upon the range of dates when they were born, are probably 2-great grandsons, or 3-great grandsons of Jan Brouwer. [Please note that the links to the individuals in this sub-group lead to pages at Ancestry.com and a subscription may be needed to view them. They are not found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD).

The newly identified sub-branch, as stated, is I-FT135755. The Brewer DNA Project at FTDNA has three members here, although the current Live YTree only shows two of them. The three members trace their respective paternal ancestries to three different men. Of the two seen on the YTree, one ancestor is Richard Brower, who was born about 1804 in New York (age 46 on the 1850 U. S. census at Lee, Oneida County, New York). It is believed that this Richard Brower is a son of a David Brower (ca.1771-1845) who lived at Lee in Oneida County, New York and whose wife is said to have been named, Roxie Williams. Please note that we do not have much conclusive evidence here and more documented evidence is sought.  The second member who appears on the YTree is a descendant of John Rose, apparently born in the later half of the 1760s, who died in December 1830 at Madison Twp., Pickaway County, Ohio. Despite his surname, John Rose is a clear genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer (see the post of November 12, 2012). A third member, who has taken the Big-Y 700 test with FTDNA, but who is not represented on YFull's YTree is a descendant of Lewis Brewer, born about 1790 in New York (age 60 on the 1850 U. S. census at Schenectady, New York), whose wife was named Mary (b. ca. 1793, family name not known) and who is also found in Schenectady, New York in 1820 and 1830. This new genetic evidence tells us that the descendant of John Rose is most closely related to the descendants of Richard Brower and Lewis Brewer, both of whom lived their lives in the Mohawk Valley region of New York State. Whether Richard Brower and Lewis Brewer are brothers or first cousins is not clear. The only clue as to John Rose's place of birth is found on the 1880 U. S. census record of his son Solomon Rose (Pleasant Hill, Saline County, Nebraska) which records his father's place of birth as Virginia. None of John Rose's other children lived long enough to be included on the 1880 census, so this record is all we presently have to go on regarding John Rose's place of birth. It should also be remembered that "Virginia," in particular the western part of the state, was in the period just prior to, during, and just after the American Revolutionary War, sparsely populated and in terms of boundary lines, a rather nebulous place. Western Pennsylvania and Virginia both laid claims to lands in the west during that period. The modern state boundaries really were not determined until 1863 with the formation of the state of West Virginia. The Mason-Dixon line of 1767 didn't clarify the situation in the region west of Maryland (here's an interesting webpage regarding this issue). And it should also be kept in mind that 1880 is more than 110 years after John Rose's birth. Solomon (assuming he was the source of the info found on the 1880 census, although even that cannot be certain) may simply have made a best guess. We do, however, know that Jan Brouwer's great-grandson Elias Brouwer (1740-1812) was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, removed to Albany County, New York by 1774, and then to Delaware County, New York by 1800. The link to Jan Brouwer for those of this sub-branch, may lie either with the sons of Elias (1740-1812) or with the descendants of his two brothers, Dirck Brouwer (b. 1732) and David Brouwer (b. 1738) both of whom have unfortunately left us little that has been discovered regarding their descendants. In fact we have nothing more than a baptism record for David. [Please not that the two sons assigned to Dirck Brouwer on the BGD are tentative and may not be correct].

I will add one other piece of information that I think should be of interest to researchers. The 1792 Hunterdon County Militia Roll,  at page 12, which is for Amwell Township, includes Phineas Brewer, William Brewer and Wright Brewer (I-FT175879). Move forward to page 16 and you will also find a John Rose in Amwell in 1792. Now, this may or may not be the John Rose that interests us, his name is common, but if it is, and he would have been of age to be listed on a militia roll in 1792, it would imply that his origins are in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, most likely with one of the brothers of Elias Brouwer (1740-1812), in other words, Dirck or David, rather than with Elias himself. Additionally, we do have a descendant of Elias Brouwer (1740-1812) who has taken the Big-Y 700 test, and is on YFull, and he does not test positive for the SNP I-FT135755.

[An earlier edition of this post incorrectly stated that the YFull YTree sub-branch I-FT135755 included a descendant of Lewis Brewer of Schenectady and that it did not include a descendant of John Rose. That is incorrect. The current "Live" version does include the descendant of John Rose, and does not include the descendant of Lewis Brewer. March 27, 2021.]

BGB 703

New Viewing Options For YFull's YTree

Recent revisions to YFull's YTree have included new viewing options for their individual tree pages. The, very much welcomed, new options were initiated earlier this month. The current version of the YTree is v8.00.00.

Using the "Adam Brouwer Branch," presently defined by the SNP E-Y19643, here is the view, the only view, that we have been accustomed to. You'll note that in the yellow bar at the top of the page there are some new options, "scientific view", and "chart view." The original view is called the "classic view" when one of the other two views are displayed.

Scientific View is a timeline, present to the right, past to the left, on which the various sub-branches of a SNP are placed based upon their Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor, or TMRCA. The current tree has only three sub-branches of E-Y19643, but if we roll it back to an ancestral SNP, say E-V13, formed 8100 years before present (ybp) we can get a better look at how this view works. Here is E-V13 in scientific view.

I like the new chart view the best. The "Adam Brouwer Branch" now in chart view. It is a less ambiguous view than the original classic view which had a point of potential confusion as the parent branch (in this case E-Y19643) was shown twice. In classic view, one might get the impression that E-Y19643 was an equal branch to its sub-branches, rather than a parent branch. That potential confusion is eliminated with the new chart view.

The Lanier-Brewer (I-Y15031) sub-group of the Brewer DNA Project has the most participation and the most sub-branches. Here it is viewed on classic view. Now compare that to chart view.

Much better I'd say.


You may also notice now in the charts that many participants have a little beige box with the letter i in it.

The reason for this is that when Family Tree DNA introduced their BigY-700 test, many participants who had previously taken the original BigY, went back and took advantage of an upgrade offer. That new set of data was then submitted to YFull for their analysis. YFull then issued new id numbers to these new data sets. The id number now seen on the classic view chart is the new id number. Hover your cursor over the little box with the i and you will see the original id number for that participant.

Current members of the Brewer DNA Project who have not upgraded to the BigY-700 test are encouraged to do so. New members are always welcome, especially those who already can show a provable line of ancestry back to a colonial period ancestor. The more participants and the more data the Project has, the better the chances are that the Project can help those who are still working at determining their complete ancestry back to the colonial period. Those interested should contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project via links available on the left side of the Project's website.

BGB 670

Big Y-700

An earlier post today involved new information acquired from Y-chromosome testing using the results of Family Tree DNA's Big Y-700 test. The test is relatively new having been rolled out only about a year ago. We're just starting to see results from tests and the more tests we have the more we'll get to see just how useful the testing is. Rather than try and explain the ins and outs of this new test myself, I thought that I would simply provide some links to other sites online that would provide the interested reader with more information.

We'll start with Family Tree DNA's own white paper on the Big Y-700 test, and the company's Big Y page at their Learning Center.

Your DNA Guide, Big Y-700 Test: When To Use It, by Diahan Southard, August 29, 2019

DNAeXpained, The Big Y Test Increases Again to Big Y-700, Roberta Estes, January 30, 2019

The Genetic Genealogist, Thinking About a BigY Test at Family Tree DNA?, Blaine Bettinger, August 1, 2019.

DNA and Family Tree Research, Getting the most from your new Big Y-700 results, Maurice Gleeson, August 21, 2019.

The last link above suggests some options and provides instructions on uploading your date to the "Big Tree" which is specific to those in the haplogroup R-P312. To date, and to my knowledge, no member of the Brewer DNA Project has yet to be identified with this SNP. Members of the Brewer DNA Project who do order the Big Y-700 should consult Hank Graham, the Project's administrator, for instructions on how to proceed once their Big Y-700 test results are reported. You may also find instruction if you scroll through the Project's Activity Feed page (available to project members only). The Brewer DNA Project uses YFull for further analysis and placement on their YTree. Again, those considering joining the Project, or considering an upgrade to the Big Y-700, should contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project with any questions.

As of this post, the Brewer DNA Project has 370 members spread across ten sub-groups (and a set of ungrouped members), of which 112 members have taken one or another version of the Big Y test (at least 65 have taken the Big Y-700).

BGB 665

A Y-DNA Tree: E-M96 to E-Y19643

Here is a simple tree adapted from YFull's current YTree (v7.07.01) showing the direct line of SNPs from E-M96 which was formed 65,200 years before present (ybp) and forward in time to E-Y19643 which was formed 3,600 ybp (YFull's estimates).

The fifteen participants whose Y-DNA tests were used to identify the SNP E-Y19643 are all descendants of Adam Brouwer who was probably born during the decade of the 1610s in Cologne (now a city in Germany) and died in early 1692 at Gowanus, Long Island, New York.

The Y-DNA tests were conducted by Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) through the Brewer DNA Project. YFull estimates the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) for the 15 participants as 375 years which from 2019 would bring us to 1644 (Adam Brouwer's seven sons were born between the years 1646 and 1672).

The three sub-branches of E-Y19643 seen on this chart each identify SNPs that are common to only two or three of the fifteen participants and not found in any of the others. These SNPs have the potential to identify specific lines of Y-chromosome descent from Adam Brouwer. Please refer to the endnotes on the chart for more details.

Those who have tested will note that FTDNA uses the SNP E-BY6201 to identify the same place on the tree as E-Y19643, which is used by YFull (see endnote 16). The highlighted SNPs on the chart are those SNPs that have been confirmed by FTDNA. Various members of the Adam Brouwer sub-group at the Brewer DNA Project will recognize one of these SNPs in their Y-DNA results reported to them by FTDNA. The SNP that FTDNA shows each member is dependent on that member's level of Y-DNA test. Obtaining a confirmed test for E-BY6201/E-Y19643 requires taking FTDNA's Big Y-700 test (see this page for an explanation of and prices for the various Y-DNA tests offered by FTDNA).

It is hoped that in time, as more descendants of Adam Brouwer are tested, the sub-branches below E-BY6201/E-Y19643 will become more identifiable and will point to some specific direct male descendant of Adam Brouwer with whom that SNP first appeared. It is also hoped that in time, some other persons descended from the original man with the E-BY6201/E-Y19643 SNP, but who are not descended from Adam Brouwer, will also appear. Should this happen it would help identify a new SNP formed more recently than 3,600 ybp to add to the genetic lineage of Adam Brouwer and his male descendants. Those interested in testing are advised to contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project with any questions.

PDF: E-M96 Tree

BGB 657

Update to the Branch of Adam Brouwer Descendants on the YFull YTree

The branch of YFull's YTree which is populated by descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I., and identified by the SNP E-Y19643 has been updated to include a new sub-branch. The updated tree is v7.04.01.

The new branch is identified by the SNP labeled E-BY52668. It is identified by the test results of two individuals. One tested individual can trace his lineage completely back to Adam Brouwer through Adam Brouwer's son Nicholas Brouwer. The second tested individual can be traced back to Charles H. Brower who was born in 1820, possibly in New York City, and died 12 January 1860 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the YDNA testing of Charles H. Brower's descendant tells us without a doubt that he is a direct male descendant of Adam Brouwer, the ancestry of Charles H. Brower, beginning with the identity of his father, is still unknown. The identification of this SNP, which is only shared by these two tested descendants of Adam Brouwer, tells us that Charles H. Brower is very likely a descendant of Adam Brouwer's son, Nicholas Brouwer, who was born in 1672. Furthermore, we do have one other very likely descendant of Nicholas Brouwer on the YFull tree, and since this descendant does not share E-BY52668, it is very likely that the common ancestor of the two who do share E-BY52668 is somewhere among the male descendants of Adam Brouwer's son Nicholas Brouwer. In other words, Nicholas Brouwer himself did not have SNP E-BY52668, but it first appeared with one of his descendants who was born previous to 1820.

For a bit more on Charles H. Brower, see the post of November 8, 2018.

The Brewer DNA Project now has 15 members of the Adam Brouwer sub-group who have taken FTDNA's BigY test and have had their test results analyzed by YFull and placed on YFull's YTree. The Adam Brouwer sub-group of the Brewer DNA Project now has a total of 49 members, 26 of whom do know their complete ancestry back to Adam Brouwer. We would suspect that if more members could upgrade to the BigY test AND submit their results to YFull for further evaluation, we would likely be able to identify additional SNPs that will identify new sub-branches of Adam Brouwer's descendants. This in turn may help those who are yet to identify their complete ancestry back to Adam Brouwer to do so by narrowing down the possible lines of ancestry to consider. Those considering taking a BigY test should contact Hank Graham, the administrator of the Brewer DNA Project, with any questions.

BGB 654

From Elsewhere

Word has been received from Google (Alphabet, I guess is the parent company's proper name) that Google+ will be "going away on April 2, 2019" (quoting the subject line of their email). I'm sure that if you have a Google+ account you have also received this notice. And apparently they have already started removing things like +1 buttons and badges from blog websites. The roll of Google+ followers has been removed from the pages of this blog. In the past I used the Brouwer Genealogy Google+ page to pass on genealogy related articles and the like that I found online that interested me and that I thought might interest others. Without the Google+ page that option is lost, so perhaps I'll on occasion just throw out a post, like this one, with some links. So here goes.

• Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) has been in the news lately and the topic is controversial to many. I don't believe that anyone at FTDNA is labeling it as "good news" anyway. On January 31, 2019, BuzzFeed broke the news that FTDNA has been allowing law enforcement agencies to upload DNA data to their website for the purpose of finding matches. The story was then picked up by many other news outlets from the NYTimes to Rolling Stone. The Legal Genealogist posted on this on February 1st, and followed up on February 3rd, again on February 3rd (with "A Letter from Bennett Greenspan") and on February 4th. I recommend reading The Legal Genealogist's posts on this issue, and there is more to consider in the comments section to those posts. Here is a direct link to the response from FTDNA. The Brewer DNA Project is hosted by FTDNA and this is an issue that every current member of the Project, every customer of FTDNA and every potential customer of FTDNA should be aware of. Everyone is going to have their own opinion and position on this. My overall concern is that what was once a fun hobby is now turning a bit darker, or certainly one that has some issues that are not so enjoyable but do have to be addressed. Whatever your opinion is, please just take the time to inform yourself on this very complicated issue which involves much more than just "catching bad guys." The fact that existing customers were not notified of changes to Terms of Service, with this new policy (which is claimed to have contradicted past statements by Bennett Greenspan) and issues of privacy including the violation of certain legal and Constitutional rights are also issues here. The possibility that all of this may well just slow down otherwise well intended genetic genealogical research is a concern.
• "Why You Should Dig Up Your Family's History - and How to Do It," was published by the New York Times on February 3rd. Written by Jaya Saxena, it's a nice take, and a plug for the overwhelming importance and enjoyment of traditional genealogical research (the way this was done before DNA tests). Some specific advice here too that will serve every genealogist well. I would single out in particular the paragraph on name variations, something Brouwers, Browers, Brewers, Bruers, etc., should be well aware of and familiar with. A terrific article for newbies and a nice refresher for the experienced.
• On January 31, the radio program On Point aired "Inheritance": When DNA Genealogy Shakes Our Identity, Foundation to the Core. This is the story of author Dani Shapiro and her experience with a DNA test that told her that her father wasn't her biological father. A very interesting twist to this story on just how that came to be, that I won't give away. It's about a 46 minute listen.
• And finally, this has nothing to do with genealogy, but it hits home for me nonetheless so I'm passing it on. I grew up on Long Island, and after school, sometimes during school, we went down to the Pizza shop and ordered "a slice." It was wedge shaped, thin crust, nothing but tomato sauce and cheese, pepperoni or sausage was an option. You could FOLD it. That's how you ate it. Today, I live in western New York, and all the pizza places make a pizza that is too thick to fold (although thinner than Sicilian pizza which is something else that you could also get at the Pizza shop) and they cut it in squares! There are pieces in the center that don't even have crust! You can't fold it, it's too thick (I know I already said that, but that's the essence of pizza). And there are all kinds of strange things you can put on it (even ham and pineapple). Apparently there is even something called a "breakfast pizza." They should not be allowed to call this stuff pizza. It isn't pizza. So, here's an article from the New York Times from January 16th on REAL pizza. This is pizza! Glad I got that off my chest.

BGB 637

Family Tree DNA Makes Available A Public Y-DNA Haplotree

In yesterday's post I mention that Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) did not have a Y-DNA Haplogroup tree that was available online to the general public, that is those who do not have an account with FTDNA. Up until two days ago that was the case. This has now changed. I picked this up from the DNAeXplained blog post of September 27 (two days ago). And here in lies an example of the benefit in following select blogs - Family Tree DNA has the link to access this tree in a rather obscure place on their website's main page. I would not have learned this without the help of DNAeXplained.

To find the link to the haplotree, you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of FTDNA's main page, past the solicitations for their products, to the link which is found under "Community" and is labeled, Y-DNA Haplotree.  You also do not want to be signed in to your own Family Tree DNA account (if you have one). For whatever reason, the link does not appear at the bottom of the main page when one is logged in to their account (go figure!). Having this public Y-DNA tree available is a good thing and I will direct you, once again to the September 27, 2018 post at DNAeXplained (authored by Roberta Estes) for detailed instructions and guidance on how to use the new haplotree. Included there are tips on how to set up your account at FTDNA so that your results will be included in the haplotree. Here is a direct link to FTDNA's public haplotree (be patient, it may take a minute to load).

Members of the Brewer DNA Project, and those searching for Brewers and Browers, can use the FTDNA haplotree to see just where Brewers and Browers are found on the tree. First it must be pointed out that the haplotree includes only those tested by FTDNA who have either taken a BigY test, or who have had their Y-DNA haplogroup confirmed by a test. If you have taken a Y-DNA test, but have only been assigned to a predicted haplogroup, you will not be included on this tree. Therefore, many of the current 337 members of the Brewer DNA Project are not represented on the tree.

So, to find the Brewers. You will note that the haplotree allows you to view it in three different formats, Countries, Surnames and Variants. And just below that is a line of letters of the alphabet which represent the main branches of Y-Chromosome DNA tree, starting with A (the oldest) through to T. Presently, the Brewer DNA Project has members that fall within the haplogroups designated as E, I, J and R (see the Y-DNA chart page at the Brewer DNA Project).

Select to view the tree by Surnames. Type in Brewer in the Search by Surname space, hit enter and you will find that the page responds by informing you that the surname appears in haplogroups, E, I, J and R (small font just below the Search by Surname space). This result was expected. So far, so good. Working along that line of letters (the haplogroups) select E, scroll down and you will see Brewer and Brower both appear next to three different SNPs, E-BY6201, and two below it, E-BY6245 and E-BY6312. These are the descendants of Adam Brouwer, in the Brewer DNA Project, who have taken the Big-Y test, who have filled in their "Most Distant Known Ancestor" (i.e. their direct paternal line ancestor) and set their privacy settings to public sharing (note that account numbers and names are not displayed on the public tree). Move to the left and click on those three vertical dots, select surnames, and you'll see the number of tests accounting for this place on the haplotree. We do have 14 members of the Adam Brouwer sub-group who have taken the Big-Y test, yet only 11 are picked up by FTDNA for the haplotree, which is likely because the other three have more restrictive privacy settings, and/or have not supplied a Most Distant Known Ancestor.

Now, select I from the line of haplogroups at the top. Scroll down, and we have Brewer and White at I-15031, and just below at I-Y21524, I-Y23708 and I-Y29640. These are all members of the subgroup labeled "Lanier-Brewer" at the Brewer DNA Project.
Scroll down further and we have  Brewer and Brower at I-Y7214. They are descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Six members are accounted for here.

Now, move over to J. Scroll down. Brewer is found at J-CTS6804 and further down that branch at J-Y18828. Both SNPs are determined by descendants of Arthur Brewer, who I believed lived in North Carolina during the 1700s (I have not researched this family myself).

The last haplogroup involving members of the Brewer DNA Project is R. Select that from the line of haplogroups. Scroll down. First we hit R-M269. This is an old, "upline" haplogroup, a subhaplogroup of R-M343 which is the most frequent occurring paternal haplogroup in western Europe. There are a lot of names here, including Brewer. Further down the tree, there is Brewer at R-Y53883. There are two, who are in the Ambrose Brewer subgroup.
Scrolling down further we find Brewer at R-FGC46823. The two here are descendants of John Brewer of Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Now, go back to the Search by Surname space and replace Brewer with Brower. You'll find matches at E, I, and R. Those are E and I are covered above, but go to the R haplotree and scroll down. Brower is found at R-BY91798. The two here are descendants of Hubert Brower.

This public haplotree from FTDNA is certainly a welcomed addition. It was a long time in coming, and it is fun to use. It does not replace YFull's YTree which, along with their analysis, provides more info and is going to be more useful for the Brewer DNA Project to sort out the various branches below our known colonial period progenitors (Adam Brouwer, Jan Brouwer, Hubert Brower, Arthur Brewer, George Brewer, etc.) and so, members of the Brewer DNA Project who do take a BigY-500 test are still encouraged to set up an account and transfer their data to YFull.

BGB 607 

Status of the Adam Brouwer Sub-Group of the Brewer DNA Project

Hank Graham, Administrator of the Brewer DNA Project provides the following update and status on the Adam Brouwer sub-group of the Brewer DNA Project, found at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). [My comments in italics. In some cases, segments highlighted in bold are mine]:

Below are the seven sons of Adam Brouwer along with the five BigY (now called the BigY-500 since being upgraded to include over 500 STR marker testing) participants with known pedigrees (back to four of Adam Brouwer's seven sons). [To date, 14 members of this sub-group have taken FTDNA's BigY-500 test. Five of those members have proven pedigrees extending back to Adam Brouwer. The remaining nine have either unconfirmed pedigrees or theorized pedigrees back to Adam Brouwer which have not been proved through traditional genealogical research means].

1. Pieter (b.1646), kit #688377, complete FTDNA BigY results, no YFull results.
2. Matthys (b.1649, d. bef. 1726), NO KNOWN participant in the Project with a proven pedigree.
3. Willem (b.1651), NO KNOWN participant with a proven pedigree.
4. Jacob (b.ca.1655, d. bef. 1706), kit #443252, complete BigY and YFull results.
5. Adam (b.1662), NO KNOWN participant with a proven pedigree.
6. Abraham (b. by 1667), kit #161350 has complete BigY and YFull results. Kit #458438 has complete BigY results and partial YFull results.
7. Nicholas (b.1672, d. bef. 1749), kit #491946, complete BigY results, no YFull results.

[Also see the DNA Analysis page for the Adam Brouwer sub-group at the Brouwer Genealogy Database website. There are links to charts showing direct ancestries, as submitted by participants. Included are most, but not all, of the kit #s mentioned below. Some names found below have links that will take you to that individual's profile on the BGD. The BGD was last updated in late 2015, and newer members to the Brewer DNA Project have not been included. Unfortunately, I can no longer update the BGD].

The BigY results from members of the four known lines (above) were used to create modal values for Adam Brouwer at each of the approximately 500 STR markers. After the STR modal values for Adam were determined, BigY tests for all 14 men were compared to the modal values and any variation from the modal value was noted for each person. For two members (kits 485539 and 597589) there are no Y-DNA results between YDNA67 and YDNA111* which could minimize the variation observed for those two men. Over the approximately 500 STR markers for each person the maximal variant markers observed was seven for kit #443252 and kit #65385. The least variation was zero for kit #688377. The typical result was 3 or 4 variants per tested individual. When these rare variant results match it is very significant and is a strong indication of a common line back to a single son of Adam, but it is not absolute proof that they share a MRCA (most recent common ancestor) between Adam and the present. In some cases, multiple men shared two or more variants in the BigY test - these men descend from a common ancestor and one of Adam's sons.

Let's look at the BigY results from the 14 participants

7. Nicholas (b.1672, d. bef. 1749) - kit #491946 descends from Nicholas through his son Adolphus (b.1693) and grandson Nicholas Adolphus Brouwer (b. 1714). The man is identified as belonging to haplogroup E-BY6201** which is the common halpogroup for the Adam Brouwer sub-group. None of the other 13 tested members had a matching novel SNP with any of his novel SNPs. There are six variant STR markers in his YDNA111 and BigY results, including DYS439(=14) from the YDNA37 panel, and FTY58(=11) from the BigY-500 panel.*** Of the 13 other tested men only two match any of #491946's six variant markers. These two men, kit #N142947 with five variant results and kit #65385 with seven variant results, match both DYS439 from the YDNA37 panel and FTY58 from the BigY-500 panel - both descend from Nicholas (b.1672). To date, only kit #N142947 has completed the YFull part of the analysis. Since all three men (#491946, #N142947 and #65385) are not thought to descend from the same son of Nicholas (b.1672) both markers DYS439 and FTY58 first appeared in Adam Brouwer's son, Nicholas (b.1672).

BigY participant #65385 has five additional variant results that can provide additional information. In addition to matching marker DYS439, variant markers DYS446(=13) and DYS568(=11) appear in the YDNA67 panel and are shared with members #107708 and #285309. Looking at the pedigrees, #65385 and #285309 have a pedigree that includes Peter Brewer (b.1779) son of Jeremiah Brower/Brewer (b. 1738) and a proposed line through Jurge Brouwer (b.1701, a son of Nicholas, b. 1672). The third man does not have a pedigree that descends from Peter Brewer (b.1779). This indicates that the two markers, DYS446 and DYS568 first appeared in Nicholas' son thought to be Jurge (b.1701), or in Nicholas' grandson, Jeremiah (b.1738).**** All three of these men (#65385, #285309 and #107708) descend from Nicholas (b.1672) and one of his sons, who is thought to be Jurge (b.1701).

6. Abraham (b. by 1667) - kit #161350 has complete BigY and YFull test results, and his (known) relative kit #458438 has complete BigY results and partial results from YFull. They are in haplogroup E-BY6312 which was one of their five matching novel SNPs (the other four being BY6313, BY6315, BY6316 and Y56389) and first appeared at various times over eight generations in their common line from Abraham (b. by 1667) to their MRCA, Leon Brower (b.1893). Kit #161350 has four variant markers and #458438 has only one variant marker, which they share, DYS572(=10). They descend from Abraham Brouwer (b. by 1667) and his son Abraham (b. 1706). Another member of the Project, kit #818228 descends from Abraham (b. by 1667) and his son Jeury Brouwer (b.1700-1705). All three men are the only men of 29 tested beyond YDNA37 to have DYS572, a STR marker that first appears with Abraham Brouwer (b. by 1667). For completeness, of the three variant markers not shared with kit #458438 that appeared in the line of kit#161350 after MRCA Leon Brower (b.1893), one marker, CDY(=30-35) appears independently in the line of kit #65385. This marker is typically variable and this mutation appeared independently in two different lines (i.e. in lines descended from two different sons of Adam Brouwer).

4. Jacob (b.ca.1655, d. bef. 1706) - Kit #443252 has complete BigY and YFull results. He is in haplogroup E-BY6201 which is the common haplogroup of the Adam Brouwer sub-group and none of the 13 other members of the group had a matching novel SNP with any of his novel SNPs. He has seven variant markers, three appear in standard YDNA37, 67 and 111 panels and four from the BigY-500 panel. First, in the YDNA37 panel, his variant marker, DYS570(=18) matches kit #50688, who is a known relative with a MCRA of Isaac Brock Brower (b. 1843). This variant first appeared somewhere in the six generations from Jacob (b.ca.1655) down to Isaac Brock Brower (b.1843).

Of his seven variant markers, four are from the BigY-500 panel. Marker DYS551(=13) matches one of the two variant markers of kit #342692. This single match appears to be an early marker in the line of Jacob (b.ca.1655) but it is not currently possible to place the exact place that this marker appeared. A variant match is very significant and a strong indication of a common line back to a single son of Adam Brouwer, in this case, Jacob (b.ca.1655), but it is not absolute proof. Kit #342692 does not have any variant markers with any of the other 12 BigY tested participants and he certainly does not have the markers DYS439 or FTY58 which are associated with Nicholas (b.1672), or DYS572 which is associated with Abraham (b. by 1667).

1. Pieter (b.1646) - Kit #688377 has complete FTDNA BigY test results, but  YFull results are not yet in. He has zero variant results from the modal value of Adam Brouwer as created by me based on equally weighting the values of each separate group of men and not just averaging all members. Although both results would be similar, the equally weighted method gives a better modal value for each STR marker of Adam Brouwer.

Six other members (three in haplogroup E-BY6245 and kits #485539, #597589, #669995) - This group of six does not have the markers DYS439 or FTY58, associated with Nicholas (b.1672) or DYS572, associated with Abraham (b. by 1667). None of the matching variants within this group of members is common with any of the groups examined. This group will be discussed in a separate report.

This update of BigY results for the Adam Brouwer sub-group is not a static report but will expand as more BigY participants are tested and YFull results are added. [The Adam Brouwer sub-group needs additional members to invest in taking the BigY-500 test, and it needs those who have tested but have not yet sent results to YFull to do so. Please contact the Brewer DNA Project if you have any questions on how to proceed]. "If any one reading this notices any numerical transpositions or similar errors, or omissions that should be included, please contact Hank through the Brewer DNA Project website (you may also use the Comments option for this post). I look forward to comments and will provide an analysis of the Six Member Group (mentioned above) very soon. Please encourage other Adam Brouwer sub-group members to take the BigY-500 test, or to upgrade to the YDNA67 or YDNA111 level. Several non-BigY results were helpful in better understanding the proper placement of some variant STR markers."

Thank you for supporting the Brewer DNA Project. - Hank Graham

*Family Tree DNA's Y-Chromosome DNA tests have been gradually expanded over time since the company began offering such tests. The original Y-DNA test consisted of 12 STR markers, numbered for convenience as 1 through 12, and is referred to (at FTDNA) as YDNA12, with the results being reported as Panel 1 on the customer's STR marker results page. Subsequently, markers numbered 13-25 were offered as YDNA25 and Panel 2; markers 26-37 as YDNA37 and Panel 3; markers 38-67 as YDNA67 and Panel 4; and markers 68-111 as YDNA111 and Panel 5. During the course of the past year, FTDNA upgraded their BigY test (which initially was advertised as an advanced SNP test) to include markers 112-561 and is referred to on each members STR marker results page as Panel 6 by FTDNA, and (by me) as "the BigY-500 panel" in this post. Those members who have taken the BigY-500 but are missing the results for markers 68-111 (panel 5) should order the YDNA111 Upgrade through their FTDNA account page. I (not a descendant of Adam Brouwer) fit into this same situation (have taken the Bigy-500 but am missing panel 5) and so ordered one for myself just today (the date of this post), and the price was $29.

**A haplogroup is named for a SNP that identifies, or determines, that it is a unique haplogroup. See this page at the ISOGG Wiki. In your own direct patrilinial (or matrilinial) ancestral line you will be defined, or belong to, a succession of different haplogroups, each one being a sub-clade of the previous haplogroup when working backwards from the present to the distant past. This might best be seen at the YFull YTree page for E-Y19643. The tabs at the top of the chart, when read from right to left, are the various haplogroups, moving back in time, that define Adam Brouwer's genetic ancestry. I will also note here that while YFull uses E-Y19643 as the SNP to identify the haplogroup that (thus far) only includes Adam Brouwer's descendants, FTDNA uses E-BY6201. The two are equivalent. That is to say they both represent the same location on the YTree.

***DYS439 and FTY58, as well the other similar designations mentioned in the post, are simply alpha-numeric labels that identify individual STR markers. The number seen in parenthesis (following an = sign) is the number of repeats reported for that particular STR marker. This number is known as the allele value. DYS446 has an allele value of 14, while FTY58 has an allele value of 11.

****Jeremiah Brower/Brewer (b.1738) is assumed to be a son of Jurge Brouwer (b.1701). This belief has not been proved by traditional genealogical research and after years of searching myself, I think it highly unlikely that such proof will ever be found. This placement, however, fits best with all known facts regarding both Jeremiah and Jurge. See the post of January 26, 2013.

BGB 604