Revising The Family of Jan Brouwer and Helena Van Cleef

 The post, "The Family of Jan Brouwer and Helena Van Cleef," was published October 24, 2012. A profile, with source citations, for Jan Brouwer can be found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database (last updated late 2015). The family was also covered back in 2007 in "Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and Descendants," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 138(2007):254. In each of these instances we see a family consisting of eleven or twelve children. We also see that the mother of these children is recorded variously as Helena, Hilletje, Lena, and Mardelena. We also see some conflicts among the baptism dates of the children, specifically with the children, Pieter, Benjamin, and Marytje, who were baptized 26 Dec. 1737, 19 Feb. 1738 and 3 Oct. 1738 respectively. Ten years later I have had reason to revisit this family and today I see it very differently. Rather than one family of eleven or twelve children, I believe that what we have here are TWO families, a family of Jan Brouwer and Hilletje Van Cleef, and another family of a different Jan Brouwer and his wife Lena/Mardelena (___).

Both the 2007 "Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and Descendants" article and my post of October 24, 2012 acknowledges the problems with the original family of Jan Brouwer and Helena Van Cleef. With regards to the 2007 article see footnote 45 on page 254 which, in short, explains the "odd spacing of baptisms" in this family, to the personality of the minister, Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. I should quote the full footnote here:

"The odd spacing of baptisms may be due to Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, the autocratic minister of the churches at Three-Mile Run (New Brunswick), Raritan (Somerville), North Branch (Readington) and Six-Mile Run, who, influenced by the Great Awakening, withheld communion and baptisms from various church members for extended periods of time in the 1720s and 1730s and even excommunicated some who would not conform to his evangelical views. Some members occasionally sought the sacraments from other ministers in the area. Thus, although Reformed baptisms usually followed soon after birth, in this part of New Jersey, in this time period, baptismal dates are not necessarily good estimators of birth of birth dates." 

Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Do we have record of Rev. Frelinghuysen specifically withholding baptism from some children of Jan Brouwer and Hilletje Van Cleef? If such a record exists, it is not presented in the article. And since it is not, I would then assume that we do not have this evidence and that there is no reason to assume that that is what is happening here. The author(s) of this article (see footnote 2 on page 250), is (are) suggesting that Jan Brouwer and Hilletje Van Cleef went to the Reformed minister at Freehold-Middletown to baptize children that Rev. Frelinghuysen would not baptize at North Branch or Raritan. In other words, Jan Brouwer lived in the area of Raritan in Somerset or Hunterdon Counties when these children were born, whereas other evidence suggests that he lived at Middletown in Monmouth County. Having the children baptized  by the Freehold-Middletown minister would have been the parents first option, as is the case with the couples first four baptisms and the sixth (see below).

In my own post on October 24, 2012, I recognize this and try to explain away not only the problem of the "odd baptism spacing," but also the problem of the children's mother having a wide variety of recorded given names. Hilletje a Dutch diminutive of Hillegondt, and equivalent in English to Hilda, and Lena, a diminutive of both Helena and Magdalena, are just two very different names. Hilletje Van Cleef was a daughter of Isbrandt Van Cleef and Jannetje Arise Van der Bilt. Her maternal grandmother was Hillitje Remse (a daughter of Rem Jansen and Jannetje Jorise Rapalje). She was likely named for her maternal grandmother. The correct name of Jan Brouwer's wife is Hilletje Van Cleef. Her name is mistakenly recorded or transcribed from the original in one baptism record as Helena. However, the other baptisms in which the mother's name is Lena or, in one instance, Mardelena, is not a recording error. It's the name of a different mother, of a different family. Back in 2012 I incorrectly assessed this family. But, let's just list all of the baptisms here once again:

1. 1724 June 21. A child; parents: Jan Brower, (blank) Van Kleve; no witnesses recorded (Freehold-Middletown 23:12)
2. 1726 April 11. A child; parents: Jan Brouwer, Helena Van Cleve; witnesses: Isbrant Van Cleve, Janneke, his wife (Freehold-Middletown 23:43)
3. 1727 Aug. __. Pieter; parents: Jan Brouwer, Hilletie; no witnesses recorded (Freehold-Middletown 23:44)
4. 1735 Dec. 25. Henrikus; parents: Jan Brouwer, Hilletje Van Kleef; no witnesses recorded (Freehold-Middletown 24:46)
5. 1737 Dec 26. Peeteres; parents: Yan Brouwer, Leena; no witnesses recorded (Harlingen 17:80)
6. 1738 Feb. 19.  Benjamin; parents: Jan Brouwer, Hilletje Van Kleef; witnesses: Benjamin Van Kleef, Rachel Couwenhove (Freehold-Middletown 24:91)
7. 1738 Oct. 3. Marytje; parents: Jan Brouwer and Lena; no witnesses recorded (Readington 4:217)
8. 1741 June 28. Catrina; parents: Brouwer, Jan and wife, Mardelena; no witnesses recorded (Raritan 2:302)
9. 1743 Jan. 14.  Leena; parents: Yan Brouwer, Leenaa; no witnesses recorded (Harlingen 17:82)
10. 1746 Dec. 10. Elsje; parents: Jan Brouwer and Lena; no witnesses recorded (Readington 4:303)
11. 1749 Dec. 26.  Johannis; parents: Jan Brouwer and Lena; no witnesses recorded (Readington 4:305)

Sources for the above:

Freehold-Middletown: "Records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vols. 22-38 (1947-1963)

Harlingen: "Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen, Baptisms," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vols. 15-20 (1940-45)

Readington: "Readington Church Baptisms From 1720," Somerset County Historical Quarterly vol.4-8 (1915-19)

Raritan: "First Reformed Church Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms," Somerset County Historical Quarterly Vols. 2-7 (1913-18)

Notes on the above baptisms:

I suspect that either no. 1 or no. 2, where in both cases the child's name was not recorded, belongs to Aris Brower who married Neeltje Cooper by 1756. He would have been named for his maternal great grandfather Aris Janse Van der Bilt. He is on the BGD but is not included in the 2007 NYGBR article.

No. 8, Catrina is not included in the 2007 NYGBR article, but her baptism record is there. The author(s) in 2007 missed it.

The baptisms span 25 years, from 1724 to 1749. A long period of time. Possible, but not that typical. Magdalena Verdon was mother of 14 children from 1646 to 1672, a span of 26 years, but she was likely married at, or by age 16. [See  Harry Macy Jr., "Some New Light on Aeltje Braconie and Maria Badie," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 142(2011):21-36, which suggests that Magdalena may have been married as early as age 13 or 14]. We do not have baptism records for either Jan or Hilletje, but as Jan's father died between 1702 and 1706, and as Helletje, being named for a maternal grandmother, would probably be an older daughter of her parents, both were born either in the 1690s or early 1700s (I have estimates of ca. 1692 for Jan and ca. 1703-1708 for Helena Van Cleef on the BGD. The later date for Helena allows her to have a child born in 1749, something I no longer believe is correct).

There is a glaring gap of eight years between the baptisms of no. 3 and no. 4. That is a long period of time for a couple who are in their mid twenties to early or mid thirties. Two to four additional children may be missing from this family. Perhaps Hilletje had a few miscarriages or stillbirths. Perhaps the couple were separated for one reason or another for this period, although I truly doubt this. Perhaps they were back on Long Island where church records for the Breukelen and Flatbush churches are missing. Maybe there are some unplaced Brouwers out there (and there are quite a few of them) that belong in this family.

In baptism no. 1 the mother's given name is blank. In no. 2 she is called Helena Van Cleve. In nos. 3, 4, and 6 she is Hilletje (Van Kleef in 3 and 4). In no. 8 she is Mardelena (undoubtedly an error for Magdelena) and in nos. 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11, she is Lena/Leenaa. 

As pointed out, in the October 24, 2012 post, I presented this family with a full eleven or twelve children and argued for explanations that would cover up the inconsistencies outlined above. But now, ten years later, I believe that was incorrect. While it's possible to hold on to this family as being accurately described in the older accounts, both my online posts here and on the BGD, and the 2007 NYGBR article, I'm now inclined to think otherwise. What we actually have here are two distinct families.

Make the following changes to the Brouwer Genealogy Database

1. Change Helena Van Cleef's primary name to Hilletje Van Cleef. The appearance of her name as Helena in baptism no. 2 is likely an error, perhaps on the part of the transcriber. 
2. Remove the following children: no. 5 Peeterse (Pieter), no. 7 Marytje, no. 8 Catrina, no. 9 Leena, no. 10 Elsje and no. 11 Johannis from this family.
3. Change the husband of Antje Van Dyk from Pieter Brouwer, bp. 26 Dec 1737 (no.5) to Pieter Brouwer, bp. Aug. 1727 (no.3). The children of Antje (Joannes and Petrus) are now sons of Pieter (bp. 1727). 
4. Change the date of death for Pieter Brouwer, bp. Aug 1727, from "bef Dec. 1737" to "bef 22 September 1759" and move the 1759 administration of estate record and "resided at Shrewsbury" statement from Pieter (1737) to Pieter 1727).
5. Create the new family of Jan Brouwer and Lena/Mardelena (___) with their children, nos. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 above.

Now stand back and take a look at these two newly reconstructed families and tell me if this doesn't make better sense. We now have the family of Jan Brouwer and Helletje Van Cleef with five or six children (depending on whether or not you wish to assign one of the first two baptisms to the supposed son Aris Brower) with children born between 1724 and 1738 (14 years) with an eight year gap from 1727 to 1735 in which perhaps 2 to 4 additional children may have been born. This Jan Brouwer lived at Middletown, Monmouth Co., New Jersey from 1719 (ear mark recorded) through 1727 and from 1735 to at least 1738, but may have been elsewhere between the years 1727 and 1735. 

The new second family is Jan Brouwer and his wife Lena/Mardelena (Magdalena) who lived in the Raritan River Valley area of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties at least between 1737 and 1749 when they had six children baptized at Raritan, Readington and Harlingen. Whether they remained there after 1749 or were there before 1737 is not (yet) known. If the 1737 baptism is that of their first child, a son named Peeteres (Pieter), then perhaps they were married around 1736 and if in their early to mid 20s at their marriage were perhaps born 1710 to 1717 or so. This Jan is not necessarily a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I., whereas the other Jan Brouwer certainly is. This new Jan Brouwer may well be a descendant of Adam Brouwer which leads me to one additional change in something I previously published. Back in 2012, in the post of October 28, "Unplaced: John Brewer, Revolutionary War Patriot of New Jersey and Pennsylvania," I suggested that this John Brewer, who was born 4 July 1749 as per a D.A.R. lineage application could be one and the same with Johannis, baptized 26 Dec. 1749 (no. 11 above). I then updated and reversed this idea in the post of February 25, 2022, when, after the Brewer DNA Project received test results from a descendant of Thomas Brewer of East Buffalo and Annville, Pennsylvania, a very likely son of John Brewer, born 4 July1749, and with those results showing that the participant was a certain descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L.I., I wrote that the two (John and Johannis) were not likely the same. Well, sorry to have to do this, but when evidence changes or becomes clearer, we do have to change our opinions. It may well be that John Brewer, b. 4 July 1749 and Johannis Brouwer, bapt. 26 Dec 1749 are one and the same.To be clear, this last statement is not to be taken as fact. The trick now is to find evidence that either demonstrates that the two are one and the same, or proves that they are instead two different men born at about the same time.

While I would expect that others may disagree with my new assessment of the family of Jan Brouwer and Helena (now Hilletje) Van Cleef, there does exist enough ambiguity and incompleteness with what we have regarded as fact in the past, to state that this new arrangement of two families from one incorrectly reconstructed family, is viable option. As we search for linking the descendants who form the Sub-Unit E-FTC5921 at the Brewer DNA Project, this is the scenario that I would suggest researchers begin working from.

BGB 748

More Corrections to the Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD)

 Four of the corrections that follow were discovered while conducting research focused on the Brouwer families found in the records of Hunterdon, Somerset and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey. The fifth from some further research into the family of Johannes Brouwer and Perkins Lambert.

1. Daniel, baptized 24 June 1764 at the North Branch Reformed Dutch Church in Readington, New Jersey, son of Daniel Brouer and Marya (___). The BGD places Daniel in the family of Daniel Brouwer (bp. 5 Jul 1719, d. 15 Jan 1791) and Marietje Koning (bp. 22 March 1724, d. ___). This placement is incorrect. Daniel (bp. 24 June 1764) belongs in a different family not found on the BGD. The family of Daniel Brouer/Brower/Brouwer and his wife Maria/Marya (____) will be covered in a future post pending further research. [A correct citation for the baptism is: "Readington Church Baptisms From 1720," Somerset County Historical Quarterly vol.4-8 (1915-19) 5:146. Daniel and Maria; parents: Daniel Brouer and Maria; no witnesses recorded]. In addition, Daniel did not die before February 1768. He may well have lived into adulthood. Eight of Daniel Brouwer and Maria Koning's (remaining) ten children, including their own son Daniel (bp. 28 Feb. 1768) were baptized at Schraalenburgh. This one baptism at Readington is an outlier and belongs in a different family. To be clear: There are TWO distinct families headed by couples named Daniel Brouwer/Brouer and Maria (in one case, Marietje Koning and in the other Maria/Marya (___) found in New Jersey during the same period of time. The family of Daniel Brouwer and Marietje Koning originates in Bergen County, New Jersey (ten children with eight baptized at Schraalenburg between 1744 and 1768), then removed to the Conewago settlement in York (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania during the mid 1770s, and then on to Harrodsburg, Mercer Co., Kentucky where Daniel Brouwer died in early 1791. The family of Daniel Brouer and Maria/Marya (___) had six children baptized in more than one of the Reformed Churches of the Raritan River valley area in Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey between 1755 and 1770. This family IS NOT found on the BGD and will be covered in a future post.
   
2. Hendrick Brouwer, had daughter Sara baptized 25 October 1727 at Harlingen, Somerset Co., New Jersey, the mother being Rachel Bon. The profile here places this Hendrick as a possible son of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans. Scratch that. The reasoning supplied on the BGD was that a Hendrick Brewer witnessed the will of Johannes Luyster (3 Aug. 1766). Johannes Luyster lived at Middletown in Monmouth County, New Jersey and the Hendrick Brewer who witnessed that will is more likely one who we do know was living at Middletown at this time (he being this Hendrick Brewer). This one record of the baptism of a daughter (Sara) is the only confirmed record for Hendrick Brouwer that we have in the Raritan River valley region of central New Jersey. We do not know Hendrick Brouwer's ancestry, and we have no evidence to make a reliable suggestion. It is best to leave his ancestry open to all possibilities until  additional records and evidence can be found. We hope to have more regarding Hendrick Brouwer and Rachel Bon, as well as the multiple Hendrick Brouwers of Hunterdon, Somerset and Middlesex Counties in a future post. For now, remove Hendrick Brouwer from the family of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans. We have NO evidence that this couple had a son named Hendrick.
   
3. Annatje Brouwer and her supposed sister Catherine Brewer are placed respectively as probable and possible daughters of Pieter Brouwer and Annatje Jans, the same couple in no. 2 above. Remove both Annatie and Catherine from the family of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans. The 2007 article, "Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and Descendants," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol.138 (2007) places Annatje, but not Catherine, as a daughter of Pieter Brouwer and Antje Jans. My own rationalization for this (back in 2007) was that Annatje was a daughter was based on the baptism record of Joannes, son of Pieter Brouwer and Antje Van Dyk at Freehold-Middltown (Monmouth Co.) dated 21 March 1756, with one witness: Antje Brouwer. Annatje who was known as the wife of Abraham Lane/Laen was placed as this witness and then assumed to be a daughter of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans, only because there was no other Annatje known. At closer inspection, it is more likely that the witness for this baptism was the child's paternal grandmother, Antje (Van Dyk) Brouwer who was living at the time and had not yet remarried James Johnson (marriage license dated 24 March 1761). This leaves Annatje, the wife of Abraham Lane/Laen, with no identifiable parents (as of this writing, although I do have a much better alternative in mind). Catherine is known from only one record - in May 1734 at the Harlingen Reformed Church she was witness for the baptism of Lucretia, daughter of Abraham Lane and Hanatie Brouer, the witnesses being recorded as Pieter Janse and Katryntye Brouer. At this writing we have no other record for Catherine/Katryntye. With such limited info we cannot determine her correct relationship to Annatje with complete certainty. She could be a sister (I think very likely), but she might not be. She could be her mother (less likely but as of this writing cannot be ruled out). More work to be done here, however, without additional records it is prudent to remove Annatje and Catherine from the family of Pieter Brouwer and Annetje Jans. [Please also note that there are errors with regards to Abraham Lane and in particular, his father Adriaen Lane as they appear on the BGD. Researching the very large and complicated Lanen Van Pelt families in detail is beyond the scope of my own research. For a better understanding please see Mike Morrissey, "Notes on Descendants of Gysbert, Son of Matthias Lanen Van Pelt"]. Also see no. 4...
   
4.  Corrections to the family of Abraham Lane and Annatje Brouwer. Remove the daughter Petronelly. As Mike Morrissey points out in the above referenced piece, no record of baptism (as claimed by Honeyman in SCHQ 2:217) exists. He likely confused her with Peternlte, daughter of Abraham Lot and Yante, who was baptized at Harlingen, March (not May) 30, 1748 ["Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen, Baptisms," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 17:86]. Remove Petronelly from this family. The placement of son Jan, not mentioned in his father's will, also can be questioned. The baptism record at Raritan, 6 Dec. 1730, lists his parents as Abraham Layn and Ariaentie (not Annatje). This baptism would conflict with that of his sister Jannetje who was baptized at Harlingen 15 April 1730, only eight months earlier. Yes, there are issues with estimating actual birth dates from the baptism dates at Raritan and the associated Reformed churches, but neither Petronelly nor Jan are mentioned in their claimed father's will. Mike Morrissey (again see the above reference) suggests that Jan is a son of Abraham Bodyn/Bodine and his wife Ariaentje Jans Van Nuys. I would suspect that he has good reasons for this statement. So, either the father's surname in the published record is incorrect, OR, the mother's given name is incorrect. For now I'll follow Mike's lead and suggest removing Jan from the family of Abraham Lane and Annatje Brouwer. The baptism record is found at "First Reformed Church Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms," Somerset County Historical Quarterly, 2:215. 
5. Thomas Brouwer. The BGD shows Johannes Brouwer (bp. 1747) and his wife Perkins Lambert with a son Thomas, born "say 1778." I don't recall my original source for this information, and you will notice that there is no citations involved with this profile. There is, however, a caveat stating that, "this placement is questioned." The Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia does record a baptism for a "son of John and Pirkins Brouwer, of New York" [Second Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Records, 1753-1914; (Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1982), FHL 973460 (DGS 7903469):48]. It is important to recognize that in this record the son's name is not recorded. Unless, or until evidence is found showing that Johannes and Perkins (Lambert) Brouwer had a son named Thomas, this profile should be changed from Thomas, to A son (name unknown). Please also not that the claimed death date of 1823 for Johannes Brouwer has not been verified.
   

In addition to the above there is a substantial correction to the family of Jan Brouwer and Helena (which is not her correct given name) Van Cleef  which will require a post onto itself to explain. Look for a future post on this important correction.

BGB 745

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

Reviewing the Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Revisited (Part VI)

 We continue from the post of April 3, 2022 with Part VI of the series that began with the March 19, 2022 post will cover a few unplaced genetic descendants of Jan Brouwer that were discovered since the original 2015 review was published. Again, you will also want to consult the new Summary of the Male Descendants of Jan Brouwer, published March 24, 2022. Y-DNA testing and analysis referred to is done through the Brewer DNA Project, Hank Graham, administrator. It is suggested that anyone interested in either upgrading their current Y-DNA tests to the advanced BigY-700, or considering the use of Y-DNA testing to augment their traditional genealogical research, contact the Brewer DNA Project and Hank directly through email available on the Project's webpage. 

Richard Brower, b. ca. 1804 (age 46, born in New York, on the 1850 U.S. census at Lee, Oneida County, New York. He was living in 1870 at Albion, Oswego County, New York, age 65. I have not found a record of probate for Richard Brower. Research done to date is summed up in the post of June 20, 2019, "Early Browers of Lee, Oneida County, New York." It is conceivable that Richard Brower is a son of David Brower, said to have been born about 1771 (unverified) and was married to Roxie Williams (also unverified) who would have been aged 40-50 years in 1830, assuming she is the female of that age range found in David Brower's (age 50-60) household at Lee, New York. David Brower is also in Lee, New York on the 1840 U.S. census (age 60-70). Here the oldest female (presumably Roxie) is age 50-60. David Brower is said to have died in 1845 at Lee Center. He is not found on the 1850 U.S. census. The new information here is Y-DNA test analysis from the results of a direct male descendant of Richard Brower who took the BigY-700 test with the Brewer DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA. The BigY-700 test results identify the SNP I-FT135755 as a sub-branch of the Jan Brouwer group. The direct descendant shares this SNP with the members of the group who are descendants of John Rose (March 28, 2022), and with the Embody descendant (April 3, 2022). No other descendants who have the Brower surname have yet to be identified (there are a number who have not upgraded to the BigY-700 test). Analysis of the Y-DNA test results by Hank Graham, administrator of the Brewer DNA Project, and as relayed to me by Hank, tells us that Richard Brower's tested descendant, and therefore Richard Brower himself, is a descendant of Pieter Brouwer (No. 9 in the Summary), and that the SNP I-FT135755 is an identifying SNP for descendants of Pieter Brouwer (No. 9). In addition, analysis of a values for a certain STR marker (FTY466) suggest that the tested descendant is a descendant of Abraham Brouwer (No. 25). Assuming this is correct, Richard Brower, b. ca. 1804 would likely be a grandson of Abraham Brouwer (No. 25) who was baptized in 1734. Richard Brower's claimed father, David Brower, said to have been born about 1771, would then be a son of Abraham (No. 25). Finding traditional genealogical proof to verify these proposed relationships should be searched for in Oneida and Schenectady, and Albany counties. 

Three new unplaced descendants of Jan Brouwer form a new genetic sub-branch. The three, having joined the Brewer DNA Project in just the past couple of years, have all taken the BigY-700 test. The results identified a common SNP, I-FT175879, that is shared by all three. The three participants each trace their known direct paternal ancestries back to ancestors who lived where born in the second half of the 1700s, and who lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The three ancestors are Wright Brewer, Phineas Brewer, and Richard Brewer, who is said to be a son of William Brewer and his wife, Anna King. Wright Brewer, William Brewer and Phines Brewer are all three, found in the 1792 Hunterdon County Militia roll at Amwell Township (see the post of March 3, 2020). Wright Brewer was probably born during the decade of 1755-1765 (age on various census records, see the March 3, 2020 post). In 1850, Phineas Brewer is found on the U.S. census at Roaring Creek, Montour Co., Pennsylvania, age 81, born in New Jersey. William Brewer is found on the 1830 U.S. census at Alexandria, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey, age 60-70, so born during the decade of 1760-1770. The marriage of William Brewer and Anna King, 14 July 1803, in Hunterdon County, is recorded in the Haverford, Pennsylvania Quaker Meeting Records, 1710-1895. William Brewer's son, Richard Brewer was age 40, born in Pennsylvania, on the 1850 U.S. census at Raritan, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey. His wife was Miriam Lundy, and they were married 1 October 1842 in Hunterdon County. In 1880, Richard Brewer is recorded as age 67, born in Pennsylvania, with both parents born in New Jersey (U.S. census at East Amwell, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey). Richard Brewer was probably born around 1810. He died 10 December 1889 at Alexandria, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey. Only cursory research has been attempted on these three (Wright, Phineas and William) but it is apparent from the Y-DNA test results that they are clearly closely related, probably brothers, and that they would fit in as fifth generation descendants (great-great grandsons) of Jan Brouwer. The Brewer DNA Project's assessment currently places the three as probably sons of Dirck Brouwer (No. 27), a son of Jacob Brouwer (No. 10). 

This concludes the series of six posts that began with the post of March 19, 2022. As time permits I will follow up in the future with a review of the Jan Brouwer branch (I-Y7214) of the Y-Tree at YFull, and perhaps additional posts on research in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. I would ask that any one using these posts to further their own research to please share any new information by using the Comments feature that is available with each individual post. Thank you.

BGB 716

Reviewing the Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Revisited (Part V)

 This series of posts began with the post of March 19, 2022. The previous post is from March 30, 2022. Relative reports to this series are the 2015 Review of the Early Generations of Descendants of Jan Brouwer..., and Summary of the Male Descendants of Jan Brouwer..., which was published March 24, 2022. You'll want to refer to both when using this post. We continue with...

Richard Brouwer on pages 13-14 of the 2015 review. His name appears variously in records as Richard Brewer, Derick Brewer, Richard Brower, Richerd Brauer, and Rishert Brauer. He married Mary Blann prior to 1779, their eldest known child being baptized 31 January 1779 at Schenectady, New York. He is at Duanesburgh in Albany County in 1790 (U.S. census), and then at Walton, Delaware Co., New York on the 1800 U.S. census, where he is age "over 45." In 1810 and in 1820 he is at Tompkins, Delaware Co., New York, his age given as "over 45" on both census. He is not found on the 1830 census and is presumed to have died before then. A record of probate has not been found. A biography of Richard's son of the same name, Richard Brewer (also Derick Brewer), baptized in 1795 at the Helderbergh Reformed Church at Guilderland, Albany Co., New York, died in 1890 at Florence, Erie Co., Ohio, and published in "Firelands Pioneer" by the Firelands Historical Society in 1878 states that the elder Richard had fourteen children, and that the younger Richard was the youngest. We've been able to account for six of the fourteen. If Richard was the youngest, then the unknown eight had to have been born prior to 1779 which might push Richard Brouwer and Mary Blann's marriage back another 14 or more years to 1765 or earlier. Since Richard is over age 45 in 1800, he was at least born by 1755. If married by say 1765, he could have been born in the decade of 1735-1745, and in 1820 would have been 75 to 85 years old. We have not found any new information since the 2015 review was published. One direct male descendant has taken a Y-DNA test (he is a descendant of the younger Richard Brewer). Unfortunately he has only tested at the initial 37 STR marker level, which does confirm that he is a descendant of Jan Brouwer, but does not provide enough data to analyze and search for any closer relationships within the group. An upgrade to the BigY-700 is recommended. Pieter Brouwer who follows was also found at Duanesburgh, as was his father, Abraham Brouwer (No. 25). Abraham's younger brother, Dirck (No. 26) who was baptized in 1743 at Readington, could be Richard Brouwer, who did name a son, Petrus (Peter). An alternative could be that he is Dirck (No. 27) who was baptized in 1737. All things considered, the former of these two possibilities is favored. An a BigY-700 test could very well confirm this possibility.

Pieter Brouwer (pages 14-15) mentioned just above, probably was born between 1755 and 1763, married Catrina Chrisler (Crisler and other spellings) bef 1783, their first child, son Abraham being baptized 25 June 1783 at Schenectady. Pieter Brouwer is also recorded as Peter Brewer, Peter Brower and Pieter Broer. We find Pieter on the U.S. census in 1790 and in 1800 at Duanesburgh, New York. He is on an 1802 tax roll at Princetown, New York, and in 1803 at Duanesburgh. I have not identified him after 1803. Pieter and Catrina had six known children baptized between 1783 and 1792 at the Reformed Churches at either Schenectady or Schoharie. Since the 2015 review, the Brewer DNA Project has seen the original Y-DNA tested descendant upgrade to the BigY test, and two additional descendants have joined, one being a son of the original participant. The father and son pair are descendants of Pieter's son Abraham who was baptized in 1783 at Schenectady. The third participant is a descendant of Pieter's son Lewis Brewer, baptized as Ludewig, son of "Pieter Broer and Cath.," at Schoharie in 1789. As mentioned in the new Summary (see Abraham, No. 25), the BigY-700 tests have given us a unique identifying SNP for this line, I-FT210419. As mentioned above, the tested descendant of Richard Brouwer would benefit by upgrading to the BigY-700 to see how the results would match those of Pieter Brouwer. We can confidently say that Pieter Brouwer is a fifth generation descendant of Jan Brouwer (a great-great grandson), and that his father was Abraham Brouwer (No. 25). The ancestry of this previously unplaced genetic descendant has been solved.

Embody (pages 15-16). As stated in the 2015 review, we do know the Y-DNA tested descendant's Embody ancestry back to Henry Embody, born in Berks Co., Pennsylvania in 1745 and later of Minden, Montgomery Co., New York. We also know that genetically the participant is not related through his paternal line to other male descendants of Henry Embody, but is instead related to male descendants of Jan Brouwer. Since the 2015 review, the participant has upgraded to the BigY-700 test and his results place him in the sub-branch I-FT135755, along with the descendants of John Rose and a descendant of a Richard Brower who was born about 1804 in New York, and lived in Oneida County, New York, 1830, '40, '50, '60, and then in Oswego County, 1865 and 1870. See the June 20, 2019 post. As with John Rose in the March 28, 2022 post, the Embody descendant is going to find his Brouwer link among the descendants of Pieter Brouwer (No. 9) who was at Bridgewater, New Jersey in 1753. 

William Brewer (pages 16-18). Born 4 September 1826 in Louisiana, died 30 May 1886. He married Caroline Hillebrandt, 3 January 1850 in Jefferson County, Texas. As mentioned in the 2015 review, finding William Brewer's ancestry back to Jan Brouwer is probably the most challenging and that has really not changed. We do have two descendants of William Brewer who have taken Y-DNA tests, one of which has now upgraded to the BigY-700 test. The identifying SNP here is I-Y7214, the same that identifies the entire Jan Brouwer group. No unique matches have been found with the other participants who have taken the BigY, and so we have no new leads from the genetic data. We also have no new traditional genealogical research to pass on. The most important clue here is the 1880 U.S. census at Precinct No. 3, Kimball Co., Texas, where it is recorded that William's father was born in New York, and his mother was born in Louisiana. How old he might have been, or in which year he came to Louisiana is still anyone's guess. A canvassing of BREWERs in Louisiana, in the decade of William's birth might be a place to start, but that could be a time consuming task with no guarantee of yielding results. Another clue mentioned in 2015, is that William did name a son Elias L. Brewer, and as we know, Elias is a common name among the descendants of Jan Brouwer. I also pointed out that travel to Louisiana in the early decades of the 1800s was by river, westward on the Ohio, then south on the Mississippi, and could be accomplished from as far as western Pennsylvania without ever having to step on land. Mentioned there too is that Samuel Brewer (b.1790, Pennsylvania) was known to have been a riverboat operator on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and did spend long periods of time from home. He had a brother Elias Brewer born in 1795. The brothers Samuel and Elias are sons of David Brewer who is covered on the March 28, 2022 post. I'd also point out that it is prudent to remember that the 1880 census claim that William's father was born in New York, could be incorrect, but I don't doubt that he was not born in Louisiana, and the fact that we know that William must be a genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer, tells us that if he was not born in New York, he was certainly born in either New Jersey, or western Pennsylvania/northern Virginia. Hank Graham, administrator of the Brewer DNA Project, adds that values at a pair of STR markers (DYS523=15->16, and DYS19=15) tells us that William Brewer is a genetic descendant of Elias Brouwer (No. 8) through one of his sons, either Dirck (No. 21) or David (No. 22), BUT NOT from Elias (No. 23). There are probably two generations between either Dirck (No. 21) or David (No. 22) and William. The possibility suggested above, that William, may be a son of Elias Brewer (b. 1795), would fit with this genetic evidence. An upgrade in the Y-DNA testing of the descendant of David Brewer (March 28, 2022 post), would help clarify this possibility. 

Elias E. Brewer (pp. 18-19) and Isaac Brewer (pp. 19-20) are going to be covered in one paragraph here. Elias E. Brewer was born about 1783 in New Jersey (1850 U.S. census, Marlboro, NJ) and died in 1855 at Marlboro/Marlborough. The middle initial, "E," is probably a patronymic rather than a middle name in the way middle names are given out nowadays, and the obvious guess is that Elias E.'s father was also named Elias. An Elias Brewer is found on a muster roll dated 29 December 1775 under Capt. Elias Longstreet's Co., First Regt., New Jersey Troops (in Monmouth County). Elias E. Brewer's father, Elias, is considered to be a brother of Isaac Brewer who was married by 1794 (Styntje Van Brunt), and was born in the decade of the 1760s (age 60-70 on the 1830 U.S. census at Freehold, NJ). Y-DNA tested descendants of both Elias E. Brewer and Isaac Brewer have upgraded to the advanced BigY test, and this has yielded an identifying SNP for this line, I-Y87452. Although we do not have hard traditional genealogical evidence, we place the two (presumed) brother's as sons of Elias Brewer and Elizabeth Palmer (see No. 20 in the new Summary). Outside of the appearance of some new evidence that might contradict this placement, we'll stick with it.

The next post in this series will look at the newer unplaced genetic descendants of Jan Brouwer that have been discovered (only with Y-DNA testing) since the original 2015 review was published.

BGB 715

Reviewing the Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Revisited (Part IV)

 This fourth installment continues the series that began with the post of March 19, 2022. The previous post was published March 28, 2022. Y-DNA testing is conducted through the Brewer DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA). We strongly urge any and all members who have yet to upgrade to the advanced BigY-700 to do so. Test results from this level have significantly improved our understanding of the colonial period descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, Long Island. Enough with the preamble, we continue here with a revisit/reassessment of the 2015 report, "A Review of the Early Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer..." so let's get right into it.

We begin this post with Aaron W. Brewer who is found on pages 10-11 of the 2015 PDF. He is largely accepted as and most probably is a son of Aaron Brewer and Polly McFarland who were married 10 September 1812 in Harrison County, Kentucky. A descendant of Aaron W. Brewer has taken the BigY test. His identifying SNP I-Y7214 is the marker which identifies all descendants of Jan Brouwer. Following Aaron W. Brewer on the 2015 review is Stephen Brewer on pages 11-12, who married Mary Melinda Whitsett, more often called Polly, on 26 May 1811, also in Harrison County, Kentucky. Although strongly suspected, but not proved, it is likely that Aaron Brewer and Stephen Brewer were either brothers, or perhaps Stephen Brewer was Aaron Brewer's father. A descendant of Stephen Brewer has also taken the BigY test, and his results also identify him as I-Y7214. We will address all three of these individuals in this one segment. First I'd like to highlight some important points that are not new. Aaron Brewer (the elder) is found on the 1850 U.S. census at Union, Madison Co., Indiana, his age recorded as 63 years, place of birth as Virginia. The age gives is year of birth as about 1787. The location, Virginia, has to be considered more carefully. Virginia in 1850 is not the Virginia we know today, and Virginia in 1787, was not the Virginia that existed in 1850 when the census was taken. A short time ago Hank Graham forwarded a link to this very useful map of county formation in Virginia over the years from 1617 to 1995. Click on the years just mentioned, along with 1863 (the year West Virginia was created) and say 1776 (a year prior to the formation of the United States) and you'll get an idea of what I am talking about. Aaron Brewer may have been born in what we today call Virginia. Or, he may have been born in what we today call West Virginia, or perhaps even western Pennsylvania. Or, he may have been born outside of this area, perhaps in New Jersey, and was moved to someplace in Virginia as a young child, and in 1850, is confusing the place where he was raised with the place he was born. Stephen Brewer, in 1850 is at Union, Grant Co., Indiana, his age given on the U.S. census as 78 years (perhaps understated), place of birth as Virginia. In 1860, at Fairmount, Grant Co., Indiana, his age is recorded as 96 years (perhaps overstated), and the place again stated as Virginia. What was just mentioned for Aaron regarding being born in Virginia, applies to Stephen as well. On page 11 of the 2015 review, we cite Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Sedgewick County, Kansas (Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1901) page 469, which says that Stephen was born in a “suburb of New York City,” and served during the Revolutionary War, as a teamster, along with his father who was also named Stephen. This statement was probably provided to the compilers of this book by Stephen's grandson, Milton Brewer (1847-1932). This info suggests that Stephen Brewer may have been born, not in Virginia, but in a "suburb of New York City," which could include New Jersey. The service in the Revolutionary War, may also suggest that he was born at least a bit earlier than 1772 and implied by his age in 1850, but not necessarily as early as 1764 as implied by his age in 1860. Another issue regarding Stephen Brewer is that he married in 1811 when, if born in 1772, he would have been 39 years old. That's late for a first marriage. He may have had a previous marriage, and perhaps other children (we know of seven born to Stephen and Polly Whitsett between 1812 and 1825, and Polly, born in 1793, was considerably younger than her husband). Not included in the 2015 review, is the presence of a Stephen Brewer on the 1810 U.S. census at Washington, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. His household consists of 1 male age 26-44 (so born between 1766 and 1784) and 1 female age under 10. No adult female is enumerated in this household. Stephen Brewer does not appear in Harrison County, Kentucky until 1811 when he is married and when he first appears on tax rolls. He does not appear on the tax rolls in Harrison County in 1809 or 1810. Stephen Brewer may be the man of the same name found in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania in 1810, and as suggested, he may well have had a previous wife, and at least one child by her. We do know of other BREWERs, including at least one known descendant of Jan Brouwer (that being David Brewer) in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania (see the March 28, 2022 post). Another important piece of information from the 2015 review is the mention of a Stephen Brewer on the 1793 tax roll at Bernards Twp., Somerset Co., New Jersey. Considering the claim found in Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Sedgewick County, Kansas mentioned above, this could be Stephen Brewer, or perhaps his father, said to be a Stephen Brewer. We also know that Elsie Lewis, the first wife of John Brewer of Scioto Co., Ohio was from a family from Bernards Township (see the March 28, 2022 post). It also needs to be noted that the give name, Stephen, does not appear elsewhere among the known descendants of Jan Brouwer. The name may come in from a maternal line, in other words, from the family of a woman who married one of Jan Brouwer's descendants who we have little information on (of which there are quite a few). Recapping, starting with Aaron Brewer, assuming he was born in, or close to 1787, he is likely among the sixth generation of descendants of Jan Brouwer. Aaron Brewer's grandfather would be found among the fourth generation descendants (the great-grandsons) of Jan Brouwer (pages 3-9 of the new Summary). Aaron Brewer may be a brother of Stephen Brewer, or, depending on whether Stephen's precise year of birth can be determined, a son of Stephen Brewer. Stephen Brewer, therefore may be a sixth generation descendant, or a fifth generation descendant. Stephen Brewer's father has said to have been a Stephen Brewer. If the younger Stephen Brewer is born somewhere between the two ages we have for him (78 in 1850, 96 in 1860) he was born between 1764 and 1772. If his father, Stephen Brewer was in his 20s when the younger Stephen was born, we'd expect him to have been born between 1734 and 1752. The elder Stephen would then be among the fourth generation descendants of Jan Brouwer. As of now we do not know of a Stephen among Jan Brouwer's known descendants. This assumes that the name Stephen is correct for Stephen Brewer's father. Looking at the third generation on the Summary, we see that Hans (No.5) has a six year gap between children from 1725-1731. He may also have had children post 1731 that have not been discovered. Hendrick (No.6) while we're unsure if he is even a descendant of Jan Brouwer, he did exist, and his family and knowledge of him is very incomplete. Also possible are three sons of Derck (No.3) being Pieter (No.9), Jacob (No.10) and Dirck (No.11). Both Pieter (No.9) and Jacob (No.10) have children baptized at regular intervals between 1731-32 and 1745-47 that would not allow for the inclusion of some other child (although it is still possible that the elder Stephen could have been born prior to 1731-32, or a within a year or two after 1747. Additionally, new Y-DNA results at the Brewer DNA Project, do not match the descendants of Aaron and Stephen with tested descendants of Pieter (No.9), so it is probable that Pieter (No.9) is not the ancestor we are looking for. We have not identified any children, nor a marriage, for Dirck (No.11). It is suggested that he lived on Long Island, but as the account in Biographical Sketches... mentioned above says, Stephen "was born in a suburb of New York City," and not only would include New Jersey, but also Kings and Queens Counties, on Long Island. The 2015 review suggested that both Aaron and Stephen could be in a line descended from Jan Brouwer's son Derck (No.3). This might be wrong. They could be descendants of Jan Brouwer's son Pieter (No.2) who is a father of Hans (No.5) and perhaps Hendrick (No.6). IF they are descendants of Derck (No.2) then it is likely through Dirck (No.11) or perhaps Jacob (No.10).

John J. Brewer, (pp. 12-13, also the post of November 2, 2012) died 28 March 1848 at Williamson, Wayne Co., New York, age 57yrs. 6 mos. as per his gravestone at Lakeview Cemetery in Pultneyville. That would place his birth at about September 1790. His wife in these earlier writings is said to be Elizabeth Waters, with that identification coming from the direct descendant who has taken a Y-DNA test. Apparently that belief has changed, and I'm now finding claims that she was Eliza Jeffrey (perhaps Jeffries?). Other than this there is no new genealogical information to report. The participating descendant has upgraded to a BigY-700 test, however, the results have not identified a unique SNP that the participant shares with some other tested descendant of Jan Brouwer. There are still nine other members among the descendants of Jan Brouwer, with the surname BREWER who have not yet upgraded to the BigY-700. If those members would do so, we might well find some closer matches, not just for the descendant of John J. Brewer, but for other members as well. Based on a birth in 1790, we'd have to suggest that John J. Brewer is a sixth generation descendant of Jan Brouwer. His older children born between 1816 and 1825, were all born in New Jersey (as per various census records). The youngest known child, Aaron, was born in 1831, in New York, presumably at Williamson. Identifying and locating the place origins of Eliza Jeffrey could point to just where in New Jersey this family originated. A search for John J. Brewer's ancestry should then begin there. The 2015 review suggests a possible ancestry that places John J. Brewer as a son of John Brower (1762-1845) who married Deborah Errickson and had at least two sons, Aaron (b.1794) and Benjamin (b.ca.1800). John Brower (1762-1845) lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey and is a son of Aris Brower (No.12). This is still a viable possibility, but certainly not the only one. John J. Brewer's ancestry is still very much an open question.

To be continued... (April 3, 2022)

BGB 714

Reviewing The Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Revisited (Part III)

 This post continues the series that begins with the post of March 19, 2022.

In this post we will focus on the 23 page PDF document that was put together in June 2015, and titled, "Review of the Early Generations of Descendants of Jan Brouwer and the Possible Placements of Known Genetic Descendants Whose Precise Ancestry is Not Known." I know, a mouthful. The Early Generations aspect was dealt with in the March 24, 2022 post, and so now we will move onto the unplaced genetic descendants. The order of unplaced genetic descendants will follow the order in which they were handled in the 2015 documents. The page numbers referenced here will refer to the page of the PDF. Numbers referring to the early generation descendants of Jan Brouwer, and so possible ancestors for the unplaced, refer to those found on "Summary of the Male Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. through the Colonial Period." This may take three or four posts to get through, so lets get right into it.

We start with David Brewer found on pages 6-7. David is found on the 1850 U.S. census in Geneva, Jennings Co., Indiana, his age recorded as 88 years, birthplace recorded as New Jersey. This is the only record we have for his year of birth, which would then be about 1762. David is probably a fifth generation, great-great grandson of Jan Brouwer. David married Euphema Warner about 1785 (place not known, record of marriage not found). They had eight children born between 1787 and 1807. David's will, dated 24 February 1845, was probated in Jennings Co., Indiana, 4 August 1853. David's third child, son Samuel Brewer, said to have been born 14 February 1790, is found on the 1860 U.S. census in Harrison, Bartholomew Co., Indiana, age recorded as 77 (overstated compared to his claimed date of birth) and place of birth recorded as New Jersey. David's fourth child, Jacob Jennings Brewer, said to have been born 17 May 1792, is on both the 1850 and 1860 U.S. census records at Sand Creek, Jennings Co., Indiana, age given respectively as 58 and 68 years (which aligns with his birth date) and place of birth recorded as Pennsylvania in both instances. From this it appears that David Brewer was still in New Jersey during the 1780s, but was in Pennsylvania by 1792. The youngest child, daughter Sarah (b. 20 July 1807), married William Sawyer Riley, and is on the 1850 U.S. census at Geneva, Jennings Co., Indiana, age 42, born in Virginia, which as will be seen, at a place that is likely now in West Virginia. A new piece of information found since 2015, is the will of Nathaniel McFarson of Kingwood, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey, yeoman, written 30 September 1788 and proved 19 January 1789. The witnesses to the will were Samuel McFarson, Uriah Bonham and David Brewer (Abs. NJ Wills 7:144). David Brewer is on a tax list in Ohio County, Virginia in 1788 (Ohio Co. is now in West Virginia. It is on the panhandle that runs south to north between the southwestern counties of Pennsylvania and Ohio). In 1797 David Brewer's property in mentioned in a petition of citizens of Menhallen Twp., Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, asking for a division of the township. Redstone Twp. was created and David Brewer is found there on the 1800 U.S. census. In 1810, David Brewer is found at Elizabeth, Ohio Co., Virginia (now W.V.). In 1820 and 1830 he is enumerated in Tyler Co., Virginia (now W.V.). The most valuable piece of information regarding David Brewer is a biography written in 1899 by his grandson Jacob Jennings Warner Brewer, in which he states that his (meaning Jacob) great-grandfather was Derrick Brewer, "who was of Holland descent." Jacob J. W. Brewer was born in 1815 in Tyler Co., Virginia (his own words). His grandfather, David, was living when Jacob was an adult, and he may well have received the name of his grandfather's father directly from David himself. There really is no reason to doubt the statement. So, if born in 1762, David's father, perhaps in his 20s when David was born, was likely born himself between 1732 and 1742 give or take a few years on either side. Looking at the fourth generation of the Jan Brouwer family, the great-grandsons of Jan Brouwer, we have four Dirck Brouwers to choose from, No.19 (b.1729), No.21 (b.1732), No.26 (b.1743) and No.27 (b.1737). Eliminate No.19 as we know that he lived his life at Hempstead, L. I. and there is nothing that has been found to connect David to Hempstead. Of the three remaining, No.26 (b.1743), the youngest is the least likely as I'd suspect that he is the Derrick Brewer who died in 1769 with no mention of heirs when his small estate was settled. In 2015 we suggested No.21, the Dirck baptized 15 August 1732 at Harlingen, son of Elias Brouwer (No.8) and Helena Willemse. I would stay with that placement today, largely based on the fact that Derck (No.21) had a brother, David (No.22) he being the first male named David among Jan Brouwers's descendants. Dirck (No.27) baptized 29 May 1737 at Readington), son of Jacob Brouwer and Marike (___), could still be a possibility. One descendant of David Brewer, who is also a descendant of David's grandson Jacob J. W. Brewer, has taken the basic STR 37marker Y-DNA test. This test confirms the descendant as a descendant of Jan Brouwer, however, an upgrade to the latest BigY-700 test would add new genetic data that may better point the way towards the identity of David's father, and would certainly add new data beneficial to the group as a whole.

John Brewer of Scioto Co., Ohio is found on pages 7-9. Four direct male descendants have taken Y-DNA tests. Two of the four have taken FTDNA's Big-Y test. Their identifying SNP is I-Y7214 which is the identifying SNP for the Jan Brouwer Group as a whole. John Brewer first married Elsie Lewis by 1774 when their first child was born. If married during his twenties this would place his birth in the decade of about 1744 to 1754 give or take a few years. That would likely place John Brewer among the fourth generation and a great grandson of Jan Brouwer. Elsie Lewis' brother, Barnet Brewer, of Bernards Twp., Somerset Co., New Jersey, wrote his will 12 February 1807 (proved 19 Feb 1807) in which he mentions his sister Elsie as the "first wife" of John Brewer and their two children, Mary Brewer and Edward Brewer. John Brewer's second wife was Sarah Howell although I have yet to find confirmation of her family name. No record of their marriage has been found. Their first (of supposedly nine children) was born in 1779. In 1790 John Brewer is found on the U.S. census at Bullskin, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. In 1797, John Brewer and his wife Sarah, of Bullskin, sold land in Bullskin. In December 1801, John Brewer is in Adams Co., Ohio when he collected a $6 bounty on three wolves. Scioto Co., Ohio was created out of Adams County in March 1803, and John Brewer remained there and died by May 1808 by accounts regarding his estate found in court records at Portsmouth, Ohio. Administration on his estate was granted 19 February 1809 to a Samuel Lucas, whose relationship to John Brewer's family is not known. Perhaps he was a creditor, perhaps he had some relationship to John's second wife, Sarah, who is found in later records regarding the estate. Of John Brewer's 11 children, seven are sons. Three of the sons are ancestors of participants in the Brewer DNA Project. Among the sons is a Richard Brewer, who is called "Derrick Brewer of Scioto County," in an 1816 deed by which he and siblings sell land from their father's estate. If born between 1744 and 1754, it's likely that John's father was born earlier than 1724. The 2015 report places John Brewer as probably one of the sons of Derck Brouwer (No.3). Based on newer BigY-700 test results, the Brewer DNA Project now suggests that John Brewer could be a son of one of the sons of Elias Brouwer (No.8, wife Helena Willemse), either Dirck (No.21) or David (No.22). He cannot be a son of Elias (No.23) had a son named John Brewer, but who is otherwise accounted for. If David Brewer (above) is also a son of Dirck (No.21) it would be suggested that both the descendant of David Brewer, and the remaining two descendants of John Brewer, upgrade their Y-DNA tests to the BigY-700. Results might expose unique identifying SNPs that could link the two to a more recent common ancestor than Jan Brouwer (No.1) or Derck Brouwer (No.3).

John Rose is found on pages 9-10. John Rose died in Madison, Pickaway Co., Ohio in December 1830. Seven descendants of four different sons of John Rose, have taken Y-DNA tests and from the results it is clear that John Rose is a genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer. Since 2015 four of those descendants have taken BigY-700 tests and will cover the results below. I will not spend time reviewing the traditional genealogical research findings here, but will instead direct the reader to the original 2015 document. There are a couple of new items of info to add. One, in an email from June 2021, Marg Bond, who has does considerable research on the descendants of John Rose and on the investigation of his ancestry, informs us that John Rose's wife, Dorothy, was Dorothy Eva Sirk, born 1768 in York Co., Pennsylvania, daughter of Mathias Sirk. The Sirks were in Louden Co., Virginia by 1782 and by 1795 were in Frederick Co., Virginia. She has also found a John Rose on a tax list in Frederick Co., Virginia in 1792. By 1802 he was in Rockingham Co., Virginia. It's likely that John Rose and Dorothy Eva Sirk were married in Louden Co., Virginia, or perhaps Frederick Co., Virginia. Another item is the appearance of a John Rose on the 1792 Hunterdon Co., New Jersey Militia roll at Amwell Township (see the post of March 26, 2021). The John Rose of Frederick Co., VA in 1792, and the John Rose of Amwell Twp., Hunterdon Co., NJ in 1792, may or may not be the same man. Advanced DNA testing in the form of FTDNA's BigY-700 test has added helpful genetic data with regards to the placement of John Rose within the Jan Brouwer family. The new test results have created a new genetic sub-branch of the Jan Brouwer branch (I-Y7214), with this new sub-branch identified by SNP I-FT135755. This SNP is shared by the descendants of Joh Rose with two others in the project, they being the Embody descendant and a descendant of Richard Brower (b.ca.1804) who lived at Lee, Oneida Co., New York and later Albion, Oswego Co., New York (see the post of June 20, 2019). In addition, two of the descendants of John Rose can be further identified by a unique SNP I-Y41503. Both of the two descendants are descendants of John Rose's son Anthony Rose (1792-1857). I-Y41503 is then a sub-branch of I-FT135755 which in turn is a sub-branch of I-Y7214. This can be seen on the YFull Y-Tree of February 25, 2022. John Rose was probably born between 1766 and 1770 (from age ranges found on the 1810, 1820 and 1830 U.S. census records), and probably in New Jersey, although the 1880 U.S. census for his son Solomon Rose (at Pleasant Hill, Nebraska) records Solomon's father's place of birth as Virginia. Records this far removed from the actual event, and reported by someone other than the individual the record is in regard to, can be unreliable, but having said that, Virginia is a possible location, and if so I'd suspect that John Rose's birth took place in Frederick County. To be clear, what I'm saying is that John Rose could have been born in either New Jersey or Virginia. The date range for his birth would likely place John Rose in the fifth generation of descendants of Jan Brouwer (i.e. a great-great grandson). We would then look for his father among those of the fourth generation. The Brewer DNA Project's Y-DNA analysis suggests that John Rose is probably among the descendants of Jan Brouwer's son Derck (No.3) and likely a descendant of Pieter Brouwer (No.9) who was at Bridgewater, New Jersey in 1753*. His sons, possible father's for John Rose, would be Petrus (No.24), Abraham (No.25) and Dirck (No.26). Of the three, Abraham does have known descendants and we'll get to them in a future post. Descendants for Petrus and Dirck have not been discovered. I would also add that in the summary, under Dirck (No.26) we discuss the Derrick Brewer of Somerset County whose estate was administered in 1769, and mention the fact that no heirs are mentioned. That no heirs were named, does not necessarily imply that Derrick Brewer never had any children. He may still have had a child born out of wedlock, as John Rose may have been. In other words, Derrick Brewer who died in 1769 should not be ignored. Now, which Dirck Brouwer of the fourth generation this belongs to, is another matter, although I would suspect that it was the youngest of the four, which would be Dirck (No.26).

*The issue here isn't so much a question of whether John Rose is a descendant of Pieter Brouwer (No.9), but rather is Pieter (No.9) a son of Derck (No.3) or is he a son of Pieter (No.2). See Pieter (No.9) in the Summary PDF.

To be continued...

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Reviewing the Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Revisited (Part II)

 This post continues the series beginning with the previous post of March 19, 2022. 

Before moving on to review the individual unplaced Earliest Known Ancestors (EKAs) of participants in the Brewer DNA Project who are known, by results of Y-DNA testing, to be somehow descended from Jan Brouwer, I thought it best to review and summarize the known descendants of Jan Brouwer through his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons. Most of those who cannot find the link between their EKA and Jan Brouwer, will most likely find it among Jan's male descendants found in the third and fourth generations (the grandsons and great-grandsons). The summary is provided as a PDF accessible with this link. I will further note that many of those found in the third and fourth generation remain open ended. That is to say, no record of their death or burial, nor an account of the settlement of an estate, has been found for them at the last known place where they lived. While their deaths and estates may have simply not been recorded, it is also possible that they moved on and such records are yet to be discovered, somewhere else. A number of others are known only from the record of their baptism. No record of these individuals as adults has yet to be identified. That does not mean that none exist. And it does not mean that the individual died before reaching adulthood. It may well mean that either additional records have not yet been found, or that known records simply have not been attributed to any one individual in question. So, using this summary as a starting point, keep searching. 

We will get to reviewing the unplaced EKAs who were discussed in a summary from 2015 in the next post of this series. I suspect that there will be two or three more posts. For the remainder of this post I just want to review the migration routes found for the descendants of Jan Brouwer, so lets get right into that.

Jan Brouwer lived at Flatlands on Long Island which, once counties were established, was in Kings County. Flatlands was also known, by the Dutch, as Amersfoort. It was located on the southeast shore of Long Island with the town of Gravesend (Kings Co.) to the west, and the town of Hempstead (Queens Co.) to the east. Today, Flatlands is a neighborhood in the Borough of Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City. Probate settlements from Jan's time are usually found in the Probate Books held at the Surrogate's Court of New York County, although a few can be found withing the Deed Books of Kings County*. Jan's son Pieter Brouwer also lived at Flatlands. Jan's son Derck appears to have lived for a time at Flushing and perhaps Jamaica, both in Queens County and closer to the north shore of Long Island. Jan's son Hendrick (no children) lived at Hempstead. Jan's son Johannes/Jan lived for a time at Gravesend and at Jamaica, but was of Hempstead when he wrote his will in 1712. The second generation, Jan's sons, did not venture far.

We start to see movement away from the south shore of Long Island with the third generation. The first baptism of the Freehold and Middletown Dutch Congregations was recorded in 1709. Services were held in the area as early as 1699. During the second decade of the 1700s, Annetje Jans Bergen, the widow of Jan's son Pieter Brouwer, moved to Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey with at least some of her children including sons Jan/John (no.4 in the summary) and Hans (no.5), and daughter Lucretia (m. Johannes Luyster). Jan, Hans, and Lucretia, all had children baptized by the Reformed Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown during the decade of the 1720s and into the early 1730s. During the decades of the 1720s and 1730 we can place a few of Jan Brouwer's grandchildren at Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Descendants continued to be found in Monmouth County through the 1700s, 1800s and into the 1900s.

Jan Brouwer's other grandson named Jan (no.7) son of Derck Brouwer and Hannah Daws, had his own first child baptized at Jamaica, Queens County, Long Island in 1726. However, in 1729 he was in Somerset County, New Jersey where son Dirck was baptized at Raritan in that year. In 1732, when he wrote his will, Jan (calling himself John Brewer) was of Somerset County. Both Jan/John and his wife Aegje Sprong died at relatively young ages, leaving minor children who moved back to Long Island and lived at Hempstead with their great-uncle Hendrick Brower/Brewer. These children established what might be called the Hempstead branch of Jan Brouwer's descendants. They and their descendants largely remained in the Town of Hempstead, for a time during the period of the American Revolution known as South Hempstead, for the remainder of the 1700s, the 1800s and into the 1900s. 

Migration into the area of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, New Jersey was by the Raritan River whose mouth is at Raritan Bay on the Atlantic coast, adjacent to Monmouth County and Staten Island, New York. The church at Raritan was organized March 9, 1699. The presence of Jan Brouwer's descendants in Somerset County, New Jersey appears to start about 1729 when the baptism of Jan Brouwer's (no.7) son Dirck is found at Raritan. We then see baptisms at Raritan, Harlingen (both in Somerset County) and Readington (Hunterdon County) through the 1730s and 1740s. Other than Jan's (no.7) will, no probate records have been found in Somerset or Hunterdon Counties during the colonial period. Generally speaking, migration of families from the Somerset/Hunterdon County area of New Jersey was westward, into Pennsylvania, particularly along the more southerly areas of the state that would later form the boundary with Maryland and Virginia. This would also include the areas of Frederick Co., Virginia and Berkeley Co., West Virginia. Men from Hunterdon County were in Frederick County by 1745. Jan Joostsz Van Meteran, as John Van Meter, had his will proved 3 September 1745 in Frederick County. His brother Isaac, as "Isaac Vanmetre of South Branch on the potowmack in Frederick County," wrote is will there 15 Feb 1754. Jan and Isaac's family was earlier found at Kingston, Ulster Co., New York. They were in Somerset County by 1706 when Jan's first child, daughter Sarah was baptized at Raritan. The Van Meter brothers were purchasers of large tracts in Frederick County. No doubt other Somerset/Hunterdon County area "Dutch" families followed them there. We know that a John Brewer, son of a Richard Brewer (see no.21) was in Frederick County by the time of the American Revolution. John's brother Samuel is said to have been born in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. Lancaster County is in the southeastern part of the state, but at the time Samuel and John were born it was a much larger county than it is today**. Generally speaking migration from the southern PA, northern VA region continued westward just prior to, during and in the years after the American Revolution, into southwestern Pennsylvania (Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland Counties) and what is now West Virginia (Monongalia County), and soon afterward along the Ohio River into eastern and northern Kentucky, southern Ohio, Indiana and eventually Illinois.

We first see a migration from the Somerset/Hunterdon County area to Albany County, New York in the early 1770s, on the eve of the American Revolutionary War. Elias Brouwer (no.23) has son David baptized at Schagticoke in 1773. Elias (no.23) himself was baptized at Readington in 1740. Abraham Brouwer/Brewer (no.25) himself baptized at Readington in 1734, is on a muster roll in Albany County, along with his son Peter Brewer, in 1782. They were at Duanesburgh. Peter's baptism has not been found but he was age 26-44 in 1800 (U.S. census, Duanesburgh) so born 1755-1763. Generally speaking migration from the Albany County area was westward through New York State. This began when the "Military Tract" consisting of bounty land grants given to Revolutionary War veterans opened up in the 1790s (there was also migration to this area by families directly from the Somerset/Hunterdon Cos. region of New Jersey). The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, this accelerated migration to western New York, the Great Lakes region and on to Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc. We know that Elias (no.23) moved west and south to Otsego County. From there descendants moved to the Niagara frontier region and then on to Michigan and Wisconsin. Abraham (no.25) Brouwer's descendants initially moved just a bit westward, along the Mohawk River, to Schenectady and the Schoharie area, and to Madison County, New York.

So, now an more concise summary tracking the movement of Jan Brouwer's descendants:

• 1657-1690 Flatlands, Long Island
• 1690-1710 Flatlands, Gravesend (Kings Co.) and Jamaica (Queens Co.), Long Island
• 1710-1720 Kings and Queens Counties, now including Hempstead; first move to the Freehold-Middletown area of Monmouth County, New Jersey
• 1720-1730 Hempstead, Freehold-Middletown, first move to the Somerset/Hunterdon County area of New Jersey.
• 1740-1750 Hempstead, Freehold-Middletown, Somerset/Hunterdon Counties
• 1750-1770 Hempstead, Freehold-Middletown, Somerset/Hunterdon. A first movement into Pennsylvania and/or Frederick County, Virginia is possible.
• 1770-1780 Hempstead, Freehold-Middletown, Somerset/Hunterdon. First migration to Albany County, New York. Probable presence in Pennsylvania and/or Frederick County, Virginia
• 1790-1800 All of the above, while westward migration begins to western New York, southwestern Pennsylvania, and probably into Ohio.
  
• 1800-1850 Still found in large numbers at Hempstead and in Monmouth County. Lesser numbers in the Mohawk Valley counties in New York State, and in the Somerset/Hunterdon County area. Migration westward continues via the Great Lakes into Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and via the Ohio River into Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Summary of the Direct Male Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L.I. Through the Colonial Period.

 *The Family History Library in Salt Lake City as filmed and now digitized all of the probate and land books of both New York and Kings Counties, and they can be accessed online at FamilySearch.org.

**Please not that we do not yet know if this John Brewer, his brother Samuel and their father Richard Brewer, are, or are not, descendants of Jan Brouwer. We would need a Y-DNA test from a confirmed direct male descendant of either John or Samuel to determine whether or not they are with certainty.

Next post in this series, March 28, 2022.

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Reviewing the Unplaced Genetic Descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Revisited (Part I)

 The June 19, 2015 post reviewed the unplaced genetic descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, Long Island. That post included a link to a PDF providing my thoughts at that time. That link, however, appears to be broken. Such is life online. Here is a new link: A Review of the Early Descendants of Jan Brouwer and the Possible Placement of Known Genetic Descendants Whose Ancestry is Not Known. Having done this it now needs to be said that this document was created nearly seven years ago and since then new info has been learned and more importantly, additional YDNA testing of more descendants coupled with more advanced testing, namely FTDNA's BigY-700 test, as made this document, although not obsolete, at least a bit dated. It's due for an upgrade. The intention of this post is to revisit and update the 2015 PDF and since it will be confined to a blog post I will try to be concise and brief while conveying critical new info for those continuing this research, so lets get right into it.

The Progenitor: Jan Brouwer came to New Amsterdam in 1657. He was a blacksmith and lived at Flatlands, Long Island. It does not appear that he lived at any other location. There is no extant record of his death or burial and no probate record. In April 1700 he executed a deed of maintenance with his son Pieter where by Pieter gained his father's property in exchange for maintaining Jan now in his old age. He confirmed the deed on 17 November 1702 and likely died sometime soon afterwards. Of his seven children, five were sons, four of whom reached adulthood, only two of whom had children of their own. Those two sons are Pieter, baptized 20 October 1660 at the New Amsterdam RDC, and Derck for whom no record of baptism survives but who was likely born by 1666 (took the Oath at Flatlands in September 1687 and so was at least 21 years of age). YDNA testing of descendants identify their common ancestral SNP as I-Y7214 (YFull's Y-Tree). All direct descendants, through direct paternal lines, of Jan Brouwer will be positive for this SNP and must be direct paternal line descendants of one of Jan's two sons, Pieter or Derck.

The Two Sons: Pieter Brouwer (bapt. 1660) likely lived his entire life at Flatlands, and apparently died between 1702 when his father confirmed his deed, and 1706 when his wife Antje Jans Berge(n) is listed on an assessment at Flatlands. She was living in 1731 when she was a member of the Dutch Reformed Congregation at Freehold and Middletown in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The couple may have had seven children although baptism records for only two survive. Of the children, two sons, Jan and Hans (yes they are different names) had children. Son, Jan, perhaps born about 1692, married Helena Van Cleef by 1724 and they had 10-12 children baptized between 1724 and 1749. The older children were baptized at Freehold-Middletown while later children were baptized at Harlingen and Raritan in Somerset County, or Readington in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Four sons of Jan and Helena had descendants. A fifth, Johannes, the youngest, baptized in 1749 at Readington has not been traced. In 2015 we had yet to encounter a known, provable descendant of Pieter Brouwer who had taken a YDNA test. Since then we have found one. He is a descendant of Pieter's son Jan. He is found on the above mentioned YFull Y-Tree as id:YF67184 under I-Y7214. When or where Jan Brouwer (a.k.a. John Brewer) died has not been discovered. Pieter's other son leaving descendants was Hans, baptized 30 October 1695 at Flatbush, L.I. His wife was Nelke Goulder, they were married by 1720. He was a member of the Freehold-Middletown Church in 1725. Four known children were baptized there between 1720 and 1731. Of the four baptisms the child was named in only two, daughter Anke in 1720 and son Jan in 1731. "A son" was baptized in 1723, and "a child" in 1725. We have no idea if either of the two reached adulthood. It should be noted that there is a gap of six years between the baptism of Han's third and fourth child. Hans and Nelke may have had two or three additional children who have otherwise escaped identification. We do not know when or where Hans Brouwer died. No record of probate has been found. The last record for him is the baptism of his son Jan in 1731. 

The Two Sons: Derck Brouwer (b. ca. 1666). By my count there are now 40 members of the Brewer DNA Project who are identified by their Y-DNA tests as descendants of Jan Brouwer. Of these, as mentioned above, only one can be identified by traditional means as a descendant of Jan's son Pieter. In contrast the Project has eight who can show a confirm-able line back to Derck. Of the remainder, the majority, by virtue of DNA analysis, are also descendants of Derck Brouwer. It is apparent that Derck Brouwer left many more male descendants then did his older brother Pieter. Derck Brouwer married Hannah Daws on 6 October 1694 at Flatlands (according to T.G. Bergen). She was a daughter of Elias Daws who was at Gravesend, L. I. Derck and Hannah were inhabitants of Flushing, L. I. in 1698. "Derick Brewer's house" was mentioned in a deed from Stephen Hudson to Jeremiah Bedel (Hempstead, L.I. Town Records 8:294). No date on the deed, but from the time that Derck, or his son of the same name, would have been living.  [The date of this deed is 1742 and so the Derick Brewer mentioned must be Derck's presumed son]. On 22 September 1700, "Dirrick Brewer of Jamaica and Hendrick Brewer of Flatlands" sold a house and 75 acres on the borders of Hempstead, Flushing and Jamaica (Long Island). Back in 1694, Dirck Brower and Cornelius Williamson (Derck's brother-in-law) bought of Peter Carston of Cape May in West Jersey, two allotments of land at Gravesend. Derck likely died in 1702 or 1703. No record of probate is found. His wife, Hannah, remarried Joseph Goulder probably by 1704. Derck and Hannah had five sons. Jan is confirmed by a baptism record at Flatbush, 9 June 1695. Elias, likely born about 1699, is placed as a son by virtue of his name, having been named for his maternal grandfather. Sons Pieter and Jacob are likely by virtue of the fact that they both in turn gave sons the name Derck. They also named daughters Annatje which can be a diminutive of either Anna or Hannah. A likely son, Derck, again by virtue of his name, was on a 1738 muster roll in Queens County. He lived in Hempstead. To follow Derck's known descendants please see the October 6, 2012 post, and his profile on the Brouwer Genealogy Database. One final note regarding Derck. If your colonial period ancestor was named either Derck (Richard) or Elias, he is most certainly a descendant of Jan Brouwer's son, Derck Brouwer. The two names are not found among Pieter's known sons or grandsons, and neither name is found among the descendants of the unrelated New Netherland/New York/New Jersey families of Adam Brouwer (Gowanus, L. I.) or Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck (Albany, NY).

The 2015 PDF, linked above, described 12 Earliest Known Ancestors (EKFs) of members of the Brewer DNA Project who are genetic descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands who have yet to discover their exact lineage back to Jan. We will revisit them, and a few new ones, in subsequent posts which I'll post soon.  

This series continues with the post of March 24, 2022.

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