BREWER and BROWER Mentions in Dutchess County, NY Court Records

This is a follow up to the post of October 10, 2013, which features a file from the William B. Bogardus Collection. I'm in the process of reorganizing my own files and as I'm finding items that I haven't looked at for some years now, I think there is an opportunity to bring attention to some of them again. Should I come across any that were overlooked, I will add them as well in future posts.

The original 2013 post provided a link to a PDF of this file uploaded to RootsWeb. That link is still good, here it is again, but in the event that the link should fail at some point in the future, here is a second link to the PDF on Google Drive.

This file is an extraction of BREWERs and BROWERs found in the records of the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas in Dutchess County, New York. As mentioned seven years ago, the Family History Library has filmed these records, they are on microfilm and are cataloged here online, however, as was the case back in 2013, the FHL has not yet digitized the microfilms for online use. As the FHL is no longer in the business of lending microfilms out to local Library Centers, the only way in which one might access the records is to visit the main library in Salt Lake City. Alternatively, one might be able to access the originals with a visit to the Dutchess County Clerk's Office in Poughkeepsie, New York. Some of the cases are, apparently, also found in the Dutchess County, "Ancient Documents," and can be accessed rather easily online, from home. I'll give an example, but first here is a list of the BREWERs and BROWERs found in the file (the file also includes some with the BOGARDUS surname which are not included below).

• Vol. A, p. 156; May 15, 1744; John Sackett vs. Mathew BREWER
• Vol. A, p. 244; Oct. 17, 1749; Peter Colwell vs. Hendrick BREWER (bail to Samuel BREWER)
• Vol. B, p. 10; May 21, 1751: Jury verdict against Nicholas BREWER
• Vol. B, p. 26; May 21, 1751; Samuel Dusenbury vs. Hendrick BREWER
• Vol. B, p. 283; Oct. 18, 1757; Nicholas BREWER vs. John Bookhout and Ann his wife

 After this the volume isn't given but a date and page number is provided. I would guess that the records are likely found in FHL film #0565228 in volumes C or D (the film covers volumes B-D). The date would be the date of the Court session.

• Oct. 16, 1759, p. 1; John Bookhout and Ann his wife vs. Nicholas BREWER
• May 20, 1760, p. 1; Nicholas BREWER vs. John Bookhout; p. 2 Dolf BREWER witness for plaintiff (note: Dolf would be a variation of Adolph or Adolphus).
• May 17, 1763, p. 22; Nicholas BROWER vs. Robert Soul Butcher
• May 17, 1763, p. 23; Michael Surfelt by William Surfelt vs. Jacobus BROWER
• Oct. 18, 1763, p. 13; Michael Surfelt vs. Jacobus BROWER
• Oct. 18, 1763, p. 15; Nicholas BREWER vs. Robert Soul Butcher
• Oct. 1, 1765, p. 2; Henry Chase vs. Isaac BREWER
• Oct. 1, 1765, p. 20; Isaac BREWER vs. Henry Chase

To the Ancient Documents available online at the Dutchess County Government website. Go to the Search page and enter a name. I'm going to try Hendrick Brewer and when I do I get this result. And when I click on Document Number 2561 (highlighted in blue) this image appears. It's a PDF and can be easily downloaded. This is actually a lot easier then searching through the digitized microfilms of the Ancient Documents of Dutchess County found on the FamilySearch website. However, it appears that not all of the documents mentioned above are found in the Ancient Documents files.

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Nicholas Brouwer in Dutchess County, New York Mortgages and Deeds

I have scanned copies of two pages of correspondence between Avis Watkins of Exeter, New Hampshire and William Bogardus. I originally received the copies from Bill back in late 2008. Avis and Bill had a correspondence that ranged over a few years during the 1980s. It was centered around Avis' search for the ancestry of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, Vermont. I don't know that Avis ever satisfactorily completed her search, and although the correct ancestry of Jeremiah Brower is not 100% certain, a highly likely ancestry for Jeremiah has been proposed in a series of posts found on this website. But I digress. The purpose of this post is to share a list of  mortgages and deeds in which the name of Nicholas Brower (or Brewer) is found. Avis had sent this list to Bill in the midst of her search for Jeremiah's ancestry (she was getting close). The two pages are online and can be accessed with the following links:

Nicholas Brower (Brewer), Dutchess County, New York, Mortgages & Deeds, page 1

Nicholas Brower (Brewer), Dutchess County, New York, Mortgages & Deeds, page 2

These pages may serve as an index to finding the originals. I will emphasize that the entries DO NOT pertain to one man named Nicholas Brouwer, but rather to multiple men of that same name. When using the records, please be careful to identify the individual record with the correct Nicholas Brower (or Brewer).

Back in the 1980s searching out these records would have required either a trip to Dutchess County, or accessing microfilmed copies of the records through either a local library that could provide such a service or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and one of its many local Family History Centers. Today, we are fortunate in that the Family History Library has digitized the microfilmed copies and has made them available online at FamilySearch.org. In this case we can find the records under "New York Land Records, 1630-1975," then selecting Dutchess County. These digitized microfilm records at FamilySearch are not searchable. It is a browse only database (at least at the time of this writing). And so, this list compiled by Avis Watkins some 30 or so years ago, comes in quite handy today.

In a series of follow up posts, and as time permits, we'll go through the records we can find online, provide links to the documents, and see if any helpful genealogical information can be discovered.

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Nicholas Brouwer's Will, 1778

Nicholas Brouwer (1714-1778) was a great grandson of Adam Brouwer. He lived the majority of his life at Wappinger's Falls in Dutchess County, New York. He also had large land holdings in other parts of New York State, including land at which is now Ballston Spa, New York, land at Chenango Point (now Binghamton, New York) and held a patent on over 70,000 acres in what is now New York State's Adirondack Park (this was lost as a result of the Revolutionary War).
Nicholas Brouwer was married twice. By his first wife, Mary Dutcher (b.1726, d.1761-65), he had six children: Jannteje (Jane), Adolphus, Nicholas, David, Elizabeth and Maria (Mary). By his second wife, Sarah Drake (1746-1795/96), a cousin and a younger woman than his oldest daughter, he had seven children: William, Jeremiah, Sara, Helena (Lena), Jacob, Cornelia and Rachel. Contention over the will and the settlement of Nicholas Brouwer's estate would pit descendants against one another for decades to come.
Available online are digital images of the will, as well as a transcript. Links for both can also be found at the right of this page under "Notes, Research, Reports."

First page of Nicholas Brouwer's will

PDF version of this post

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