Abraham Brouwer, born about 1675 at Schenectady, New York, was a son of Pieter Brouwer and Petronella Kleyn. He was married to Lea Demarest and resided in Bergen County, New Jersey. Images of his will, written in 1725 and proved in 1736, are now available online at a new location. His wife, Lea Demarest, was a daughter of Jan Demarest and Jacomina de Ruine. After Abraham's death, she remarried to Roelof Lubbertsz Westervelt. Abraham and Lea had ten children, all baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church at Hackensack, New Jersey.
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Sunset at Gowanus Bay
Sunset at Gowanus Bay, Henry Gritten, 1851
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Some Bridgewater, New Jersey Inhabitants in 1777
"Inhabitants of Bridgwater...Suffered to a Very Great Degree,"was published in the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly in 1983. Included is a brief description of the period in 1777 when Gen. George Washington and his 9000 man Continental Army made the Bridgwater area their temporary home, depleting the area of its resources. Soon after, some inhabitants drew up a petition requesting compensation for their losses, and presented it to the New Jersey Assembly in March 1778. A list of the petitioners, along with their signatures is included. A link will be left in the links column under "New Jersey Research."
You can now either receive this Blog via e-mail, or subscribe using a feed reader. These options can be found towards the bottom of the column to the right. Scroll down.
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You can now either receive this Blog via e-mail, or subscribe using a feed reader. These options can be found towards the bottom of the column to the right. Scroll down.
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Monday, September 5, 2011
Brewer, Brower, Brouwer Marriages
Back on March 3, 2011, I had made available compiled lists of marriages involving persons named BREWER, BROWER and BROUWER in all 50 States and the Canadian Provinces. These were placed on the William B. Bogardus Collection page at the old Brouwer Genealogy website (which will disappear from the web by June 2012). I have added the eight PDF files for this collection to my Google Docs account and have made them available for public access. A link for each file is found at the end of this blog.
In working with this documents myself, I have found that they are very useful for quickly finding a marriage date and location for any particular individual I happen to be working on at the time. The drawback to them is that they do not provide the original source for the record shown. I strongly recommend that anyone using this lists, use them as lead or direction for locating the original record or source. I have also noticed that there also some errors with the names given and that they are not complete. For example, I have found in another source, a few marriages in Ohio for Brewers who do not appear in these lists. I would also recommend that anyone researching Brewer marriages also check what is available at the new Family Search Website. The Family History Library is continuously adding new databases to their collections, and as I mentioned, I have found a few marriages in the Family Search databases that are not found in this collection.
The Links:
Brewer Marriages Index Cover Sheet
Brewer Marriage Index AL to ID
Brewer Marriage Index IL to LA
Brewer Marriage Index LA to MS
Brewer Marriage Index MS to NY
Brewer Marriage Index NY to RI
Brewer Marriage Index RI to WY
Brewer Marriage Index Canadian Provinces NB, NS, ON, PQ
I would also note that this Blog site is now searchable. A search application can be found at the right, above the column of links. The search feature also extends to many of the linked sites. For example, your search results will include findings on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website, etc.
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In working with this documents myself, I have found that they are very useful for quickly finding a marriage date and location for any particular individual I happen to be working on at the time. The drawback to them is that they do not provide the original source for the record shown. I strongly recommend that anyone using this lists, use them as lead or direction for locating the original record or source. I have also noticed that there also some errors with the names given and that they are not complete. For example, I have found in another source, a few marriages in Ohio for Brewers who do not appear in these lists. I would also recommend that anyone researching Brewer marriages also check what is available at the new Family Search Website. The Family History Library is continuously adding new databases to their collections, and as I mentioned, I have found a few marriages in the Family Search databases that are not found in this collection.
The Links:
Brewer Marriages Index Cover Sheet
Brewer Marriage Index AL to ID
Brewer Marriage Index IL to LA
Brewer Marriage Index LA to MS
Brewer Marriage Index MS to NY
Brewer Marriage Index NY to RI
Brewer Marriage Index RI to WY
Brewer Marriage Index Canadian Provinces NB, NS, ON, PQ
I would also note that this Blog site is now searchable. A search application can be found at the right, above the column of links. The search feature also extends to many of the linked sites. For example, your search results will include findings on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website, etc.
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Saturday, September 3, 2011
Hillsborough Reformed Dutch Church, Somerset Co., New Jersey
The Hillsborough Reformed Dutch Church was organized in 1755 and was located at Millstone in Somerset County, New Jersey. An article giving a brief description of the church and its available records appeared in the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly vol. 1 (1983). Marriages for the years 1782 to 1785 were also included (43 total, if I counted correctly). I have placed a copy of the article in a Google Docs account and a link is provided at the right under "New Jersey Research."
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Friday, September 2, 2011
Jan Bouwer of Flatlands; Descendants Update
Both the journal report and the descendant chart for Jan Brouwer have been updated (links found to the right under Notes, Research, Reports). The principal change is that John Rose has been dropped from both documents. The reason for this is that after a review of the current information and evidence that I have for John Rose, I felt it was too speculative to assign him even a "possible" place within the descendants of Jan Brouwer. Previously, he had been suggested as a son of Derck Brouwer (b.1737).
We do know that John Rose is a genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Descendants of John Rose, through a number of his sons, are clearly close relations of numerous descendants of Jan Brouwer, as has been demonstrated by Y-DNA testing (see Jan Brouwer Group DNA Results). However, because we do not yet have enough traditional genealogical data on John Rose, and because the mutation rate and timing found in Y-DNA results is too random to obtain a narrow enough degree of relationship between those who have been tested, to be useful, it is presently not possible to state with a high enough degree of certainty where John Rose may fit in among the Jan Brouwer descendants. More traditional genealogical evidence, on both John Rose, and many of his Brouwer/Brewer cousins, is needed before anything more than a guess can be ventured. In addition, I am of the belief that the current database of Jan Brouwer descendants in the Brewer DNA Project, is just too small to be of use in trying to place any one ancestor. At this time, I strongly believe that it would irresponsible to try and assume even a possible placement for John Rose other then to say that he is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands. The previous editions of the above mentioned journal report and descendant chart had the potential to be misleading, even with the stipulation of "possible" attached to John Rose's parental relationship. It was therefore necessary to update the documents.
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We do know that John Rose is a genetic descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Descendants of John Rose, through a number of his sons, are clearly close relations of numerous descendants of Jan Brouwer, as has been demonstrated by Y-DNA testing (see Jan Brouwer Group DNA Results). However, because we do not yet have enough traditional genealogical data on John Rose, and because the mutation rate and timing found in Y-DNA results is too random to obtain a narrow enough degree of relationship between those who have been tested, to be useful, it is presently not possible to state with a high enough degree of certainty where John Rose may fit in among the Jan Brouwer descendants. More traditional genealogical evidence, on both John Rose, and many of his Brouwer/Brewer cousins, is needed before anything more than a guess can be ventured. In addition, I am of the belief that the current database of Jan Brouwer descendants in the Brewer DNA Project, is just too small to be of use in trying to place any one ancestor. At this time, I strongly believe that it would irresponsible to try and assume even a possible placement for John Rose other then to say that he is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands. The previous editions of the above mentioned journal report and descendant chart had the potential to be misleading, even with the stipulation of "possible" attached to John Rose's parental relationship. It was therefore necessary to update the documents.
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
Brouwer Mill Conveyances
The following first appeared on the Brouwer Genealogy website on March 29, 2011.
At sometime during the 1650s, Adam Brouwer established the first tide mill on western Long Island at Gowanus. After his death in 1692, two of his sons, Abraham and Nicholas, acquired full control of the property from their siblings. They added to the property, built a second mill, and negotiated water rights with their nearest neighbors. By 1710, Nicholas and his wife sold their share in the property and operation to his brother Abraham. In 1737, Abraham, conveyed the property and mills to his two sons, Abraham, Jr. and Jurie. The property remained with the two brothers, and their heirs, through the Revolutionary War. On August 27, 1776, during the Battle of Brooklyn, the mills and their stores were destroyed by the retreating patriots on orders of Gen. George Washington, so as not to fall into the hands of the British. The Brouwer families fled across the East River to Manhattan Island and most spent the remaining years of the war in Dutchess County or in Bergen County, New Jersey. In 1785, with the mills still in ruins, Adolphus Brouwer, grandson of Adam, bought the mill property, and all the timbers and material that had been gathered to rebuild the mills, from the remaining heirs of Jeremiah Brouwer. In the deed the selling heirs were careful to include a stipulation that they would still have rights to collecting oysters, from the highly regarded oyster beds of the streams on the property. In 1798, having rebuilt the mills, Adolphus Brouwer sold the property and operation to John C. Freeke. After roughly 150 years of continuous ownership, the mill property at Gowanus no longer was owned by a Brouwer.
The conveyance images are now found at a new web location: Brouwer Mill Conveyances 1737 ; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1785; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1798.
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At sometime during the 1650s, Adam Brouwer established the first tide mill on western Long Island at Gowanus. After his death in 1692, two of his sons, Abraham and Nicholas, acquired full control of the property from their siblings. They added to the property, built a second mill, and negotiated water rights with their nearest neighbors. By 1710, Nicholas and his wife sold their share in the property and operation to his brother Abraham. In 1737, Abraham, conveyed the property and mills to his two sons, Abraham, Jr. and Jurie. The property remained with the two brothers, and their heirs, through the Revolutionary War. On August 27, 1776, during the Battle of Brooklyn, the mills and their stores were destroyed by the retreating patriots on orders of Gen. George Washington, so as not to fall into the hands of the British. The Brouwer families fled across the East River to Manhattan Island and most spent the remaining years of the war in Dutchess County or in Bergen County, New Jersey. In 1785, with the mills still in ruins, Adolphus Brouwer, grandson of Adam, bought the mill property, and all the timbers and material that had been gathered to rebuild the mills, from the remaining heirs of Jeremiah Brouwer. In the deed the selling heirs were careful to include a stipulation that they would still have rights to collecting oysters, from the highly regarded oyster beds of the streams on the property. In 1798, having rebuilt the mills, Adolphus Brouwer sold the property and operation to John C. Freeke. After roughly 150 years of continuous ownership, the mill property at Gowanus no longer was owned by a Brouwer.
The conveyance images are now found at a new web location: Brouwer Mill Conveyances 1737 ; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1785; Brouwer Mill Conveyance 1798.
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