Alternatives For The Lost Databases

PLEASE NOTE: This post is now largely irrelevant. As of August 2023, all of my databases (trees) on Ancestry.com have been removed.

Following up on the June 9, 2018 post, I'll offer some suggestions here for offsetting the loss of the various databases, including the Brouwer Genealogy Database.

Fortunately we do have the website, Internet Archives, and their "WayBack Machine." To view a past version of the Brouwer Genealogy Database enter "brouwergenealogy.blogspot.com" in the search field that you see on the main page. This will take you to a page with a calendar. Select May 8, 2018, which is circled in blue. This will take you to a "snapshot" of Brouwer Genealogy on that date. In the right hand column are links. Select Brouwer Genealogy Database, and you will be taken to archived pages of the BGD website taken on September 23, 2017, before it was taken down by RootsWeb. This was the site as it was updated on April 6, 2016. It will have to serve as an alternative until RootsWeb brings back the content taken down last fall (if they ever do at all). The archived site is not complete. Links to PDFs stored at both Free Pages and Google do not work. Apparently the Internet Archives did not take snapshots of those pages. I've also found, through a few tests, that many of the links in the indexes (Surname Index and Master Index) do not work. The links on the Progenitors page, however, do seem to work. I've also noticed, at least on my laptop, that the pages load more slowly than usual, so patience is required.

The links on the right (of the May 8, 2018 archived Brouwer Genealogy) also work for "About the Brouwer Genealogy Database," Brewer Families of New England (dated April 6, 2016), and Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke.

Although the links for Brewer-Lanier, Drake Genealogy and Drake in Devonshire lead to a new page, those pages do not appear to function as websites. At least they didn't when I tried them today.

A second alternative are the "Trees" that I have at Ancestry.com. Accessing these trees will require an active paid subscription to Ancestry.com. They are not complete as I primarily used them as a tool for research clues. In addition, most lines of descent involving daughters are not followed, and neither are the numerous related or ancillary families that are found on the BGD and like websites. As of this writing I am not actively researching and do not have an active Ancestry.com paid subscription. But, for what it's worth, here are links to the various "Trees" I've set up there: [Note that as of July, 2022, the trees below that have been struck through have been deleted. As of July 2023, all of my "trees" at Ancestry.com have been deleted].

Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I.
Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I.
Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck
Hubert Brower, Immigrant to Pennsylvania, 1726. This tree in fact has more than what was found on the last edition of the BGD.
Daniel Brewer of Putnam Co., NY. Much found here is not found on the BGD.
John Brewer of Putnam Co., NY. Also, much here is not found on the BGD.
Abraham Brewer, Chemung Co., NY. Probably more than what is found on the BGD.
Ambrose Brewer, NC, TN. Very incomplete, something I started some time ago and likely will not get back to.
Brower of Cologne. A small "tree" of a couple of families who had children baptized at Cologne in the first couple of decades of the 1600s. I have a suspicion that Adam Brouwer belongs to one of these families. See the post of December 27, 2015.
George J. Brower and Laura Porter. Much here is also in the Adam Brouwer tree linked above.
Henry Brewer of Adams Co., OH. Also included within the Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. tree
Henry Brower of Henry Co., OH. I don't believe that much here was in the BGD
Jacob Brewer - Lavinia Smith Tree. Much here has been incorporated within the Adam Brouwer of Gowanus tree.
Jacob Brower, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania
James Brewer - Rebecca Snyder
John Brewer - Hannah Timpson
Philip Brower
Richard Brewer - Mary Blann. Also found within the Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. tree
Assorted (formerly called Unplaced) Brouwer, Brower, Brewer. A hodge podge of many different families, some of which have since been incorprated in one of the above trees.

Again, a paid subscription to Ancestry.com will be needed to view any of these trees. Should you visit them I'd suggest checking the Gallery tab for whoever the individual is that you are looking at. Many of the docs and PDFs that had been placed on RootsWeb and are presently unreachable, can also be found among the Galleries.

This is the best I can offer with regards to replacing the lost databases. Hopefully they'll reappear some day. I will take a look at lost docs and PDFs as time allows.

Ancestry.com has just announced that you can now conduct searches using information on another member's tree.

BGB 581

The Status of Brouwer Genealogy in 2018

Occurrences, some beyond my control, has prompted a need for a post covering the status of Brouwer Genealogy. We are now midway through 2018, and Brouwer Genealogy has been online at blogger since July 2011. Since inception 579 posts with numerous links to external pages have been posted.

Many linked pages found throughout the posts, pages and in the column on the right, including various genealogy databases and PDFs are hosted by RootsWeb's Free Pages. That service has now been down since the fall of 2017. As of this writing RootsWeb's last update (dated March 6, 2018) has offered no reason to be optimistic that these links, databases and PDFs will be back online soon, if ever at all. Replacing all of the links found on Brouwer Genealogy would be a time consuming endeavor that I have little time and less desire to take on. I will however, make an attempt to screen through the posts and make an effort to repair at least some of, what I consider, to be some of the more important posts. I will try to place linked documents elsewhere online. Doing so, however, requires that I still have an offline copy to use (I still have no access to the files and pages I placed online through RootsWeb). In many cases I no longer have a copy myself.

One PDF that has been repaired is "New Insight Into the Origins of Adam Brouwer." It was previously posted using RootsWeb Free Pages, that link is dead, and it is now online at the Internet Archives. Here you can download the document as a PDF or a few other formats. The link is available on the right, under Brouwer-Brower-Brewer Links as "Origins of Adam Brouwer." I will see what I can do with other links to PDFs found throughout the posts on Brouwer Genealogy, but as alluded to above, this will take time. If there is a particular document that you would like to see, please use the Comments field for this post, or e-mail me, and I will see what I can do about replacing it. I can't promise that it can be done, but you're free to ask.

With regards to the Brouwer Genealogy Database, and some of the other databases (New England Brewers, Brewer-Lanier Database, etc.) they are lost until or unless RootsWeb restores them. I have no way to otherwise publish them online without incurring a monetary cost, and I have no intention of doing that. In the meantime I will be removing the links to these databases from the column on the right. If the databases are restored, I'll restore the links. Removed as of today are:

Brouwer Genealogy Database
About the Brouwer Genealogy Database
Brewer Families of New England
Images (links to images stored elsewhere, some of which are still found within posts on this website and so are still available. It was in essence an index of those images)
William B. Bogardus Collection (this linked to a page of links of individual documents some of which are still accessible, while others are not. It was in effect an index page)
Brewer-Lanier Database
Y-DNA Results (a chart at the Brewer DNA Project hosted by Family Tree DNA. It is accessible to members of the project through the Brewer DNA Project website) 
Archived of the Holland Land Company (this page was at New York Heritage Digital Collections but is no longer found)
Family Tree DNA (essentially a redundant link, please use the Brewer DNA Project link above)
My Other Websites, which included Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke, Drake Genealogy and Drake in Devonshire (all are lost unless RootsWeb Free Pages restores them).

I'm sorry for the loss of so much data and documents, but most of it is beyond my control. I will soon follow this post up with another that will point to some remedies and alternatives.

BGB 580

Adam Brouwer Sub-Group on YFull's YTree v6.02

The latest version of YFull's YTree has been placed online. The current version is v6.02. There are changes to the branch of sub-clades that represent descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. Here is a screen shot of the current branches. We now have eight descendants of Adam Brouwer on YFull's YTree.

From YFull YTree v6.02, taken 4/7/2018

And here is a link to the page.

All eight participants share the SNP designated E-Y19643. The other two identified SNPs (E-BY6245 and E-BY6312) represent sub-clades of E-Y19643. In other words, the two participants who have tested positive for E-BY6245 and the two who have tested positive for E-BY6312, are also positive for E-Y19643. However, those four who are grouped under E-Y19643* did not test positive for either of the other two SNPs (E-BY6245 or E-BY6312). You might say that E-Y19643 is the parent sub-clade of E-BY6245 and E-BY6312, which are each unique branches descended from E-Y19643.

New in this tree from the last version, highlighted back on December 29, 2017 (version v5.08) is the addition of the above mentioned sub-clade identified by E-BY6312. The two participants who tested positive for this SNP are descendants of Adam Brouwer's son Abraham Brouwer. 

The two participants who comprise the sub-clade E-BY6245, are descendants of Peter Brewer who died in Hardin County, Kentucky early in 1841. Peter Brewer's paternal ancestry back to Adam Brouwer is still unknown.

The four who are grouped up the tree in the parent sub-clade E-Y19643 are all descendants of paternal ancestors whose ancestry back to Adam Brouwer is, also, still unknown. Two of the four are descendants of Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) who died in Washington County, Indiana. A third participant is a descendant of John G. Brewer (b.1795 possibly at Trenton, New Jersey, d.1886 in Greene Co., Ohio). The fourth is a descendant of John Brewer of Broadalbin, New York, who died there 13 August 1849, age 53 years and 10 days. For more on all of our Adam Brouwer descendants whose ancestry back to Adam is still unknown, see the posts of May 4, 2017 and May 5, 2017.

In addition to the above eight, the Adam Brouwer sub-group has Big-Y test results from one descendant of Adam Brouwer's son Jacob Brouwer. It has Big-Y results from one descendant of Adam's son Nicholas Brouwer, with another descendant still awaiting results. One descendant of Adam Brouwer's son Pieter Brouwer has tested. There is a third descendant of Peter Brewer of Hardin Co., Kentucky (above). And there are results in for a descendant of Mathew Brower of Greene County, Pennsylvania. Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) places the three completed tests in the sub-clade E-BY6201 which is equivalent to E-Y19643 (both SNPs, and a few others, identify the same sub-clade).

There are now a total of 14 descendants of Adam Brouwer who have taken FTDNA's Big-Y Test. Results of 13 are in, of which eight have signed up with YFull. We await the Big-Y results on one other.

We hope that the other Big-Y tests will join YFull and have their place on the YTree identified. It is possible that their addition to the YTree will yield additional sub-clades. We still hope for more participation from current members of the Adam Brouwer sub-group and new members are always welcome. Those interested should contact the administrators of the Brewer DNA Project through the Project's website.

BGB 579

Colonial Period Wills Recorded in New York County, New York

Abstracts of the wills of testators with the surnames BROUWER, BROWER and BREWER as recorded in the books of the Surrogate's Court of New York County, New York. Links are to digital images published online at FamilySearch.org in their collection titled "New York Probate Records, 1629-1971."

Testator, Date (as given in index), Volume: Old Liber Page (New Page), Image No.

Hendrick Brower, 20 May 1711, 7: 491 (618), 366. Also at Albany AB, no. 6 (image 200), with a translation at image 204. In Dutch. Hendrick Brower of Schenectady. "At present in my full senses and understanding but weak in body." Wife Maritje, entire estate real and personal. After her decease to "my children, my wife's son Benjamin by a former marriage to share equally with my children, except my son Johannis shall receive ten pounds in advance for his birthright." No other children are named. Dated 12 Dec. 1706. Does not name an executor. Witnesses: Phillip Schuyler, Marten van Benthuis. Proved 16 Feb 1707/08. [Hendrick is a son of Willem Brouwer & Lysbeth Drinckvelt].

Johannes Brower, 13 Oct. 1712, 8: 127 (NA), 70. This volume is the original Old Liber. Johannes Brouwer of the township of Hempstead in Queens County on the Island of Nassau (as Long Island was called), yeoman, "being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory." Wife Sarah, all my estate (houses, lands, meadows, etc.) in Hempstead. "My own brothers and sisters" to receive the estate after wife Sarah's decease. Names of brothers and sisters not given. No mention of children. Executor: wife Sarah. Witnesses: Jacob Hicks, Samuel Carmen, Charles Abrams. Dated 1 Sept. 1712. Proved 13 Oct. 1712. [Johannes is a son of Jan Brouwer and Jannetje Jans].

Hendrick Brewer, 12 Sept. 1738, 13: 189 (241), 158. Hendrick Brewer of Hempstead in Queens County. "Being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory." Wife Cornelia Brewer, all household goods and moveables together with my farm until "my cousin John Brewer son of John Brewer comes to be twenty two years old..." Cousin John Brewer, son of John Brewer is appointed sole executor and receives all lands, messauges and tenements. To Jean Doxey wife of John Doxey, fifty pounds. No mention of children. Dated 12 Sept. 1738. Witnesses: Richard Boomer, Hendrick Barnes, Jane Barnes. Proved 4 Oct. 1738. His name also written as BRUER. Executor John Brewer being under age, administration granted to wife Cornelia Brewer. [Note: "Cousin John Brewer" is, in modern terms, a grand-nephew of Hendrick. He was a son of Hendrick's nephew John Brewer who had died in 1732, who in turn was a son of Hendrick's brother Derck Brouwer who appears to have died in or by 1702. Hendrick is a son of Jan Brouwer and Jannetje Jans].

Abraham Brower, 26 Feb. 1756, 19: 375 (422), 547. Abraham Brower of Gowanus in the township of Brookland in Kings County on Nassau Island, miller. "Very sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory." Executor to have power and authority to sell and dispose of all houses and lots in the City of New York to satisfy debts and if needed to sell "so many of my Negro men or Negro wenches." Sons Abraham and Jeury all estate real and personal in the township of Brookland to be equally divided. Youngest son Jeury mentioned as under age 21. Wife Sarah to be maintained by my two sons. Two sons (Abraham and Jeury) to pay legacies of fifty pounds (each) to my five daughters at the time of the lawful age of youngest son Jurie. Daughters named as Cornelia, Helena, Jannetie, Elizabeth and Sara. Executors: brother Jeury Brower, Jeury Blau, and Abraham Brower, eldest son of my brother Jeury Brower. Witnesses: Jacob Bennet, William Brower, Simon Boerman. Dated 9 Sept. 1755. Proved 26 Feb. 1756. [Abraham is a son of Abraham Brouwer and Cornelia Caljer, and a grandson of Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon].


Harcklas Brewer, 19 Sept. 1757, 20: 339 (329), 205. Harcklas Brewer of the City of New York, mariner, "being of sound mind and memory and considering the uncertainty of this frail and transitory life." After debts are paid, to Sarah Golden of this City, spinster, one large pair of silver shoe buckles and all my wearing apparel, and all the rest of my estate real and personal. Executors: Sarah Golden and Henry Kelly. Dated 1 Oct. 1756. Witnesses: Henry De Foreest, John Needham, Daniel McLean. Proved 19 Sept. 1757. [No mention of a wife, children or other family. There is nothing to indicate that he may be related to any of the known Brouwer/Brower/Brewer families of New York].


Cornelius Brower, 13 August 1765, 26: 126 (133), 102. Cornelius Brower of the Town of Schenectady, County of Albany. Just debts and funeral charges to be paid. All real and personal estate to beloved wife Cornelia during her life or widowhood. To son Hendrick Brower and his heirs, my large Dutch Bible. After the death or remarriage of my wife, to my grandson Gerrit Van Antwerp and his heirs, the house where in Elias Groot now lives in the town of Schenectady conveyed to me some time ago by a release from under the hand and seal of Dirk Van Patten. To grandson Cornelius Rickey, thirty pounds current money of New York to be paid when he reaches the age of 21 by the above named Gerrit Van Antwerp. To daughter Mary Monro, wife of John Monro of the city of Albany, merchant, and her heirs, one hundred twenty pounds. To the above mentioned John Monro, I give the note of hand I have from him of eighty pounds. To my wife Cornelia Brewer my negro wench named Philis. Son Hendrick Brower to receive all that devised to my wife after her decease or remarriage. Appoints his wife as executrix. Proved 3 December 1767. [Note: This Cornelius Brower is a grandson of Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck. His wife was Cornelia Barheit, daughter of Johannes Barheit and Catharine Gilbert].


Jeremiah Brower, 8 April 1776, proved 16 May 1776, 30: 173 (190), 136. Jeremiah Brower of the City of New York, but at present at New Barbadoes in the Province of East Jersey, merchant, being sick and weak in body but of sound and disposing mind. After payment of just debts and funeral charges. To son Jeremiah, my silver tankard which shall be in full bar of all claims and demands he may have as my eldest son. Beloved wife Elizabeth, residue of wrought plate, household furniture, etc. (includes slaves), to hold until youngest child attains the age of 21. Names children as Jeremiah, Theophilus, Jane (the wife of Peter Kip), William, Henry, John, Elizabeth, Abraham and "such other child or children which my wife is now with." Wife appointed guardian of younger children during their minorities. Long set of instructions regarding the division of his estate among the children. Appoints as executors, friends Henry Kip and Isaac Roosevelt of the City of New York, Henry Roomer of New Barbadoes, and son Theophilus. [Jeremiah Brower, a.k.a. Jeury Brouwer was a son of Jeury Brouwer and Elizabeth Hilton. He was married twice. His first wife, Jane Elsworth, was the mother of three children, while his second wife, Elizabeth Van de Water was the mother of ten children, including the youngest, Mary, who was born posthumously].


The will of Adam Brouwer, in which his name is written as both BREWER BERKHOVEN, and BREWER proved 21 March 1692, is recorded in New York County 4: 278 (422), 261, and is a copy. The original will is found in Albany Wills AB, no. 3. In the original Adam's surname is written as BROWER BERKHOVEN, BROWER and BREWER. See here and here for two transcripts of Adam Brouwer's will.

BGB 578

Brewers in New Jersey During the Period of the American Revolution

2018 is the year that I, for once and for all, clear out the Brouwer, Brower, Brewer files on the old home desk top computer. It's a chance to spot things that may have been overlooked, and when such an item is found I'll place it online for any interested researcher to access. They'll be stored in a Google Drive account. In the past I had often placed docs and files online using RootsWeb FreePages. But after last year's take down of that website (down for a few months during the spring of 2017) and the difficulties RootsWeb is currently experiencing (just click on the Brouwer Genealogy Database link to the right and you'll get an explanation), I'll switch to the more reliable (and free so long as I don't exceed data limits) Google Drive. The Google Drive will be my only copy. I will no longer maintain a back-up or second copy. So once my Google Account is gone these files will disappear as well. I will no longer be a repository for all things Brouwer, Brower or Brewer. And so my advise is if you should happen to find a keeper, something that is useful to your own research, download it now. It will not be online forever. Now back to the subject of this post...

From the collection of material loaned to me by William B. Bogardus back in 2008-09, here is a page of Brewers found in Revolutionary Census of New Jersey - An Index Based on Rateables of the Inhabitants of New Jersey During the Period of the American Revolution, by Kenn Stryker-Rodda  (1986). This is a four page PDF. Please read the introduction found on the second page. The third page gives abbreviations used for the townships covered. New Jersey counties that are covered are Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, and Salem. The fourth page is the page that includes those named BREWER (also spelled BREWAR and don't ignore BREWEN and BRUEN, BREWIN and BRUIN).

My experience over the past 17 years of research on the Brouwer, Brower and Brewer surname, is that many of those who reach dead-ends with their lines do so around or just after the period of the American Revolution, and they do so with families that migrated to what was then the western frontier of the new United States. This specifically refers to families that "suddenly" appear in western Pennsylvania, western Virginia including what would later become West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. I can also state that it has been my experience after years of researching not only Browers and Brewers, but also many other families with origins in colonial New York, New Jersey, and New England, that many (probably the majority) of those who did find their way to the western frontier of the new United States, did so from homes located in the western counties of New Jersey and adjoining counties of eastern Pennsylvania. Specifically I'm talking about Hunterdon, Somerset, Morris counties in New Jersey and Bucks and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania. So here now is a handy list of adult males, as well as a Hannah, a Mary, and a "widow," who were living in those counties in New Jersey that I just mentioned above.

There is little doubt in my mind that if your dead-end Brewer or Brower ancestor is found in western Pennsylvania, western Virginia, Ohio or Kentucky, his/her ancestor that is the link to your colonial period ancestry is very likely on this list.

Good luck, and I'd invite anyone who has found a viable link to share it with others by using the Comments field below.

A Map of Colonial New Jersey

From the website http://www.teacheroz.com/colonies.htm

BGB 577

Kings County Genealogical Club Collections

In the post of December 12, 2012, I provided links to five documents (PDFs) of baptism and graveyard records published by the Kings County Genealogical Club from 1882 to 1894. I have since found that the entire collection is also available online at the HathiTrust Digital Library. Here is a link to the full collection, all in one document. PDFs of individual pages can be downloaded, however, only "Partner Institutions" can download the entire volume as one PDF. To my knowledge the volume is not currently available on the Internet Archives website. My own PDFs will remain online. They can be accessed and downloaded with the links below. However, I cannot promise that they will be there forever. Online institutions like the HathiTrust Digital Library and the Internet Archives will be around much longer than I will.

New Utrecht Tombstones, Kings Co. Genealogical Club vol. 1 no. 1

Flatlands Tombstones, Kings Co. Genealogical Club vol. 1 no. 2

Gravesend Tombstones, Kings Co., Genealogical Club vol. 1 no. 3

Old Bushwick Graveyard and Brooklyn Baptisms from 1660, Kings Co. Genealogical Club vol. 1 no. 4

Brooklyn Baptisms 1679 to 1719, Kings Co. Genealogical Club vol. 1 nos. 5 & 6

Good luck and enjoy.

BGB 576