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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Some BREWER Deeds in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Up To The Year 1850

 Abstracts and links for some deeds involving persons named BREWER found in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. See Grantors Index Bi-Bz:168, Grantees Index Bi-Bz:135. Nortumberland County was formed in 1772 from parts of five counties: Lancaster, Berks, Bedford, Cumberland and Northampton. Links are to digital images of microfilmed books at FamilySearch.org, Northumberland County Deeds 1770-1866. Although free, you will need to be logged in to FamilySearch to view the deeds.

• Valentine Billman of Sunbury, yeoman, and Catharine his wife, to Abraham Brewer of Shamokin Twp., yeoman. Confirmation of a grant of land to Dewald Billman, dated 16 June 1790, containing 193 3/4 acres in Shamokin Twp. (late Augusta), recorded in Philadelphia Patent Book No. 16, p. 315. That Dewald Billman and Magdaline his wife by deed conveyed 18 November 1791 to Valentine Billman all that said tract of land. Now Valentine Billman and Catharine his wife, for consideration of the sum of one hundred forty five pounds three shillings and six pence paid by Abraham Brewer, convey said described tract of land. Dated and reccorded 4 February 1801. Deeds L:374-75.
• Thomas Wilson and Mary his wife of Cattawissa Twp. to William Brewer of the same place. For eighteen hundred dollars, two certain tracts of land called "Baritania" situate in Cattawissa Twp. being part of a certain tract of land granted to John Pemberton from the late Proprietors of Pennsylvania, 27 August 1774 (patent book AA vol. 14, p. 672). The deed includes previous transactions. Dated 24 April 1806. Recorded 28 April 1806. Deeds N:274.
  
• Abraham Brewer of Shamokin Twp., to Henry Metler of the same place, late of the State of New Jersey, yeoman. For 400 pounds, land in Shamokin. Bounded by Balthus and Jacob Depew, Philip Utter, John Rockefeller. 309 acres being part of the tract of land called Browers Hall granted 3 March 1793 to Reuben Hains/Hanes. Dated 24 April 1811, recorded 7 June 1813. Deeds R:491-93.
• John Dawes Ross and Mary his wife of Augusta Twp., to Elias Brewer of the same township. A certain tract of land called "Union" in Augusta Twp. History of transactions for this tract. For six hundred pounds. Two hundred and twelve acres. [A long description, includes a drawing]. Dated 1 July 1812, recorded 22 February 1815. Deeds S:413-15.
  
• Agreement made 14 December 1816 between Richard Houghton of Augusta Twp. of the one part, and Joseph Houghton, Thomas Thorpe, Elias Brewer, Christian Hile of Augusta Twp., John C. Thorpe, John Chittister of Shamokin Twp., of the other part. The parties agree to clear and make a shad fishery on said Houghton's land. Recorded 8 February 1817. Deeds T:227-228.
• John Chidister agreement to Richard Houghton. Mentions Elias Brewer, and others involved in the above agreement. Dated 31 May 1817, recorded 2 June 1817. Deeds T:314. 
• William Silverwood and Catharine his wife of Augusta Twp. to Matthew Brewer and Jacob Waggonseller of Penns Twp., Union County. For the sum of six hundred dollars, certain land in the River Susquehanna situate in the Township of Augusta, one called "Hawks" Island about five miles below Sunbury containing 26 acres. Dated 1 May 1835, recorded 12 June 1835. Deeds Z:385-86. [Union County was created out of Northumberland County in 1813].
  
• Henry Brewer and Julyan his wife, James Farnsworth and Margaret his wife, Abraham Brewer and Maryann his wife and Christopher Haughawout his wife, heirs and legal representatives of Elias Brewer, late of Augusta Twp., to Jonathan Mattler, late of Rush, now of Augusta. For Thirteen hundred and ninety-four dollars, a tract of land in Augusta Twp. Bounded by James Forister, James Farnesworth, Isaac Kline, Henry Kline. 102 acres excepting one acre on the south sold by said Elias Brewer to Charles Stanner and owned (by) Mordicae Lawrence. Being part of a tract deeded by John Dawes Ross and Mary his wife to Elias Brewer, 1 July 1812. Dated 13 April 1846. Recorded 13 April 1846. Deeds EE:584-85.
• Alexander Moore, Jr., of Rush Twp., to Abraham Brewer of the same place. For five hundred dollars, two tracts of land in Rush Township, one of 14 acres and 120 perches, the other containing 39 acres and 105 perches. Dated 1 April 1847, recorded 11 Mar 1850. Deeds GG:532-33.
  
• Henry Brewer and Julian his wife of Mahoning Twp., James Farnesworth of Augusta Twp. and Margaret his wife, late Margaret Brewer, Christopher Haughwout of Lyon Twp., Huron County, Ohio and Elizabeth his wife, late Elizabeth Brewer and Abraham Brewer of Rush Twp., all heirs and legal representatives of Elias Brewer, late of Northumberland County, to Isaac D. Kline of Augusta Twp. For five hundred seventy-five dollars, land situate in Augusta Twp. Bounded by now Jonathan Mettler late Elias Brewer, James Forrister, Isaac Kline, containing thirty acres. Elias Brewer died intestate. Dated 5 April 1850. Recorded 6 May 1851. Deeds HH:280-82.

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Jan Brouwer Group Report on 23 BigY Participants: Abstract

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

JAN BROUWER GROUP REPORT ON 23 BIGY PARTICIPANTS: ABSTRACT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

____________________

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

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

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A Bit More On John Brower of Randolph County, North Carolina

 This past January we made a revision and update to the earlier generations of descendants of Hubert Brower, the 18th century immigrant to Pennsylvania and progenitor of arguably the second largest group of present day individuals bearing the Brower surname. [See the posts of January 10, 2021, and January 11, 2021]. David Schuler was the source of these revisions, and now in a recent email, David has added a bit more information regarding John Brower of Randolph County, North Carolina. There is nothing here to alter any family or genealogical relationships, however, there are some sources here which would help researchers focused on John Brower's life and possible relationships with families who lived near by. So that we are clear, the John Brower here was a son of Christian Brower, and a grandson of the progenitor, Hubert Brower. John Brower was married to Hannah Echlebaur, and was likely born about 1730. We know he was living in 1771. From what follows it appears that he may have been living as late as 1795.

We start with a couple of tax lists from Randolph County, North Carolina, images of which can be found at the FamilySearch.org website. This image is from a tax list that David estimates to be from the year 1785. Here you will find John Brower on the right hand page of the ledger, sixth down from the top. No other Browers are on this list, however, the other names found on this list should be explored as possible families for the wives of some of John and Hannah (Echelbaur) Brower's sons. This list is from FHL DGS no.005819562, "North Carolina, Randolph County, Tax Record." In a tax record from 1790, John Brower is found in the column on the left (there are three columns here). He is the 20th name down from the top. Jacob Brower is found in the middle column, the thirteenth name down from the top. No other Browers are found. From a quick glance, it appears that the surnames Eliot and Lamb are most numerous. The surname Cable is also found. We know that John Brower's son, Nicholas, was married to Mary Cable (sometimes spelled Coble). Again, perhaps the other family names found here are families where unidentified wives of some of John Brower's other sons can be found. This record is also found in FHL DGS no.005819562.

In a deed from 1795, Henry Eustace McCulloh conveys to John Brower, 305 acres on Sandy Creek next to John Brower's field. The area of land (305 acres) matches the acreage recorded on the above tax lists. The deed is found in Randolph County, North Carolina, Deeds, vol. 6, page 246 (as per the image here). [FHL DGS no.007517674 on this page]. This deed led David to look into Henry Eustace McCulloh and he found a record dated 19 March 1773 in which Henry Eustace McCulloh obligates himself to provide a deed to John Brower for 304 (sic) acres on Sandy Creek (then in Guilford County) upon payment of a bond for £165 plus interest bearing the same date. An image of this agreement is found in Henry McCulloh and Son Henry Eustace McCulloh, by Stewart Dunaway, published in 2016 (Lulu.com) found here on Amazon.com (perhaps available elsewhere as well, neither of us receives compensation on purchases of this book). This image from page 388.

Previously, on 1 March 1773, a bond had been issued to John Brower in the amount of £167 9s 6d for land in what was then Guilford County. Henry Eustace McCulloh was a Loyalist and lived in England. He had a grant for 1.2 million acres in North Carolina broken into twelve tracts of 100,000 acres each. The above referenced book includes a map of the southern tip of tract no. 11, in the northeast corner of Randolph County, which David believes would be the location of the 305 (or 304) acres belonging to John Brower. The delay in the delivery of the deed was likely due to the occurrence of the American Revolution which of course disrupted a great deal. Henry E. McCulloh's son, George McCulloh, evidently spent many years in North Carolina, after American independence, trying to collect on debts owed his father.

It should be noted that John Brower and Hannah Echelbauer had a son named John Brower who died in 1814 in Randolph County, North Carolina. He was perhaps born about 1770. While the 1773 indentures and the 1785 tax record certainly pertains to the elder John Brower, the 1790 tax record and the deed of 1795 could belong to either one of the two (the elder or younger). Neither a record of death, nor a record of probate has been discovered for the elder John Brower.

Thanks again to David Schuler for passing this on. It certainly should be of interest to those researching the branch of Hubert Brower descendants who removed from Chester County, Pennsylvania to Randolph County, North Carolina just prior to the time of the American Revolution. I would emphasize again the suggestion that those researching the sons of John Brower and Hannah Echelbauer, look to the names found on the 1785 and 1790 tax lists for leads as to the identities of wives of John and Hannah's known sons (there were seven of them, six of whom went to North Carolina) as well as any possible daughters who have yet to be identified (as of this writing, we know of none).

BGB 706