Jacob Brewer of New York City, Will dated 1815

Digital images of the will of 1815 will of Jacob Brewer can be found online. Jacob was baptized 22 August 1744 at the First Reformed Dutch Church at Tarrytown in Westchester County, New York (the Old Sleepy Hollow Dutch Church). He was a son of Johannes Brouwer and Elizabeth Conklin, and a descendant of Adam Brouwer. Jacob was married to Abigail Yerks. The family lived in Westchester County and in New York City.

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Notes, Research, Reports

The "Notes, Research, Reports" page, found at the old Brouwer Genealogy website, has been relocated and now a a new URL. It can now be found here. The old page has been removed from the Brouwer Genealogy website.
At the right, in the column of links on this website, is the heading, "Notes, Research, Reports." Here are some, but not all, of the links that are also found on the new page mentioned above. The "Alternate site with additional links," found in this column, will also take you to the new page.

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Jacob Brouwer (b. 1710), Will dated 23 October 1781

Digital images of the will of Jacob Brouwer (1710-1781-84) have been placed online. Jacob Brouwer, baptized 24 September 1710 in Brooklyn, was a son of Jacob Brouwer and Petronella de la Montagne; a grandson of Jacob Brouwer and Annetje Bogardus; and a great-grandson of Adam Brouwer and Magdalena Verdon, and of Willem Bogardus and Wynnetje Sybrants. Jacob was married to Maria de Lanoy and they had ten children. The family lived in New York City, although during Revolutionary War, the family relocated to Kakiat in Orange County. It was there, "in the fifth year of American Independence" (1781), that Jacob Brouwer wrote his will. The will was proved in New York County, on 5 April 1784. It can be found in New York County (Surrogate's Court) Wills, vol. 36, pages 336-339. (Note: this is a later day copy of the original will).

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Brewer Families of New England

The website, Brewer Families of New England, has been updated. An important change in the database is the discovery that Col. Jonathan Brewer (1725/26-1784), a commander at Bunker Hill, did not marry as a second wife, Dorothy Fowle. This incorrect claim has appeared in published accounts of this family dating back to the late 1800s. I was recently contacted by Jean Brewer, who kindly provided documentation, to support the fact that Col. Jonathan Brewer could not have been the Jonathan Brewer who married Dorothy Fowle on 30 Dec 1772 at Watertown, Massachusetts. Col. Jonathan Brewer made his will in 1783, and in it he appoints his wife Frances (Buckminster) as executor. Frances outlived Jonathan by 39 years, and died at Woodstock, Vermont on 27 March 1823, age 84 years (Vermont Vital Records). The question now is, who is the Jonathan Brewer who did marry Dorothy Fowle in 1772? Is he another Jonathan Brewer who already is known? Or is he a yet undiscovered Jonathan Brewer? Research continues.

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Church records published in the Somerset County Historical Quarterly

The Somerset County Historical Quarterly (SCHQ) was published from 1912-1919. During this period it published transcribed and translated records of the various Reformed Churches found in, or associated with, Somerset County, New Jersey and the surrounding area. I have a list of the records, and the issue in which they were published, available online.

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Battle of Long Island, by Alonzo Chappel, 1858

The Battle of Long Island, or more appropriately, The Battle of Brooklyn, took place on August 27, 1776 and was the first battle of importance in the American Revolutionary War following the Declaration of Independence. The most intense fighting, which took place around the Brouwer family mill, was depicted by Alonzo Chappel in 1858.

Battle of Long Island (1858)

 This image, as well as a photograph of Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887), can now be found at a new location.

The Battle of Long Island, as it has traditionally been called, or more appropriately, The Battle of Brooklyn, was fought on August 27, 1776. An excellent, current account of the battle can be found in John J. Gallagher, The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776 (De Capo Press, 2001). Much of the fighting took place around the tide mills owned by the Brouwer family at Gowanus. On orders of the retreating Gen. George Washington, the mills and all their stores were burned so as not to fall into the hands of the British. Many later day accounts of the battle refer to the mill property as "Freake's Mill," which is not completely correct. At the time of the British attack, the mill properties were owned by the families of brothers, Abraham and Jeremiah Brouwer. It was only in 1798, that John C. Freeke became owner after purchasing the property, and rebuilt mills, from Adolph Brouwer (d. 1827). In 1818, descendants of Abraham and Jeremiah Brouwer petitioned the U. S. Congress in an effort to gain compensation for the losses which resulted from the British attack and the subsequent burning of the mills.
I have placed online a transcription of the 1818 testimony regarding the heirs petition, transcribed by Lily Martin in 2007.

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