The name of Brower or Bro(u)wer is said to have been derived from the Dutch word of brewer and to have originally referred to the occupation of its first bearers. It is found on the ancient records in the various forms of Brouwere, Browere, Brauer, Brouwer and Brower, and others, of which the last is the form most generally accepted in America today, and the form immediately preceding it is also frequently used. It is interesting to note that the form of Brauer while very well represented in this country in modern times, is not found on early colonial records and is therefore believed to have been brought to American at comparatively recent dates.
Although the family was probably of Dutch origin, various branches of it were to be found at early dates in other parts of Europe, including Zealand and Saxony. The surname itself indicates that the Brouwers belonged to the merchant class, and the family is believed to have been a large influential one in the above mentioned districts.
One of the earliest definite records of the family in Europe was that of Dirk Jans Brouwer of Enkhuizen or Enkheysen, Holland, who is claimed to have been the son of the famous burgomaster of that place in the early sixteenth century, Jan Groot Albertszoon. Dirk was the father of a son named Jakob or Jacob, who is believed to have been the father of another Jacob, who is said to have been the father of among others, a son named Willem or William Brouwer or Brower, who came to America in 1655 and will be mentioned again later.
It is well to remember, however, that surnames did not become permanent in Holland until long after they were used throughout England and France and, in many cases, not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Prior to that time the greater number of Dutch names were formed from the father’s name. For instance, Pieter Clemmetssen Brower was Peter, the son of Clemmet and probably a brewer, although it is possible, of course, that Brower or Brouwer may have been used as a surname by the father of grandfather as well.
It cannot be definitely determined from which of the numerous possible derivations of the family in Europe the first emigrants of the name to America were descended, but it is generally believed that all of the Brouwers or Browers were of ancient Dutch lineage.
The first of the name in America is believed to have been the above mentioned Pieter Clemmetssen Brower, who came from Hoorn, Holland, to the New Netherlands in the early seventeenth century, having obtained an exclusive grant to trade with the Dutch colonies in America in 1614. One authority says that he was the father of Jan Jansen Brower, but this is evidently incorrect as Jan Jansen would necessarily be the son of Jan and not of Pieter. This Jan Jansen Brower, however, is said to have been a member of the council of New Netherlands in 1630 and the father of a son, also named Jan, who belonged to that council which surrendered to the British in 1664. This last mentioned Jan is sometimes claimed to have been the father of Jacobus (Jacob) Brower, who married Anna Bogardus in 1682, but this man is generally believed to have been the son of the emigrant Adam Brouwer, who will be mentioned later.
In 1638 one William Brower settled in Lower New Norfolk County, Virginia, but nothing is known concerning his immediate family or descendants, if any.
The emigrant Adam Brouwer or Brower, who came from Ceulen to New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1642, was styled Adam Brouwer Berkhoven on the original records, and it is believed that the Berkhoven had reference to the place of his ancestors in Holland. Adam was the father by his wife Magdalena Jacobs Verdon, whom he married in 1645, of Pieter, Jacob, Aeltie, Mathys (Matthew), William, Adam, Abraham, Nicholas, Mary, Fytie, Helena, Anna, Sara, and Rachel.
Peter or Pieter, son of the emigrant Adam, was first married to Petronella Uldricks or Claine, was later married to Gertruyd Jans, and in 1687 took a third wife named Annetje Jansen. He made his home at Brooklyn, N.Y., and is said to have had sixteen children, although their names are not given.
Jocob, son of the emigrant Adam, was married at Brooklyn in 1682 to Annetje or Anna Bogardus, by whom he was the father of Sybrant, Jacob, Willem (William), Everard, Elisabet, Adam (founder of the Monmouth, N.J. line of the family), Wyntje, and Magdalena.
Mathys or Matthew, son of the emigrant Adam, was married in New York in 1673 to Margrietje or Marretje Wyckoff, by whom he is said to have had six children; William, son of the emigrant Adam, was married three times (first to Aeltje Elsje, then to Elizabeth Simpson and last to Marte) and is said to had had ten children; Adam, son of the emigrant Adam, is believed to have had issue by a first wife named Aeltje Van der Beeck, of a son named Daniel, and by his second wife Marretje Hendricks, whom he married in 1690, is said to have had three other children; Abraham, son of the emigrant Adam, married Cornellia Halsyn in 1692 and had five children; and Nicholas son of the emigrant Adam, also had five children, by Jannetje Calsier of Coljer, whom he married in 1692.
One Philip Hendrickse Brouwer is said to have settled at Schenectady, N.Y. after having resided at Beverwyck as early as 1655 and possibly before. He had a wife name Elsie Tjerk, but is probable that they had no children.
In 1655 the before mentioned emigrant Willem or William Brouwer or Brower came to New Amsterdam, whence he removed to Beverwyck in the same colony. He was the father of at least one son named Hendrick as well as possibly of William and Maria.
Of these sons of William, Hendrick made his home at Schenectady and was married in 1692 to Peiterse Borsboom. The children of Hendrick and Maritie are believed to have been Johannes (John), Maria, Elizabeth, Peter, Jacob, Eva, William, Cornilius and Hendrick.
Another of the early emigrants of the name to America was one John or Johannes Bro(u)wer, who is said to have emigrated in 1657 to New York, where he left issue by his wife Jannatje Jans, of Jan, Pieter, Hendrick and Hendricus.
One Henry Brower is said to have come from Holland to New York in 1726 and to have removed shortly afterward to Chester County, Pennsylvania. By his first wife (probably nee De Frain) he is believed to have been the father of Abraham, Salome, and Elizabeth and by his second wife Barbara High he had further issue of Isaac, Jacob, John and Daniel, of whom the last settled in Bucks County, Pa., and was the father there of, among others, a son named Christian.
One Abraham Brower, whose ancestry is not known, is said to have been married before 1772 to Rachel Sebring, by whom he was the father of Jacob, Susanna, Barnet, Mary and Rachel.
Another Abraham Brower is said to have resided in Virginia in the latter eighteenth century and to have removed to Ohio about 1805. He was the father of at least one son named Joseph, who married Maria Spatty and left numerous issue by her in Montgomery County, Ohio.
The descendants of these and possibly of other branches of the family in America have spread to all parts of the country and have been prominent in the founding and development of their chosen localities. They have been noted chiefly for their energy, thrift, industry, integrity, piety, perseverance, fortitude, patience, initiative, resourcefulness, mental ability, adventurous spirit and courage.
Among those of the name who fought in the war of the Revolution were Ensign Henry of Pa., Ensign Andrew of Mass., Lieutenant Garret of New York, Lieutenant Prentice of New York, Lieutenant William of New York, James and John of Va., and numerous ones from the various other New England and southern colonies. John, Jacob, Peter, William, Nicholas, Matthew, Adam, James, Daniel, Abraham, Cornelius, Joseph and Henry are some of the Christian names most frequently given by the family for its male members.
One of the many members of the family who have distinguished themselves in America at various times was Jacob Vradenburg Brower, noted American explorer and archaeologist, who was born in Michigan in 1844 and died in 1905.
One of the most ancient and frequently used of the numerous coat-of-arms of the Dutch family of Brouwer, from which the Brouwers and Browers of America are believed to trace their descent is that described as follows:
Arms.—“D” or, a dues saumons adosses au naturel, accompagnes au point du ched d’une etoile (8) de Sable; bourlet de sable et d’or.”
Crest.—“L’etoile, paussee entre un vol d’or”. (Arms taken from Riestap’s “Amorial General”, 1861)
Bibliography:
The above data have been compiled chiefly from the following sources:
“New York Genealogical and Biographical Records.” Vols. VIII and IX, 1887-8.
Munsell—“American Ancestry,” 1887, 1889.
Salter—“History of Monmouth, N.J.,” 1890.
Greer—“Early Virginia Immigrants”, 1912.
Munsell—“Collections on the History of Albany, N.Y.” IV, 1871.
Pearson—“The Early Settlers of Schenectady, N.Y.,” 1873.
Davis—“A History of Bucks County, Pa.,” 1883.
“The History of Montgomery Co., Ohio” ,1882.
Heitman—“Officers of the Continental Army”, 1914.
“New York in the Revolution” 1887.
“Virginia Soldiers of the Revolution”, 1912.
“The Americana”, 1932.
Rietstrap—“Armorial General”, 1861.
(Note: transcription made 6-12-2013 by Susan Walker Carey of 8.5×14 sheets in my Book of Remembrance; I don’t know the author or date this was written but I think I received this copy from the family association many years ago)
Recent Comments