Brewer Researcher

Where have I been?

2011-08-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

I must apoligize for being absent so long from my genealogy blog.It's been over a year since I checked in. At that time, I was nursing a fractured leg and sprained knee. That all healed and, soon after I met a lady who took all my interest and time for a while. Her name was Winnie Akridge and we found we were meant for each other. She is now Winnie Brewer. We married on December 22, 2010 at Smyrna, TN. We are very happy together and I am getting ready to get active in genealogy again. I have recently been researching her Elledge family and am getting ready to get her in the DAR. See you here soon.

Why I am so Quiet

2010-05-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

I hope some of you have noticed that it has been over two months since I have posted on this blog. Well, here's the reason. On April 17, I attended a birthday party at my grandson's house for one of my great grandsons. As I was leaving, I took a shortcut across their yard and stepped in a hole about three feet deep and just a bit larger than my shoe. I ended up with a sprained knee and a stress fracture in my leg. Since then, I have been using a walker and wearing a brace. This is very uncomfortable and I just don't feel well enough to write. I am slowly recovering. Maybe within a couple of weeks, I will be able to walk without the brace. I was not able to drive until this past Monday. This is really taking it's toll on my research. I was planning a trip to Wayne Co. Tennessee a couple of weeks ago to try to locate some original land parcels. Now, I am hoping to make the trip around the first of June.
Wish me luck.
Jim

The Howell Brewers - Part II

2010-03-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is the second part of the Feb. 1 Blog and concentrates on Howell Brewer Jr.
As in the preceding article, the late Mrs. Janice Reddin’s writing is in boldface type.

Howell Brewer, Jr. was born in Brunswick County Virginia in the early 1740s. His parents were Howell and Rebecca (____) Brewer. A statement in the estate settlement of his grandfather, George Brewer, showed that Howell Sr. had left the state leaving Rebecca behind which was likely because there were young children. At the very end, she had evidently joined him for “said Howell Brewer and Rebecca Brewer though solemnly called came not but defaulted.”

This statement does not prove she joined him. I have never found a trace of Rebecca in North Carolina.

We have no clues to the wives of Howell, Jr. But his son, Isaac, said that his father had married a second wife and had had children by her. He died in “West Tennessee” so Isaac said.

Several researchers have written that Howell Sr. died in West Tennessee. I have never found a shred of evidence of this. This was just another case of mistaking Sr. for Jr.

We find no account of Howell Jr. and his family in North Carolina for their first years there, but as shown in the account of his father, they were in Chatham County in 1768. Howell, [Jr.] was in the militia of that county in 1772 and served some (time) in the Revolution along with his son, Isaac. He was in Randolph County in 1789 to sign a petition for the centering of the county’s public buildings. He was there in the 1790 census with three males over 16 and eight females.

Fortunately, the Revolutionary War pension application, NC R-1185 of his son, Isaac, accounts for much of the period before 1768. Isaac said he was born in May 1763 in what is now Wilkes County, Georgia - it was formed from Washington County in 1777. When Isaac was about four years old they went to Bedford County, Virginia where they resided for about two years. From Bedford County they went to Chatham County, NC, where they were for a number of years.

Note that there is year or so difference with the date of the time she previously said he moved to Chatham County. According to Isaac, they would have moved to Bedford County ca 1767 and to Chatham ca 1769.

In 1795, Howell Jr. was in the tax returns of Hancock County, Georgia with a number of Brewers, including his son, Isaac.

Since daughters are very difficult to trace, we found not one of them. [Livicy and Ann are possibilities.] There were no doubt many more sons, but we could find only the following sons of Howell, Jr.:

1. Isaac Brewer. According to his pension application, Isaac was born in the Now Wilkes County, Georgia on 15 May 1763. He died in Talledega County, Alabama 25 May 1852. He married first Elizabeth (Betsy) Strong in Alabama when he was about 30 years old. She was born to Johnson Strong and his wife Mary. Isaac’s second wife was Sarah who survived him.

By the two wives he said he had seven children, but only two, Joseph and Elizabeth, were mentioned in the application records. In addition he raised two orphans who gave depositions in the records.

2. Reuben Brewer. b. Ca 1768 in Chatham Co. NC. Lived in Highland and Clinton Counties, Ohio.

Isaac’s pension application also identifies Simon of Coosa Co. AL and George of Wayne Co. TN as his brothers and, thus, as other sons of Howell Jr.

CONCLUSIONS:

From the foregoing information (including my Feb. 1 blog), one can conclude that Howell Sr. was the son of George and Sarah Lanier Brewer and left Brunswick Co. VA for NC soon after his father’s death. In all likelihood, he left behind his wife, Rebecca, and children including teen-aged son, Howell (Jr.). In Bladen Co. NC, Howell received land grants in what was later Orange Co. While in Orange Co .he married Marian (probably May). He was living in Orange Co. in 1768. Another Howell was there who was probably his son, who had evidently joined him. By 1772, Howell and probably Howell Jr., were in Chatham Co. NC and later in Randolph Co. This “county-hopping” could be caused by the formation of new counties and not from moves. No record of Howell is known to exist after he signed a petition in Randolph Co. Known children of Howell (Sr.) were Howell Jr., William, John and possibly Ann.

Howell Jr. Was born in Brunswick Co. VA in the early 1740s. He evidently joined his father in Orange Co. NC some time later. We do not know whom he married and he moved around quite a bit. He married a second time, moved to West Tennessee and died there. His known children were Isaac, Reuben, Simon and George.

This line still has a lot of unanswered questions and needs some concentrated research to dispel all the myths and incorrect information that exist.

The Howell Brewers

2010-02-01T05:59:00.000-08:00

Much of the information found in genealogical writings concerning Howell Brewer can be attributed instead to his son, Howell Jr. The principal reason for this is that Howell Jr. was only some twenty years younger than his father and evidently they did not live in the same area much of the time after Howell Jr. reached manhood, thus the “Jr.” was not used in most records. Proof that Howell, Jr. is son of Howell is in Isaac Brewer’s Revolutionary War Pension Application. He says Howell is his father and he has a brother, Howell (Jr.).

In researching this subject, I found that Broyhill(1) confused Howell (b. 1719) with Howell Cobb (b. 1790), and completely missed Howell’s first marriage. I also discovered that much of what I wanted to say had already been written to a friend in 1986 in a letter by the late Mrs. Janice Reddin of Findlay, Ohio. Ms Reddin was a very distinguished researcher of the Brewer family.

According to Ms Reddin, “Howell Brewer was born in the vicinity of Brunswick County, Virginia to George and Sarah (Lanier) Brewer before the year 1723.” Proof of this statement is George Brewer’s will that names Hoel (sic) as a son and we find in the records that Howell was given power of attorney by Thomas Cowman on 9 June 1740 in Surry County, Virginia. He would have been at least 21 years old at the time, which places his birth date as early as 1719. He was of age to witness a deed in Brunswick County in 1743, and he was co-executor of his father’s will with his step-mother Alice. In the area he married a woman by the name of Rebecca, but we find no clues to her surname. I have seen accounts that give her surname as Willis, but have never seen any proof.

Further quoting Ms. Reddin:

George Brewer’s will is of record in Brunswick County Court as is the detailed account of its settlement. The inventory was not filed until the 4 September 1746 Court. In 1747 there was a suit of Trespass, assault and battery against Howell by Charles Collier. Though he admitted the offense, the case was dropped later that year. At the 4 September Court there was an attachment against him for a debt and nothing was collected as ‘he was said to be privately removed and so absconded so that process could not be served on him for the 41s and 4p. Evidently, he had taken off, leaving Rebecca to face the consequences.

In noting how Howell moved around, she stated, “Howell Brewer received a grant of 200 acres in then Bladen County, NC in 1749 and 200 acres on the northeast side of Deep River in 1754.” This statement was not quite correct. His first grant is dated 27 Feb. 1754, however, he was probably in Orange Co. NC as early as Feb. 1747 when he was given leave by the court to depart.

Ms. Reddin further states:

He was in the tax list of Moore County, NC in 1755 along with Henry Brewer. While of Moore County, he sold 200 acres of the above land on both sides of Deep River to Zachariah Green on 29 August 1758. The other parcel was sold to John May 10 August 1767. Both were signed with his mark with no wife’s signature or mark.

The tax list referred to by Ms. Reddin was in Orange Co., not Moore Co. Moore County was not formed from Cumberland until 1784. This land was sold in Cumberland Co., not Moore Co. , and consisted of Howell’s second grant.

She further states:

Either this Howell Brewer had not improved with age, else his son followed in his tracks for the records of Orange County, formed in 1752 from Bladen, show the case of John Williams vs. Howell Brewer, Traverse, and of William Spruces vs him for debt, he of the south side of Haw River in the June 1759 Court. In the February Court of 1765 he was sued by Nathaniel Edwards, and in May Court of that year Charles Saxon was appointed Overseer of Road in place of Howell Brewer.

We find Howell Brewer next in the list of Orange County residents who protested the high recording fees in a petition to the Governor & Council in 1768. Also in the list were another Howell Brooer (sic) and Nickless (sic) Brewer.

She continues
In Capt. Joab Brooks’s company of the Chatham County Militia in 1772 were Howel Brewer and Howell Bruer, 14 names apart. Also, a list of signatures requesting a central location for Randolph County public buildings gave the names of Howell Brewer, Sr., Howell Brewer, Jr., Isaac Brewer and Reuben Brewer, whom we believe were father and sons. Only Howell, Sr. made his mark, so the others could write

According to Isaac’s pension, they were grandfather, father and two sons.

In his book, Foy E. Varner Jr(2). surmises that the different spellings of Brewer were used to distinguish between the two.

Ms Reddin further states:

Howell’s wife Rebecca’s name was not found in any of the North Carolina dealings, but we assume that she and what children they had by 1746 joined him there and that the following children were theirs:

1. Howell Jr.
2. Isaac- In his Revolutionary War pension application, Isaac swore that he served in that war with his father, Howell, and uncles, John and Bill.
3. John
4. William
5. Reuben - b. ca 1768
6. Ann - b. ca 1754. Married Joseph Moon
7. Livicy-Married William Hunsucker
I can find no evidence that Rebecca ever went to NC except that Howell Jr. was with his father at one time. Whether Rebecca went to NC, had died, or Howell had abandoned her in Virginia, one can only conjecture. Howell had another wife, Marian, in Orange Co. NC in 1757. On 3 Sept 1757 a deed of gift from John May to Howell Brewer and wife, Marian, for 100 acres was executed. Most researchers believe this was a gift by May to his daughter and son-in-law, thus making Marian’s maiden name May. On 10 June 1769, Howell and Marian sold this land to Joseph Dixon.

Of the above listed children, Isaac, Reuben and possibly Livicy belong to Howell Jr. Their ages are such that being the offspring of the elder Howell is unlikely. Ann, b. ca 1754 could be the daughter of Howell Sr. and Rebecca. According to Isaac’s deposition, he was the son of Howell Jr. and John and William were brothers of Howell Jr.

As a follow-on, in the near future, I will discuss Howell Brewer, Jr. in this forum.

(1) The Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia, 1626-1776, compiled by Marvin T. Broyhill, III (A three volume set)

(2) The Brewers of Southeast America, Foy E. Varner, Jr., ebook. (Available on line.)

Death of My Beloved Wife

2010-01-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

It is with deep regret that I have to tell you that my beloved Betty Lou passed from this life this morning. She had been very ill for some time and it was not unexpected.

Self-Perpetuating Errors

2009-12-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have just been looking at user-submitted trees in Ancestry.com. Before I start my criticism, I must say that I cannot blame Ancestry.com for the errors in the trees submitted to them. I subscribe to their service, myself, and find it very helpful in my research, but I have to separate the “wheat from the chaff”. I find most of the user-submitted trees are submitted without sources. They are useful for providing clues, but one still needs to find the proof in order to use the information found in the trees. Unfortunately, many researchers just copy the data into their tree without sources. They have just filled in another space.

I found a particular tree that contained the line of John Brewer of Isle of Wight, Virginia, his son, John II, and grandson, John III. John III has always been the candidate for father of George Brewer (m. Sarah Lanier) and in a large percentage of family trees, is listed as such. Marvin Broyhill in his The Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia, 1626-1776, states that there is no proof that “John III was the father of George or that he was ever married”. About ten years ago when I was publishing the newsletter, Brewer Researcher, I offered a $100 reward for anyone able to prove George’s parentage. The offer still stands and to this day I have had no takers.

The first thing of note in this tree was that John (III) had a wife, Elizabeth Rice. He lived in Virginia all of his life, but she was born in Sudberry, MA on 4 Aug 1648. They were married about 1658 in Isle of Wight,VA. She was all of 10 years old and about a thousand miles away from her home. Of course, she could have moved to Virginia, but I doubt it, since she died 25 Feb 1739 in Framingham, MA. They also had seven children, beginning in 1658 with Peter Brewer. Remember, she was just ten years old then, a real miracle in those days. Their fifth child was the George mentioned earlier. Thus, this researcher filled in two generations of his tree without any effort or proof. He did, however, place the following note in the tree: “According to Ben R. Brewer who wrote "The Long Brewer Line" published in 1993 there has not been any documentation found listing a wife or children of John Brewer, III.” Obviously, the owner of the tree did not believe this or he would not have posted such errors. I am sure that many other researchers have copied this information into their trees without ever seeing the note.

There were four sources quoted on this tree. First, another World Family Tree. Second, was a personal web site on Yahoo Geocities which has closed. Third, a web site that had no direct connection to genealogy and made no sense whatever as a source document. Fourth, was another web site that had been removed

Out of thiry-four family trees for John III, six carried through the same errors. A seventh was really far out, though. In it, his name was John R. Brewer, Sr. ,his wife’s name was Elizabeth Johnson, b. 1640, Somerset, England. Married 1655 in Somerset, England with one child, George Brewer, b. 1670 also in Somerset, but she died 1718 in Northampton, VA.

I would like to have your comments. Please include them on the blog rather than emailing direct to me. A blog doesn’t work unless the blogger can get comments from his followers.

Problem with my Web Site

2009-12-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

I had some problems upgrading my web site. It is all squared away now. Take a look at it. It has quite a bit of new information on the "Arrivals and Settlement" section plus some new links to other sites.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

I wish all my friends and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Correction to my First Posting

2009-12-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

I should not have limited the purpose of this blog to just correcting errors in family trees. Although, that will be one of the main objectives, I will discuss other items concerned with Brewer genealogy. However, I do not expect this forum to be for queries. Use Roots Web for that purpose.

Incorrect Data is the Result of Lazy Research

2009-12-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

My readers, if you are not into genealogy, you are not going to know what I am running on about.
Since taking up the hobby of genealogy, I have found so much incorrect information in the literature and now on the internet. When I see it, I feel that it is the result of laziness. A person should never record something for posterity unless he/she can prove it. That does not preclude your making a conjecture on data that you have if you state that this is only your opinion and without proof. The written word or the tongue can carry information that is not true. Just because someone tells you a story or you find information in a book does not mean it is fact. I believe that most family history books propagate more myth than truth. When you look on the internet at some of the family trees, they are filled with atrocious errors that are apparent just by looking at them. Family trees tend to be copied by researchers and used as an easy way to fill out their own tree. They think nothing of having no proof. In fact, I find very few of the thousands of family trees in Ancestry.com that have proof.
You can probably tell that one of my pet peeves is finding data with no proof and in error being used in family histories and other genealogical work. I published a quarterly newsletter, The Brewer Researcher, for ten years. In it, I printed submitted articles and they were always sourced. I did not claim they were true, but at least one knew where they came from and could check them out. If they were authored by me, you can bet they were proven. I normally wrote an editorial each issue promoting the necessity of having proof of the data for your family histories. One of the worst errors is in my own lineage. It is published in hundreds of books, family histories, family trees and other media. It is that George Brewer (m. Sarah Lanier) was the son of John Brewer III. I offered a $100 reward several years ago for proof of this parentage. To this date, I have had no takers. I had been taken in by this misinformation myself until I published Marvin Broyhill’s The Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia, 1626-1776, in there he stated that not only there was no proof that George was the son of John III and, furthermore, there was no proof that John III even had children. This opened my eyes to the fact that I could be mislead just like everyone else.
The reason I have established this blog is to point out these errors as they occur in print or on the web and ask the persons who publish them to defend them on this blog. I don’t know if many will. We shall see.
This blog will not be daily, weekly or monthly. I will post on it when I think something needs to be said. I hope you will respond. That will make it much more fun and of more beneficial to all of us.