Contributed by Ron Bennett. This is a follow-up to the earlier posts on the Y-DNA haplogroups for Willem Adriaense Bennet (WAB), which were generic. Since that time, eight descendants of WAB have upgraded to an extensive, full chromosome Y-DNA paternity test called BigY-700. Data processing alone for this test takes over 8 weeks, but the result is a sufficiently detailed list of individual mutations, which occur every 50 to 100 years on average, such that the software is able to create a biological family tree (called a TimeTree), showing the birth years of each common ancestor between branche ..read more

 It has been fifteen years since "Joseph Driggs Is Not Josias Drake, Jr." was posted online. While this update does not change the conclusion of the original post (Joseph Driggs is still NOT Josias Drake, Jr.) it is here to bring to the attention of those interested in the question of Joseph Driggs' ancestry, the research of Richard Davis who has now found the origins of Joseph Driggs who died in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1748. This post will be short and any interest, further inquiry or questions should be directed to Richard Davis. First a bit of housekeeping. Links provided on the or ..read more

 The previous post serves as perfect example of the ephemeral nature of the internet. Here one day, perhaps gone the next. Or perhaps gone next week Or maybe next year. Or perhaps in a few years. One thing is for certain, if you are reading it online today, the day will come when you will not be able to find it. Or, perhaps what you are looking for is just misplaced because the URL was changed. This is what happened with the BGD in 2018 after it was restored by RootsWeb  following a ten month or so state of being offline. Many URLs were changed when the site was reinstated. Here we'l ..read more

 The Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) was first launched in 2008 and was last updated in late 2015/early 2016. This post also covers the current state of the other databases that I had placed online, namely Brewer of New England, Brewer-Lanier Database, Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke, Drake Genealogy Database, and Drake in Devonshire, the links for which can be found in the right hand column of this website.What is said below with regards to the BGD applies to these five databases as well. If you will travel over to the BGD you will note the new banner headline altering us to ..read more

 Mercer County, Kentucky was formed in 1785 out of what was then Lincoln County, Virginia (and is now Lincoln County, Kentucky). Kentucky was admitted to the Union as a state, June 1, 1792. Harrodsburg, the county seat of Mercer County, was first settled in 1774. Below are BREWER wills and other probate records found in the books of Mercer County, Kentucky and available on FamilySearch.org, "Probate Records 1786-1865; General Index, 1786-1946," Kentucky. County Court (Mercer County). 1. Daniel Brewer.* 1791. 1:49. Will. 2. Daniel Brewer. 1799. 2:134. Guardian Account. 3. David Brewer. 181 ..read more

 Hardin County, Kentucky was formed in 1792 from land partitioned from Nelson County, which itself was created from Jefferson County in 1784. Kentucky was admitted to the Union as the 15th State on June 1, 1792. Prior to that it was known as the Kentucky District and was within the jurisdiction of Virginia. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1774 by James Harrod at the site of present day Harrodsburg in Mercer County. On 4 March 1843, the southeast portion of Hardin County was set of to form LaRue County.  The Family History Library has filmed and since digitized ..read more

 Just released and placed online last night, the full title: "Brewer Families of Moore, Chatham, and Randolph Counties, North Carolina: In Search of the Descendants of George Brewer of Brunswick County, Virginia," is the latest work from David V. Brewer, a co-administrator of the Brewer DNA Project who oversees the Project's Group known as "Lanier-Brewer." David has very generously made his 357 page paper available with the link below. But first, I suggest you read through David's preview and synopsis as originally posted on the Brewer DNA Project's Activity Feed page: "In 2018, I wrote a ..read more

 The January 13, 2023 post, "New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800: BREWER and BROWER," includes an entry for Brewer, John, Hunterdon, and Mary Wickoff, taken from"Index to Marriage Bonds and Marriage Records in the Office of the Secretary of State at Trenton," found in Nelson, William. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Volume XXII. Marriage Records, 1665-1800. Archives of the State of New Jersey. First Series. Paterson, N.J.: Press Printing and Publishing Co., 1900:32. I followed this up with a note that the New Jersey State Archives Searchable Datab ..read more

 We're looking into some potential connections between some BREWER families, primarily descended from Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island, who settled in Kentucky during the late 1700s and/or early 1800s. Below are some abstracts/transcriptions by myself with links to digital images of the will books at FamilySearch.org (you will need to log in to FamilySearch to view them. There is no fee). This post includes four will found in the LaRue County Will Books. LaRue County was formed March 4, 1843, set off from the southeast portion of Hardin County. 1- Samuel Brewer, Larue County. Larue Co ..read more

 The Brewer DNA Project, initiated back in the early 2000s when FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) first came online has since grown to 434 members (or participants) dispersed among 23 different groups of genetically related participants. That is to say, those participants within any one group are related to one another in genetically, through comparison of Y-DNA test results, within a genealogically meaningful period of roughly the past 400 years. In other words, the Brewer DNA Project includes 23 genetically different families named BREWER, or some variation of the name such as BROWER, BROUWER, BRUE ..read more