Searching for the Right Brewer Family

The Brewer Family Line

I am currently researching the Brewer Family. I have links to them on both my mother and father's line. This is a family that migrated from Virginia to Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and more. 

I started with Ancestry and then moved to other sites. One of the sites I discovered has been around for several years and provides documentation and DNA analysis.

http://brouwergenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-family-of-george-brewer-of.html

The creators of this site is gathering DNA evidence to prove the Brewer lineage. Then they compare the DNA with published information about the family. According to the DNA research my George Brewer is NOT the son of John Brewer of Jamestown. Basically what this website is saying is that most of the information found on Ancestry and other genealogy sites is incorrect. Hmmm

With all this conflicting information I began my own research. I have found so much information about the Brewer family that I am overwhelmed to say the least. 

George Brewer is where I will begin. 

 The document to begin research with is his will. (Sorry it is in four parts) His Will is in Brunswick County, Virginia and names his children.

The legacy transcribed:

"I give Devise and bequeath unto my Son William Brewer that parcel of Land whereon he now Dwelleth beginning at the branch on this side of his house and w on the South side thereof to him & his heirs forever."

"I Devise and bequeath unto my son Oliver Brewer all the rest of this Tract of Land where on I now Dwell to him and his heirs forever."

"I give Devise and bequeath unto my son Henry Brewer all that Tract of Land between Fountain Creek and Rattle Snake Creek to him and his heirs forever."

"I give Devise and bequeath unto my son Nathaniel Brewer two hundred and fifty acres of Land lying on both sides of the old Roanoak Road to him and his heirs forever."

"I give Devise and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Vick one hundred and fifty acres of Land lying on both sides of the old Roanoak Road aforesaid to her and the heirs of her body forever."

"I give and bequeath unto Alice* my Dearly beloved wife this Estate whereon we now Dwell together with all my household goods and Stock both within Doors and without Doors for the maintainance of all my Younger Children that it hath pleased God to give me by her during her Life or until she marry again."

"I give unto my son Lanier Brewer a young steer." **

"I give unto my son George Brewer a young steer."

"I give unto my son Nicholas Brewer a cow and calf."

"I give unto my son John Brewer a cow and calf."

"I give unto my son Howl Brewer a young horse that we call Snip and Feathers to make him a bed."

"I give unto my son Henry Brewer a young horse that we call Patrick and a gunn."

"I give unto my son Oliver Brewer a gunn."

"I give unto my son Nathaniel Brewer a gunn."

"It is my true will intent and pleasure that when my wife die or marry again that my personal estate together with all my household goods and stock both within Doors and without Doors maybe equally divided among my younger children that hath pleased God to give me by her."

"And Lastly I do hereby Constitute make and ordain my Dearly beloved wife Alice my Exctx and my son Hoel Brewer my Excor of this my Last will and Testament..."

His wife, Alice was his second wife. His first wife was Sarah Lanier. We have no definitive proof of the marriage. It is through the Will of John Lanier, her father, that we know about Sarah. John wrote his Will on 5 Jan 1718 and left his daughter, Sarah Brewer, a cow or heifer of three years. This is all we know about Sarah. There is no evidence of her birth, marriage or death. 

 Louise Ingersoll’s, Lanier, A Genealogy of the Family who came to Virginia makes suggestions about Sarah's birth, marriage and death. But does not provide evidence.

Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia by Marvin T. Broyhill and The Long Brewer Line by Ben R. Brewer do not provide the reader with copies of the original documents.   

"Genealogy without proof is mythology" is a favorite saying of many genealogists. 

So, we look for proof..

From this point.. research the children, a daunting task.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pattie

Isaac Hunter

A Capital City for North Carolina

Before the Revolutionary War the capital of North Carolina was New Bern. Starting in 1766 New Bern served as the colony's seat of government. The Governor's residence was Tryon Palace. This was just too closely associated with the royal government. 

After the Halifax Resolves were ratified in April of 1776 the legislative bodies met in six different locations. In 1779 the General Assembly decided to begin the search for a new capital, yet it was not until 1788 that the Constitutional Convention held in Hillsborough chose the general location. They chose Wake County. However the representatives were a bit more specific, the new capital must be within 10 miles of Isaac Hunter's Tavern. Seven locations were nominated but Isaac Hunter's Tavern was named on the second ballot.  No further action was taken until 1792 because the opposition claimed Wake County was the wilderness and could never develop into a city. In January of 1792 the General Assembly ratified the action of the Constitutional Convention and permanently established the seat of government for the State of North Carolina in Wake County. 

The area began as a tiny crossroads hamlet named Bloomsbury. A planter named Joel Lane purchased thousands of acres in the area during the late 1760's.  As a large landowner he was drawn into politics and became a member of the General Assembly.

Nine commissioners were chosen to select the site in Wake County, survey and lay out the town and sell lots to citizens and determine the site for the State House.

The commissioners gathered at Isaac's Tavern in March of 1792 but soon adjourned to the nearby home of State Senator Joel Lane. His home was behind the tavern at that time. Several plots of land were considered. When the first ballot failed to show a consensus Isaac and his friend Joel decided to work together. The two of them held the grandest party ever held in the area. Joel introduced the commissioners to the "jammiest bits of local jam" while Isaac poured his Cherry Bounce Whiskey with a heavy hand. The festivities lasted all night and into the early morning.

Joel Lane Home

The next day they voted to purchase 1,000 acres of Lane's land to serve as the site of the new capital.

Raleigh has the distinction of being among the few capital cities to have been designed by the distance from a popular tavern.  

Isaac Hunter earned a reputation for clean beds, quality food and spirits. Hunter's tavern was located on the Cross Creek  to Petersburg stage road and was a popular stopping place. 

1969 Isaac Hunter's Tavern

William Christmas, another senator and a surveyor by profession drew the plan for Raleigh. 

1792 plan

The name for the new capital was suggested by Governor Martin in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was responsible for sending the first colonists to North Carolina.

Today the Joel Lane House Museum 

http://www.joellane.org

Today: Isaac Hunter's Tavern

http://isaachunters.com/

Why did I blog about Isaac Hunter's tavern? His sister, Elizabeth, is my 6 times great grandmother. Their father is my 7 times great grandfather. (on my mother's side)

Thanks for stopping by!

Pattie

Ancestry, IDrive and Legacy

Saving Data

On FaceBook I am a member of several genealogy pages. One of the topics of discussion on most of them has been changes to Ancestry and the need to save our data. I will admit that I hate to enter the data into my genealogy software. It feels like it is so time consuming, and it is. BUT it needs to be done.

It has been reported on FaceBook that people have "lost" their tree or their data. When I started seeing this I was ready to panic. I have over 5,000 people in my tree and I don't have them all in my software program. 

Translated; I will be doing this everyday - for an hour or two, until I get caught up. 

I started using Legacy Family Tree software a few years ago. I read reviews and decided this program was for me. I do not have any regrets. I like the software. They recently updated the program to a new  version and this morning I purchased the upgrade. The new version actually searches the key websites for information about your ancestors and you can go directly to the sites to see what they have found. There are new reports that include DNA and BINGO cards for reunions or family gathering. But a new feature is their CLOUD. Now you can back up your data to their cloud and it makes transferring data easier.  There are more features and I don't want to sound like a commercial so I will stop and say, if you are interested in learning more go to the Legacy Family Tree website.

I also have the IDrive which is another data storing site and an external hard drive. Every night any new data I have downloaded or created is backed up automatically. I do not print all the documents that I have found, I store them in folders within my genealogy folder. It is safe on IDrive so I don't need to print it. I do not print census records and other things that are standard on most genealogy sites. I do print documents that are not readily available and either put them in a binder or a folder after saving it to my computer.

What this means is I have to divide my time now between researching and recording the data. I hope to continue to add to the blog at the same time. So glad to be retired!

I will be back soon!

Pattie