Results
With the number of members exceeding 100, we observe four groups of matching signatures and matching haplogroups forming, and one set of unassigned participants who do not yet connect together or with the others.
Two groups are believed to represent descendants of two unrelated early 17th century Dutch immigrants to New Amsterdam (New York). Their genealogical paper trail identifies the separate family patriarchs as Adam Brouwer Berkhoven (~1620-1693) and Johannes Brouwer of Flatlands (~1628-1702). Each family has been able to determine their ancestral haplotype (the genetic signature of the earliest known ancestor) and haplogroup. These results already show how effective DNA testing can be. DNA evidence has revealed that although the two immigrant ancestors have the same surname, and lived in the same region at the same time, they are unrelated and have not had a common ancestor in thousands of years -- contrary to erroneous beliefs passed down in genealogical pedigrees for over 200 years. For more information see the article published in the New York Genealogy and Biographical record Vol 138, No.4, (2007) “DNA Analysis: Adam Brouwer Berckhoven, Elias Brouwer of New Jersey, and John Brewer of Ohio.” and a Compiled Genealogy for “Jan Brouwer of Flatlands and Descendants.” [Our review of the article is provided below]
Sharing of research and family information amongst the matched members has helped some individuals extend their pedigree three or more generations and clear up mistaken connections, while others have discovered connections they were previously unaware of. DNA testing has proved a fruitful genealogical tool for all of us.
Two additional groups, Brewer/Lanier and Ambrose Brewer, appear to represent descendants of early 18th century Brewer immigrants, generally of English descent, to southeast America, i.e the southern colonies of Virginia and North Carolina. They both claim circumstantial evidence of a connection, as yet unproved, with a George and Sarah Lanier Brewer. However the DNA evidence shows the two lines to be unrelated and they each are seeking to strengthen weak paper trails to avoid pursuing a false connection.
The unassigned group seems, so far, to represent various independent families arriving in later waves of immigration from a variety of locations. It is anticipated that as participants are added, these “unassigned” members will find matching signatures placing them within additional separate ancestral branches.
All members have obtained insight into their own “Deep” ancestry, prehistoric origins and geographic migrations, by learning their Haplogroup assignment. Our Brewer surname members represent Haplogroups I, E1b, R1b, and J2, and so we know those distinct male lines have had no common ancestors for hundreds of generations.
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December 2, 2007 : Review of the article in the New York Genealogy and Biographical record Vol 138, No.4, (2007) “DNA Analysis: Adam Brouwer Berckhoven, Elias Brouwer of New Jersey, and John Brewer of Ohio.”
This article provides definitive DNA evidence that dispels erroneous, unsubstantiated claims that have circulated for many years: that two 18th century pioneers, Elias Brouwer (1740-1812) of Oneonta, New York who married Phebe Lucas, and John Brewer (ca.1733-1809) of Adams Co., Ohio, who married Elsie Lewis (sometimes said to be Dunbar but without verification), were each descendants of the 17th century immigrant Adam Brouwer Berkhoven (1620-1693) of Brooklyn, New Netherland.
Our Brewer surname DNA research program has made available an ancestral Y- chromosome haplotype (the male genetic signature of the earliest known ancestor), at a significant 37 marker accuracy, for Adam Brouwer, Elias Brouwer, and John Brewer, by analysis and comparison of Y-DNA samples from 10th and 11th generation descendants of each of the men.
In outline, Elias Brouwer who married Phebe Lucas has been claimed, mistakenly, and without any supporting documentation, to be a descendant of Adam Brouwer through being the son of Abraham4 Brouwer (Jacob3, Jacobus2, Adam1) via an unsubstantiated claim of marriage in 1736 to Sarah Stephenson. This assertion, deemed erroneous by the genealogical research of Mr. William Bogardus, has persisted for years -- misleading other researchers who failed to recognize the original conjecture as such, or for other reasons, take the repeated claim as fact -- but has now been definitively proved to be false through analysis of the derived ancestral DNA haplotypes of Elias and Adam Brouwer.
Similarly, the mistaken claim that John Brewer who married Elsie Lewis (Dunbar) is a descendant of Adam Brouwer Berkhoven through being a son of Abraham4 Uldricks Brouwer ( Uldirick3, Pieter Adams2, Adam1) is proved to be false. By comparing DNA haplotypes it is shown that no relationship exists between John Brewer of Ohio and Adam Brouwer of New Netherland within genealogical time spans.
An unexpected fallout of the DNA analysis indicates that Elias and John do share a common ancestor and points to the strong possibility that they are both related to our 17th century immigrant, Johannes Brouwer who, as the article shows, is the paternal ancestor of Elias Brouwer.
Additionally, a compiled genealogical summary of Johannes Brouwer and descendants accompanies the DNA article and provides information regarding the descendants to the fourth generation found in the records of New York and New Jersey.
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