George Brewer Sr
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George Brewer Sr (abt. 1670 - abt. 1744)

George Brewer Sr
Born about in Isle of Wight County, Colonial Virginiamap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1705 in Surry, Virginiamap
Husband of — married 1729 in Brunswick, Virginiamap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , and
Died about at about age 74 in Brunswick County, Colonial Virginiamap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: James Evans private message [send private message] and Jim Williams private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 14 Oct 2011
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Biography

This profile is part of the Brewer Name Study.

George Brewer's date and place of birth are not known. No dated document which includes his age has been found. It is not known whether he was born in Virginia or was an immigrant.[1] Recent DNA testing has strongly suggested that he was not the son of John Brewer III; his parentage is definitely unknown.

There is also no historical evidence to suggest that his middle name was "Garrett". The oft-repeated "middle initial" given for him of "G" was simply his "mark" when he signed his "name" to his 1741 last will and testament, as can be clearly seen by the fact that immediately above and below that letter 'G', the scribe wrote the words "his mark" (as was common practice in legal documents at that time). Therefore, it wasn't any 'middle initial' at all. George Brewer had no middle name nor any middle initial in any historical document known to Brewer researchers. Let's please finally put this ill-founded (though endlessly-repeated) genealogical rumor to rest, once and for all.

George probably married in Virginia at least by 1705 to Sarah Lanier (born ca. 1686),[2] daughter of John Lanier[3][4] and 2nd (or 3rd) wife Mrs. Sarah Edmunds, widow of William Edmunds.[5]

Children of George & Sarah:[1]

  1. George Brewer Jr., b. by 1700; d. 1760; m. Abigail Wyche
  2. John Brewer, b. bet. 1700-1715; d. aft. 1767
  3. Lanier Brewer, b. bet. 1700-1715; d. aft. 1752
  4. Hoel/Howell Brewer, b. bet. 1700-1715; d. aft 1758
  5. William Brewer, b. bet. 1700-1715
  6. Nicholas Brewer, b. bet. 1705-1715; d. aft. Jul 1792
  7. Sarah Brewer, b. by 1720; d. bef. 1787

There is no record of the death of Sarah (Lanier) Brewer nor the date of George's marriage to second wife Alice.[6]

Possible (unproved) children of George & Alice:[1]

  1. Henry Brewer, b. bet. 1721-1726; d, abt. 1778. It is possible Henry was a son of Sarah Lanier.
  2. Oliver Brewer, b. aft. 1721; d. 1729
  3. Nathaniel Brewer, b. aft. 1721; d. aft. 1800

Will of George Brewer[7]
Brunswick County, Virginia
13 Jul 1741; 2 Aug 1744

-----IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN: This 13th day of July 1741, I George Brewer of the County of Brunswick, Virginia, being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory thanks be given unto God therefore calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, so make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament. That is to say, principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it. And my body I recommend to the Earth to be buried in a decent Christian Burial at the discretion of my Exor. Not doubting but at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God. And as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased Almighty God to bless me in this life, I give devise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form.
-----IMPRIMIS. I give devise and bequeath unto my son William Brewer that parcel of land whereon he now dwellith beginning at the branch on this side of his house and all on the south side thereof to him and his heirs forever.
-----Item. I give devise and bequeath unto my son Oliver Brewer all the rest of this tract of land whereon I now dwell to him and his heirs forever.
-----Item. 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.
-----Item. 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.
-----Item. 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.
-----Item. I give, devise and bequeath unto my Alice my dearly beloved wife that estate whereon we now dwell together with all my household goods and stock both within doors and without doors for the maintenance of all my younger children that hath pleased God to give me by her during her life or until she marry again.
-----Item. I give unto my son Lanier Brewer a young steer.
-----Item. I give unto my son George Brewer a young horse.
-----Item. I give unto my son Nicholas Brewer a cow and calf.
-----Item. I give unto my son John Brewer a cow and calf.
-----Item. I give unto my son Hoel Brewer a young horse that we call Snip and feather to make him a bed.
-----Item. I give unto my Henry Brewer a gun.
-----Item. I give unto my son Oliver Brewer a gun.
-----Item. I give unto my son Nathaniel Brewer a gun.
-----Item. It is my true will, intent and pleasure that when my wife dies or marries again that my personal estate together with all my household goods and stock both within doors and without doors may be equally divided among my younger children that it has pleased God to give me by her.
-----And lastly, I hereby constitute make and ordain my dearly beloved wife Alice my Exor. and my son Hoel Brewer my Exor. of this my last will and testament to see that it be duly and honestly performed according to the true interest and meaning thereof. And I do hereby utterly, disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments, wills, legacies and requests and executions by me in any ways before named will'd and bequeathed ratifying and confirming this and none other for to be my last will and testament.
-----In witness whereof I have here set my hand and seal the day and year above written.
/s/ George Brewer (his mark G)
Signed sealed published and declared by George Brewer as his last will and testament in the presence of us the subscribers.
Douglas Powell
M. Shaw
John Norwood
At a Court held for Brunwick County, on the 2nd day of Aug 1744 this will was presented in Court by Alice Brewer and Howell Brewer the Exors. therein named who made oath thereto according to law and was proved by the Oaths of Douglas Powell and Middleton Shaw two of the witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded and on the motion of the said Exors. certificate is granted them for obtaining a Probate in due form.
Test. Ster. Clack, Cir Cur.

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chris Chester (2014). Brouwer Genealogy.
  2. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. Source number: 21837.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: WAY.
  3. ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. I. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. p. 274.
    "Lanier, John . . . made his will June 5, 1717, which is recorded in Prince George County and names children Nicholas, Sampson, John, Robert and Sarah married Brewer."
  4. ↑ Darden, Newton Jasper, compl. (1953) Darden Family History with Notes on Allied Families. p. 105.
    "Children of Jonh Lanier of Prince George County, Virginia. . . Sarah (Lanier) Brewer (wife of George): bequest in will of 1 cow or heifer."
  5. ↑ Ingersoll, Louise. Lanier. p. 4.
  6. ↑ Broyhill (1992). Brewer Families of Colonial Virginia. p. 89.
  7. ↑ Brunswick County, Virginia, Will Book 2, 1739-1785. p. 91.

See also:

  • http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/donna/picturebook/210f.htm Taken from the book “Southern Kinsmen”, published C1977. By Grace Morrow Bryan
  • Source: S58 Abbreviation: Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly Title: Ancestry.com, Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2002.Original data - The Virginia Genealogical Society. Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly and Magazine of Virginia Genealogy.Original data: The Virginia Genealogical Society. Virgini;) Repository: #R2
  • Profile page on RootsWeb
  • DNA More info at Brewer FamilyTreeDNA project: Lanier-Brewer Group [1] Brewer FTDNA Project
  • https://www.yfull.com/tree/I-Y15031/
  • George Garrett Brewer (LZ4F-JNX) on FamilySearch




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with George by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with George:

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Images: 4
John Lanier II and Family
John Lanier II and Family
George Brewer Image 2
George Brewer Image 2
Analysis of 'Lanier-Brewer' SNP and STR DNA testing results, by Terry White
Analysis of 'Lanier-Brewer' SNP and STR DNA testing results, by Terry White
Analysis of the 'Lanier-Brewer' SNP and STR DNA testing results, by Terry White
Analysis of the 'Lanier-Brewer' SNP and STR DNA testing results, by Terry White


Comments: 13

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White-47333 Terrence White
George Brewer Sr had no middle name! Certainly not "Garrett" as shown here. Not one historical record shows him with any middle name! Please correct this. His second wife Alice's maiden surname is UNKNOWN. Please, PLEASE read the excellent research of Dr. Foy Varner and David V. Brewer on this family! Both of them show exhaustively that we cannot presume anything for Alice's maiden surname!

Ditto for the unproven assumption that George Brewer Sr was a "son" of John Brewer III. There is simply and absolutely no proof whatsoever for that supposed connection!

Please unlink George from John Brewer III (!!!)

posted by Terrence White
James-17278 Ron James
I found this interesting from the Brewer DNA Project: 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 claimed circumstantial evidence of a connection with a George and Sarah Lanier Brewer. However, the DNA evidence showed the two lines to be unrelated. For thirty years or more, family researchers have been stymied in their efforts to validate their purported descent from one of the nine sons of George Brewer mentioned in his will.

Now for the first time the Brewer/Lanier subgroup has three descendants of George Brewer who have been able to not only establish their genealogical paper trail back to the founder but, as a result of BIG Y DNA tests, validate that paper trail. This breakthrough for the Brewer/Lanier family group, is a continuation of our Brewer DNA project efforts to resolve genealogical problems by making use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology introduced by FTDNA in 2013 called “BIG Y” providing massive sequencing of the Y-Chromosome at reasonable cost.

The Ambrose Brewer family group, based on matching Y-DNA results and (unverified) pedigrees, are believed to be descended from Ambrose Brewer (1753-1855), possibly of Brunswick Co., VA. who is considered a likely familial, but not genetic, descendant of George Brewer or one of his sons. Traditional genealogical research for documentary evidence is still the key here, supported by the indisputable evidence of close genetic relationship among the Ambrose Brewer descendants.

posted by Ron James
Martin-17123 Lilly Martin
Y-DNA summary as of July 2022: YDNA profile from descendants of George Brewer of Brunswick County, VA. Among our members are a number of probable descendants of George's sons John, Howell, Henry, and Lanier who have credible pedigrees and are all positive for haplogroup I-Y15300, subclade I-Y182422.

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/BrewerDNA?iframe=ycolorized

George Brewer who married Sarah Lanier does not share the same Y-dna as Sackfield Brewer-1732, who had a descendant Brewer-2360 who married a Sarah Lanier.

Both the George Brewer-710 line and the Sackfield Brewer-2360 line did use the name LANIER as a first name among some descendants, which makes one think they share the same Y-dna, and the do not.

Both George Brewer-710 line and the Sackfield Brewer-1732 line are different than each other, and are also both different than Lewis Brewer-834 who also named his own son Lanier Brewer; however, Lewis was not the same Y-dna as either of the 2 men who had intermarriages with the Lanier family.

posted by Lilly Martin
Martin-17123 Lilly Martin
PLEASE merge Brewer-726 with Brewer-10161. They are the same man, Henry Brewer, s/o George and Sarah Lanier Brewer.

Date of birth and death match, death location matches. Birth location is off, but close enough. I contacted Ed Lay-1069, manager of Brewer-10161 and he agrees with me and has stated he has no objections. He comes from Brewer through his PECK line. I initiated a merge, but Jim Williams (W-119) must approve as well. Best regards, Lilly Martin

posted by Lilly Martin
White-47333 Terrence White
Many unprovable assumptions in the information for George Brewer Sr. here. No evidence or proof of birthplace or birthdate. Absolutely no evidence or proof of parentage. All based on unprovable and misleading assumptions from previous researchers who only stated their guesses, which were apparently later quoted as gospel fact by others. Can we please clean this up? I'll be happy to help. Despite my different surname, George is my direct paternal ancestor per DNA testing.
posted by Terrence White
Evans-9605 James Evans
Brewer-5424 and Brewer-710 appear to represent the same person because: Sorry, I didn't see the other profile listed. Please consider merging.
posted by James Evans
Jim (W) Williams
Can anyone tell me if the following is still valid, or has new evidence been discovered as to George's parents?

"Notes from Family Tree Maker Forum. "Dear George Brewer (c.1685-1744) researchers, Once again, let me say, in a non-antagonistic way, no documentation has ever been found (not any that I have ever seen or heard of) that would tell us George Brewer, husband of Sarah Lanier, was the son of John Brewer III. I am aware that many Brewer researchers believe this because of Mrs Ingersoll's assumption, but no actual facts have ever appeared in any primary material so far studied. I have done Brewer and Lanier research, mostly in England but also in Virginia and North Carolina, since the 1960s.------" Barbara L. Harrison No facts presented, she further states.

posted by Jim (W) Williams
White-47333 Terrence White
John Brewer III did not have any proven sons, that any researchers know about, whom I personally am aware of. Current speculation amongst myself and a handful of trusted researchers is that George "may" have been a son of Nicholas Brewer of St. Martin's Brandon Parish, Prince George County Virginia (where George did reside in his younger years). And furthermore, that this Nicholas Brewer "may" have been identical with the Nicholas Brewer who was christened on 5 Sep 1641 at All Hallows, Barking by the Tower (London), as a son of Thomas "Brewar" and wife "Elinar" "Ebzarie" (aka 'Ellen Ebzery'), and furthermore, that this Nicholas Brewer "may" have been the same person who, on 28 Oct 1682, was bound (at the Port of Bristol, Gloucestershire) as an Indentured Servant to one "George Deplane" [of London] to serve 4 years IN VIRGINIA. But none of this is proven! I only mention it here because of the keen interest it will undoubtedly arouse among his many descendants. I myself believe that these disparate records all probably do pertain to the same Nicholas Brewer of Prince George County Virginia, and that he probably was the father of our George, but my hunches are not proof. Firm evidence is still lacking.
posted by Terrence White
edited by Terrence White
Thomas-8856 Allan Harl Thomas (1951-2021)
It has been determined by using BigY results and YFull analysis, and the triangulation of those results for two of Georges descendant lines (William and Henry, with probables for Nicholas and Howell) that George Sr’s position on the YFull Tree is I-Y15031 (at FTDNA also Y15031 or sometimes Y15302 which is equivalent) https://www.yfull.com/tree/I-Y15031/ . Provided by Larry Walker

See also: http://brouwergenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/update-for-george-brewer-descendants-on.html

posted by Allan Harl Thomas (1951-2021)
White-47333 Terrence White
Now updated to reflect George Brewer Sr.'s new Terminal SNP haplogroup, I-Y182422. This new group is a subset of the former I-Y15031, which has now been renamed as I-Y15030.

(See: https://www.yfull.com/tree/I-Y182422/ )

(I myself am kit # id:YF65429 shown under I-Y23708*)

I am a widely recognized amateur expert on the genetics of this family, having studied and written about it for several years now. Details available upon request.

posted by Terrence White
Powell-5629 Andrea Powell
Brewer-2629 and Brewer-710 appear to represent the same person because: matching birth, death and father
posted by Andrea Powell
[Living McQueen]
Brewer-2097 and Brewer-710 appear to represent the same person because: Same person
posted by [Living McQueen]
Jim (W) Williams
Although I am shown as the profile manager for Lanier Brewer, my 6th great-grandfather, who married Sarah Lanier, I do not have reasonable information as to the identity of his parents. That information came by way of a merger. Jay W.
posted by Jim (W) Williams

Featured National Park champion connections: George is 13 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 19 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 13 degrees from George Catlin, 12 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 18 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 14 degrees from George Grinnell, 25 degrees from Anton Kröller, 14 degrees from Stephen Mather, 21 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 14 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 22 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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