Catherine Broucard

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Le_Fevre-908

Catherine Lefevre was born about 1645. Her parents were Jean Lefevre, born say 1618 or earlier, and his wife, Jeanne L'Emond (Leman), born say 1622 or earlier. The family was of the Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant Christian religion and its French-speaking followers at that time were commonly known as French Huguenots.[1]

When she married in Mannheim, Rhineland Palatinate, in 1666, she was said to be from "Resterne, in the low countries."

It's known that Catherine and her family arrived in the Protestant-governed-but-German-speaking town of Mannheim in the Rhineland Palatinate ( die Rheinpfalz) before 1652 as her parents were mentioned in the French and Walloon Church of Mannheim then. Catherine witnessed the births and baptisms of 5 younger brothers and sisters between 1656 and 1665.

Unfortunately, a terrible Plague struck Mannheim in July 1666, killing about half of the town's population, given the limited medical knowledge and facilities of that time. Catherine's father and older brother, Jean Lefevre, both apparently perished at that time. Her mother, now a widow, remarried to Roger ("Royer" or "Rogier") Broucard, b: 1641 in Mouscron, Hainault, today's Belgium, also a recent Plague widower, on 18 December 1666, at the French/Walloon Church in Mannheim. On the same day, Rogier's younger brother, Bourgon Broucard, married Jeanne's eldest daughter, Catherine Lefevre, who was about 18 to 20 years old. [2]

Bourgon and Catherine had 3 daughters between 1667 and 1675:[3]

1. Jeanne Broucard b: BEF 17 NOV 1667 in Mannheim, Rhein-Pfalz
2. Maria Broucard b: 1 APR 1670 in Mannheim, Rheinland-Pfalz
3. Catherine Broucard b: 9 JUN 1672 in Mannheim, Rheinland-Pfalz
4. on 21 March 1675, they baptized their first-born son, Isaac Broucard, at the Old Walloon Church in Amsterdam.[4]. Apparently this child died as an infant

They emigrated from Holland to the former Dutch colony of New Netherlands (now New York), aboard the Dutch ship, "The Gilded Otter" during the summer of 1675. They landed in New York before 1676 and at first lived in the settlement of Dutch Kill, (Newtown Creek), Queens County, New York City, New York.

Bourgon and Catherine had the following 6 children in New York City:

1. Isaac Bragaw (Broucard) bap: 7 Aug 1676 in Dutch Kills, NY
2. Jacob Broucard b: ca. 1678 in Dutch Kills, Queens, New York
3. Jan Brokaw bap: 14 Mar 1679 in Flatbush, Kings Co., NY
4. Pieter Broucard b: ca. 1682 in Flatbush, Kings Co., NY
5. Abraham Broucard b: ca. 1684 in Bushwick, Kings Co., NY
6. Catherina Broucard bap: 14 Mar 1685 in Bushwick, Kings Co., NY

In 1702, Bourgon Broucard bought 2,000 acres across the Hudson River, in Somerset County, New Jersey with his son-in-law, Jans Covert ("Hans Teunissen Covert," husband of their eldest-daughter, Jeanne Broucard; they had married in the Netherlands and emigrated with the family). The Raritan and Millstone Rivers formed its northern boundary. With time, the French spelling "Broucard" evolved into "Bragaw, Brogaw, Broka, and Brokaw" and this family is the ancestor of many American families of those surnames.

Catherine (Lefevre) Broucard died after 6 August 1712 and was reportedly buried on the family's farm in Raritan, Somerset County, English Province of New Jersey. She was about 63 years old. Her husband reportedly was buried near her on their land in Raritan, Somerset, New Jersey.[6]

comments

Birth surname has also been reported to be:

• Le Fevre
• le Fèvre

Given name has also been reported to be Catharine.

Date and place of birth have also been (erroneously?) reported to be circa 1645 in Norway.

References

• Perry Streeter, “Long-Overdue Brokaw/Bragaw Additions & Corrections: The European Origins of Bourgon-1 Broucard and Catherine le Fevre,” New Netherland Connections (October, November, December 2010; Volume 15; Number 4 [final issue]); available for free online as: http://www.perrystreeter.com/brokaw-bragaw.pdf
• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~streeter/genealogy/brokaw-bragaw.pdf
• The Updike - Wiebe Genealogy on RootsWeb: Bourgon Broucard
• http://longislandgenealogy.com/Surname_Pages/broucard.htm has errors