Joanna Brewer

Summary

• born about 1600 Parents and origins unknown
• Married Daniel Brewer by 1625
• She died 7 Feb 1688/9
• Her husband died 28 Mar 1646 Roxbury, MA
• Children: Daniel, Anne, Joanna, Nathaniel and Sarah
• See notes below about his children

Biography

The evidence provided by Anderson in The Great Migration Beginsp 225 suggests his origins and parents are unknown. We presume he was born in England. He had five known children the first three born in England before he arrived and the last two born Roxbury: Daniel, Anne, Joanna, Nathaniel and Sarah.

There is also an account in Dawes-Gates 1:108-11

He did not have children named George, Hannah, Thomas, or Thomas John.

His daughters did not marry.

Evidence from A.E. Smith in Morrill Kindred in America suggests that Joanna was a sister of Isaac Morrill and Abraham Morrill who were fellow passengers with the Brewers on the Lyon in 1632. Isaac Morrill was also the father of Hannah Brewer who married Daniel Brewer, Jr.. In that case Daniel, Jr. and Hannah Morrill were first cousins.

Biography

His children and wife are mentioned in his will. Children (note birth dates are circa):

1. Daniel Brewer Jr 1625 – 1708 married Hannah Morrill dau of Isaac
2. Anne BREWER 1628 – 1658 unmarried
3. Joanna BREWER 1631 – 1682 unmarried
4. Nathaniel Brewer Deacan 1635 – 1661 married Elizabeth Kingsbury who d 25 Jun 1661 and married second in 1661 to Elizabeth Rand
5. Sarah Brewer 1638 – 1670 married John May

No other children are listed. It is speculated that Hannah Brewer c 1630 – 1717 was also a daughter by many authors as she married in Roxbury. However, it has never been proven.

He is thought to be the brother of Thomas Brewer or Roxbury. The identity of their parents have not yet been researched.

He came over in the "lion" with wife, arriving in Boston Sept. 16th, 1632. Settled in Roxbury. Freeman, may 14th 1634. Will dated Jan. 12th, 1645/5 From Sussex, England.

Excerpt from the History of Bridgeport:

"The ancestry in the paternal line is traced back to Daniel Brewer, who came from England on the 16th of September, 1632, and located at Roxbury, Massachusetts, bringing with him his family of seven and two servants. He had been a resident of Somersetshire, England, and he embarked at London on the ship Lion. Daniel Brewer, the progenitor of the family in the new world, was the grandfather of Daniel Brewer III, wlio became the pastor of the First Congregational church at Springfield, Massachusetts.

"Daniel Brewer1 came in the ship Lyon from England in 1632. Governor John Winthrop recorded the arrival in Boston of the vessel Lyon piloted by its celebrated master William Peirce: "1632 Sept. 16 being the Lord's day. In the evening Mr. Peirce, in the ship Lyon, arrived and came to an anchor before Boston. He brought one hundred and twenty-three passengers whereof fifty children, all in health; and lost not one person by the way, save his carpenter, who fell over board as he was caulking a post. They had been twelve weeks aboard and eight weeks from Land's End. He had five days east wind and thick fog, so as he was forced to come, all that time, by the lead; and the first land he made was Cape Ann."

Daniel Brewer took the oath of allegiance before leaving England and brought to America with him his wife Joanna and three older children. They soon joined the Roxbury church and May 14, 1634, Daniel was sworn a freeman. He had a home lot, an orchard and some 95 acres. Roxbury was described as a "faire and handsome countrey town, the inhabitants of it being all very rich." Later, "they have goodly fruit trees, fruitful fields and gardens, their heard of cows, oxen and other young cattell....their streets are large and some fayre houses yet they have built their house for church assembly destitute and unbeautiful.." Daniel did jury duty in December 1640, each jury member receiving one shilling. He was one of about sixty citizens who subscribed annually to the support of the Free Schools in Roxbury; the annual payment in 1645 was five shillings. A husbandman, Daniel, in his will dated January 12, 1646, named his wife executor and arranged that she have during her life "the use of the house, half of the barn and other outhouses, timber for repairs, firewood, a red steer, all the swine, three Cowes, sufficient hay, fresh and salt, for the keeping of three Cowes, and the plowing and soweing of the said home lott, etc." On March 28, 1646, "Brother Brewer dyed of an Ulcer in his longes which pced through into his bowels & emptyed thither to his great swelling and torment." His widow died February 7, 1689, aet 87

He married Joanna Morrill before 1624. Daniel Brewer died on 28 March 1646 in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Daniel Brewer and Joanna Morrill immigrated on the Lyon, departing from London, England September, 1632, arriving circa November 1632 in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Sources

1. Dawes-Gates 1:108-11
2. NEHGS Register V.2 p.53 27.5 acres in Roxbury
3. NEHGS Register v.3 p. 92: Freeman May 14, 1634 Boston Genl Court
4. NEHGS Register v.7 p. 171 Will of Daniel Brewer "to my dau Sarah, a fflock bed furnished, my new kettle, a pewter dish" March 20 1647
5. Daniel Brewer in the New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 by Anderson p 255+ Link to 225
6. Genealogy, descendants of William and Dorcas Fallass of Boston, Massachusetts ... : both male and female lines, brought down... p 236
7. "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern, Massachusetts" section on Webester, pg. 338
8. "History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire", pg. 375.
9. See also Kingsbury Genealogy 83 for Nathanial Brewer
10. Rev. John Eliot's Record of Church Members [Reg. v.35 p.23] "Joanna? Brewer the wife of Daniel Brewer" ca 1635