In 1908, Emma C. Brewster Jones authored an authoritative work which traced the descendants of Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony. Due to practical constraints of the time, Brewster Jones included mainly male lines in this incredible work of genealogy.
This collection contains a compilation of details from female lines that were not contained in her original publication. Jones donated these volumes of handwritten research notes to the NYG&B in the early twentieth century. The digitized images from these volumes can be browsed, but cannot currently be searched. The images can be browsed by clicking the links below, which will take you to the beginning of the section you are interested in reading.
Included are:
- Descendants of Mary (Brewster) Turner (Jonathan Brewster, William): 1A | 1B
- Descendants of Mary (Turner) Prince (Mary Brewster, Jonathan, Wm.) & Descendants of Ruth (Turner) Prince (Mary Brewster, Johnathan, WM.): 2A | 2B | 2C
- Descendants of Grace (turner Christophers (Mary Brewster, Jonathan, Wm.) 3A | 3B
- Descendants of Ruth (Brewster) Pickett-Hill (Jonathan Brewster, Wm.): 4
- Descendants of Mercy (Pickett) Fosdick (Ruth, Brewster, Jonathan, Wm.): 5A | 5B | 5C | 5D
- Descendants of Grace (Brewster) Wetherell (Jonathan Brewster, Wm.): 6A | 6B | 6C
- Descendants of Elizabeth (Brewster) Bradley (Jonathan Brewster, Wm.): 7
- Descendants of Hannah (Brewster Starr (Jonathan Brewster, Wm.): 8A | 8B | 8C
- Descendants of Hannah (Prence) Mayo (Patience Brewer Brewster, Wm.) & Descendants of John Freeman (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster, Wm.): 9
- Descendants of Thomas Freeman (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster, Wm.): 10A | 10B
- Descendants of Patience (Freeman) Paine (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster), Descendants of Hannah (Freeman) Mayo (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster) & Descendants of Edmund Freeman (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster): 11
- Descendants of Mercy (Freeman) Knowles (Mercy Prence, patience Brewster, Wm.), Descendants of Nathaniel Freeman (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster, Wm.) & Descendants of Bennet (Freeman) Paine (Mercy Prence, Patience Brewster, Wm.): 12
- Descendants of Sarah (Brewster) Bartlett (Love, Brewster, Wm.) 13A | 13B
- Copy of Brewster Wills, Deeds, Letters, etc.: 14
According to a 1913 article of The Record that announces the donation of this collection, “these records exhibit all the painstaking exactness of a first class genealogist.” The article continues to remark that, at the time, this was the most “valuable manuscript donation our Society’s library has ever received.”
It is truly a remarkable collection with an incredible amount of valuable historical and genealogical information, which we are proud to preserve. It will be especially valuable for those attempting to join the Mayflower Society.
Information for each individual is contained on handwritten forms, which include the name and address of individuals who supplied this information, along with the date of its receipt. Many records are enriched by biographical sketches.
The records are organized by each female line - they were assessed and organized by John R. Totten, a member of the NYG&B Society, in 1913 (as he notes in his Record article, he hardly altered Miss Jones’ original systematic method of organizing her work).
Each digitized volume represents descendants from a different individual, though many individuals’ descendants are covered in multiple volumes.
One volume contains copies of Brewster deeds and letters, and also some records of descendants of the male Brewster lines which were not published in Miss Jones’ original two-volume genealogy.
The society is incredibly thankful for this donation from Miss Jones - we are honored to preserve these records and make them accessible to researchers.
Suggested citation for this collection:
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, "Female Descendants of William Brewster - Compiled Genealogies” digital images, New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, (www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org), 2019.