Daniel Brewer II

Daniel Brewer II, eldest child of Daniel and Joanna Brewer, was born in 1624 in Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. At the impressionable age of 8, he joined his parents and two sisters on their migration to Massachusetts.  There are no records of young Daniel’s thoughts or actions at this time, but his contributions to the family enterprise must have been significant in their early years in Roxbury.

In 1652 Daniel Brewer II married Hannah Morrill, the daughter of Isaac Morrill who had also come from England with the Brewers on the ship Lyon.  Isaac eventually owned two forges and became one of the richest men in Roxbury and was known as a maker of armor, weapons and other metal objects.  The fact that Isaac would permit his 16-year-old daughter to marry 28-year-old Daniel probably reflects favorably on the rising social stature of the Brewer family at that time.  Daniel’s father had died 6 years earlier leaving all his lands to his wife and eldest son.  Public records note that on 8 October 1646, “Joanna Brewer & Daniel Brewer her son (being of full age) mortgaged to Thomas Dudley six acres broken-up land in Roxbury and five acres meadow at Gravelly Point.”

Daniel Brewer II died of unknown causes in 1708 as did his wife in 1717. 

Children:

1. Before marriage, was Hannah Morrill a distant relative of the Brewer family since she had the same last name as Daniel’s mother?
2. What was Daniel Jr.’s occupation?
3. How much education did Daniel and Hannah receive?

The sources for this biographical sketch:

http://members.aol.com/dcurtin1/gene/lyon.htm

http://genforum.genealogy.com/brewer/messages/6955.html