Honoring Our Ancestors

This blog is dedicated to the Brewer Family of North Carolina. These pages present our recent family gatherings and more distant family history.
We have an ongoing effort to capture the Brewer genealogy to best honor our ancestors. We've identified our ancestors who moved from Mecklenburg County, Virginia to Orange and Chatham Counties, NC as early as 1750. In the 1800s, we saw a migration to Alexander and Iredell Counties in NC, Tennessee, and Kentucky. By the 20th century our family made their homes all over the nation.
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Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Terrell Brewer Family of Chatham County, North Carolina

Our family migrated from Virginia to Chatham/Orange County, North Carolina in the late 1700s.  From the 1830s to 1860s, branches of our family moved to Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alexander County, NC.  But many members stayed and flourished in Chatham County.  Below is a Brewer family home in Chatham County.  The house was built about 1895 and was owned by the descendants of Terrell Brewer, Jr. and Ada Alice Phillips Brewer. 

Terrell Brewer, Jr.'s father was Terrell Brewer, Sr.  Terrell, Sr. (1828- before 1870) married Mary Brewer, the daughter of Jeremiah Brewer likely a relative of Benjamin Brewer.  Terrell, Sr. was the brother of our Wiley Brewer.  Wiley and Terrell, Sr. both fought in the Civil War.



Next door to the Brewer homestead above was Brewer's Grocery and Grill until the 1960s when it burned.  Today Brewer's Grill, owned by Raymond Brewer, is located about six miles away in Bear Creek, Chatham County. We dined at Brewer's Grill in December 2013.  Today a Brewer's Grocery is in Mooresville, NC and in the 1940s Brewer's Garage was located in Florida--both owned by members of our family.  You can see pictures of these businesses on this blog.



The Fall Creek Baptist Church, established in 1799, in Bennett, Chatham County plays a big part in our family's history.  Terrell Brewer, Jr.'s house, no longer standing, originally was across the street from this church.



You seldom see pictures of cemeteries on this blog, but the cemetery behind the Fall Creek Baptist Church is special.  At least 57 of the stones bear the surname of Brewer, more than any other we've found in this nation.  We can be sure many with other surnames in the cemetery are from related families.  We're identifying those markers now.  The neighboring pasture seems to add to the peace.




Ira Caswell Brewer (1866-1939), shown first below, was the son of Terrell Brewer, Sr. and Mary Brewer.  His wife was Betty Alexander (1879-1947), shown second below.  







Telemicus Colon "TC" Brewer (born 1919) is the son of Ira Caswell Brewer (1866-1939) and grandson of Terrell and Mary Brewer.  TC likely is the oldest surviving descendant of our Benjamin Brewer (1802-1853).  Pictured with TC is Kristle Craven Nance.  Kristle, the niece of TC by marriage, is a descendant of George Brewer (about 1800-1847).  Shown second below is TC as a child.  We believe Benjamin and George were either brothers or cousins.  We've discovered many interconnections within our family, but there are more to discover.






TC Brewer, celebrating his 100th birthday, is shown below with his daughter, Brenda Cole Brewer Arrington.  To our knowledge TC is the only descendant of Terrell Brewer to have reached the century mark.






Norman Everett Brewer, Lieutenant, US Navy (1925-1949) was a pilot in the US Navy.  He served his nation in World War II and in the years following the war.  Click on the following newspaper article to expand it for easier reading.


6 comments:

Unknown said...

My grandfather was Terrell Brewer. My grandmother's name was Ada Alice Phillips.Her name is on his tombstone at Fall Creek Church. Virginia Brewer Seawell.

Ron said...

Virginia, Welcome to our blog. I have been working hard on the Terrell Brewer, Sr., branch of the family. If you married Ollie Seawell, by coincidence, I entered you into our family tree yesterday. Our tree now has over 6,200 family members.

Ron said...

There were two Terrell Brewers--father and son. Terrell, Sr. (1828-1870)married Mary Brewer, a lady with the same surname and probably distantly related. This was the union I was referring to in my original post. Terrell, Jr (1863-1922)did marry Ada Alice Phillips. I changed the wording on the post to ensure there is no ambiguity.

Anonymous said...

Terrell and Ada Phillips Brewer of Chatham County were my great grandparents. Lessie Brewer married Oren Barber and my mother Doris was their daughter.
Do you know who Terrell's parents were?
Donna Honeywell

Ron said...

Donna: Always glad to meet a fellow family member. Send me a private email at my address listed near the top of this page, and I will be happy to share our findings on the Terrell Brewer branch with you.

Ron

Ron said...

Regarding the parents of Terrell Brewer: Your great grandfather was actually Terrell Brewer, Jr. Terrell Brewer, Sr. (1828-about 1870)and Mary Brewer (yes, same last name) were his parents.

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