Origin of the Brokaw family in America

Bourgon Broucard was born at Bungary, near La Rochelle, France, in March of 1645. He belonged to the Protestant group known as Huguenots. In the early 1660's, before he was 20 years of age, he emigrated to a Huguenot and Walloon community in the region near Mannheim, Germany. Many French and Walloon exiles from England and from the Dutch seaboard were fleeing to Mannheim, drawn there by assurances of freedom and protection under the government of the Protestant Elector, Charles Lewis, who held out strong inducements to the refugees to settle there.

In Henry G. Bayer's The Belgians, First Settlers in New York and in the Middle States (New York: Devlin-Adair, 1925):
"A little colony of Walloons, flying before the troops of the Duke of Alva, had come to settle within the territory of the Palatinate, at Frankenthal, near Mannheim, its capital, where we find many families that later moved to New Netherland: David de Marest, Frederic de Vaux, Abraham Hasbroucq, Chretien Duyou, Methese or Matthew Blanchan, Thonnet Terrin, Pierre Parmentier, Antoine Crispel, David Usilie, Philippe Casier, Bourgeon Broucard, Simon Le Febre, Juste Durie, and others."

Bourgon was married to Marie du May on December 1, 1663. A daughter, Marie was born in Mannheim (Baptised on November 1, 1665), but died at an early age. Her mother must have died in childbirth or shortly thereafter, for on December 18, 1666, Bourgon married again, to Catherine Lefevre. Catherine may have been of Dutch ancestry, the daughter of Abraham and Antoinette (Jerrian) LeFevre, but these records are incomplete. After the birth of their third daugter, in Mannheim in June, 1672, Bourgon and Catherine moved to Amsterdam, Holland, where a son was born in March, 1675, who did not survive. Later in 1675, the family emigrated to America, along with Catherine's sister Magdalena and her husband Joost Duryee (Durie).

In America, the family settled in "New Amsterdam" in what is now Brooklyn, NY. Bourgon apparently was a successful farmer, who gradually increased his land holdings. In 1702 he sold his land in New York and purchased 2000 acres of land in Somerset County, NJ, bounded on the north and northwest by the Raritan and Millstone Rivers. This became the home for several generations of the family.
Catherine lived until at least 1712; Bourgon is said to have died in 1720.

Children of Bourgon and Catherine Broucard:

• Jeanne, baptized November 17, 1667, in Mannheim, Germany, married Johannes Covert, of Brooklyn, NY, and lived until approximately 1722. Johannes and Jeanne moved with the family to Somerset County, NJ, and had 8 children.
  
• Marie, baptized April 6, 1670, in Mannheim, Germany, married Myndert Wiltsie, and had one son.
  
• Catherine, baptized June 9, 1672, in Mannheim, Germany; no further records.
  
• Isaac, born March 2, 1675, in Amsterdam, did not survive.
  
• Isaac, baptized August 7, 1676, in Brooklyn, married Hilletje Jans, and had 12 children.
  
• Jacob, born in 1678; no further records.
  
• Jan (John) baptized November 14, 1680, in Flatbush, Long Island, NY
  
• Peter, born about 1682, married Judith Van Nest, and had 4 children.
  
• Abraham, born about 1684, married Marietje Davids, and had 10 children.
  
• Cathrina, baptized March 14, 1686, married Pieter Hoff, and had 9 children.
  

Where this information came from.