John P. Brokaw
[Foster #919]
John P. Brokaw was a member of the 6th generation of Brokaws, descending from Bourgon
Broucard, a Frenchman who immigrated to America in 1676. John P. was born to Abraham
I. and Cornelia Polhemous Brokaw, near Bound Brook, Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, on November 24, 1833. He had a twin sister, Louisa, who died before
her fourth birthday, and was buried in the Brokaw family cemetery in Franklin Township.
John grew up in that area and was married to Letitia Van Nuys on January 13, 1858., by the Rev. John DeWitt. Letitia, who was born March 4, 1837 and died Feb. 22,
1890, was the daughter of James Van Nuys and Letitia Staats.
The Van Nuys family came
to America from Holland in 1651. Jacobus Van Nuys, (b. April 16, 1753, d. May 27, 1836) grandson of Isaac, was a Minute-Man in the Revolutionary War under Capt. Peter. D. Vroom. He married Catherine Ditmars (b. November 7, 1761, d. October 25, 1840) on January 16, 1781. Their son, James Van Nuys was born August 29, 1799, married Letitia Staats on December 4, 1823, and died June 14, 1866.
The Staats family came to America from Holland in 1642. Peter Staats, (b. July 6, 1738) was the son of John Staats (b. abt 1713, d. December 1781) who married Femmetje (Phebe), a daughter of Bourgon Broucard's son John Brokaw. Peter married Susannah Van Middlesworth (possibly the daughter of Hendrick and Neeltje Van Middlesward), and lived along the Millstone River, at a place called "Brookie". Their son Hendrick (b. November 16, 1781, d. May 20, 1855) was married on July 31, 1803, to Elizabeth Schenck (b. September 20, 1783, d. September 23, 1826). Hendrick and Elizabeth's daughter Letitia Staats was born on March 2, 1804 and died on September 28, 1873.
Other children of James and Letitia Van Nuys were: Sara Elizabeth (b. June 23, 1826, d. September 24, 1900, married to John V. Stryker on January 6, 1847), Catherine (b. April 19, 1831, d. July 18, 1899, married to Joseph Christopher in January, 1854), Hendrick Staats (b. November 17, 1833, d. January 28, 1923, married to Sarah Staats on November 26, 1856), and Anna Maria (b. September 25, 1835, d. December 2, 1902), who also married into the Brokaw family by marrying John A. Brokaw [Foster # 1476] of Hillsborough Township on the same day that John P. and Letitia were married, January 13, 1858. The common ancestor of John A. and John P. Brokaw was Bourgon Broucard's son John.
John and Letitia moved west in March, 1858, and lived and farmed near Litchfield,
Illinois, near John's oldest brother, Daniel, who had moved out to Illinois in 1842. In the spring of 1877, the family moved to the town of Oneida, in Nemaha County, in the northeast corner of Kansas. Letitia died
there on Febrary 22, 1890. Subsequently, John remarried, on Sept 30, 1891, Elizabeth Ann
Burtin (b. Dec.1, 1841; d. Nov. 4, 1918). They lived in Illinois and in Oklahoma, and
at the time of his son Charles' marriage in 1895 were living in Denver, CO. John
died of yellow jaundice on July 10, 1923, at the home of his daughter Mary Louisa
in Topeka, Kansas, and was buried in the cemetary in Oneida, Kansas.
Map of Nemaha County, Kansas, in 1880
Of the six children of John and Letitia Brokaw, two girls, Anna and Cornelia, died
in infancy. The other four children were:
Jacob Swan Brokaw was born Oct. 22, 1861, near Litchfield, Illinois, and went by the name
of "Jake". He became a building contractor in Southern California. In 1895 he was living
in Denver, CO. In about 1902, he was working in Avalon on Catalina Island. Later, he lived at 478 East Avenue 28, just east of Elysian Park in Los Angeles, and then
at 204 East 67th St. in south central Los Angeles. He was married to Flora Ella
Shaw (b. March 19, 1862; d. Jan. 20, 1897) by Rev. Henry Bullard (Presbyterian) on
Dec. 6, 1892. Jake and Flora had only one child, Clydia Anna, born on April 18, 1896; she
died before her 20th birthday, Feb. 9, 1916. Jake was remarried to Nellie Sophronia
Gulliford (b. Oct. 14, 1866; d. Dec. 25, 1945) on May 3, 1900, by the Rev. DeWitt Clinton
of M. E. Church. Jake died on Feb. 22, 1944.
John P. Brokaw had an older sister, Phoebe Ann, born Nov 25, 1825, who married Jacob
DeGroot Swan; presumably Jake was named after this uncle.
Mary Louisa (b. Feb. 5, 1867) married Samuel F. Johnson on Nov. 30, 1887, and had
three sons: Melvin O., Alvin Ralph., and Virgil Glen. Alvin, (born Jan. 30, 1893,
at Oneida, Kansas; died Oct. 30, 1981, at Kansas City, MO) married Rhea Faye Wilson,
and had two sons, Alvin Jr., and Kenneth. Kenneth, born Jan. 13, 1923, in Kansas City,
moved to Mexico City in 1951 and later became a good friend of John P. Brokaw's great-great-grandson,
Bryce Charles Brokaw, when Bryce was studying in Mexico in the 1970's.
Charles Eugene Brokaw, born October 28, 1871.
Lizzie Belle (b. May 26, 1875) married Emory Conwell of Oneida, Kansas, on Nov. 18, 1896,
and had 5 daughters: Golda, Lois, Lenis, Bernice, and Wilma.
Information from John P. Brokaw's family bible and other records in the posession of Charles J. Brokaw
