with the movement for hidependence, and was secretary of the famous Mecklenburg convention of 31 May, 1775. He was one of the committee appointed to draft resolutions, and, in fact, the actual author of the " declaration," which anticipates by more than a year the formal Declaration of Independence by congress, though it was itself anticipated by several others that have not become so celebrated, notably that of Mendon, Mass., in 1773. When the British invaded the southern states, Dr. Brevard and his six brothers entered the continental service. He was taken prisoner at Charleston in 1780, and when set at liberty was so broken by disease, incurred during confinement, that he died soon afterward. It is known that he was buried at Hopewell, but in the confusion of the time the grave was not marked, and it has never been identified. He was one of the most accomplished men of his time, and exerted a powerful influence in behalf of independence.
BREVOORT, Henry, b. in 1791; d. in Rye,
N. Y., 11 April, 1874. He was descended from the
old Holland Dutch stock, and inherited a large
landed estate on Manhattan island, which became
extremely valuable as the city increased in population.
He was a gentleman of literary taste and
the life-long friend of Washington Irving, with
whom he travelled in Europe and corresponded
for half a century. He removed, in early life, to
Yonkers, but returned to New York and was a
member of the common council for many years.
In 1852 he removed to Rye, where he resided until
his death. One of his daughters married Charles
Astor Bristed. — His son, James Carson, b. in
New York city, 10 July, 1818; d. in Brooklyn,
N. Y., 7 Dec., 1887, received his early education
at home, in France, and at Hofwyl, near Berne,
Switzerland. He then studied at the École
Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris, and was
graduated with the diploma of a civil engineer.
On returning to the United States, he accompanied
his uncle, James Renwick, one of the commissioners
on the northeastern boundary survey. In 1838
he went abroad as private secretary to Washington
Irving, U. S. minister to Spain. After serving a
year in this capacity, he spent several years in
European travel, and returned home in 1843. Two
years later he married the daughter of Judge
Leffert Lefferts, of Brooklyn, where he has since
resided, serving on the board of education, and as
one of the constructing board of water commissioners.
For ten years, beginning in 1863, he was president
of the Long Island historical society, and for
two years superintendent of the Astor library in
New York city, of which he had been a trustee
since 1852. He became a regent of the university
of New York in 1861, and the same year received
the degree of LL. D. from Williams. He is a member
of the New York historical society, the academy
of natural sciences, the American geographical
society, the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania
historical societies, and numerous other scientific,
literary, and artistic associations, in which he has
always taken active interest. As a collector of
rare books and coins he has been very successful.
From his father he inherited about 6,000 volumes,
mostly Americana, which were collected in Europe
during the turbulent years from 1810 till 1832. To
this library Mr. Brevoort made large and valuable
additions, until in 1875 it comprised about 10,000
volumes, many of them very rare and costly. He
has also made valuable collections of medals and
manuscripts. About 1875 he began wisely to
anticipate the usual fate of such collections, and has
bestowed many of his treasures upon institutions
where they will be carefully preserved for the benefit
of students and connoisseurs. His collections
also embrace entomology and ichthyology (books
and specimens), and for the preservation of these
also he has judiciously provided. He contributed
to the “American Journal of Numismatics” a
series of illustrated papers on “Early Spanish and
Portuguese Coinage in America.” In the “Historical Magazine” he published a paper on the
discovery of the remains of Columbus, and in 1874
prepared a volume, printed privately, entitled
“Verrazano the Navigator, or Notes on Giovanni
de Verrazano, and on a Planisphere of 1529,
illustrating his American Voyage in 1524,” this being a
revision and expansion of a paper read before the American geographical society, 28 Nov., 1871.
BREVOORT, James Renwick, painter, b. in
Westchester co., N. Y., 20 July, 1832. After
studying with Thomas Cummings in this country
he sjient several years in European schools, and
sketched in the picturesque districts of England,
Holland, and Italy. He was elected an associate
of the national academy in 1861, and a full member in 1863. He has made special study of perspective, and was professor of that branch of
drawing at the national academy in 1872. He is
very successful in the treatment of American landscape in a low tone of color, this being his favorite line of work. Among his pictures are "Scene in
Holland"; "Lake of Cojno" (1878); "Storm on English Moor" (1882); "May Morning, Lake Como" (1883); "New England Scene"; "Morning in Early Winter" (1884); "The Wild November Comes at Last"; "Windy Evening on the Moors" (1885) ; and " Windy Day on a Moor " (1886).
BREWER, David Josiah, jurist, b. in Smyrna.
Asia Minor, 20 June, 1837. The son of a missionary to Turkey, he was graduated from Yale in 1856 and from the Albany law school in 1858. Establishing himself in his profession at Leavenworth, Kan., in 1859, he resided there until he removed to Washington to enter upon his present duties; in 1861 was appointed U. S. commissioner; from 1862 to 1865 was judge of the probate and criminal courts of Leavenworth county; from 1865 to 1869 was judge of the district court; in 1870 was elected a justice of the supreme court of his state, and was reelected in 1875 and 1882; in 1884 was appointed judge of the circuit court of the United States for the eighth district; was appointed to his present position in December, 1889, and was commissioned 18 Dec, 1889. In 1896 Mr. Cleveland appointed Justice Brewer a member of the Venezuelan boundary commission, of which he was unanimously elected president.
BREWER, Gardner, merchant, b. in Boston in 1806; d. in Newport, R. I., 30 Sept., 1874. He was one of the wealthiest and most liberal of Boston merchants. After attaining his majority he was for some time a distiller, but afterward engaged in the dry-goods trade, and founded the house of Gardner Brewer & Co., which represented some of the largest mills in New England, and had branches in New York and Philadelphia. In this business, by accurate method combined with great sagacity, he accumulated a fortune which, at his death, was estimated at several millions of dollars. Mr. Brewer at one time took an active part in politics as a republican. He was also a strong protectionist, and took great interest in the industrial development of the country. He used his large wealth liberally for the public good, and shortly before his death gave to the city of Boston a beautiful fountain, which stands on an angle of the common. His residence, on the site of the
