Note: Bourgon Broucard would be pronounced Boor-go Broo-kar

"The progenitor of the Brokaw, Baragaw and other families...was one Bourgon Broucard who was born in France. He was a member of the Huegenot party, which was, during the 16th and seventeenth centuries, struggling to retain Protestantism in that country. Soon after the Luther resistance to the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, there developed a religious pressure in France [which] continued
for several centuries. After the Edict of Nantes, issued by Henri XIV (de Navarre), the Huegenots enjoyed a considerable freedom of worship, for a time, but..the Edict was revoked in 1685, and most of the civil rights of the Huegenots were withdrawn. As a result...many thousands of French Huegenots left France and sought freedom in surrounding countries and in America.

"In the early 1660's that Bourgon Broucard, before he was of twenty years of age, sought religious freedom in Manheim, Germany,... where he [became] affiliated with the Protestant branch of the Walloon Church. The Walloons were remnants of the Belgae, or rather descendants of the ancient Gauls, who remained in southeast Belgium and near parts of Holland and Germany. They were essentially Dutch in religion, customs and culture, and it appears that the immigrants readily accepted the Dutch way of life.

"While in Manheim Bourgon married, first to Marie DuMay (one child), then to Catherine LeFebre (Le Fevre) (three children). In the early 1670's he removed to Amsterdam, Holland, and there one more child was born. In 1675 he ands family removed to what is now Brooklyn, NY, where he remained for more than 25 years.

"Following Henry Hudson's famous voyage under the Dutch flag, and the discovery of the Hudson River in 1614, the Dutch took possession of the territory of what is now NY and named it New Amsterdam. Four Dutch governors were sent to govern the territory and a stream of Dutch settlers followed. The tenure of the Dutch in New Amsterdam lasted only about 50 years, but the stream of settlers did not stop
with the loss of the colony, but continued until the whole territory became almost a Dutch settlement adequate to maintain their customs and habits over a vast scope of the country around NY and nearby PA and NJ. ...The Brokaw descendants were constantly under the influence of the Dutch culture and maintained their habits for many years until swept under the influence of the "American Meltingpot."

"For a little over 25 years the family lived in the vicinity of NY, but in about 1702 all of the family, except one son, Isaac, moved to Somerset County, NJ. Isaac remained near the old homesite in Brooklyn, and his descendants began to spell their name "Bragaw." The rest of the family found homes on the Raritan and Millstone Rivers in NJ. They spelled their name "Brokaw," and since then others have
converted to other ways of spelling (Bercaw, Berkaw, etc)...More than 20 different spellings were found in the old records of NJ."

• Married: 1 DEC 1663

1. John BROKAW b: 1680

1. Title: Our Brokaw-Bragaw Heritage
   Author: Elise E. Foster
   Repository:
   Media: Book
   Note: Introduction