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Breaker's Bio
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THE DESCENDENTS OF GEORGE BREAKER George Breaker (or Jeorg Broecker, as his name would have been spelled at the time), is my fifth-great-grandfather. Many Breaker family members record George Breaker being born in 1744 in Germany. This could very well be true, but there seems to be a conflicting information proclaiming George was born in Switzerland. Digging into genealogical records, I found a Joerg [or George] Braecker in Nappis, Wattwil, St. Gallen, Switzerland (very close to the German border), being christened on May 31st, 1741. This George married a Katharina Klaeger on March 12, 1766 in Wattwil, St. Gallen, Switzerland, and again to Eliza Carlton, on March 19, 1802 in SOUTH CAROLINA. Could this be our George? If so, George remarried only a few years before his death, for he died in St. James Goose Creek, South Carolina at the 18 mile house on February 28, 1804. His death notice reads, "Departed this transitory life, at the 18 mile house, Goose Creek, on Thursday, 23rd inst., after two days illness, Mr. George Breaker, a native of Germany, resident in his state forty years aged about sixty years. He was an affectionate husband and father, and his loss is truly great to his bereaved family. (Tuesday, Feb. 28, 1804). George had three sons: Lewis Frederick Breaker, Jacob Breaker, and John Breaker. He also had two daughters, whose names are unknown to me. My line comes from that of Lewis Frederick Breaker. Before looking at him, let's look briefly at Jacob, John, and John Jacob Breaker. JACOB BREAKER Charleston, S.C. Court records exist from 1819-1820, showing a JACOB BRAKER being sued by an Enos Tart for the sum of two hundred dollars in damages. However, the judgment rolls show Jacob paying only 150 dollars. What happened and what were the damages? Records tell of Jacob promising to sell sheep to Mr. Tart. However, and I quote, "...yet the said Jacob not regarding his said promise and undertaking, but contriving and fraudulently intending to deceive and defraud the said Enos in this behalf hath not rendered to the said Enos a just and true or other account of the sale of the same sheep or any part thereof of the moneys arising for such sale or any part thereof...craftily and subtilely to deceive and defraud..." (Sounds a little like the Jacob of the Bible when deceived Laban doesn't it?) Was Jacob innocent or guilty? A footnote on the court record states, "And the said Jacob by [unreadable name] his attorneys comes and defends the wrong and injury..., and says that he did not promise and assume in manner and form as the said Enos above hath declared against him and this he prays may be inquired of by the country..." I guess we'll never know if he's guilty or not. But the following words, written most likely by the judge, record Jacob did pay, "...To wit the seventh day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty one comes here into the court, the said Enos Tart the Plaintiff, by his attorneys aforesaid, and acknowledge to have received full satisfaction of the damages...and charges for which the judgment in this case was entered up, and therefore be the said Jacob forever discharged and so forth." Interestingly enough, The documents record Jacob residing in the 18 mile house (where George lived). Another court record from 1810 shows Jacob being sued by a Mr. Leguex for the sum of 500 dollars. It appears, as the records are so hard to read, Jacob stole a horse from Mr. Legueux, claiming it was a stray. Five hundred dollars being an exorbitant amount, Mr. Legueux dropped the amount to only eighty-five dollars and fifty cents. The court awarded the plaintiff only thirty-seven dollars, which Jacob paid in 1812. JOHN BREAKER If the records ended there, we might think well of Jacob. However, a court record from 1812 tells a horrible story. Both Jacob and John (either his brother or his son) were sued by a Charles Knight for the amount of 2000 dollars. The subpoena demands their arrest for the crime of, "...with force and arms they...shot a certain slave of the said Charles Knight of the value of one thousand dollars...and killed the said slave..." The jury found the following against John Breaker, "We find for the plaintiff against John Breaker for Seven Hundred and twenty five dollars with interest from the 28th December 1818, with court cost." Why did Jacob kill a slave? I have no idea, But Jacob somehow got out of paying for his crime, for the jury's judgment states only, "the said JOHN BREAKER is guilty in manner and form." JOHN JACOB BREAKER Who exactly is John Breaker? He appears to be the son of Jacob Breaker. In my studies, I have found two John Breakers. One is a John P. Breaker, while the other is a John Jacob Breaker, which would appear to be his son. The 1820 South Carolina census confirms this as it gives both a John P. Breaker with a Jacob Breaker. John P. died on April 21, 183? in his 49th year, while John Jacob Breaker died Dec. 6, 1830 at the age of 30. John Jacob Breaker, therefore, must be the son of Jacob Breaker. However, there is a monkey wrench in the works, as I found a marriage record from 1828 of a John. P. Breaker marrying a Mrs. Elizabeth Smith in St. James Goose Creek. How could John P. Breaker marry another woman while he's already married to a woman named Susan. Could there be John P. Breaker, Jr.? John and Jacob were not all bad, and must have accepted Jesus as their Savior later in life, as they attended the church in Goose Creek. Jacob (the father) married a woman named Susan (probably Middleton), and her tombstone tells us she was a member of the Chapel of Ease in St. James, Goose Creek for forty years, until she died Oct. 6, 1839, aged 63 years. Jacob and Susan had a son named Charles Middleton Breaker, a Baptist minister. I have a copy of his will, as well as Susan's. John Jacob Breaker married a Sarah C. Breaker (possibly a Cantey) and had a son named John William Henry Breaker. John Jacob's tombstone in South Carolina claims he died Dec. 6th, 1830, aged 24 years. I have a copy of his will also, which can be read below. LEWIS FREDERICK BREAKER Thankfully, I'm not from the line of either Jacob or John. I'm grateful to be from the line of Lewis Frederick Breaker, who seemed not to be a black sheep, but the pride and joy of the family, as he was a deacon at the Baptist Church, a farmer, a shoe salesman, a sheriff, a justice of the peace, a port warden, and also founder of the Baptist church in Key West, Florida.
SOURCES: 1790 Census of South Carolina showing George Braker 1800 S.C. Census showing a Sarah and William Breaken (Breaker?) 1810 South Carolina census showing both Jacob and Lewis Frederick Breaker 1820 S. C. Census records index 1820 South Caroliana Census showing Lewis F. Breaker 1830 S. C. Census showing J J Breaker (John Jacob) Charleston, S.C. map from 1788 survey Charleston as it looked in 1850 and brief history on Charles towne 1767 Judgment against Conrad and George Breaker Ship Passenger Index showing John Braker in 1765 Death of the daughter of Jacob Breaker in 1819 Record of John P. Breaker marrying Elizabeth Smith in 1828 1812 Judgment Roll against Jacob Breaker 1819-23 Judgment Roll against John and Jacob Breaker S.C. Archives Index of Jacob vs Tart Judgment roll for Jacob vs Tart in 1820 1824 Tax Statement for Jacob Breaker Deed for John Breaker buying property in S.C. in 1775 Will of Susan Breaker (wife of Jacob Breaker) Tombstone of Susan and John Jacob Breaker Will of Charles Middleton Breaker Baptist Beginnings and history of Goose Creek Church in St. James Goose Creek Info on what is now Berkeley County South Carolina Excerpts from Book "Some Historic Spots in Berkely," By Woman's Auxiliary of Trinity Church"
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