"Once You Get Beyond Your First Cousins, It Doesn't Really Matter"....

"Once You Get Beyond Your First Cousins, It Doesn't Really Matter".

Recently it occurred to me that it was 10 years ago that I began my serious search for my family history.  I had always been interested in my ancestry and thankfully, I came from a family of "packrats" that kept many pieces of historical documentation, photographs, and family Bibles.   I had always known my great grandparents names so I had a good beginning, and as evidenced by a room full of binders and a wall covered with "First Families of...." certificates I clearly became an avid researcher of my genealogical history.
I have had some people question why it is so important to me to discover my ancestry. Early on, a friend said, "Once you get beyond your first cousins, it doesn't really matter".   But, I didn't believe that and I still don't. Based upon what I have found, I think it proves that like many people,  I am a living part of the history of America.   In the past 10 years, here is only a fraction of the things I have learned about "who I am":

 My DNA is 38% Irish. Of course the Irish branch of the tree is the one that is trying to grow through that huge brick wall.
 I am the 5th great granddaughter of a man that was hanged for being a Tory in 1781, even though most accounts agree that he was probably not guilty. 
 I am the 2nd cousin, 5 times removed of a good friend of Abraham Lincoln's.  So good in fact that the president once spent the night in his shed because my cousin's home had burned to the ground.
  I am the 4th cousin, once removed of the man in whose honor Mt. Swadener is named.  He was the navigator on the first plane that landed at the geographic South Pole.
My 5th great grandfather was first settler in Union Township, Clinton County, Ohio. He arrived there in 1801 with his rifle and his horse and cleared 200 acres of land for farming before going back for his wife and six children.
 I am the descendant of at least 4 Revolutionary War Patriots, 1 Soldier of the War of 1812, 1 Civil War Veteran, a Cavalry bugler in World War I, and a Korean War B-29 Radio Operator. .  I have relatives who marched through the French countryside and flew over German skies to victory in two World Wars.
  I also admit to having a slave owner in my ancestry, but I also proudly boast several abolitionists.
  I have founders of churches of numerous denominations, with a strong belief in a living God.
 Sadly, I have cousins who were victims of vicious crimes and also several who committed crimes of a heinous nature.

 In the last 10 years I have become a grandmother (twice!), I have lost a long term job, my husband went to school and began a new career at the age of 57, AND  my life has also become so much richer because I have come to know grandparents, aunts, uncles, and yes, cousins, distant though they may be, because of my love of genealogy.   I have come to appreciate my place in the history of my country because of my own history. 
So, yes my friend, once your get beyond your first cousins, I believe it truly DOES matter.  So, open up that binder, fire up the computer, and start searching!

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Jacob and Anna Margaret Swadener

For today's Tombstone Tuesday, I am sharing the final resting place of Jacob and Anna Margaret Swadener, the grandparents of Charles E. Swadener, the attorney whose story I shared in an earlier post.  Jacob and Anna are my 3rd great grand uncle and aunt.

Jacob Swadener was born on 27 November, 1786 in Libertytown, Frederick County, Maryland, the son of Henrich (Henry) and Elizabeth Sentsor Schwedner.  By 1840, he was living in Van Buren Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, with his wife, Anna Margaret, and sons William and Michael (M.J.).  His oldest sons, Valentine and Abraham had not come with them.  They may have died in Maryland, but I have found no official records.
Jacob owned his farm in Van Buren Township, where he appeared on the US Census records until 1860.  Anna Margaret died in 1861 and Jacob followed her two years later.

They are buried in David's Cemetery, Kettering, Ohio.

Black Sheep Sunday ~ From Golden Goose to Black Sheep in One Afternoon

The gentleman pictured above is my 2nd cousin, 3 times removed, Charles Edward Swadener. I "discovered" Charles about a month ago, while I was spending a couple of hours searching for information on random last names in my family tree.  On that particular afternoon, I had decided to research the maiden name of my maternal great great grandmother, Clarinda Swadner, using the various ways it has been spelled throughout the years.  Using the "SWADENER" spelling, I began to search a newspaper resource.  I first discovered an article about Charles' father, Michael Swadener, whom I learned had once been the sheriff of Montgomery County, Ohio.  Feeling a sense of pride in the fact that one of my ancestors had been an early "lawman" in my hometime, I began to search for more information about Michael and his family.  Almost immediately,  in the 1882 Beers History of Montgomery County, Ohio, I found a biographical paragraph about Charles Swadener, attorney at law.  What a shining story it was!  Charles has been born in Dayton in 1853 and had attended the St. Mary's Institute and had been determined to study law.  He was accepted into the bar in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1874 and had formed several law partnerships in the city of Dayton.  He had married Leila Duel, a holder of Bachelors and Masters Degrees herself.  The final line of the biography states  "In his profession he is noted for his devotion to his clients' interests and this combined with his comprehensive knowledge of the law and correct application of its principles has carried him into important professional relations."  After reading this, I was feeling quite smug about my family member; especially since I had been writing recently about so many family scandals.  I saw my next blog post in my mind, "Charles Swadener, Attorney in the Family".  If my research had ended with that biography, that post would have probably been written.

 But, then I found the small article printed on page two, column 1 of the 18 December, 1895 edition of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.  It began  "RUIN AND DISGRACE".

You've got to be kidding. I couldn't believe what I was reading. The article began with the facts that Charles had been disbarred, was "shorn of all his former fortune, disgraced socially, his wife and children in want" and that he was a "physical and almost mental wreck".   Charles Swadener, my 2nd cousin, 3 times removed, just two years before the date of this article, was worth over $200,000, was a prominent and well respected citizen of Dayton.  Now, I was discovering that because of poor real estate investments, he had gone deeply into debt and to try to hide this debt he had begun embezzling the funds of his clients, to the tune of $90,000.  According to the article, he had to sell everything he had and even his family gave up some of their own belongings to try to pay his debt, but he still owed thousands.  His plea of guilty led to a sentence of one year in the penitentiary.   Oh shoot. There went my bragging blog post.

I was curious what happened to Charles afterwards.

Interestingly enough, on the United States Census form of both 1900 and 1910, Charles is listed as living in Dayton, with his occupation listed as "lawyer" and "attorney".  He is living with his wife, daughter, and servant, Sadie.  Obviously, Leila must have truly loved Charles since she stood by him and waited for him to come back home to her and it seems that he was able to come home and pick up the pieces of his life and become an attorney again.  I hope the victims of his crime were able to do the same.

According to his Ohio death certificate, Charles died on 9 September, 1910 from interstial nephritis with contributory arterio sclerosis. He was buried in Dayton's historic Woodland Cemetery.  Lela lived until 9 January, 1927, when she died in Chicago, Illinois.

I learned many things during that afternoon of work; not the least of which was to make sure I have researched everything I can about a subject BEFORE I start to write.  But, I guess I could still brag about the "lawman" in my family!

Tombstone Tuesday - Little Julia Swadner

This is the gravesite of Julia Ann Swadener, daughter of Caroline Routsong and Samuel Swadner of Van Buren Township, (now Kettering) Montgomery County, Ohio. It is located in David's Cemetery.

She died August 12, 1856 at the tender age of 4 years, 25 days.

The inscription states "Ere sin could blight or sorrow faid
Death came with friendly care.
The opening bud to Heaven convaid
And bade it blossom there."