Ruth Woodword Swasey, born Sept. 6, 1788

I share 2 former blogs: first, a repost of a blog earlier this year, which is so full of joy! (A New Cousin!) and then a 2013 version....

A new (to me) fourth cousin!

Well, I did take this DNA test last year.  And maybe connected with a couple of relations.  It meant I had to make my Ancestry tree public, and that resulted in someone being able to post things to my tree (though I've been reassured time and again that's not possible.)  But not only were a lot of cousins added to my tree, they had photos added as well...and I know I hadn't put them on myself...because I'd never even seen them.  So my tree is again private, with a few relatives invited to have access as guests...and a friend also. Incidentally, I didn't find out a thing about my origins that was news to me with the DNA test results.

But my connections with my cousins seem to come through others seeing my ancestry tree...and maybe this blog.  I've been recently contacted by a fourth cousin, and had so much fun finding out about her family, as well as re-examing our ancestors in common.

Out great great great grandparents are Capt. Alexander Swasey, Sr. and Ruth Woodward.  Cousin Linda visited their graves recently in Newport, Rhode Island and took photos which provided new information on them.  These aren't just the birth and date information kind of news.

 There are 4 graves clustered in a row, and Ruth is next to Alexander.  Then there is another woman buried right next to her.  And the women's markers both say that they were the wife of Alexander!  So he had a second wife, which I'd never known about.

"Capt. Alexander G. Swasey," "Ruth Woodward, wife of Alexander Swasey," "Delany Clark, wife of Alexander Swasey,"  "Joseph D. Swasey, son of Alexander Swasey."  It is very strange to me that both Ruth and Delany only had their maiden names on their graves, though the "wife of..." was there also.  I wonder why. (And now that I think about it, these markers were given these inscriptions based on the memory of a surviving descendent...who we don't know at this point.)

Ancestry gives hints of new information on people, so I don't usually have to go looking for census, birth, marriage, death or city directory data.  But lately I'm having to scratch through many documents, and it's paid off.  The 12 children of Alexander and Ruth had very interesting lives.  I've found one son (William Pitt Swasey) who didn't die in 1843, but in 1890, and he's buried in New Jersey next to his wife.

Georgiana Sterne Swasey and Willliam Pitt Swasey, in Vine NJ cemetery

I found out their (Alex and Ruth Woodward Swasey's) eldest daughter, Delany Swasey, did marry before she died in in St. Mary's Georgia.  She married in St. Augustine FL according to the marriage certificate.

Alexander and Ruth Woodward Swasey had many grandchildren of course. I learned today that their 2 year old granddaughter, Mary Jane Swasey, had not perished at sea with Jerathmel Bowers Swasey and his wife and other daughter. Maybe she had not been on that ship for some reason, and though she was orphaned, she lived at least until she was 19, according to a census where she lived with another family of her mother's maiden name.

I could give you all the details, but I'm too excited today.  Not a good thing when dealing with all these little details.  So I'll just say how glad I am that I got contacted by my cousin Linda.
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A repost of a blog from: Friday, September 6, 2013

Ruth Woodword Swasey 1788

Happy birthday to the mother of Capt. Alexander G. Swasey, who was one of the men who went down to the sea as well as became a Confederate prisoner of the Union during the Civil War.

Ruth Woodword married Alexander G. Swasey Sr, who has a birthday later this month.  They had 12 children, (see below) including 2 sons who happened to marry two sisters, Georgiana and Harriet Stearn, about whom I found marriage records from Marblehead, MA.

I haven't been able to find any records about who Ruth Woodword's family was...and it makes me sad that she is just floating at the top of my tree, kind of out on a limb.  Her husband is noted in a history of the Swasey family as "a wood worker by trade, but engaged for many years in command of ship to the coast of China.," and his family tree does go back further.

But more information from the book gives children, which includes my grandmother's (Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers') grandfather, Capt. A. G. Swasey (Jr.) of the Confederacy.  The e-book is Geneology of the Swasey Family by Benjamin Franklin Swasey, 1910.

Ruth Woodword Swasey and Alexander G. Swasey, Sr. had the following:

CHILDREN
1. Delany D., b. at Newport, R. I., May 6, 1808; d. at St. Marys, Ga., July 27, 1833; m. Wil liam A. Creighton of St. Augustine, Fla.
2. Joseph Dean, b. Dec. 9, 1809; d. at Newport, Nov. 16, 1843.
3. Alexander G., Jr., b. April 14, 1812; d. at Charleston, S. C., March 26, 1866.  (**)
4. Sarah Lewellyn, b. May 8, 18 14; d. Sept. 20, 1815.
5. William Pitt, b. Aug. 20, 18 17 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa.; m. Aug. 6, 1843, Georgianna Sterne, b. Dec. 9, 1822. He was a sea captain and lived on Staten Island.
 6. Jerathmel Bowers, a carpenter, b. Jan. 1, 1820; lost at sea in passage to Georgia; m. Jan. 28, 1844, Harriet Elisabeth Sterne of Newport, b. Aug. 3, 1825; d. Jan. 7, 1848, dau. of John and Maria (Thurston) Sterne.
7. Charles A., a carpenter, b. Nov. 27, 1822; worked at his trade in Fall River, Boston and Newport; d. at Tiverton, Mass., May 26, 1882; m. at F. R., Nov. 22, 1842, Jeannette Church, b. in F. R., May 13, 1823; d. Nov. 15, 1895; dau. of Joseph and Hannah (Peckham) Church.  He was 5 feet 6 inches in height, thick set, sandy hair and beard, blue eyes and very vigorous.
8. Mark Antony, b. 1824; d. at Salem, Mass.; m. Sarah Ripley of Fall River.
9. Sarah Lewellen, b. in Newport, R. I., April 11, 1827; d. in New Bedford, Mass., 1853; m. 'n Newport, 1846, Albert Hammett, a lumber merchant, b. in Newport, Nov. 26, 1822, son of Edward and Mary Lyon Hammett.
10. Ruth A., b. May 31, 1828; m. Aug. 5, 1851, William D. James, a mechanic. He served four years in the Civil War. In 1872 they moved to Visalia, Tulare County, Cal., where he took up a quarter section of land under the soldiers' homestead law. They now reside there ( 1904) .
11. James Henry, b. July 6, 1832 ; d. at St. Augustine, Feb. 2, 1822.
12. Mary Jane, d. 1833.

** NOTE: I think the family which was followed by this author were Yankees (i.e. belonged to the Union in the Civil War,) because no marriage is mentioned, nor children of Capt. Alexander G. Swasey Jr.

Fortunately my grandmother did keep a few records.  But I still don't yet know who Ruth Woodword Swasey's parents were.

Sharing over to Sepia Saturday where others post interesting photos and stories from the past! (Link seems to not work, but try http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com)