Mary Bowers Swasey

She was the oldest living ancestor that I know of.

enlargement of directory

No wonder her tree had her death as "unknown" for the longest time.  And so did all the other trees over at Ancestry.

The widow Mary Swasey, Mrs. Joseph Swasey, that is, lived on High St. in a boarding house in Boston MA in 1823.

High St. is now covered by tall buildings in downtown Boston, no more boarding houses.
Did Mary really live to 104?

She was born in 1719, in Somerset, MA, married Joseph Swasey in 1744, and had their first child in 1745.

There is a history of the Swasey family published, (Link here) which says this about her husband..

 Joseph Swasey, shipwright, Bapt. in Boston, Mass. Aug. 12, 1714; died in Somerset, Suffolk County, Mass; bef. 1801; married,daughter of Jonathan & Ann Sylvester Bowers, of Swansea, Mass. She was of Spanish descent.  Feb. 20, 1790, Shewamit (or Somerset) was set off from Swansea & formed a separate town.  Joseph, removed with his family to Salem, where he lived until 1749.  He followed there the trade of hatter.  In that year he bought Swansea of John Palmer, 10 acres of land on Taunton River for which he paid ~1300 O.T.

He put up a set of buildings, including a hat shop, built a wharf & engaged in shipbuilding, floating his craft down to Fall River.  The dwelling house occupied by the family for 3 generations was taken down several years ago.  The old cellar & the broad stone step still remain to mark the site.  The "Swasey burying ground" occupied about an acre of the original lot, upon which are many tombstones that mark the resting place of his descendants.

In 1758-9, he was a private in his Majesty's service from the Province of Massachusetts, in Capt. Stephen Whipple's Co;  Col. Jonathan Bagley's Regt; for the reduction of Canada.  In 1801, his estate was divided among his heirs which included the widow, sons Jerathmel & Joseph heirs of his son Samuel, & daughter Hannah.

So we know that Mary lived at least until 1801 since she was mentioned in Joseph's will. 

The question I have (which will remain unanswered today probably) is why she didn't stay in Somerset living with her children, but instead is located down in Boston in the midst of the city at a boarding house, on her own apparently?

So now I'll have to pursue some census reports of her children...to see where they were by 1823.

Gideon was born first, in 1745 in Salem, before they moved back to Somerset/Swansea.  There is only that one mention of his birth on Ancestry, so I don't have any other information about him.

Hannah was born next, in 1747 in Swansea MA, and her descendants are mentioned in Joseph's will.  Her first husband was Surbinas Palmer and they had 5 children.  She married Henry Bragg also, unknown date.  Her children have birth dates listed, but only one has a death date, and no other information seems available about them. Hannah had died before 1801, as it was her descendants mentioned in her father's will.

Mary and Joseph Swasey's third child was Joseph Jr. born in 1750 in Swansea MA. One source lists him as Major and taking part in the American Revolutionary War. He married and had 4 daughters. He died April 1, 1816.  In The History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton, he is noted as the Town Clerk in Ipswich.

The next sibling was Lt. Jerathmel Bowers Swasey (who became my ancestor) born in 1752 in Somerset.  He married Sarah Hellon and they had 3 children. He was active in the Revolutionary War.  Jerathmel lived in Somerset until 1826, with his wife and all 3 children outliving him.

Son Samuel Swasey was born in 1755, and appeared in the 1790 census of Somerset, living with 2 females (ages not indicated) and one other male.  He did marry and have one child, Stephen Simmons Swasey, according to the current information over on Ancestry.  He died in 1797.

And Peter Swasey, their youngest child, was born in 1757 and died in 1778, unmarried.

So in that will of Mary's husband, Joseph, two sons are living in 1801, Joseph and Jerathmel, and the descendants of Samuel and Hannah, who are themselves deceased.

Between 1801 and 1823, a lot happened in the state of Massachusetts.  And a lot happened in the Swasey family, I would imagine.  The War of 1812 was one historic event.  So mother Mary Swasey ended up living at least till age 104, in Boston in a boarding house.  I can see several elderly women in my line having made just that kind of choice being opinionated women, and many offspring having their own ideas about things.

The Bowers children of Somerset

I shared some photos of houses of the Bowers families in Somerset, MA yesterday.

Here's an older post with some more photos that might be of interest. Ah, the Somerset Bowers!

Jonathan Bowers (Capt.) (1673-1750) and his wife, Ann Sylvester Bowers, (1669-1745) had their first child, Anne Bowers in 1695, who died in 1696.

Second, Benanuel Bowers was born in 1699 and lived till 1752, having 3 children of his own.

Third child of the Jonathan and Ann Bowers family was Jonathan Bowers Jr (1) born 1701, died 1702.

Fourth born was Benjamin Bowers (Rev.) who had 10 children before dying in 1775.

Their fifth and the second Jonathan Bowers Jr. was born in 1708 and lived till 1775, having 2 daughters.

Sixth born was George Bowers, in 1710-1752, with one child noted.

Seventh, Elizabeth Bowers married but had no children, and she lived from 1711-1771.

Eighth Henry Bowers (Esq.) married and had 8 children with his first wife. He lived from 1716-1790 and married a second time at age 44.

Ninth, Mary Bowers was born in 1719 and married Joseph Swasey in 1744...to become my ancestors.  She died sometime after 1823, when she was in a census of Boston living in a boarding house, age 104, listed as widow of Joseph Swasey.  They had 6 children.

Tenth and the last child of Jonathan and Ann was Jerathmel Bowers, born in 1720, lived until 1799 and had 4 children.

This week I've enjoyed getting to know the Bowers of Somerset.  By the time Jonathan and Ann Bowers might have counted their grandchildren (had they lived to see them all) they had at least 34.

I'm sorry to have left out the names and dates of the wives and husbands of most of these Bowers...not to mention those of the grandchildren.  But I want to check out a few more in my direct line which I don't know enough about, before going astray again to learn about cousins!

Somerset MA with Jonathan Bowers Jr. home on l, and Henry Bowers Esq. home between the masts of the Sullivan.  Of note is that Ann Sullivan Bowers was the mother of Jonathan and Henry. Perhaps the ship was named for her father.

Grissell Brinley Sylvester's ancestors

More matriarchs from 16th Century (a repost and extended edit from March 2015)

Yesterday I shared information about the Sylvesters of Shelter Island, Capt. Nathaniel and Grissell Brinley Sylvester.  Note I'm spelling her name as it is documented as her signature, presumably by her own hand.  She had many sisters and brothers, and moved to America after her sister Anne Brinley married the Governor of Rhode Island, William Coddington.

11) Grissell Brinley Sylvester's parents were 12) Thomas Reeves Brinley, born 1591 in Exeter, Devon, England, died 15 Oct 1661 in Datchett, Buckinghamshire, England and 12) Anna Wase Brinley b. 1606 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 13 Jun 1687 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England.  

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley is well documented as the "Auditor General of the Revenues of King Charles I and II."  He left England during the English Civil War by Cromwell, and returned to his post for King Charles II, but died a year later.  (I think I need to dedicate a post to this man, since there must be source material telling about his life)

12) His wife, Anna Wase Brinley had 8 children, and also went with her husband when the revolution of Cromwell made Royalists unpopular, and lived into her 80s probably back in her home of Datchet.

Her parents were 13) William Wase b. May 1580 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 19 September 1642 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England and 13) Ann Cole Wase b. 1582 as recorded in St. Leonard, Heston, London, Middlesex, England, death unknown.  Apparently Ann married 13) William Wase when she was about 16 in Petworth, Sussex, England.  There is no other information on her at Ancestry at this time.

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley's mother was 13) Joanne Reeves Brinley (his middle name from her) b. 1563 in Exeter, Devon, England, Death in Exeter, Devon, England. His father was 13) Richard Brinley, b.1559 Willinghall, Stafordshire, England. 13) Joanne Reeves Brinley's father was 14) Richard Reeves, about whom we know nothing.

An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae

Exeter has a wonderful history, dating from Roman times and before...and I can't begin to explore all that is in this town.  The map above would have been how it looked during Joanne Reeves lifetime.   

Exeter Cathedral, completed 1400

Looking back to the Sylvesters of Shelter Island, I just want to show their connection to my family.  Their daughter 10) Ann Sylvester married 10) Capt. Jonathan Bowers in 1695. (Yesterday I showed some pictures of their home in Somerset, MA, built in 1723.)

 Their daughter, 9) Mary Bowers married 9) Joseph Swasey, my five times great grandfather on my  grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers Tree. (My numbering system has my grandchildren as generation 1), thus I'm 3). I am not sure it's always accurate however!)