Look Again

Family History work is detective work. Each source we find has clues about a person’s life that we can piece together to show a broader picture.  What’s so interesting, is that as you learn more information with each source, documents that you’ve already found can tell you something new from the new information you just learned. Let me try to illustrate this better as it’s happened to me twice in the last few months.

I have looked at this census record for as long as I have been working on my Swain family (almost 12 years) –

It’s the 1880 census of McNairy, TN.  My 3^rd great grandmother Mary M.C.Swain  is living next door to her son M.F.L. Swain and wife, Margaret. (M.A. Swain). These are my 2^nd great grandparents. Recently, however, I discovered that Mary M.C. Swain’s daughter, Nancy, married a J.T. Morris. When I went to discover them on the census, guess what! They were on this same census, also living next door to Mary M.C. Swain! All that time I’ve looked at that census and never realized that two of her children were living next door to her.

Tonight, I had a similar experience. I was teaching a family history class and brought examples of the types of documents that give you clues about your ancestor. I brought this marriage record of Milus Swain and Margaret Detheridge which I have looked at a million times but not in the last year. Today, however, I noticed that the witness to their marriage was J.T. Morris, which now I know as the husband of Milus’ sister. 


It's so important to keep looking over the documents you have already found as you get new information. You never know what will catch your eye.

Milus Swain’s Grave

Findagrave.com has 115 million photos of tombstones from around the world. I found the photo of my great-great grandfather, Milus Swain's grave here. He's buried in the Floydada, Floyd, Texas cemetery. He died after falling from a windmill when he was 64 years old. He left a wife and 17 children, 7 of which were still minors.  

 
There were a few things that struck me about this gravestone when I first saw it. First, the interesting shape - the knobby protrusions, the leaves at the top. It's ornate, but in a peculiar way. At the top of the headstone it says "Woodman of the World Memorial" with a latin inscription of "Dum Tacet Clamat". Underneath that inscription, there's an engraving of a compass and square with a G in the center. I figured all these things were symbolic, so I did a little online research. Most of the time grave markers may tell us some important key dates about an individual, but our great great grandfather's grave tells us more.


First of all, "Woodmen of the World" is the name of a fraternal organization that was started in 1890. It was basically a very early insurance company that provided a death benefit for the family and also helped others in need. As part of that death benefit, members would be given a tombstone in the shape of a tree, which accounts for the oddness of my 3rd great grandfather Milus' marker. I'm sure his widow, Kate, appreciated that death benefit and his desire to plan for the unexpected and help her be more financially secure after his fatal fall.  "Dum Tacet Clamat", means though silent he speaks. This was often found on every "Woodmen of the World Memorial" inscription.

I looked to see if the compass and square engravings were standard on most Woodmen of the World markers and they are not. This must have been requested by him or his family. The inscription of the compass and square is the most common of the Masonic symbols, and it stands for "faith and reason". One website said, "The square in the Masonic square and compass is a builder's square, used by carpenters and stonemasons to measure perfect right angles. In Masonry, this is a symbol of the ability to use the teachings of conscience and morality to measure and verify the rightness of
one's actions. 



The compass is used by builders to draw circles and lay off measurements along a line. It is used by the Masons as a symbol of self-control, the intention to draw a proper boundary around personal desires and to remain within that boundary line.

The letter G usually found in the center of the square and compass is said to represent "geometry" or "God.""

Whether he was actually a Freemason I suppose is up for further research, but why would he use a Mason symbol on his tombstone unless he valued its meaning and why would it mean something to him if he wasn't a mason.

Finally, my favorite part of his gravestone is the simple phrase that doesn't take any research to figure out, "He died as he lived, a Christian".


I LOVE to see the faith of my ancestors. His headstone tells me so much more about him and the type of man he was. Obviously a man of principle, who was guided by truth, conscience and morality, and had a central belief in God and Jesus Christ as well as a man of integrity who acted the way he believed.

I look to my dad, my aunts and uncles and cousins and have often thought about the good men and women they are. I feel lucky to rub shoulders with all of them, but it's no wonder they are such good men and women when we see the legacy that has been left for all of us.

As a side note: Findagrave.com is a site where volunteers take photos of headstones and upload them so others can see them. It's all volunteer! I'm very grateful for the volunteers who have made it possible for me to learn more about my ancestors through these photos. A cousin I correspond with, Davine Harding from Texas, has photographed over 15,000 graves. My hats off to her and all the work she's done as well as all others!

Howe Swain's Passport Application from 1797

I was indexing Passport Records today from the early 1920s and was curious what kind of collection FamilySearch.org already had available. The passport records contain so much interesting and detailed information - including birth dates, birth places, description of the person, names of kin, a possible photo . . . I secretly hoped I might find my own ancestor in the records I was indexing.

The collection Familysearch has already available isn't searchable yet but you can browse through the (3 million!!!) records. So, I started browsing. On image 60ish (and about where I stopped for the night) I found this image . . .

If my family is related to the Swains of Nantucket this could very well be a cousin of someone in my direct line. Notice the date . . . a passport from 1797 for a Captain Howes Swain!! It's obviously not as detailed and informative as the passports from the 1900s but it's still cool.

To check out the passport collection go to: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2185145

To learn more about how to help index (the way to make records searchable online) family history records: https://familysearch.org/indexing/

Jailbirds

What a family I come from! This story is great. It's about the sister of our third great grandfather, Milus Swain. Her name was Permilla Rebecca Swain, otherwise known by friends and family as "Aunt Puss" (I want to know how she got the nickname).

Wagon Spokes by Billy Wagoner

On an autumn day in 1865 the following story was enacted, The great war between the States had ended in April - a company of soldiers was stationed at Purdy. Reconstruction had begun. Capt. Samuel Lewis had been appointed Sheriff of McNairy County and Federal soldiers were guarding the jail. One was on guard at all times. Among the prisoners in jail was a young soldier, Rufus Brown, son of 'Railback' Brown, who beat John V. Wright 1 vote for Rep. of McNairy County. They had accused 'Railback' of voting for himself after they had agreed each would vote for the other. The name 'Railback' was derived from his long back and short legs. Young Rufus Brown's wife, Elzette, was grieved very much about her husband being in jail. One day she and Permilla Swain, better known as Aunt Puss Hair, were in the field picking cotton. Permilla said: 'Elzette, we will just go up to Purdy and get Rufe out of jail!' So here goes the plan, She said 'We will go to see Rufe and I will carry an extra dress and bonnet. When we get ready to leave, Rufe will walk out with me, and you will stay inside the jail". The plan worked. Rufe, dressed in women's clothes, but as he could not wear women's shoes, had to wear his boots out. Permilla being about 6 feet tall, her dress was long enough to cover the boots fairly well. They walked out by the guard and to their horses hitched near the jail. They mounted as quickly as they could and started to ride off at a rapid pace. About that time the guard discovered the trick and began to shoot. That excited the horses, and at the sound of guns Permilla's horse ran down the road about 2 miles. He was stopped by old man Garner, a freight hauler from Crump to Purdy. The guard said afterwards he thought at the time that it was a 'damn long nosed woman coming out of the jail'. As soon as Rufe got to the branch below the jail he leaped off the horse and took to the woods. That of course left Elzette, his wife, in the jail. They threatened to keep her but she argued with them that she must get home to her baby, that it would starve unless she could get to it. Her argument prevailed - they released her and she journeyed to her home a happy woman. (Editor's Note: The above story was given to me by Mr. A.L. Gaddy, Bethel Springs, Aunt Puss was his grandmother and lived to be 91. Elzette died many years later, Rufe and his brother Ephraim, went to Arkansas. Rufe died in a short time and Ephraim became a prominent lawyer and was County Judge at Jonesboro.)

I'm proud to be related to such do-it-yourself-ers! As a note, the Rufus Brown in the story was Permilla and Milus' cousin. Also, I guess we know that height comes from our Swain line.


Thanks to Davine Hardy and Ron Gaddy for sharing this article and photo with me.

John Swain and all those Girls

Milus and Katy Swain, Parker or Knox, TX circa 1905.
click on the photo to see it larger

Meet my great-great grandpa, Milus Swain. He's the tall man on the right. 

And then meet my great-grandpa, John William Swain
or Willy as they called him, he's the boy on the left.  

John had six older sisters ( his oldest sister died of  pneumonia at the age of 1). When John's mother, Margaret, died when he was three, his father, Milus, remarried the woman in this photo, Katy Stimpson. It would take 8 years and four more daughters ( although it looks like five from this photo) before another male Swain would come along. John must have learned early how to get along with women! By the time he left home he had lived with two mothers, ten sisters, and his step-mother's mother (from census records it looks like she lived with the family for over 10 years. She's in the photo in black). After this photo, the girl streak ended. Six more children were born to Milus and Katy, but only one more daughter.

Milus had even more women in his life. He was the man of the house for his three older sisters and widowed mother before he was even 7. And then he ended up having 11 daughters of his own. So when my brother, a Swain, who's expecting his first child asks whether I think he's having a boy or a girl. . . I have to say, it's going to be a girl!

A big thank you to Ron Gaddy for sharing this photo. This picture comes from his grandmother, Louella Hayre. She is the daughter of Milus' sister, Permella Rebecca Swain.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Mary M.C. Swain (1825-1895) and William W. Swain (1826-1864) of McNairy, TN
Parents of Parmilla Swain Hair, Sarah Caroline Swain McBride, Nancy Swain,
Milus Leroy Franklin Swain (my direct line) and William Harvey Swain.

Happy Valentine's Day! Doesn't this couple look like they are in love??!! ;)
Coincidently, today also marks 150 years since the man above was killed scouting out the territory in Mississippi during the Civil War.

I never thought I would see a picture of my great-great-great grandparents, but after sending the document I found last week to a relative who I noticed was working on my Swain line, she sent me this picture. Turns out she and I are third cousins with the couple above as our common grandparents. Her aunt, who was a great-granddaughter of Mary M.C. Swain, had this photo in her collection. Thank you Davine for sharing this awesome picture. Putting a name with a face, seeing family resemblances, being able to look at their eyes (and working together with third cousins) . . .it's what makes learning about my family fun.

She sent me another picture that was in another aunt's collection; however, it's unknown who the picture is of. Of course I'm hoping someone will tell me it's Milus Swain, my great-great-grandfather, but that would be wishful thinking! The picture comes from William Harvey's family, brother of Milus Swain. I'm sending this photo out to cyberspace with the hope that someone will recognize the individuals.

Anyone know?

And speaking of pictures,  if you haven't checked out the photos section of familysearch.org you should! It's a free account. Make a log in, sign in, enter in your first few generations until it ties in to other people's family lines and see if anyone has added pictures of your family (click on" memories" at the top and then "people" on the submenu). I've added about 30 pictures of my grandma's family and so anyone related to me would be able to look at those photos. It's pretty neat!

William W. Swain and the Civil War

Mary M.C. Alexander Swain made claim for lost
property during the civil war. p27

What this one document shares about my 3-Great Grandfather's life is incredible.

Here's the background of this story:
In 1872 my 3rd great grandmother Mary M.C. Swain made a claim for lost property during the civil war. Several of her horses were taken for the conflict and she was trying to get compensated $900.00 for the loss. She went to court and was asked several questions about her past and her husband's [William W. Swain] experience in the war. This page is her response to one of the questions and this is what it says:

"My husband left home and went north to the state of Illinois and there enlisted in the Union Army in the state of Illinois sometime in the fall of 1861, and was in the fight at Fort Henry and Danalson, and soon after that he was taken sick and discharged from the Servis at Cincinatti and then came home about October 1862 and he then went to scouting for the Union Army in this county and on the 14th day of February 1864 he was killed by the Rebels, he was under General Hatch at East Port Miss. when he was killed."

William W. Swain must have felt strongly about the Union's cause to join in the fighting all the way in Illinois. He lived at the time in McNairy, TN, a boundary county between Tennessee and Mississippi. Then, being sick and discharged, he was home only long enough to get well and turned around to serve again where he could. His wife's brother, and a neighbor at the time was said to be a "rebel" and William was a "loyal" which shows how close the conflict came and how intense the feelings were at the time. After reading further, I learned that William's own brother Edwin was killed fighting in the confederate army and five of his nephews (from 3 of his siblings) also fought with the confederates.


An even more interesting part of this document can be found several pages later (p. 32) describing how the confederate army treated Mary and her family upon learning the news of William's enlistment into the Union army.

"In 1861 when my husband first went North and the news came back that he was in the Union Army they threatened to take our land and sell it for the use of the confederate army or government. And in the month of June 1862 Major Houghton of the rebel army came to our house, and told me that if my husband did not come up and deliver himself to the confederate army that he would burn everything we had. And in 1864 some were under Skinner (a rebel commander" came to our house and gave me 10 days to leave in or they would drive me out of my house and burn up the place, and they threatened to take my daughter and hold her in prison until my husband gave himself up to them, but they did not do either."

To see what this document proves about the Swain family line you can go to this post: myfamilylines-swain.blogspot.com

Source: Southern Claims Commission, McNairy, TN, Claimant: Mary M. C. Swain, Claim # 17779, 

Date: 12/05/1872, page 27, accessed here on 2/07/2014 http://www.fold3.com/image/632929/ There are 43 pages to this document.

Explanation of Southern Claims Commission: NARA M1407. The Southern Claims Commission denied these claims by southerners seeking compensation for property loss. They were barred or disallowed for a number of reasons.