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New
Family Ties
If you have a copy of the last family history that
was published in 1986 by Birl Wilson and my grandmother
Martha Swisher Horner, you know that they were able
to research the family's history back to Pickaway
County, Ohio in 1815. I seem to have inherited the
"genealogy gene" from my grandmother and
have spent lots of hours trying to find our family's
roots beyond this time period. The Internet has become
both the most exciting and frustrating tool in advancing
family research - exciting because it makes so much
information immediately available, frustrating because
some of that information is either conflicting or
undocumented. The other tool that makes life easier
for genealogists is your nearest LDS genealogical
library. I can't say enough about the dedicated folks
who volunteer their time there.
The most fascinating find has been the tracing of
our relationship to a family of Swishers who originate
in New Jersey in the early 1700s. Equally surprising
was to find recently that another family researcher
- Stephanie Perry - had independently reached exactly
the same conclusion. While there are still some gaps
to be filled in, my friends at the Tacoma LDS library
tell me that the evidence of relationship between
our Benjamin Swisher and the Abraham Swisher family
of Knowlton, New Jersey is nearly 100% certain.
Abraham Swisher was born in 1741 and
he had at least one brother - Jacob, born in 1742.
Where they were born we don't know, but the possibilities
are Pennsylvania or the Rheinland on the border of
Switzerland and Germany. Abraham was married to Hannah
Christina Tittman in Sussex County (now Warren County)
Knowlton Township, NJ. They had twelve children. Abraham
was a farmer and also a Captain in First Division
of the New Jersey Militia during the Revolutionary
War. Many veterans of the Revolution were given lands
in the Western Territories as payment for their services.
Abraham seems to have taken this opportunity and in
1803 moved his entire family along with one of Jacob's
sons and his wife to Pickaway County Ohio. There he
continued to farm and raise his family. He died in
1828 and is buried in Harrison Cemetery.
Abraham and Christina's seventh child and fourth son
was Johannes (John) born in April 30, 1789. He is
often confused by other researchers with Abraham's
brother Jacob's son Johannes (John) who was born in
1781. We believe it was John, son of Abraham Swisher,
who married Catherine Martin in 1815 and who was the
father of our Benjamin Swisher.
We have quite a bit of circumstantial
evidence to confirm this, but no incontrovertible
proof. As the research continues, more will be uncovered.
I would dearly love to make a trip to Ohio to do more
in depth research, but for the moment that's out of
the question. Several of us are considering hiring
a professional genealogist to conduct a search of
Pickaway County records for more material. In the
meantime, my instincts tell me that this is the correct
lineage. Now we just have to confirm it!
Blood
will tell and we have the Presidents to prove it!
To look at a recently uncovered relationship of our
Swisher line to some US Presidents, click
here.
A Town is Born
Swisher, Iowa had its beginnings on the old Benjamin
Swisher homestead by Swisher Creek about 15 miles
north of Iowa City, Iowa. Benjamin Swisher had established
his farm there in 1841 and added more property as
time went by until he had acquired about 600 acres
of good land. He first built a log cabin, then a second
joined by an entry between them. A barn was built
in 1861 and the Forest Oak house around 1862. (I have
scanned an old map from 1913 that shows the location
of the house. Click
Here to see it.) Benjamin retired from farming
in the 1880's and moved in 1884 with his daughter
Catherine (Kate) and her husband Eugene Ballard to
Minneapolis, Kansas where a large number of his late
wife's relatives lived. Benjamin died in 1885. It
is unknown whether anyone in the family worked the
farm after Benjamin's death, but we do know that in
1903 it was decided among his living sons Abram E.,
Lovell and Stephen that the farm would be platted
form the town of Swisher. Below is the transcribed
article from The Iowa City Republican regarding the
event.
Note: It was this article in the family
history book that sparked the idea for the reunion!
Reading the date, we realized that the Centennial
was coming up in 2003.
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July
22, 1903
The old
Benjamin Swisher Homestead will be laid out
in town lots. A.E. Swisher, Lovell Swisher and
S.A. Swisher in company with Colonel Dows and
engineer Wardle of the C.R.I.C.& S. lay
out the town.
The
old Swisher farm in Jefferson Twp. 16 miles
N.W. of Iowa City, which has been known as the
Swisher Homestead since early pioneer days,
having been in the Swisher family for over sixty
years, will soon be divided into town lots.
A.E. Swisher, Lovell Swisher and S. A. Swisher
in company with Colonel Dows and Engineer Wardle
of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Southern
Railway were on the location this week and laid
out the town which will be known as Swisher.
The town has not been platted but will be soon.
The Swisher Homestead in Jefferson
Twp. became the property of Benjamin Swisher
in 1840, when he entered a claim for it and
it has been in the Swisher Family ever since.
It embraces a tract of 300 acres in one of the
best farming districts of Iowa. The electric
Interurban Railway will pass through the east
half of the farm. The town of Swisher will not
take in the entire farm.
The lay of the land is ideal for a town. IT
will be situated on a slight elevation, affording
a beautiful view for miles around. A creek runs
through the thract and it is situated in an
excellent agricultural district. The land is
of the best quality.
Mr. A.E. Swisher stated, to a Republican reporter,
that he had already had inquiries for lots from
prospective purchasers. It is the general belief
that Swisher in a short time will be a prosperous
little town. Elevators and lumber yards will
soon be built, and with the new railroad running
through it, the growth and prosperity of the
new town is assured.
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The
actual sale of lots did not occur until the following
year - on June 22, 1904. Iowa Citians and residents
of Cedar Rapids took advantage of a free train ride
and free lunch to come to Swisher and choose their
lots. A news story from the following day stated:
June
23, 1904
It was a great sale. Almost seven hundred
people go on the Excursion to the new town of
Swisher, Iowa.
The sale was most satisfactory, and fifty three
lots were sold. Best lots brought $275.oo. Sale
price averaged considerably over $100.00. The
town of Swisher, Iowa, on the C.R. and I.C. Ry
Interurban Line was the center of attraction in
this locality Wednesday.
The first passenger train over the new railroad
left Folson Cut at nine o'clock and carried about
300 passengers, stopping at Coralville, North
Liberty, and many crossings along the way. The
Excursion reached Swisher about 10:25 and then
proceeded to Cedar Rapids, where several passenghers
were taken on and brought back to the new town,
arriving at noon. From 12 noon to 1 o'clock lunch
was served to the assembled crowd, numbering about
seven hundred.
Attorney A.E. Swisher, when seen this morning,
stated he ws very much pleased with the result
of the sale and that it was very satisfactory.
Real estate men declared it decidedly successful.
From the way the lots sold, the future of the
Town of Swisher seems assured.
The town site includes 20 acres and about one-fourth
of this was sold, the Swisher Brothers receiving
$5400.00 from the sale. In all, 53 lots were sold. |
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