This Swafford thing is driving me nuts. I have previously found two groups of Swaffords I am related to. The Southern Swaffords and the Northern Swaffords. Now it seems there is a third group. I am currently working on putting together a family tree for them.
They are the James Marion Swaffords found here. http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/s/w/a/James-Robert-Swafford/GENE1-0001.html
Friday, March 31, 2017
Saturday, June 25, 2016
An interesting article with a confluence of coincidence (or is it).
I was reading a genealogy book and I came across an article which contains so many intersections for me I had to post them. This is a conglomeration of the [[GREER/ROBERSON]] and the [[SWAFFORD families in Bledsoe Tennessee around 1865]] questions. Both of these areas of research I have always thought were separate. Now, for some reason, they seem to come together here. Could be a coincidence, but very interesting.
It is from a book
SWAFFORDS OF SEQUATCHIE
VALLEY, TENNESSEE
THIRD EDITION
VOLUME 2
on page 1114 there is a photocopy of a newspaper (PAGE 10 - THE BLEDSONIAN BANNER. PIKEVILLE, TENNESSEE 37367 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,1987)
Roberson builds "Belleview" around 1820
The old Roberson brick borne, built by James
Roberson around 1820. was located about six
miles south of Pikeville near the Sequatchie
River, on the farm now owned by Clay Greer. The
family pictured is the Samuel H. L. Swafford
family before they moved to west Texas in the
late 1890s. Sam Swafford was s grandson of
James Roberson.
James Roberson a veteran of the War of
1812, was a large landowner and slave owner. The
home, known as "Belleview," stood until around
1930. Margaret Roberson, the fifth daughter of
James and Margaret Worthington Roberson, was
born and reared at the Roberson borne. She was
the great-great-grandmother of US. Congressman
Jim Cooper from the Fourth District of
Tennessee.
The photograph was submitted by the
Bledsoe County Histories] Society. It is owned
by Elizabeth Robnett, county historian.
Need to research the children of this famly:
Roberson-1119
It is from a book
SWAFFORDS OF SEQUATCHIE
VALLEY, TENNESSEE
THIRD EDITION
VOLUME 2
on page 1114 there is a photocopy of a newspaper (PAGE 10 - THE BLEDSONIAN BANNER. PIKEVILLE, TENNESSEE 37367 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,1987)
Roberson builds "Belleview" around 1820
The old Roberson brick borne, built by James
Roberson around 1820. was located about six
miles south of Pikeville near the Sequatchie
River, on the farm now owned by Clay Greer. The
family pictured is the Samuel H. L. Swafford
family before they moved to west Texas in the
late 1890s. Sam Swafford was s grandson of
James Roberson.
James Roberson a veteran of the War of
1812, was a large landowner and slave owner. The
home, known as "Belleview," stood until around
1930. Margaret Roberson, the fifth daughter of
James and Margaret Worthington Roberson, was
born and reared at the Roberson borne. She was
the great-great-grandmother of US. Congressman
Jim Cooper from the Fourth District of
Tennessee.
The photograph was submitted by the
Bledsoe County Histories] Society. It is owned
by Elizabeth Robnett, county historian.
Need to research the children of this famly:
Roberson-1119
An interesting article with a confluence of coincidence (or is it).
I was reading a genealogy book and I came across an article which contains so many intersections for me I had to post them. This is a conglomeration of the [[GREER/ROBERSON]] and the [[SWAFFORD families in Bledsoe Tennessee around 1865]] questions. Both of these areas of research I have always thought were separate. Now, for some reason, they seem to come together here. Could be a coincidence, but very interesting.
It is from a book
SWAFFORDS OF SEQUATCHIE
VALLEY, TENNESSEE
THIRD EDITION
VOLUME 2
on page 1114 there is a photocopy of a newspaper (PAGE 10 - THE BLEDSONIAN BANNER. PIKEVILLE, TENNESSEE 37367 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,1987)
Roberson builds "Belleview" around 1820
The old Roberson brick borne, built by James
Roberson around 1820. was located about six
miles south of Pikeville near the Sequatchie
River, on the farm now owned by Clay Greer. The
family pictured is the Samuel H. L. Swafford
family before they moved to west Texas in the
late 1890s. Sam Swafford was s grandson of
James Roberson.
James Roberson a veteran of the War of
1812, was a large landowner and slave owner. The
home, known as "Belleview," stood until around
1930. Margaret Roberson, the fifth daughter of
James and Margaret Worthington Roberson, was
born and reared at the Roberson borne. She was
the great-great-grandmother of US. Congressman
Jim Cooper from the Fourth District of
Tennessee.
The photograph was submitted by the
Bledsoe County Histories] Society. It is owned
by Elizabeth Robnett, county historian.
Need to research the children of this famly:
Roberson-1119
It is from a book
SWAFFORDS OF SEQUATCHIE
VALLEY, TENNESSEE
THIRD EDITION
VOLUME 2
on page 1114 there is a photocopy of a newspaper (PAGE 10 - THE BLEDSONIAN BANNER. PIKEVILLE, TENNESSEE 37367 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,1987)
Roberson builds "Belleview" around 1820
The old Roberson brick borne, built by James
Roberson around 1820. was located about six
miles south of Pikeville near the Sequatchie
River, on the farm now owned by Clay Greer. The
family pictured is the Samuel H. L. Swafford
family before they moved to west Texas in the
late 1890s. Sam Swafford was s grandson of
James Roberson.
James Roberson a veteran of the War of
1812, was a large landowner and slave owner. The
home, known as "Belleview," stood until around
1930. Margaret Roberson, the fifth daughter of
James and Margaret Worthington Roberson, was
born and reared at the Roberson borne. She was
the great-great-grandmother of US. Congressman
Jim Cooper from the Fourth District of
Tennessee.
The photograph was submitted by the
Bledsoe County Histories] Society. It is owned
by Elizabeth Robnett, county historian.
Need to research the children of this famly:
Roberson-1119
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Updates at Ancestry
Lately I have found a great way to do collaboration on-line with Ancestry. Though I am not sure how it appears to non-subscribers I have had a lot more success with it than using their messaging system.
This new feature is the COMMENT button. You can comment on photos or actual individuals in the tree. I have found most success adding comments to photographs which a lot of people have saved to their private trees.
Typing in a comment on a photo will send messages to all of the people with that photo in their tree. I use it to make connections and hopefully collaborate more. Also, when someone has incorrect information in their tree, or if the information is different from what I have, I can comment and get better response and much more immediate than waiting months to hear back from an email.
Try it out. I generally still try and get people on board at Wikitree, but at least this tool helps over at Ancestry for those not inclined to try out the Wiki.
This new feature is the COMMENT button. You can comment on photos or actual individuals in the tree. I have found most success adding comments to photographs which a lot of people have saved to their private trees.
Typing in a comment on a photo will send messages to all of the people with that photo in their tree. I use it to make connections and hopefully collaborate more. Also, when someone has incorrect information in their tree, or if the information is different from what I have, I can comment and get better response and much more immediate than waiting months to hear back from an email.
Try it out. I generally still try and get people on board at Wikitree, but at least this tool helps over at Ancestry for those not inclined to try out the Wiki.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Another little success
So I just wanted to share my latest little success with Wiki Tree and Ancestry DNA.
I had been looking at some Ancestry matches again, to see if I could figure out how we were related.
I tried a new trick where I opened an unknown match and then clicked on the "SHARED MATCHES".
Now for Ancestry, I am pretty sure that shared matches to them means people that not only are common between the two, but actually share the same portion of DNA... meaning you have inherited a specific chain of DNA that should be able to be traced back to an individual or marriage. (This gets rid of false matches --you might share a match with someone but are not related. For example, my first paternal cousin and my first maternal cousin both share me as a match, but are not related to one another.)
Now I took those matches and opened each in a new browser window and then arranged all of these windows on my desktop so I could easily compare all of their listed SURNAMES.
I found one SURNAME that stood out, and digging deeper, I found a specific ancestor that two of them shared.
I then took that ancestor's information to wikitree.com and looked him up. He not only existed on Wikitree, but one of his descendants had actually taken a 23andMe test and had entered that information in, as well as his GEDMATCH number.
From there it was a simple report from GEDMATCH which then confirmed my family is also related to this 23andME user, probably through this newly discovered WIKI relative.
I have yet to find the connection to me, but with little success like this, my brickwall is coming down piece by piece.
I had been looking at some Ancestry matches again, to see if I could figure out how we were related.
I tried a new trick where I opened an unknown match and then clicked on the "SHARED MATCHES".
Now for Ancestry, I am pretty sure that shared matches to them means people that not only are common between the two, but actually share the same portion of DNA... meaning you have inherited a specific chain of DNA that should be able to be traced back to an individual or marriage. (This gets rid of false matches --you might share a match with someone but are not related. For example, my first paternal cousin and my first maternal cousin both share me as a match, but are not related to one another.)
Now I took those matches and opened each in a new browser window and then arranged all of these windows on my desktop so I could easily compare all of their listed SURNAMES.
I found one SURNAME that stood out, and digging deeper, I found a specific ancestor that two of them shared.
I then took that ancestor's information to wikitree.com and looked him up. He not only existed on Wikitree, but one of his descendants had actually taken a 23andMe test and had entered that information in, as well as his GEDMATCH number.
From there it was a simple report from GEDMATCH which then confirmed my family is also related to this 23andME user, probably through this newly discovered WIKI relative.
I have yet to find the connection to me, but with little success like this, my brickwall is coming down piece by piece.
Monday, November 30, 2015
WIKITREE Sources
So over the past couple days I have been in a discussion about WIKITREE sources.
I love WIKITREE because the goal is to have 1 person per record. We can all work on those records, together, and all of our research is contained in one place.
Recently, however, I have come under fire because I have been adding information without proving the information was correct.
The information I have been adding did not conflict with any information that was already there, it was based on research that someone else did, and was at least marginally supported by DNA evidence.
I was told on multiple occasions to cease and desist, but I am not willing to give up.
I have posted a couple of links to my discussions there. Your input would be appreciated. I really believe I am right on this topic and am frustrated that I cannot see the other side. I chalk it up to me being a computer geek and the others being scientific genealogists. I embrace open source and they embrace control.
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/198440/are-bad-sources-hunches-and-incorrect-information-to-banned?show=198459#c198459
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/198347/dna-from-ancestry-site-for-source
I love WIKITREE because the goal is to have 1 person per record. We can all work on those records, together, and all of our research is contained in one place.
Recently, however, I have come under fire because I have been adding information without proving the information was correct.
The information I have been adding did not conflict with any information that was already there, it was based on research that someone else did, and was at least marginally supported by DNA evidence.
I was told on multiple occasions to cease and desist, but I am not willing to give up.
I have posted a couple of links to my discussions there. Your input would be appreciated. I really believe I am right on this topic and am frustrated that I cannot see the other side. I chalk it up to me being a computer geek and the others being scientific genealogists. I embrace open source and they embrace control.
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/198440/are-bad-sources-hunches-and-incorrect-information-to-banned?show=198459#c198459
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/198347/dna-from-ancestry-site-for-source
Sunday, November 8, 2015
DNA Success
So this week has been a wonderful success for me. Even though I did not find anything new about my past, I did help someone identify their grandparents.
Last year I got a close match on myself and my father's cousin. When we started discussing our past, it turns out she was trying to find her birth mother's parents. Her birth mother was adopted at birth in Oregon and the only information we knew was that her name was Dolly.
Well I have been doing this a while, and I had a pretty good handle on my Oregon based families, so I thought I would help. Plus, I will say it again, that Facebook is an amazing tool for genealogists. (I just wish they would make it easier to post old photos and label them with peoples names, dates and locations. )
Anyway, recently she had her father tested. Because she shared her DNA results with me, I was able to begin looking at her matches in earnest. One of her close matches that did not match her father, did not match any of my relatives. I knew this person would be my best bet. Looking at the persons tree, I noticed a surname that was familiar to me. My great grandmother's sister had married into that family.
Following my great grandmother's sister's husband up one generation, I was able to find the MRCA between the adoptee and the match that didn't match me.
This was very strong evidence that the adoptee was a product of the marriage of my great grandmother's sister.
After a little research I noticed that I had stopped researching my great grandmother's siblings descendants. I have found that finding living descendants from my ancestors on Facebook has provided enormous insight. Also, there is so much more you can get from speaking to people on the phone, that you will ever get just searching online.
After some search we were able to get some more descendants of this marriage online, but alas, no real insight. It seems the family splintered and really did not keep in contact.
As I searched each of my grandparents siblings, I noted that I had actually spoken to Betty, one of the wives of the family a few years ago on the phone. I decided to give her a call and pose the question to her just to see. I asked her a couple side questions I had, then popped the big one. "Have you ever heard of an adoption in the family?"
"Well that would have been Dolly" she said.
Wow. Talk about excitement. Confirmation, by name. Turns out Dolly had a couple marriages and three more children she was able to raise. I got phone numbers and gave them to the cousin who was looking.
Betty said, "You know I never said anything before because some people like to keep that sort of thing hidden. I am not even sure her children know of that baby. It is only because you asked, that I told you."
Betty is 90 years old. We have yet to talk to the surviving children, I am going to leave that up to the adoptee, but the fact is, had we never gotten spoken to Betty, and the surviving children don't know about the child, it might have been a long time before the mother was actually identified.
Lessons learned and reinforced, research and contact all of the descendants and speak to the elders.
Last year I got a close match on myself and my father's cousin. When we started discussing our past, it turns out she was trying to find her birth mother's parents. Her birth mother was adopted at birth in Oregon and the only information we knew was that her name was Dolly.
Well I have been doing this a while, and I had a pretty good handle on my Oregon based families, so I thought I would help. Plus, I will say it again, that Facebook is an amazing tool for genealogists. (I just wish they would make it easier to post old photos and label them with peoples names, dates and locations. )
Anyway, recently she had her father tested. Because she shared her DNA results with me, I was able to begin looking at her matches in earnest. One of her close matches that did not match her father, did not match any of my relatives. I knew this person would be my best bet. Looking at the persons tree, I noticed a surname that was familiar to me. My great grandmother's sister had married into that family.
Following my great grandmother's sister's husband up one generation, I was able to find the MRCA between the adoptee and the match that didn't match me.
This was very strong evidence that the adoptee was a product of the marriage of my great grandmother's sister.
After a little research I noticed that I had stopped researching my great grandmother's siblings descendants. I have found that finding living descendants from my ancestors on Facebook has provided enormous insight. Also, there is so much more you can get from speaking to people on the phone, that you will ever get just searching online.
After some search we were able to get some more descendants of this marriage online, but alas, no real insight. It seems the family splintered and really did not keep in contact.
As I searched each of my grandparents siblings, I noted that I had actually spoken to Betty, one of the wives of the family a few years ago on the phone. I decided to give her a call and pose the question to her just to see. I asked her a couple side questions I had, then popped the big one. "Have you ever heard of an adoption in the family?"
"Well that would have been Dolly" she said.
Wow. Talk about excitement. Confirmation, by name. Turns out Dolly had a couple marriages and three more children she was able to raise. I got phone numbers and gave them to the cousin who was looking.
Betty said, "You know I never said anything before because some people like to keep that sort of thing hidden. I am not even sure her children know of that baby. It is only because you asked, that I told you."
Betty is 90 years old. We have yet to talk to the surviving children, I am going to leave that up to the adoptee, but the fact is, had we never gotten spoken to Betty, and the surviving children don't know about the child, it might have been a long time before the mother was actually identified.
Lessons learned and reinforced, research and contact all of the descendants and speak to the elders.
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