Monday, June 4, 2007

Dear Cousin He...:
Here Is Our England Connection for Our Ancestors
>>>EBENEZER JAMES SWAINSTON was born the 24 March 1850 - Darby Hall, Kingswarden, England
Died 7 March 1913 in Stettler, Alberta, Canada at the age of 64.
Married - HARRIET ANN HUGHES - IN THE ENDOWMENT HOUSE IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,on the 7th April 1881.
HARRIET ANN HUGHES was born the 1 Sept. 1864 in London, Middlesex, England.
She Died on the 10 July 1921, in Marysville, Idaho at the age of 57.
She Married Her 1st & Only Husband when she was 16 years of age. SHE HAD 13 CHILDREN ! AUNT MYRTLE YOUR GRAND MOTHER, WAS # 5 >
She was born in Smoot, Wyoming, on their 2nd Homestead !
And MY MOTHER MABEL WAS # 9 was born in Thayne, Wyoming in 1899, on their 3rd Homestead !
I THINK I WILL MAKE COPIES OF THE FAMILY GROUP SHEET THAT I AM GETTING MY INFORMATION FROM !? IT WAS COPILED AND WRITTEN BY MY MOTHER, IN HER OWN HAND WRITING, back before Copy Machines were even thught of !?
My Mother Passed Away back in 1963 ! I am the Youngest of the Five Children that she had !? And there are ony 2 of us Left here on the earth ! My Brother Lyman,( who was named after Dr. Lyman Horne, inasmuch as He Save His Life, when He was Born !? And So My Mother Named Him Lyman ) Lyman is now 77, and I will be 73 on the 19th of June.
AND I AM ALSO SENDING To YOU > VIA SNAIL MAIL > THE 5 PAGE ARTICLE THAT I HAVE WRITTEN UP AND ENTITLED "THE SAGA OF EBENEZER JAMES SWAINSTON " And I am sending it out to alot of Swainston Cousins. And we will be having Our (Bi) Semi Annual Swainston Family Reunion on the 22nd & 23rd of June in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.You have A Wonderful Day,

Sincerely

Your Cousin

Alfred Swainston Cordon

Sharing Family History

Wayne
I have cantacted Lois Bernard who also is a Thomson to ask her about sharing her email address with you. She has done a lot of family history research and has expressed a desire to work with others in putting together family history. In interacting with Lois and Tony I have found them to be very fun cousins. I have asked Lois if she would contribute to the blog. Wayne if you would like to contrubute some fun and interesting (somthing you are excited about) family history you are welcome to email it to me an I will post it.

Thanks

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Intruduction to this Blog

This blog is created for the descendants of George Swainston and Mary Groom. There are two types of entries that are hoped for to be put on this blog. First is authenticated history with sources and who is furnishing the history. The book "A Swainston Family History" that Theron Lane Swainston Jr. published in 2003 is a good example of authenticated histories. The book is 530 pages but only has brief entries for many family members. It is hoped that this blog can be useful for the family histories, legacies and traditions which can be shared with multiple generations.

The second type of entry is the stories that are not authenticated. As my great Uncle Harold put it, or maybe it was my great Uncle Bill, (both sons of Heber Swainston) there is no reason ruining a good story by sticking to the facts. An example is a story that is told of Uncle Bill. He had horses and beef cows. The story goes that one day a man came and wanted to buy a horse from him. So they went out to look at the horses. The man picked out the horse he wanted and Uncle Bill told him "You don't want that horse. It doesn't look too good."
The man said "No, that is the horse I want."
Uncle Bill countered "No, that horse doesn't look to good"
The man countered "That horse looks fine for me."
At that Uncle Bill agreed to sell him the horse.
The next day the man was back and very upset. He accused Uncle Bill of selling him a blind horse.
Uncle Bill told him "I kept trying to tell you it didn't look to good."
At a Heber Swainston and Rosa Lane reunion about 5 years I told the story to Max Palmer a grandson of Uncle Bill. Max said he had never heard that story before. Viva, Uncle Bills youngest daughter was standing nearby so I asked her if the story was true. She said the story about the horse was not true. It was a cow.

My father, Heber Campell Swainston, said that the early reunions he remembers there were many stories that didn't necessarily stick to the facts. I think it is important to share these stories too but I point out that if they are not authenticated then They must be concidered as one which is not bound by the facts.
I have been a officer in the George Swainston and Mary Groom Family Orgainization for the last six years. During this time I have pondered the legacy of our grandparents. In 1852 they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while living in Beachwood Green, Hertfordshire, England. They had the desire to emigrate to Utah. It took 20 years for the family to save enough money to send Albert George Swainston the oldest son to America. It only took a year in America to earn enought to go back to England and bring his next younger brother Ebenezer James Swainston back to Utah and Idaho with him. Over the next six years they worked together to earn enought for the rest of the family. It took until 1882 to get the whole family to America. Mother Mary insisted that she would be in the last group to leave, refusing to leave any living child in England. Mary's resolve over 30 years is a legacy and inspiration to me.