SW AYNES DESCENDED FROM FRANCIS SWAYNE OF EAST MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP CHESTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA COMPILED BY NORMAN WAL.TON SWAYNE Greal:-greal:-greal:-great:-great:-grandson Eldest: ir: line of succession from Francis SECOND EDITION 1955 PRINTEC BY STEPHENSON - BROTHERS PHJLACELPHIA, PA. 1955 FOREWORD TO FillST EDITION The compilation of' this book, a work extending over a period of' seven years, has been net without some pleasurable incidents in addition to the satisf'action which always comes with getting any job completed. Persons asked f'or inf'ormation have been f'riendly and unsuspicious usually, but not always. Once while the author and an elderly Swayne were engaged in poring over a f'amily chart, by aid of' which relationships were being traced, the good wif'e of' this Swayne appeared in the doorway, very evidently out of' harmony with the proceedings. "What's the matter," said she in gloomy tones. Upon being assured--by her husband, not by the author --that nothing was the matter, she moved of'f', utterly unappeased, remarking as she went, "Well, it's mighty f'unny when strangers get to writing to each other." This incident may explain why some of' the Swaynes to whom letters were sent have chosen not to answer. It is likely, however, that most o~ these, a rather small minority of' all those who received requests f'or in­ formation, were merely indif'f'erent, and bad little inf'ormation, anyhow. A letter addressed to Dr. Swayne and Son, of' St. Louis, Missouri, brought the astounding news that the writer, who signed himself a Swayne, had been born 1742, married in 1784, never bad a father, and that nearly all of' his relatives worked as bartenders or other saloon employes, or would have done so if' such relatives bad existed. Soon after this, newspapers re­ ported that a St. Louis man, whose name was not Swayne, had been fined thirty dollars for adulteration of Swayne's Panacea and other me~.icines. Another letter, this one to a New Yorker, brought this reply: "I regret to say that I cannot give you any inf'ormation which might be of serv­ ice to you." The name Swayne, although it appeared both in his letter and in the directory, was not on his business card. There, only his Christian name was used. The two cases just cited suggest that some of those hiding behind our good name did not receive it from their fathers- When it becomes desir­ able for any person to discard one name and ·choose another, caution dictates the choice of one which is at least respectable. Those of us who have in­ herited Swayne as our surname may therefore feel complimented. At least one Swayne, according to the Louisville, Kentucky direc­ tory for 1915, was dark in color. One instance of a slave holding Swayne is recorded in this book. It is likely there were others. That a f'reed slave should assume the surname of' his former master was usual. It is regrettable that the author was unable to get into correspondence with this negro Swayne. Many correspondents have shown anxiety--even as great as that of the author--to get in the correct vital statistics for themselves, their an­ cestors, or their children. Probably the most extreme case was that of a man who suggesten the desirability of' postponing publication for a f'ew months in order that his expected child might be included. Such people as these show--at least from the genealogist's point of view--a proper pride of race and stability of character. - i - It must be admitted that a work like this is exceedingly liable to errors. Many of' the names and dates have passed through copyings by sev­ eral bands. In each copying there vas the chance of' an error in f'igure or letter, and also the possibility of' the incorporation of' a new idea in spel.2.­ ing. 'Where data concerning certain members of' a family have been obtained f'rom more than one source, the dates, and even the names, have of'ten dif'­ f'ered slightly. This f'ac+. casts doubt upon other data gathered f'rom only one source. Moreover, one can never be sure that such a work is either com­ plete, or up-to-date. There is no doubt whatever that some of' Francis ·Swayne's line are not even mentioned herein. Nor could all of' the tribe be expected to ref'rain f'rom marrying, reproducing and dying during the period of compilation. In spite of' these limitations the author hopes that the book may be of interest and of' service to the co~pa.ratively f'ew Swaynes who are liv­ ing, and the potentially large number of' them yet to live, who me.y vant to learn something about their ancest~rs and other relatives. The cost of' publishing has been born :principally by 253 Noah Haynes Swayne(6), who f'urnished $1075, which vas believed to be the balance needed. Three other Swaynes, 254 Francis Boi:d Swayne(6), 360 Samuel Edvard Swayne(7), and 438 Albert W:..l.liam Swayne( 8), contributed $100 each. Those who read are indebted to these men. They are also indebted to the many interested correspondents, who pa.instakjng]y copied records f'rom old family Bibles and other sources. With­ out this co-operation, from widely scattered parts of' the country, the gene­ aolgy could not have been compiled. N. W. S. George School, Peililsylvania October 1st, 1921 - ii - FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION While the title now is somewhat dif':ferent f'rom that in 1921, which was The Descendants of' Francis Swayne, and others, the main body of' this compilation amounts to a revision and extension of the main body of' the 1921 com-pilation, which contained the descendants of Francis Swayne. Descendants of the others are not now included.· These others, for whom no connection with Francis Swayne had been discovered by 1921, had shorter lines of descendants than he, most~y twenty or :fewer in each line. There were nine of them, as follows: 601 Abner Swayne; 701 James Swayne of Delaware; 801 James Swayne of Virginia; 901Fral:lk Swayne, 1001 Charles Richard Swayne; 1101 Charles Swayne; 1201 David Swayne; 1301 Robert Swayne; 1401 Thomas Sws.yne. There has been no further search on any of these. However, it is now believed that one of the nine, 701 James Swayne of Delaware, is identical with 73 James Swayne of the 1921 compila­ tion, who is 72 James Swayne now. ConsequentJy his descendants will be found herein. Most of the added names are of those Swaynes believed to have de­ scended :from 28 Robert Swayne of the third generation, :for whom no children were known in 1921. More than two hundred of' these, named Swayne, and more than one hundred with other surnames, ha,ve been :found living in Ohio, in the three Pa.ci:fic states, and in many of' the states on the way west. Robert was a youngest son, had no land in Chester County, so :far as found, so those after him became pioneers. Since the whole number of' Swaynes in the present work, descended :from Francis Swayne, is less than nine hundred, and those with other surnames less than six hundred, those :from his grandson 28 Robert, all discovered during the ten years just past, amount to more than one fifth of the whole. There are here new names and :facts :from many other branches, :for the search has now covered forty years and included an added generation, as well as thousands of hours with old newspapers and documents not used by 1921. However, not all lines have been :freshly covered. Much fuller accounts are here than those of' 1921, especially :from Chester County, partly the results of further search, partly :from the deci­ sion to include more. N. W. S. Newtown, Pennsylvania October 21st, 1954 iii 1 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUI'ION OF THE NAME The name Swayne appu-ently comes from various sources, and is one of a large number of variations. The Anglo Saxon swan, a pastoral servant, and the Scandinavian Sweyn or Svein, a proper name originally of the same meaning, have given rise to thl:l names Swayne, Swaine, Swain, Swainson, Swainston, Swanton, Swaysland, and perhaps Swann and Swan. These names im­ plied strength of youth. S-.reyne, deri;.-cd from the Welsh swyn, a charm, b.3.s probably been converted into one or more of the other forms. The Irish Suibneach, meaning the spirit of the strawberry plant, was parent of many variations, including Sweeney, McSweeney, McSwiggin, Swiney, McSwiney, Swain, MacSwain, Swayne, and names spelled and pronounced similarly. The Scottish MacS-.reyn was apparen.tly an unusually direct ofi'shoot of the Scandinavian. So any S;.ra.yne can hardly be positive from what source his name has come to him. However, the strong probability is that most of us have come from the Scandina.via::i. The name, introduced into Britain as a Cbristian name at, or probably before, the time of the Norman conquest, soon developed into a surname. Sweyn and Sweynson had been common in Denmark for ages previous to that. The well known ascendency of the Danes in Yorkshire from the time of Ethelred, A. D. 868, probably accounts for that district being the principal habitat of the modern versions of the name. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Filius Suani and Fitz-S\o-ain are found in England. Early in the twelfth century Adam Fitz-Swain or Swainson was lord of Hornsby Castle.