Sweaney Family Tree

The Meyers Family Origins

2011-12-15T06:50:00.000-08:00

The first immigrant in the Meyers family was Jacobus (Jakobus) Meyers (Meiers) who was born April 1740 in Germany and died 17 March 1794 in what is now Orange County, New York. At the time of his death Orange County, New York was actually part of New Jersey (Sussex County).

His baptismal record states his father was Antonius Meier and his mother was Adelheidus Mullegangs. (Found on familysearch.org)

Jacobus married Annaejte Bruyn (Anna Bruyn): 2 children recorded -- Jacob Meiers and Anna Magdelena Meiers (Meyer).

The son, Jacob Meier (Meyer) was born 1764 in Wallpack, Sussex, New Jersey. He married Sarah Cortright (Kartright) on 5 March 1789 in Sussex, New Jersey. Sarah had 10 children: Henry, Frederick, John, Josiah, Margaret, Roxeny, William, Mahala, Belinda, and Elisabeth.

I. Josiah Myers (father Jacob, mother Sarah Cortright).. was born 24 March 1789 in Wallpack, Sussex, New Jersey. He was baptized two months later in the Dutch reformed church exactly two months later in what is now Orange County, New York (was Sussex, New Jersey). He married Anna Whiting on 21 May 1811 in Sussex, New Jersey. He died about 1860 in Gloucester, New Jersey.

II. Jacob William Myers (Josiah, Jacob) was born 8 May 1833 in Sussex, New Jersey, which is now part of New York. (birth certificate states New York). He married Adelia V. Woods before 1859 in New York. He died 6 March 1917 in LeRoy, Osceola, Michigan.

notes about Adelia Woods: see Obituary on Adelia Woods at findagrave here.

III. Horace M. Myers (Jacob, Josiah, Jacob) was born abt. 1861 in New York (probably Stueben, New York). He married Mary BARR Bailey on 30 Sept 1893 in LeRoy, Osceola, Michigan. He died 1 Sept 1894 in Howell, Livingston, Michigan.

notes: died before son was born.

IV. Frank Burton Meyers (Horace, Jacob, Josiah, Jacob) was born 16 Nov 1894 in West Branch, Ogemaw, Michigan. He married Velda Marie TEAGUE 23 June 1926 in Talmage, Otoe, Nebraska. He died 16 Jan 1897 in Pendleton, South Dakota.

Frank Burton Meyers

notes: was raised the first years of his life by his mother Mary Barr and stepdad Charles Burton, but they were poor, and as a juvenile, he was raised as a foster child to Charles and Maggie Somerlot (1910 Census). He fought in World War I and is buried in Black Hills National Cemetery (Memorial for Veterans) in Sturgis, South Dakota.

V. Viola Marie Meyers was born 31 July 1929 in Talmage, Otoe, Nebraska. She married Harold Wayne SWEANEY in 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. She married Eugene HELEEN abt 1957 in Aurora, Colorado. She died 11 July 1998 in Aurora, Arapahoe, Colorado.

What's New

2011-12-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Just Added on findagrave.com

New Memorials for Adelia V. Woods Myers and soon to be update on Jacob W. Myers. See sidebar also for link to my findagrave memorials.

Obituary -- James Elroy Lundy

2011-12-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Taken from legacy.com

James Elroy "Jim" Lundy passed away Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, at his home in Mackay.

He was born in Burkburnett, Texas, to James Edward and Clara Esther Lundy.

He met his wife, Rita Labrecque, in California, and they were married March 6, 1950, in Yuma, Ariz. They were happily married for 60 years until Rita passed away in 2010.

His career spanned a variety of aerospace-related companies over the years, working as a machinist and manufacturing planner.

In 1971, Jim and Rita bought a farm near Mackay and moved their family and future there. Jim loved living in Mackay and working the land, designing and building improvements for his farm such as diversions, underground irrigation systems and outbuildings. He was a master wood craftsman.

He attended the Mackay Community Church and was a member of the local Masonic lodge.
Jim is survived by his sons, Gordon and Brian; daughters-in-law, Diane and Cindy; and his grandchildren, Kiera, Ryan and Cameron.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. today, Dec. 2, at the Mackay Community Church in Mackay. Internment services will be in Chilly Cemetery, located near Mackay.
Arrangements are under the direction of Lost River Funeral Chapel in Arco.

Pierce Family may have been American Indian

2011-12-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have come to a stumbling block when it comes to the Pierce family. When I first researched this family originally from Anson County, North Carolina, I assumed they were part of the Pearce family that was descended from William the Conqueror of England through Henry Hotspur Percy and Mary Plantagenet, but now I am wondering, after finding some of the family in the 1880 Census in Chicasaw Nation, Indian Territory in Oklahoma, I wonder if possibly they were American Indians who may have taken the name Pierce from the Pearce's of Anson County, North Carolina, who came to Tennessee around 1842, then to Wood County, Texas in the 1850s.

James Waferd PIERCE was born in 1820 in Anson County, North Carolina. He married Louisa SELLS (I found her surname among death records of children on familysearch.org). She was born 1822 in Tennessee. From looking at SELLS death locations on findagrave.com, I came to find the name SELLS with some burial records in Wood County, Texas who were freemasons (the letter G engraved upon a triangle that looks similiar to the insignia of Star Trek).

James and Louisa had four children: Mary, Benjamin, Ann, and Martha. I am not sure whatever happened to Ann, but Mary married George Washington Gilbreath, the sister of Frances Elizabeth Gilbreath, the wife of Benjamin Pierce, Mary's brother. Martha went to marry Charles Attaway, where I found the 1880 Census in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, Oklahoma.
Judging by photos of my Great -Grandma Zenobia, who was one of the daughters of Benjamin Pierce and Frances Elizabeth Gilbreath, I can tell she once had dark features and high cheekbones, features that were incomparible to the Native American Indian. Perhaps her Pierce family being from North Carolina were of the Cherokee Indian Tribe or perhaps they were the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, where Benjamin Pierce and wife Frances lived for a time and died (Stephens County, Oklahoma).

More about the Chickasaw Nation on wikipedia here.
Many of the Chickasaw Tribe came from Hopewell, South Carolina, then along the Missisppi River, through Tennessee, then to Oklahoma, where most Chickasaw live today. Moses Pearce, who married Jemima Robinson was one of those who was born in South Carolina. His son Joseph Hiram Pierce (wife Elizabeth Amanda Smith) is believed to be the father of James Pierce (Benjamin Franklin Pierce's father).

American Indians in Alleghany, Pennsylvania

2011-11-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Upon Researching my American Indian Family, the Thompsons, I have found only a couple of Indian Tribes of Pennsylvania that could match my queries of where my family came from.

There are two types of American Indian tribes of Pennsylvania that I have strongly considered to be my ancestors: (see Pennsylvania Indian Tribes), the Delaware and the Iroquois.

I lean more towards the Delaware, because they settled along the banks of the Alleghany, and with invitation of the Huron tribe, they were allowed to settle along the banks of the Ohio River as well. As far as I know, Sarah Ann Thompson Sweaney, my 3rd great grandmother, related that she was born in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, even though Census records have her in 1840, the year of her birth, in Cumberland County, as her father Jeremiah Thompson, the head of the household, and also in 1850, where names are listed in Cumberland County, as well.

I am inclined to believe that the Thompsons may have been Cherokees of New York, since Cherokees were also part of the Iroquois nation, and perhaps they settled in New York, or came there from the southern states like Georgia.

I could also be inclined to believe my family derived from the Tuscaroran tribe of Pennsylvania, who came from North Carolina, then traveled to New York, then Pennsylvania in the early 1700's.

Of course, through research, I have found that the Tuscaroran tribe as well as the Delaware tribe of Indians intermixed with the Cherokee, and therefore this is why Cherokee Indian nations have been found in Pennsylvania.

The website of Cherokee Nation of Pennsylvania has the text for the treaties that were struck between the white man and Cherokees in Pennsylvania. Here is the website link: http://www.secherokee-confederacypa.org/treaties.html. One of the signers is a man by the name of John Thompson, probably just a coincidence, but who knows?

Here is my Thompson family tree line:

I. Jeremiah Thompson, possibly a child of Elizabeth Thompson (found in 1830 Census, Cumberland County, PA) was born in 1817 in Pennsylvania. He died 20 March 1897 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras County, Ohio. He married Louisa Whitcomb before 1840 in Pennsylvania.

Children listed are:
1. Sarah Ann Thompson b. 6 Jan 1840 in Upper Allen, Cumberland Co., PA d. 16 May 1923 Chanute, Neosho Co., KS

2. Adam E. Thompson b. 1. Sept 1842 Cumberland Co., PA d. 5 May 1917 in Tuscawaras Co., Ohio
3. Caroline Thompson b. Oct 1844 in Cumberland Co., PA d. 6 July 1918 in Tuscawaras Co., Ohio
4. Jeremiah Thompson b. 1848 in Cumberland Co., PA
5. Eliza J. Thompson b. abt 1850 in Cumblerland Co., PA
6. Mary "Mollie" Thompson b. abt 1854 New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras Co., Ohio
7. Amanda Thompson b. 29 April 1855 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras Co., Ohio d. 10 March 1931 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras, Ohio
8. Andrew P. Thompson b. 29 April 1855 in Tuscawaras Co., Ohio d. 20 Nov 1934 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras, Ohio
9. Josephine Thompson b. 21 Sept 1860 in Tuscawras Co., Pennsylvania d. 4 Oct 1936 in Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio

II. Sarah Ann Thompson married Frederick Sweaney. See Sweaney family descendants

II. Adam E. Thompson married Isabella Moore. Children listed are Frank and Charley Thompson.
link info on Adam: 1880 United States Census
                             Ohio Death Records on FamilySearch.org (image included)
                            1900 United States Census
                            1910 United States Census
                            Ohio County Marriages (image included)

II. Caroline Thompson stayed single her whole life. She is listed in the 1880-1910 U.S. Censuses in Tuscawaras Co., Ohio (listed on Familysearch.org).
link info on Carrie: Ohio Death Records (FamilySearch.org)
                             Ohio Death and Burials (county infirmary)

II. Jeremiah Thompson was married to Alidiah Ohler on 28 Nov 1872 in Tuscawaras, Ohio. Found widowed in 1880 Census with children, Emmit and Emory listed.
link info on Jeremiah: 1880 Census (FamilySearch.org)
                                Marriage record (FamilySearch.org)

II. Amanda Thompson married Tillman Miller on 8 Sept 1878 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras, Ohio.
link info on Amanda: marriage record (familysearch.org)
                                1880 United States Census
                                Ohio death record (familysearch.org)
                                1900 United Stated Census
                                1920 United States Census
                                1910 United States Census

II. Andrew P. Thompson married a woman by the name of Louisa. One son is listed: Roy.
link info on Andrew: 1900 United States Census
                                Ohio Death Records (Familysearch.org)
                                1930 United States Census (w/ sister Josephine)
notes: I believe Roy died in 1900 and may have been sickly after he was born in 1888. Andrew is listed as divorced in the 1900 Census and I am wondering if it has anything to do with having an ill child, which can be a strain on the marriage.

II. Josephine Thompson married (1) Joseph Ashbury Carnahan 9 Jan 1881 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras, Ohio. (2) Joseph Henry Crites 29 March 1888 in New Philadelphia, Tuscawaras, Ohio.
     links on Josephine: Ohio Death Records (FamilySearch.org)
                                  Ohio Marriage Records (FamilySearch.org)
                                  Ohio Marriage Records (FamilySearch.org)
                                  1900 United States Census
                                  1920 United States Census
                                  1930 United States Census
children listed between Josephine and Joseph Carnahan: Lester, Lucinda, Harry
children listed between Josephine and Joseph Crites: Walter, Erma and William Henry.

Grandma Viola (Sweaney) Heleen

2011-11-03T08:02:00.003-07:00

My Grandmother, Viola, was born Viola Marie Meyers to parents, Frank Burton Meyers and Velda Marie Teague on July 31, 1929 in Talmage, Nebraska.

Her father, Frank Meyers, was born and raised in Michigan, and at a very young age was sent to live with George and Maggie Somerlott, who were foster parents and took him in when his mother, Mary (Barr), and her new husband Charles Burton, were poor and couldn't provide for him and his new half siblings together.

Frank enrolled in the United States army and fought in World War I and probably met Velda when she was staying or visiting with her Aunt Elizabeth in Nebraska.

It was when the family was in Oregon where Velda divorced Frank (for reasons of which I will not reveal here) and the children were taken to live with their grandparents in El Derado Springs, Missouri.

The family eventually moved to Denver, Colorado, where her Aunt Josie and family were living and where she met George Flinn and married him.

This is where Viola grew up during her "teenage" years and then visiting her family in California, she met Wayne Sweaney, an officer in the U.S. Navy who fought in World War II.

My grandfather Wayne was a ladies man, but to honor his memory, I will not go into this further. My Grandma divorced him and remarried to Eugene Heleen.

I did not know my Grandmother as a teenager or adult, but these things I know about her. She hugged me really hard as a child, this is how I know she loved me very much. She had bright red hair and was at one time a very attractive woman, even after she succumbed to muscular sclerosis, which complicated her life, where she had to live her elderly years in a nursing home.

She once was a championship roller skater and she loved her children and grandchildren greatly. She died in July 1998 of pneumonia, unable to speak

Photos of my Grandma Viola below:

Viola, age eight, Oregon; ca. 1937

Viola and Wayne Sweaney, just married; 1949

Viola; 1947-48; Colorado Springs, CO

Viola Meyers; ca. 1946-47; Colorado Springs, CO

Edgar Sweaney and Children

2011-11-03T08:02:00.001-07:00

Edgar Sweaney; ca 1890, KS

Edgar Sweaney was my 2nd great grandfather, who was born in February 1861 to Frederick Reginald Sweaney, a Union Private in the Ohio infantry during the Civil War, and Sarah Ann Thompson, a full blooded American Indian woman descended from the Iroquois language tribe of Native American peoples.

He was the eldest in a long line of siblings including those who survived to old age: Susan, Maggie, Adam (Shirdon), James (Clinton), and William (Anderson) Sweaney ((Nelly Mae and Harry Grant dies as infants and Dolly died in early adulthood).

The Sweaneys were natives of Tuscawaras County, Ohio in the city of New Philadelphia, where their forefathers, The Moravian Sweaneys settled after moving there from Pennsylvania. The Sweaneys moved to Chanute, Kansas where Edgar grew up into a man and married his first wife, Florence Adaline Rhoades and had two children: Charles Alvin and Victor Vernon Sweaney.

This marriage did not last. In 1896, Edgar met Clara Esther Carter, and a few months after conceiving their first child were married. I am not sure if this was a topic of controversy, but I have found this in my findings as I have matched dates to prove this fact is true. The child born was my great grandfather, Elmer Sweaney, who I never knew, and died in 1951 of Lung Cancer in Caldwell, Idaho. Two other children were born of this marriage: Melissa Lorene (Owen, Molyneux) and Fred Reginald Sweaney (born in Oklahoma).

The family lived in Oklahoma before moving to Texas, where this marriage fell apart, and Clara married the Sweaney's old neighbor of their Kansas address, James Edward Lundy.

I am not sure why the entire family, even after the marriage fell apart, moved to Washington State, but they are all there in 1910, not too far from each other, but in separate counties, where Elmer is shown in both Edgar and Clara's household in 1910.

Edgar remarried a third time to a divorcee, Rachel Emanda Martin (Thacker) and two daughters were born, June Louise (Galbraith) and Vivian Doris (Scott).

Edgar died in 1938 of Stomach Cancer (as stated in his death certificate -- carcinoma of the stomach).

Photos of Edgar posted below. You can see the prominent features of his American Indian heritage:

Edgar Sweaney ca. 1910; Brewster, WA (dog, Ansor)

Edgar Sweaney, 1930s, probably before he died w/ daughters, Doris and June.

How DNA helped me put the puzzle pieces together

2011-11-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is DNA results and excerpts from a court case that helped me link Sweaneys and Wards together: (see end of document for explanation:

Taken from RootsWeb Archives:
The discovery that the Y DNA of descendants of Nathan Ward of Prince
George's Co., Maryland and Grayson Co., Virginia matches that of the
descendants of W006 Thomas Wells of Prince George's Co., Maryland has
raised the question of an almost 300 year old "non-paternal event."
The information I've found on the Internet about Nathan Ward's father
of record, James Ward, is a real mess. Rather than go into that can of
worms at the moment, here are some of the actual records I have been
able to glean about James Ward, his wife Susanna(h) Swanson and George
Wells, son of Thomas of Prince George's County, Maryland:

--10 Dec 1714 James Ward of Prince George's County planter and
Susannah his wife [formerly called Susannah Swanson] of the one part
and George Wells of the afsd county planter of the other part - land
called "Swanson Lot" in Prince George's county, [Deed book E - pp
331-332 Maryland Hall of Records] (Dr. Francis Swanston of Calvert
County patented Swanson's Lot, 17 Jul 1670, in that part of Calvert
which became Prince George's County)

--30 Mar 1719 Ordered that the clerk summon George Wells and Susanna
Ward to attend the vestry on Sunday the 12th April after the sermon
touching their living lewdly and uncontinently together. [page 60,
Queen Anne Vestry Minutes]

--12 April 1719 Then appeared George Wells and Susanna Ward and were
admonished by the vestry not to cohabit together nor frequent each
others company [p. 61 Queen Anne Vestry Minutes]

--16 Jun 1725 George Wells and Susanna Ward were married by the Rev
Jacob Henderson â€“ [Queen Anne Parish Register]

--08 Dec 1726 Thomas Ward of Pr. George's County planter for natural
love and affection I bear unto my well beloved father in law (term
which included the relationship of stepfather) George Wells for his
great care and trouble of me in my affliction of sickness - all my
Indian corn and tobacco now in Anne Arundel Co. on the plantation that
Joseph Wells dwells on. [Lib M/Fol. Maryland Hall of Records]

IGI Individual Record FamilySearchâ„¢ International Genealogical Index v5.0
NATHAN WARD
Male
Event(s):
Birth: 12 FEB 1713 Saint Barnabas Church, Queen Anne Parish, Prince
Georges, Maryland
Parents:
Father: JAMES WARD
Mother: SUSANNA

FRANCES WARD
Female
Event(s):
Birth: 17 JAN 1716 Saint Barnabas Church, Queen Anne Parish, Prince
Georges, Maryland
Parents:
Father: JAMES WARD
Mother: SUSANNA

Messages:
Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the
record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the
birth or christening date.

On 7/11/07, Patricia Straube <DisplayMail('gmail.com','patricia.straube ');patricia.straube@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Leslie and Oren, This is the most amazing coincidence! I had just been surfing Y-Search, seeking some information on which G Haplotype subgroup our Wells Family (016) might belong to, when Leslie's email came into my mailbox. I had found Leslie's family and compared it to others using the "all surnames" option. As expected, it was closely matched to Raymond Wells, descendant of John Boyd Wells but still differed by 5. However, there was a family of a different surname that only differed by 2. That was WARD.
>
> Here is what the submitter said:
>
> Most distant known paternal ancestor on the direct male line
>
>
> First Name:William
> Last Name:Ward
> Year Born:About 1826
> Year Died:About 1900
> Country of Origin:England
> Latitude:
> Longitude:
>
>
> Additional information about Paternal Line:
> William was born in VA. It is also believed that Williams father's name may have been Nathan and lived in Grayson Co., VA. William lived in Johnson Co., TN until late 1870's and then moved to Creston, NC.
>
> This sets off a lot of ringing bells for those of us familiar with the family of Thomas Wells (06). His son George was cut out of Thomas' will in 1718, in part, due to the aftermath of a scandal in which George and Susannah (Swanson) Ward, widow of James Ward, were admonished to stop their cohabitation. George and Susannah finally married in 1725. James and Susannah Ward had three children, only one son who lived to adulthood, Nathan Ward chrs. 12 Feb 1713 in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's Co. MD, died 14 March 1803 in GRAYSON cO., VA. Sorry, but I don't have all the dates and the timeline in front of me at the moment, but it appears that George and Susannah's relationship may begun before her husband died, circa 1717. Has anyone looked into this or contacted the submitter? This is amazing! A paternity test 291 years after the fact!
>
> Patricia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How I linked Wards and Sweaneys together using this info:

1-Frances Sweany who married William Sweney of Frederick County, Maryland had a child together by the name of George Wells Sweany. My question was, where did the name Wells come from?

2-Research led me to a person of interest named George Wells who lived in Prince George's County, Maryland who married Susanna Swanson.

3-Research led me to believe that my distant great Grandmother Frances Sweaney was either a Williams or Dorsett. Through help, I realized that Williams may have been mistaken for another name close to the same sound starting with a 'W'.

4- Patricia, the author of the above archive, contacted me with the information about George Wells and seeing there was a daughter named Frances born the same exact year and place as my Great Grandmother Frances, I put the puzzle pieces together, as I realized Frances and William named their son after her step-father!!!

5- Frances was the daughter of Susannah (Plummer) Swanson and James Ward, or maybe she was the daughter of George Wells and new it all along, keeping a family secret at bay.

This is a mystery I will have to uncover doing my own DNA testing. More of this in the future.

Moravians -- How did the White Man befriend American Indians in Tuscawaras County, Ohio?

2011-10-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

      On May 4, 1779, Christiana Harbaugh married William Sweney. William Sweney was a Quaker who was born in Prince George's, Maryland, son of James Swaney and Frances Ward (Wells).
      Christiana (Christina) was the daughter of Ludwig Harbaugh, who was one of the first white men to settle in what is now Harbaugh Valley from Pennsylvania, during the creation of the Mason-Dixon line.
       Ludwig Harbaugh was a Moravian, a person who practiced a form of protestant Christianity. (see Wikipedia) He was born of a Swiss heritage and along with his brothers, they created Harbaugh Valley in Frederick County, Maryland.
       The first white settlers in Tuscawaras County, Ohio, were missionaries of the Moravian Church. Some of these missionaries were Christina Harbaugh and her children, including Daniel Sweany and his wife, Ellen Dunbar Sweany. During their time in Ohio in the early 1800's, they befriended the American Indians who were settled there.
        These Indians had adopted Christianity and out of these American Indians were later mixed with some of their descendants of the Iroquois language tribes of Pennsylvania, who came over the Alleghany mountains to Tuscawaras, Ohio. This included the family of Jeremiah Thompson, who was the father of Sarah Ann Thompson, born in 1840, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
         Sarah married Frederick Sweaney in 1859, who was the grandson of Daniel Sweany, and was named after his family's homeland of Frederick County, Maryland.   Sarah was a full blooded American Indian of the Iroquois nation (Cherokee).

Picture shows Sarah Ann Thompson Sweaney with five of her children; ca. 1920 -- Chanute, Kansas