Saturday, May 30, 2015

Immigration Research Report on William Swap 1797- 1847



"It was the best of times and the worst of times," a quote from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, is a good description of William Swap's life. William Swap was my third great-grandfather,  and was born in the Glasgow area of Scotland. The key to understanding these ups and downs in his life is through his immigration information.  This research report is an analysis of these immigrations that will help in understanding why William immigrated and the conditions surrounding his immigrations.
Published Histories of William Swap
            A preliminary search was done for previous research for William Swap and two online books were found.  The first is The Hill Family History by Daniel B. Richards and it had a small chapter on the Swapp family as William Swap Jr. married into the Hill family.[1]
            The second book,  Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill collected and compiled by Adeline Swapp Johnson and Angus S. Swapp is a book of the research the compilers have done on this family. It starts out with a history on the Swapp family by one of the compilers, Angus S. Swapp.  It is a research summary, but it is does not contain many sources.  He has some interesting conclusions but there are no sources as to how he reached these conclusions.  It includes a transcription of an obituary for William and copies of correspondence to various members of the Massachusetts family.  There is a copy of the transcription for William's second marriage to Almira Leach from the town of Thompson Connecticut's Registrar of Vital Statistics.  There is a copy of William's death record from the state of Massachusetts.  This book also includes a barely readable copy of William's naturalization records.[2]
Immigration to Canada

            According to Angus S. Swapp in Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill,  William was born in 1795 in Busby, Renfrew, Scotland to William and Janet Swap, weavers, and married Agnes Hill in 1817.[3]  This was during the Napoleonic Wars and the textile business was booming, but when the wars ended the textile business went bust.  Everyone become unemployed at the same time including farmers and soldiers returning home from war. [4]  The Scotsman in Canada states that the class of people whose livelihood depended upon production and manufacturing suffered the most.  It was a desperate situation.[5] It was in this climate that emigration societies emerged to relocate the poor desperate textile workers to a new area and help relieve the conditions in Glasgow.
Glasgow Bridge, Clyde River, Glasgow, Scotalnd
            A Google search located a book by Robert Lamond who served as an agent and secretary for the committee who superintended the Scottish Emigration Societies that immigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1820 and 1821.  He had firsthand knowledge and the most complete compilation of the records that were created with this immigration. His papers were put together in the book,  Narrative of the Rise and Progress of Emigration from the Counties of Lanark & Renfrew to the New Settlements in Upper Canada.  The following examples show information found in this book.
            In 1820 the textile workers in the Glasgow area were suffering economically and Scotland created a plan to send as many of the textile workers as they could to homestead in Canada.  Those who desired to go were gathered together into emigration societies. There were so many who wanted to immigrate that lots had to be drawn to determine who got to go.  Ships were procured and inspected by experienced seaman and carpenters. They had to be deemed safe and seaworthy and that there were adequate provisions.
            On June 3, 1820,  a circular was distributed with the intent to raise one pound for each person to aid in their immigration with the understanding that those left behind would be better off with less competition for jobs.  A letter to the editor of the Glasgow Chronicle on June 14, 1820 asked that donations of Bibles and other books be made for the emigrants to take with them.
            Notices were given by circulars, ten days before they were to embark, stating the day they needed to be in Greenock. They also stated what they would have to pay the Clyde Shipping Company to carry them and their luggage down the Clyde River to the Greenock port. 
John Atkinson Grims Shipping on the Clyde River

            Rules to be followed while on the ship were included in these documents.  No cooking on ship while at dock.  The provisions had to remain sealed until the day they sailed and the families had to sleep on board the first night they arrived in Greenock.
            For the 1821 group there were more rules listed.  (It is not known if William had to follow these same rules or if these rules were created to solve the problems that William's group may have experienced since they were the first group to emigrate.)  These rules were that luggage was restricted to body and bed clothing. No furniture unless emigrants were able to pay transportation for these good from Quebec to their place of settlement. Books and private libraries were allowed.  Children had to be inoculated for small pox or they couldn't go.  Surgeons would be there to inspect them and their hair had to be cut quite short, (possibly for lice).      No dogs.  No smoking or lighted candles between decks.
            In preparation for this immigration, girls were to be taught how to knit woolen stockings and be able to cut out men and women's clothes.  The boys were to be taught how to make small fishing nets and special tackle that would work in the small rivers and lakes they would likely encounter.   They were given instructions on how to  live and survive in the Canadian wilderness with an emphasis on survival skills in case they got lost.  They received plans on what the houses they were to build were to look like.  A lot of preparation was done in order for the society members to survive and flourish in their new land.[6]  Great information about the preparations for the trip to Canada.
              Money was raised from philanthropists,  from even as far away as England,  to aid those who did not have the means to immigrate.  Land was bought in Upper Canada and the land was divided up.  One hundred acres per family with the condition that they had to develop so much land in a certain amount of time. [7]
            William's family traveled with the Bridgetown Transatlantic Society.   They sailed on the Commerce leaving in June 1820 and arrived in Canada in August of that same year.  William is listed as having a wife and one child with him.[8]  This child is assumed to be John Swap but there was no evidence found as to who this child was or what happened to him or her.[9] 
            Steve Swapp, a distant cousin, traveled to Canada to research the Swaps and he sent me an email with the results of this research.  He sent the following account (with no source) of what it was like just for William and his family to reach their final destination
The oceanic sailing vessels came up the St. Lawrence River only as far as Québec City. From there, everybody and everything had to be transferred to steamships to continue upstream to Montréal. Emigrants arrived on the River Port on the east side of the Old Port in Old Montréal across from the Bonsecours Market. Although Montréal was the biggest city in Canada at the time, the Basilica of Notre Dame was not yet built. The Lachine Canal that bypasses the Lachine Rapids was not built until 1825, so these emigrants had to go overland the 15 miles from Montréal to Lachine. There they boarded bateaux (flat boats that carried about three families each) for the 5-day trip upriver (sometimes with no sleeping quarters) 110 miles to Prescott. At certain points, everyone had to get out and the men had to help pull the boats up the difficult parts of the river. They debarked in Prescott, across the river from Ogdensburg, New York, where there had been some cross-border raids during the War of 1812. The trail continued 12 miles along the riverbank to Brockville, where they turned inland for the final 50 miles overland to the new site of Lanark. Most of the road between Perth and Lanark was only wide enough for a wagon, and sometimes it was necessary to maneuver around trees. To get to the back of the settlement ... they had to blaze their way through the forest. The travelers had to cross the Mississippi River between Perth and Lanark using ferries. At Lanark, they found Col. Marshall and his assistant living in some temporary shelter and handing out lot assignments.[10]
      The Scottish settlers, as they arrived in Lanark, Ontario, Canada,  were to draw lots as to which 100 acres they would receive.  The first lot that William drew for was so hilly and rocky  that he was allowed to draw again. William's final lot was in township Lanark, Concession 4,  Lot 11 Rear East, and he received it September 6, 1820.[11]                                                    
                According to Steve Swapp's research in Canada,  he found the records kept by  Presbyterian Rev. William Bell. They indicated that during the trip from Montreal to Lanark, William Jr., was born in Lachine (eleven miles from Montreal), September 11,1820, on their journey across the land to get to the settlement of Lanark.[14]
            William's responsibility was to clear his land and build a home for his family before winter set in. Mr. C.M. Forbes in his article, "History of Lanark Village," commented about the new settlers and their settlement:
The fall of 1820 saw a number of houses erected to form a nucleus of the village but as much haste had to be exercised constructing these, in order to make them endurably comfortable for the winter, their exteriors did not present a pleasing type of architecture.  Moreover, a Glasgow weaver is not the person one would engage to build a house.  The niceties of carpentry are not part of his education and it must not be wondered at if a door or window were set out of plumb.[15]
            The Scottish government gave these settlers a bonus for three years.  After these bonuses quit it was hard times for these settlers.  In the above article, Mr. Forbes mentions that many left the settlement during this time.  Some returned to Scotland, others (including William) left for the United States, and some went to Western Ontario.[16]  
Clearing land, Lanark, Ontario, Canada
    
Immigration to the United States
            Not much is known about William's immigration to the United States.  Angus S. Swapp does mention in his research paper that according to his naturalization papers William immigrated to the U.S. through Stonington, Connecticut in 1825.
            When William left for the United States he forfeited his land because payments were required to pay for the land after five years. A man by the name of John Taylor took over his land.  The next we hear about this land is in a petition in 1839  that William Jr. is requesting land because he is of age and wants to take over his father's claim that had been abandoned.  His petition was denied.  In this petition William Jr. mentions that his father left  to find work and never came back for him.  His mother died in March 1825 right after his father left.  William Jr. was then raised by neighbors.[17]
            A search for records of William's immigration to Connecticut was conducted on the website  stevemorse.org.[18]  This website has a large collection of immigration records.  There were no listings for any ports in Stonington,  Connecticut.      
            FamilySerach's wiki was also searched in the Connecticut Emigration and Immigration section.  Mysticseaport.org was a website that was suggested that may have records concerning immigration into Connecticut.  The name of the ship is needed to get any kind of a list and since a ship is not known it did not yield any results.[19]   
            In the book Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill there is a pedigree chart for William and his second wife, Almira.  From this pedigree chart a timeline for William's life in the United States was created.[20]
1834
Marriage to Almira Leach
Thompson, Windham, Connecticut
1835
Birth of son William Henry
Thompson, Windham, Connecticut
1836
Birth of son George
Thompson, Windham, Connecticut
1842
Birth of son Bradford
Providence,  Rhode Island
1843
Birth of son John Francis
Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts
1844
Birth of daughter Sarah
Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts

            A search for records was conducted in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. A plat map of Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts was located that indicated that William resided on Center Street.

                                        



  A search on Google Earth was done to see if William's home was still standing. Comparing the plat map with Google Earth,  it was determined that the below house was his. 



William Swap's home on Center St., Newburyport, MA[22]

            
            Since William's last known place of residence was Newburyport, Massachusetts a search was done in Genealogy Bank for an obituary for William.  Several obituaries were found and this is a transcription of the most informative one and it was printed in the Newburyport Herald on February 19,1847. "DEATHS. In this town, on Sunday evening, Mr. William Swap aged 52. Mr. S. was much respected by a large circle of acquaintances.  He came to this town from Rhode Island about 8 years since, and has, during this period, held the office of an overseer on the Bartlet Steam Mills Corporation."[23]


Bartlet Steam Mills next to church on
 Pleasant Street, Newburyport, MA


Conclusion
            By studying immigration records, I have learned that William was born during a boom in the textile business because of the Napoleonic Wars and by the time he was married it had gone bust.  The textile workers were in such a desperate situation that immigrating from the mild climate of Glasgow to the frigid land of Canada was the best chance of getting out of poverty.  William arrived in Canada with his wife and one child.  There is no more mention of this child after his arrival and it is assumed he died.  Many of the Scottish settlers thrived in Canada but William did not.  He had lost a child, had a child born in the wilderness on his way across land to Lanark, Canada and his wife died  a few months after he left to find work in the United States.[24]
            Life in the United States seemed to suit William more.  He immigrated to the textile regions of Connecticut, remarried, had another family, and died while he was the overseer of a textile factory.  A prestigious position in the community. [25]  All this was brought to light by studying William's immigrations.



[1] Richards, Daniel Brigham. "The History of Elizabeth Hill Swapp and Her Family." In Hill Family History, Illustrated, 181-195. Salt Lake City, Utah: Magazine Printing Company, 1927.
https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE3152124&from=fhd
[2]  Johnson, Adeline Swapp and Angus S. Swapp, Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill; online, (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1904094&from=fhd): n.p.
[3]  Johnson and Swapp, Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill.
[4]  TheGlasgowStory.com (http://www.theglasgowstory.com/story.php?id=TGSCC: accessed March 24, 2015)
[5]  Campbell, Wilfred. "The Lanark Settlement." In The Scotsman in Canada, p. 181. Vol. I. Toronto: Musson Book, 1911.
[6]  Lamond, Robert. A Narrative of the Rise & Progress of Emigration, from the Counties of Lanark & Renfrew: To the New Settlements in Upper Canada ...,  Ottawa: Canadian Heritage Publications, 1978. p. 1-112; digital, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/narrativeofrisep00lamo: accessed March 12, 2015).
[7]  Campbell, Wilfred. "The Lanark Settlement." In The Scotsman in Canada, 186. Vol. 1. Toronto: Musson Book, 1911.
[8]  Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010
[9] "Settlers 1820-1822 Lanark County ,Ontario Canada , " online (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~granniesgarden/Granny1/settler3.html: accessed February 20, 2015) William Swap referenced.
[10]   Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010
[11]  Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010
[12]   Swap property, Lanark, Canada, photo privately held by Steve Swapp  ( used by permission)
[13]   Lanark Canada, photo privately held by Steve Swapp ( used by permission)
[14]   Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010
[15]   Forbes, C.M.,  "History of Lanark Village,"  Lanark County Genealogy Society, (http://globalgenealogy.com/LCGS/: accessed February 20, 2015).
[16]   Forbes, C.M,  "History of Lanark Village."
[17]   Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010.
[18]  stevemorse.org (http://www.stevemorse.org: accessed March 2, 2015)
[19]  Mystic Seaport, database, (http://library.mysticseaport.org/: accessed March 4, 2015)
[20]  Johnson and Swapp, Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill.
[21]  McIntyre, H.  "1851 plat map of Newburyport, Massachusetts." Digital image. (http://maps.bpl.org/id/12847: Accessed February 20, 2015)
[22]   Center Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts, William Swap's Home." 42°48'40.31"N and 70°52'04.85"W. Google Earth. Accessed February 20, 2015.
[23]   "Deaths." Newburyport Herald, February 19, 1847. Digital Image. GenealogyBank.com. (http://www.genealogybank.com.)
[24]   Swapp to Brinkerhoff, e-mail, 28 October 2010.
[25]   Johnson and Swapp, Some Progenitors and Descendants of William Swapp and Elizabeth Hill.

European Royalty


This is a list European Royalty Grandparents from RelativeFinder.org.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could DNA match with these ancestors. I'm sure that is in the future.

Alfred, ' The Great', King of                     33rd great grandfather
Andras II King Hungary                             24th great grandfather
Bela II ( The Blind) King of Hungary      27th great grandfather
Bela III ( Harmadik Bela) King of Hungary25th great grandfather
Bela IV King Of Hungary                           23rd great grandfather
Berengar II                                              31st great grandfather
Bjrn 'The Old' Eriksson                              31st great grandfather
Brian Boru mac Cennetig                            30th great grandfather
Byzantine Empire Manolis I, Emperor        25th great grandfather
Canmore III Malcolm                             26th great grandfather
Charlemagne                                         35th great grandfather
Charles                                                      34th great grandfather
Charles II, of Naples                              21st great grandfather
Charles III 'Le Simple,'                              32nd great grandfather
Charles King Of Sicily                               22nd great grandfather
David I Unknown                                      25th great grandfather
Dionisio                                                      21st great grandfather
Donnchadh mac Drionain (Duncan I)         27th great grandfather
Edmond II ' Ironside', King of England       28th great grandfather
Edmund I (Eadmund)                               30th great grandfather
Edward I Longshanks King Of England      20th great grandfather
Edward I The Elder King Of England      31st great grandfather
Edward II Plantagenet                          19th great grandfather
Edward IV King Of England          14th great grandfather
Erik (Edmundsson) VaDerhatt                   32nd great grandfather
Erik VIII 'Segersall' Bjrnsson                     30th great grandfather
Ethelred II                                             28th great grandfather
Evfrosiniya Princess Kiev                    26th great grandmother
Frederick I Holy Roman                            24th great grandfather
Geza II of Hungary                                   26th great grandfather
Harald I Of Norway                             35th great grandfather
Heinrich I the Germans                             32nd great grandfather
Heinrich von Staufen                           26th great grandfather
Henry I Beauclerc King Of England          26th great grandfather
Henry II Plantagenet King Of England     23rd great grandfather
Henry III King England                              21st great grandfather
Muhammad                                              27th great grandfather
Ioannis II                                                       26th great grandfather
Irene                                                26th great grandmother
Isaac II Emperor Byzantine Empire             24th great grandfather
Istvan V (Stephen) Arpad                    22nd great grandfather
James IV Stewart                                13th great grandfather
James Stewart                                 16th great grandfather
James Stewart                                 15th great grandfather
James Stewart                                  14th great grandfather
Jean II de FRANCE                              20th great grandfather
Johan l'Aveugle de LUXEMBOURG       21st great grandfather
John ' Lackland' King Of England             22nd great grandfather
Kenneth II                                            30th great grandfather  
King Robert (Earl of Stewart)               18th great grandfather
Lothaire I Holy Roman Emperor            34th great grandfather
Louis I Le Debonnaire Holy Roman           34th great grandfather
Louis IV Transmarinus King of France    31st great grandfather
Louis IX 'Saint Louis'                            22nd great grandfather
Louis King of Franks Franks                    32nd great grandfather
Louis VII King Of France                    24th great grandfather
Louis VIII The Lion King of France    22nd great grandfather
Malcolm I 'Mael Coluim  King Of Scotland31st great grandfather
Mstislav I                                                   27th great grandfather
Olaf II ' The Saint' Haraldsson                    29th great grandfather
Olof Skotkonung                                   29th great grandfather
Philip I de Capet                                    25th great grandfather
Philip The Bold III of France                    21st great grandfather
Philippe II France                                     23rd great grandfather
Philippe IV de Francia                             23rd great grandfather
Philippe V ' the Tall' de Capet                     22nd great grandfather
Phillipp II of Germany                             23rd great grandfather
Pierre II de Courtenay                             24th great grandfather
Premysl Otakar I King Of Bohemia     26th great grandfather
Robert (John) Stewart                          17th great grandfather
Robert I king of Western France            33rd great grandfather
Robert de Bruce                                 19th great grandfather
Romanos II                                            31st great grandfather
Rudolf I Von Habsburg Emperor Of Rome  24th great grandfather
Stenkil Ragnavaldsson                           31st great grandfather
Unknown Theodoros                           24th great grandfather
Valdemar I 'The Great' Knutsson              26th great grandfather
Vratislaus Ii Of Bohemia                           29th great grandfather
William I ' The Lion' King Of Scotland  23rd ggrandfather
William I the Conqueror England    26th great grandfather

Ancestors involved in the Salem Witch Trials




According to Relative Finder.org these family members were involved in the Salem Witch Trials.  Interesting.  Great for Halloween.

Abigail Hobbs                    2nd cousin 8 times removed
Ann Putnam                    7th cousin 8 times removed
Bartholomew Gedney            5th cousin 13 times removed
Deliverance Hazelton            4th cousin 10 times removed
Edward Bishop           3rd cousin 9 times removed
Elizabeth Bassett                   7th great great aunt
Elizabeth Jackson                   4th cousin 9 times removed
George Burroughs                   4th cousin 10 times removed
Giles Corey                   2nd cousin 9 times removed
Increase Mather           10th cousin 10 times removed
John Alden                   3rd cousin 10 times removed
John Hale                   4th cousin 10 times removed
John Hawthorne           10th cousin 9 times removed
Martha Allen                   4th cousin 9 times removed
Martha Penoyer           8th cousin 11 times removed
Mary Ayer                   10th great great aunt
Mary Perkins                   8th cousin 16 times removed
Mary Walcott                  3rd cousin 9 times removed
Nathaniel Saltonstall          6th cousin 12 times removed
Nicholas Noyes          5th cousin 9 times removed
Rebecca Towne          9th cousin 10 times removed
Samuel E Sewall          3rd cousin 11 times removed
Samuel Wardwell          12th cousin 8 times removed
Sarah Proctor                  1st cousin 8 times removed
Sarah Towne                  9th cousin 10 times removed
Sarah Wildes                  5th cousin 9 times removed
Susannah North          8th cousin 9 times removed
Susannah Sheldon                  9th cousin 8 times removed
Thomas Brattle          4th cousin 10 times removed
Thomas Farrar                  7th cousin 11 times removed
Thomas Putnam          13th cousin 8 times removed
Waitstill Winthrop                  5th cousin 8 times removed
William Hobbs          1st cousin 9 times removed
William Phipps          7th great great uncle
William Proctor          1st cousin 8 times removed
William Stoughton                  1st cousin 13 times removed