For this family, I have in my possession copies of the 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920 Census, photos of Louise Ragsdale Swain and Charles Swain's gravestones, and a McNairy land grant with Rubin & L. Swain's name in it.Exerpt of an e-mail written on 2/24/2009
I found the marriage of Rubin Swain to Louisa Ragsdale on familysearch.org. It was submitted by another person doing work on this family and I'm not sure how accurate it is.
First of all, this is what I had in my file before tonight on this family:
Rubin Swain DOB: 20 Oct 1845 (source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sonyadmt/RichardSwainGen8-11.htm)
DOD 6 Dec 1918 (no source)
Louisa Ragsdale DOB: 13 Feb 1847, Arkansas
DOD: 15 Jan 1937, Murrietta, Riverside, CA
m. 8 Sep 1867
In doing some research via the internet tonight (I've attached the census records and gravestone pictures), this is what I think the family looks like (probably missing several kids, however) - you probably know most of it, but I do think it is safe to say that the Rubin in my family is the same one as your Rex's father:
Rubin Swain
Louisa Ragsdale:
Thomas H. Swain b 1868, Mexico
Lou(isa?) Swain, b about 1870, California
Rex Swain, b 23 Feb 1873, California
Charles Swain, b 1878, California
Marion Swain, b 1881 California
Minnie B. Swain, b Oct 1884, California
1870 - "Robert" (a misspelling?) P Swain (age 25, born in Tennessee) & Louisa J (age 23, born in Arkansas) are married and living in Los Nietos, Los Angeles, CA. They have a 2-year-old son named Thomas who was born in Mexico.
1880 - Can't find Rubin or Louisa; however, Rubin's brother Wiley was living in Los Nietos, Los Angeles, CA still.
1900 - Ruben P Swain (age 54, born Oct 1845) is living with son Marion (age 18, born Jun 1881, father born in Tennessee, mother born in Arkansas). They are Mail Coach Drivers and in Fallbrook, San Diego, CA at the time the census was taken. Ruben is listed as married for 33 years but Louisa is not with him at the time the census was taken. Charles is in the 1900 census in Murrietta, Riverside, CA and is listed as a servant. Rex (age 27, born Feb 1873 is married to Charlotte and his sister is living with them, Minnie (age 15, born October 1884). Both Rex and Minnie's father was born in Tennessee and mother was born in Arkansas.
1910 - Ruben P Swain (age 64 and widowed (okay, that's weird because Louisa is still alive . . . ) is living with his married daughter Lou (named after her mother?) and son-in-law Thomas Freeman. They are living in Murrietta, Riverside, CA. Lou's mother is from Arkansas and her father is from Tennessee. Rex and Charlie both live in Murrietta, Riverside, CA and are on the same census page. Charlie is now married. Louisa (age 63 and widowed (both claiming to be widowed? what is going on?) is living with her nephew, William (age 44, born in Texas) in Murrietta. These are the only four Swain households in Murrietta in 1910.
1920 - Louisa J. Swain is living alone in Murrietta, Riverside, CA. She is 72 years old, born in Arkansas, and both her parents were born in Tennessee. Son-in-law Thomas Freeman is living in San Bernardino, CA. He is now widowed and Ruben is no longer living with him as well (my records indicate that he died in 1918 in San Bernardino. If he moved with them that would make sense).
Cemetery Inscriptions at Temecula Public Cemetery:
Charles: Loving Memory Father 1878-Dec 1938
Louisa: In Loving Memory of our beloved Grandmother Louisa Ragsdale Swain Feb 1847 - Jan 1937
With a couple exceptions (that could easily be census error or have explanations that are unknown), everything matches up. I think it's strange that Louisa and Rubin were never together on a census after 1870, but if he was a Mail Coach Driver he would have been on the road a lot. Why they both said they were widowed in 1910 would be an interesting question to ask.
0 comments:
Post a Comment