The Williamsburg Journal Tribune Dec. 12, 1935, p. 1
GEORGE SWEZEY DIES IN MARENGO
He Is Next to Last Civil War Veteran in Iowa County; Buried Monday
George Swezey, 94, last but one of the Iowa county’s resident Civil War veterans, was buried in I.O.O.F. cemetery Marengo, with military honors Monday following a funeral ceremony in the Presbyterian church. Mr. Swezey died Saturday in the home where he had lived for 60 years.
Sole survivor of the Civil War in Iowa County now is Dave Shaull of Ladora, retired farmer who was an immigrant from Ohio following the conflict.
Mr. Swezey enlisted in the New York cavalry, but he had previously been a Marengo resident, coming here in 1856 when 15 years old to learn the carpenter trade. During the war he was confined to three Confederate prisons, Libby, Andersonville, and Florence. Of 41 cavalrymen captured in June, 1864, 33 died from prison hardships.
On New Year’s day, 1857, he was married to Phoebe Dunham, whose family had lived in Steuben county, New York, where Mr. Swezey was born. To them were born eleven children. Surviving are Mrs. Harl Young of Topeka, Kan.; Mrs. John Denzler of Kearney, Neb.; Mrs. J.F. Randolph of Marengo, Mrs. Will Nelson of Grinnell, Lewis of Marengo and Myrl of Kearney, Neb.
Mr. Swezey was a charter member of Rebekah lodge in Marengo and an Odd Fellow. As a contractor he constructed several business and dwelling houses which still stand.
People from here attending the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Charles Thomas, Mrs. Mary Bran, Miss Mary Scholl, Mrs. Bert Hanson, Janet Hanson, Mrs. George Stake, Mrs. M.K. Paulson, Mrs. Leonard Hogan, Mrs. J.J. Lee.
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Hi Jasonian - My name is Derek Swezey and Oliver H. Swezey was my ggg-grandfather. This George W. would have been my gg-uncle and my g-grandfather was apparently named after him, also George Washington Swezey. My line goes from Oliver, William W., George W., Frank, Everett and myself. I haven't looked at the rest of your pictures, but seeing gg uncle George was pretty cool and I had to post something...thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Derek! I hope you've had a chance to look through the other photos. Do you see any familiar faces!? That's the real goal of this blog - to allow people like you to stumble upon these unidentified images and say "Hey, I recognize that picture!"
DeleteJasonian- I didn't recognize anyone else, however, I'm not the holder of pictures either in my mind or in our family. I will check with my uncle and have him take a look. I did see the picture of Rosalie Swezey, my gg aunt. I've been trying to determine what she was doing in Mt. Pleasant and the mystery behind her premature death. I noticed there was an asylum in Mt. Pleasant, hopefully that wasn't her residence! Thanks again. Derek
ReplyDeleteActually, according to information I received from another Sabin/Swezey cousin it sounds like Rosa did reside at that facility. Dorothy Freeze saw this blog and had the following to relate about Rosa:
Delete"She died March 15, 1891 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the home of the mental facility. She was the daughter of Oliver and Maria Swezey. Her obituary in the Marengo Republican, 18 March 1891, reads: Miss Rose M. Swezey, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. H. Swezey of this place died at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on Sunday, aged 25 years, 3 months and 8 days. Her remains were brought home and the funeral services were held at the residence of her parents this afternoon at two o'clock."
Please feel free to share my blog with any relatives you may know who would have photos for comparison. I think some of the photos are from my Jackson side of the family, but there are enough Swezey photos to make me confident there are also a handful of Sabins. I wish people wrote things down! So many of the photos in Grandma Sabin's album have no names on them and a lot in her daughter's (Pearl Reinig) album simply say "cousin of your mother" - a note written by my great grandmother, Pearl's daughter-in-law.
Jason