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Biography For the family of Andrew Swartwout and Judah Avery
ANDREW SWARTOUT/SWARTWOUT was born on 23 February 1790 in Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York, according to the records of the Fishkill Reformed Dutch Church. He was the son of Thomas Swartwout and Judith Hill. The family moved to the Shokan area in Ulster County New York by the time the 1820 census was taken.
JUDAH AVERY was the daughter of Uriah Avery and Miriam Hill. She was born in either Dutchess or Ulster or Delaware County New York. And by the 1820 census, the family is found in the Shokan area in Ulster County New York, living very close to Thomas Swartwout and family. But Judah and Andrew were first cousins, both of them being a grandchild of Andrew Hill and Catherine Horton. Today it is not proper (or legal) to marry one’s first cousin, but back in the early 1800’s, it was perfectly acceptable.
Andrew and Judah got married sometime between 1811 and 1812. This is based on the facts that they are not found on the 1810 census and the birth of their first known child was October 1813. That would have made Andrew about 21 years old and Judah about 16 years old at the time of their marriage.
Their first 2 children were born soon after their marriage. Isaac was born on 31 October 1813 and Freeman was born on 02 June 1818, according to the records of the Shokan Reformed Dutch Church. Sometime in 1820, Andrew and his family are found in the household of his father, Thomas Swartwout in Shandaken (or Shokan area) in Ulster County New York, according to the federal population census taken that year. In the 1820 census, only the heads of household are listed. So while I do not have proof that Andrew lived with his father’s family, his family’s and his father’s known family match up almost exactly to the reported ages, sex and numbers of each person in the household.
Their next child, Thomas, was born on 10 November 1820, again according to the records of the Shokan Reformed Dutch Church. These 3 children (Isaac, Freeman and Thomas) were all that were found in the church records. There were 2 other children that were known to have been born to the family in the 1820’s: Marium (possibly Miriam) born in 1822 and Uriah Hill born on 31 December 1827.
The family is found in the 1830 federal population census schedule living in Olive, Ulster County New York. Again, only the head of household is listed and it is “Andrew Swartwout”. It appears his father, Thomas, was still living in the household at the time. I do not believe that the family moved between 1820 and 1830, even though the census lists different locations. In 1820, they are listed as living in Shandaken and in 1830 in Olive. Olive was incorporated as a city in 1823, with parts of the city taken from the area previously known as Shandaken.
During the 1830’s, other children came along: daughter Phoebe was born in December 1830, son Zetus was born in April 1832, son Peter was born in 1833, son Cornelius was born in 1835, and daughter Judah was born in 1835. In 1836, the family moved to Michigan. We know this from a couple diferent sources (father Thomas’ revolutionary pension records, government land records), but the most descriptive source of all was what was written in their son Zetus’ obituary. We do not know exactly why they moved, but there was a general migration trend in the 1820s through the 1840s from New York to Michigan. Michigan was a place where land was opening up and being offered for sale by the federal government. With them came their aged grandfather, Thomas Swartwout, who was then aged 83 years old. He was a Revolutionary war veteran. Perhaps he had received a bounty land warrant for his service, which may have also been a reason why they moved to Michigan.
So Andrew and Judah Swartout came to Michigan with their family of 11 children in 1836. They came from Olive in Ulster County New York. They travelled the land by ox team and then crossed Lake Erie by boat. They arrived in Michigan about the last of April, 1836. When they arrived in Michigan, a double log house was built, which was considered very unusual and convenient for pioneer days. The house was situated about ¾ of a mile west of the Four Corners (now Cement City). The house was placed on the Woodstock (Lenawee County) side of the county line in the center of a large tract of land bought from the government. Records from the Bureau of Land Management indicate that Andrew purchased/received 226.36 acres in Lenawee County from the Federal government.
The log structure remained the home for 15 years, when a house was erected across the road in Jackson County (1851). A log school house was built just east of the cabin home in 1837, where the children attended school. Elder Swain conducted church services in the old log school house for 12 years. This church was of the old school Baptist faith.
While comparing the 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 census records, it seems that there were 3 previously unknown girls born to Andrew and Judah. 1) Unknown 1 was a female born between 1820 and 1825, as shown on both the 1830 and 1840 census records; 2) Unknown 2 was a female born between 1825 and 1830, as shown on both the 1830 and 1840 census records; 3) Unknown 3 was a female born between 1825 and 1830, as shown on the 1830 census record. She is not listed on the 1840 census record. As she would have been too young to be married, I can only assume she died sometime between 1830 and 1836.
These facts are also supported by the family migration story was related in son Zetus’ obituary. It indicates that when they moved to Michigan, they had 11 children. There were 9 known children who had birthdates before 1836. So it makes sense that these 2 additional girls (listed above), were part of the family.
In 1840, the family shows up on the federal population census schedule as living in Woodstock, Lenawee County, Michigan. It appears that one last child was born to them after moving to Michigan. He was named Andrew J. and was born on 26 January 1837 in Lenawee County.
In 1850, the family is listed on the federal population census schedules in Woodstock, Lenawee County, Michigan. In 1860, the family is shown on the census schedules in Columbia Township, Jackson County, Michigan. I do not believe that they moved. I believe this fits in with son Zetus’ obituary, which stated that in 1851, the family built a house across the county line in Jackson County. So I believe they still had the same property, but just built a different house on their same piece of land.
On the 1850 agricultural census schedule, Andrew is listed as owning 120 acres of land. He originally purchased at least 226 acres from the government in 1837. I wonder if he gave some of the land to his sons, as they left to start their own farms.
On 20 December 1859, Andrew Swartwout died. We know this date according to the tombstone, where he is buried in the Cement City Cemetery. Death records were not required to be kept by county and state officials until 1867, so there is no “official” death record. However, I believe he will be listed on the federal mortality schedule for 1860, I just have not located the record yet. This would indicate a cause of death.
After Andrew’s death, Judah and her sons appeared to have stayed together. In 1860, son Zetus Swartout is listed as head of the household, with his wife Harriet and their son Loren. Also listed in the household is his mother Judah, brother Uriah, brother Cornelius and brother Andrew. On 23 April 1867, Judah died, apparently at her home in Columbia, Jackson County, Michigan. She died of cancer. She too was buried in the Cement City Cemetery.
They had fourteen known children, all surnamed SWARTOUT:
Copyright 2006
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