Person:William Swaim (6)

It was hard for me to believe the William Swaim b. 1 Feb 1823 and d. 21 Sep 1886, buried in Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Red Hill, Lawrence Co., Tennessee could be our William Swaim of Vinton Co., OH. But after going there and researching the Swaim family that settled there, I learned that it truly is him. There is no record of him having owned any property there, so there is no estate record for him there. A thorough search of estate records in Vinton Co., Ohio, did not produce an estate record for him or his wife, Mary, either. It appears he went to Tennessee to visit his son, Elijah Swaim, after he settled there in the mid 1880s and died while visiting there.

There is no evidence of his wife being in Tennessee, however, I suspect she was there. My reason for suspecting this is that there is a deed record for the guardian of Hiram Harley Swaim's children (Marcus L. Dunkle - brother-in-law of Hiram) selling an undivided 1/5 of the "life estate of Mary Swaim" on 18 Feb 1889 (3 years after the death of William Swaim). The county atlas of Vinton Co. shows the properties owned by Elijah Swaim and adjoining property owned by Mary Swaim. This map must have been made during the process of the sale transactions when William & Mary Swaim sold property to Elijah and before Elijah sold it in the Fall of 1882.

A search of deed records in Vinton County revealed the following:

In September, 1882, William and Mary Swaim sold two properties located in Vinton County to their son, Elijah Swaim. In October, 1882, Elijah Swaim sold those properties to Alice Specht and Charles Bray, for a profit, which indicates to me that he sold those properties with the intention of purchasing another piece of land. Shortly after that sale Elijah appears in records in Lawrence Co., TN.

Located in Sections 21 and 28, of Township 12, Range 17 (Swan Twp., Vinton Co.)

--RWMeyer 20:47, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Property Owners in Section 21 and 28, Swan Twp., Vinton Co., Ohio

Deed Records for William and Elijah Swaim found in Vinton County, Ohio

1.   Find A Grave.

   William Swaim