Joseph Swazey (abt. 1610 - 1713)

Born about 1610 in England

Descendants

Died 1713 at about age 103 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joyce Weaver [send private message]

Biography

Torrey has a record of Joseph Swasey's marriage to "Mary Unidentified" "by 1653" in Salem. ^[1]

Town records show the children of Joseph and Mary Swazey: ^[2][3]

• 1. Joseph, born Aug 13, 1653, baptized in Salem Sept 13, 1653, d. 1710 in Salem, m. Oct. 16, 1678 Elisabeth Lambert of Salem.

• 2. Elisabeth, b. October 1, 1655, m. John Whitefoot. They had two children, Joseph and Samuel.

• 3. Mary, b. Feb 21, 1659, m. Thomas Mascoll, both died before Mary 10, 1721. Children John and Joseph. A different record shows Mary born April 21, 1659. ^{[4] [5]}

• 4. Abigail, b. November 24, 1661 (verified with town records), m. William Masury who d. before 1717. She was living in 1734.

• 5. Samuel, baptized Aug 19, 1664, m. Mary who was living in 1714. d. before 1695. After the death of Samuel, Mary, the widow, m. second, Edward Cox of Salem, on Nov 28, 1693.

• 6. John, baptized in Salem Sept 20, 1666 (a different town record gives Sept 30, 1666), d. before 1732. m. in Salem November 12, 1695 Christian Gray, nee Legro. According to BF Swasey, he was the "commander of various sailing vessels". Salem was a shipping center of the time. Two children, John and Hannah.

• 7. Stephen, b. July 22, 1669, d. in Boston October 11, 1719, m. Esther (Unknown)

First Church of Salem on 19 April 1666 lists the following members: "Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary, Abigail, Samuel, and John - children of Mary Swasy", and for March 3, 1670, "Stephen of Joseph Swasy" and in August, 1686, "Joseph of Joseph Swasy". On page 402, there is an index of all the Swasys, referencing all the different spellings.^[6]

Disputed Origins

According to Benjamin Franklin Swasey, in his 1910 book, Genealogy of the Swasey Family, Joseph Swazey-101 of this profile was born in about 1610 in England and arrived in Salem, Massachusetts with his father, John Swasey-5, and brother, John Swazey-126 in about 1632. ^[7]

More recently it has been noted that there are no records to support these statements, no evidence that John Swasey-5 was the father of John Swazey-126 and Joseph Swazey-101 or that John and Joseph were brothers. Therefore John and Joseph's parents are currently shown as unknown and the two are no longer shown as brothers.

It is possible that John Swasey-5 and his "son", John Swazey-126, were the same person, but their separate profiles have been kept.

There is no record found so far of the family being in Massachusetts before about 1650.

BF Swasey's chapter regarding Joseph Swazey-101 (digital pages 37 - 40 and 49 - 54 ) says that he is called a fisherman or mariner in deeds of conveyance and that he was "the progenitor of a long and numerous line of hardy, rugged seamen."

Further, BF Swasey says that Joseph deeded some of his lands to his children - to his son, John, to his daughter, Abigail, and her husband William Masury, and to his daughter Mary and her husband Thomas Mascoll (called Maxell by Torrey), a mariner of Salem. Their sons, John and Joseph Mascoll, divided the lands between them in 1729. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. American Ancestors
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001,"Family Search Essex > Salem > Birth, marriage, death 1644-1867. vol 1-2, B > image 63 of 327; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.
3. ↑ Vital records of Salem, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849. Archive.org
4. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQD3-JYP : 10 February 2018), Mary Swase, 21 Apr 1659; citing SALEM, ESSEX, MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 874,031, 874,032, 874,033
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-ZRTS : 18 October 2022), Mary Swasy, 21 Feb 1659; citing Birth, , Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011200.
6. ↑ First Church of Salem on 19 Apr 1666, page 27, 29, 37, 402. Archive.org
7. ↑ Swasey, Benjamin Franklin. Genealogy of the Swasey Family Privately Printed for Ambrose Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio 1910, p. 33 - 35. p. 33 - 35
8. ↑ Swasey, Benjamin Franklin. Genealogy of the Swasey Family Privately Printed for Ambrose Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio 1910, p. 33 - 35. Digital pages 37 - 40

• Savage's Genealogical Dictionary (Vol. 4 p. 237 https://archive.org/details/genealogicaldic04savarich/page/236/mode/2up) says that Joseph was in Salem by 1668 and it was perhaps his daughter Elizabeth who married a Lightfoot.
• Salem Vital Records earliest entries are for the children of Joseph & Mary Swazey starting with daughter Mary in 1653 https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Salem/aBirthsS.shtml so clearly Savage was a bit off-base on this family. The earliest death for somebody of this name was 1762.
• Essex County Deeds earliest entry as grantee was Joseph Swazey from Abraham Cole on 14 Jan 1680 for land or property in Salem (Book 5 entry 102) index here https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99ZZ-BSHL?i=252&cc=2106411&cat=209907
• Town Records of Salem (1634-1680) only appearance is Joseph in 1681 https://archive.org/details/cu31924105756856/page/n337/mode/2up