Job Swift (1711 - 1801)

Born 3 Oct 1711 in Wareham, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Blackwell) Swift — married 20 Jan 1733 in Sandwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 14 Feb 1801 at age 89 in Sharon, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Nick Dann [send private message]

Biography

Private Job Swift served with Suffolk County Militia, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Job Swift is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A112010.

Job was born in 1711. Job is he son of Jirah Swift and Abigail Gibbs. He married Sarah Blackwell on 20 Jan 1733 in Sandwich, Massachusetts.^[1] He passed away in 1801.^[2][3]

From William Swyft of Sandwitch and some of his descendants, Page 14:

40. Job, sixth son of Jireh and Abigail Swift, born at Wareham, Mass., Oct. 3, 1711.

Married Sarah Blackwell, of Sandwich, at Wareham, Jan. 20, 1733. Job died at Sharon, Norfolk County, Mass., Feb. 14, 1801. Sarah, his wife died Apr. 2, 1772. This Job was a member of the first board of Selectmen of the town of Sharon, 1765. Was one of the Committee of Safety, 1774. Was Delegate to Provincial Congress, 1774 - 5. Was a member of Ebenezer Tilden's Co., who marched from District of Stoningham, ^[4] now Sharon, April 19, 1775. His three boys were also members of Militia Companies, i.e., Job 2nd, belonged to 4th, Co. Minute Mn, a part of Col. Richardson's regiment, Joshua was a Sergeant of 3d, Co. Col. Groton's regiment, and Jireh was a private in said 3d Co. Col. Groton's regiment. Their children were:

1. Job
2. Abigail
3. Temperance
4. Joshua
5. Susanna
6. Jireh
7. Unity
8. Patience

On 2 January, 1775, Job Swift was chosen delegate to meet with the Provincial Congress in Cambridge. The town was then a district of Stoughtonham.

DAR Record:

SWIFT, JOB SR Ancestor #: A112010

Service: MASSACHUSETTS Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE, PRIVATE

Birth: 10-3-1711 SANDWICH BARNSTABLE CO MASSACHUSETTS

Death: 2-14-1801 SHARON NORFOLK CO MASSACHUSETTS

Service Source: MA SOLS & SAILS, VOL 15, P 315; FORCE, AMERICAN ARCH, 4TH SER, VOL 1, P 830

Service Description: 1) CAPT TISDALE; DELEGATE TO PROVINCIAL CONGRESS

On 24 May 1919, a bronze tablet was dedicated at the Sharon (Massachusetts) Public Library to honor Job Swift. See accompanying photo.

At the unveiling of this memorial, Mr. John G. Phillips, Chairman of the Trustees of The Sharon Public Library, addressed the audience and told of the life and public services of Job Swift.

Mr. Phillips' Address

Job Swift whose name we celebrate today by the acceptance and dedication of this Tablet— the tribute of a loyal and self-respecting Son, Ezra Otis Swift, to the memory of an honored Sire - expected no reward in return for the years of patriotic service rendered to his Town, State and Country, neither did these services receive any due recognition during his long life of ninety years. And not until today, after one hundred and eighteen years have passed since his death, has the name of this modest Patriot become justly famous.

Job Swift was born at Wareham , Massachusetts , on the third day of October, 1711. He married Sarah Blackwell, January 20th, 1733 . He died at Sharon , February 14, 1801 , in the ninetieth year of his age, and his grave is in Rock Ridge cemetery.

He and his wife left Wareham soon after their marriage and settled in that part of Stoughton which was later named Stoughtonham and is now Sharon . He was a plain husbandman, and their new home was on Mountain Street , as now named. In those early days Sharon was a scattered community of a few hundred men, women and children, with no fixed center and no meetinghouse within four miles. Therefore Mountain Street might then have seemed relatively less remote than now.

The birth of a son, Joshua in 1744, followed by Job, Jr., in 1746 and Jirah in 1748 are recorded in Sharon . Other children were also born to the parents.

Although a plain man, it is evident that he soon won the high respect of his neighbors, and was looked to for counsel and leadership in the affairs of the little community.

Sharon was elevated to the rank of an inde­pendent town in 1765 and on July 8th the first town meeting was held. Many important prob­lems confronted the new town government for consideration and action, and the election of officers called for the most wise selection of candidates.

At this first election in Sharon, Job Swift was chosen Selectman and with him, to complete the board, were Daniel Richards and Thomas Randall, Three years later Job Swift was re-elected to this highest position in town affairs.

For some time serious trouble had been brewing in the Country between Great Britain and the American Colonies. The Colonists had refused to pay unjust taxes, and General Gage had been sent over from England with soldiers to exercise force, if necessary, in collecting them. He occupied Boston with his troops, and built barricades' across the Neck to cut off intercourse of the city population with the inland towns. In the meantime, assisted by the Tories, he secured the necessary supplies for his army by frequent raids into the interior, seizing whatever of food for men and feed for cavalry horses that could be found unprotected. Another equally important purpose of these raids was the seeking of information regarding the location of powder mills and iron furnaces, and hiding places of guns and ammuni­tion upon which the Colonists relied for defense. One such cannon casting Furnace was located in Sharon and not far from the home of Job Swift.

Therefore Committees of Safety and Correspondence were elected, or appointed, from various sections of Massachusetts in 1774, who should keep watch of suspected Tory activities; prevent supplies from falling into the hands of the enemy; provide and protect ammunition, and report by messenger to the Provincial Congress. Job Swift was elected a member of this Committee to repre­sent the southerly end of Norfolk County . Dr. Joseph Warren was the Chairman, and secret meetings were held at Dedham and Milton .

New England was becoming aroused. Town meetings were hastily called. On the 23rd of February, 1773 , the voters of Sharon were called together to take action of the utmost importance. Job Swift was chosen Moderator, and under his leadership the following positive resolution was adopted:

"That we own King George ye 3rd to be our rightful Lord & Sovereign and promise Allegiance to him; But the same time Deny Parliamentary Power of Taxing us; being without the Realm of England and not Represented there."

Again at a meeting on August 29, 1774 , (to quote again from the records) the Town "unanimously voted not to comply with the Late acts of Parliament." Copies of these Resolves were sent to the British headquarters. Thus did Sharon under the leadership of Job Swift, place herself in direct opposition to the unjust demands of the Mother Country.

By this time the whole country was protesting against the acts of Parliament. A Continental Congress had already been organized and delegates from the cities up and down the coast from Maine to the Carolinas were assembling at Philadelphia .

Following the Continental Congress, which in­cluded delegates from all the States, a Provincial Congress was organized in Massachusetts , to protest against the unjust acts of Great Britain and to resent the arbitrary treatment of peaceful citizens by Gen. Gage and his soldiers occupying Boston .

As, in what appears to have been a matter of course, Job Swift was again elected a delegate from Norfolk County to fill this high State office. As Boston was barricaded, the Provincial Con­gress held meetings at Cambridge , Dedham and elsewhere just outside. John Hancock was the President of this Congress.

Early in 1775 the excitement of the people of Massachusetts was at its height and active prepar­ations for war were being pushed. Cannon, powder and ball had been secretly hidden at various points and the Colonists were arming throughout the State. Quantities of ammunition had been removed from the Sharon Furnace and elsewhere for supposed safer storage at Concord . This secret was discovered by the British and preparations were being made by them for a quick raid on Concord for the purpose of securing the secreted Cannon, Powder and Ball; and also on Lexington in hopes to capture the two leading patriots, Hancock and Adams, believed to be there in hiding.

Gen. Gage planned to make this secret raid on the 19th of April. This plot was discovered by the watchful Committee of Safety and reported to the Provincial Congress, of both of which organizations Job Swift was a member, and dramatic scenes were enacted during the night and day following.

Early in the morning of April 18th William Dawes, a citizen of high character, was secretly dispatched by Gen. Warren to Concord and Lexington by way of Roxbury—, and a few hours later Paul Revere was sent to Lexington over a different route through Charlestown; Dawes made the longer journey by horse and wagon and Re­vere more spectacularly rode on horseback. Each patriot gave the alarm as he passed through the villages and both were captured and later released by the enemy at Lexington .

Let us now briefly recite the probable events that transpired in and around Sharon on the 18th and 19th of April, 1775.

On the evening of the 18th Job Swift attends a meeting of the Provincial Congress at Dedham . At this meeting the secret plan of the British for a raid the next day on Concord and Lexington was disclosed. Each member knew his part.

Job Swift, on horseback in silence and with speed, bearing the burden of great responsibilities in his breast, hastened to his home in Sharon . Here he aroused his grownup sons, and the rest of the night was passed in giving the alarm at the homes of men and boys able to bear arms.

Picture, partly in imagination, the situation in Sharon early the following morning April nineteenth, 1775 - one hundred and forty-four years ago.

Behold, standing in partial concealment, at the edge of the forest near the rough road leading from Easton and Foxboro: Job Swift in the 64th year of his age, grim and determined of aspect; his grown sons, Joshua, Job, Jr., and Jirah, aged 31, 29 and 27, tall and erect, with their long barreled muskets at their sides, waiting to fall in with Capt. Tisdale and his company as they should come marching down the road for Concord and Lexington.

We are all somewhat familiar with the story of the fights at Concord and Lexington early in the morning of April 19th, 1775 ; how the British plot failed; her soldiers dispersed; and with the prophetic saying of Parson Clark: "From the 19th of April, 1775 will be dated the liberty of the American world."

Sharon has a long list of Revolutionary soldiers; two hundred and eleven from a total population of less than one thousand men, women and children, or, an average of at least one from each household; soldiers with longer records of military service, but no one who more modestly accepted and bravely performed such a variety of patriotic services at so critical a time in the crisis as Job Swift.

Job Swift's perishable dust lies beneath Sharon 's sod, but it is most fitting that his Name and his Fame be inscribed upon the enduring bronze.

Children:

1. Temperance Swift
2. Job Swift (2) b. 5 Sep 1746 ^[5] who married (first) Sept. 14, 1768, Rebecca Coming, and (second) April 5, 1779, Elizabeth Guild.
3. Joshua Swift b. 28 Aug 1744 ^[6]
4. Philps Swift, who was buried at Sandwich, Oct. 17, 1754.
5. Charity Swift, who was buried at Sandwich, Nov. 18, 1754.
6. Patience Swift, who died Feb. 12, 1765.
7. Jirah Swift, b. June 4, 1749 ^[7] who married Waitstill Lyon on July 31, 1769, and had children: Jirah, b. June 30, 1770; Zepha, b. June 3, 1772; Wyeth, b. April 27, 1774; Azil, b. Feb. 23, 1776.
8. Unite Swift, b. 13 Sep 1752.^[8]

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Christening: 11 NOV 1711. First Parish Cem, Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Research Notes

• SAR has a Job Swift listed as Patriot #: P-301101. No other dates or details are shown, but it shows Elizabeth Haskell as spouse. Research shows a Elizabeth Haskell as the wife of a Jirah Swift, so this record may or may not be associated with this Job Swift; it could be for a Jirah Swift, or it could be for this Job Swift with an incorrect spouse.
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 have a marriage record of Jonas Swift and Elizabeth Haskell, 6 Jan 1763, in Wareham.Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook)

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FH3L-HZC : 27 April 2016), Job Swift and Sarah Blackwell, 20 Jan 1733; citing Marriage, Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States, town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 775,836.
2. ↑ Information from Sharon, Massacusetts history researcher Nick Dann, 30 Dec 2015.
3. ↑ Many records state that Job Swift was born in Wareham. The town of Wareham was established July 10, 1739, and New England Vital Records note his place of birth was Sandwich. A part of Sandwich may have become Wareham, so this difference is really inconsequential.
4. ↑ sic; should be Stoughtonham.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FZSV-3DM : 4 December 2014), Sarah in entry for Job Swift, 05 Sep 1746; citing STOUGHTON,NORFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0873740 IT 3.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FZSK-NW1 : 4 December 2014), Sarah in entry for Joshua Swift, 28 Aug 1744; citing STOUGHTON,NORFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0873740 IT 3.
7. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FZSK-GH8 : 4 December 2014), Sarah in entry for Jireh Swift, 04 Jun 1748; citing STOUGHTON,NORFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0873740 IT 3.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FZSX-683 : 4 December 2014), Sarah in entry for Unite Swift, 13 Sep 1752; citing STOUGHTON,NORFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0873740 IT 3.

• William Swyft of Sandwitch and some of his descendants, 1637-1899 Job is Record #48, Pg. 14, the son of Jireh Swift, Record #10, Pg. 6.Swyft Descendants; Record #48. See also: Record #10.
• Sandwich, Massachusetts Vital Records, pg. 99. "Job Swift, son of the Sd Jirah and Abigail Swift was born the third day of October Anno domini 1771".
• Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine: Swift. Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D., Lewis Publishing Company, New York. 1909 Genealogical and Family History: Swift
• Exercises in the Sharon Public Library, May 24, 1919, at the unveiling of Bronze Tablet in Memory of Job Swift Stoughton History.com Originally published as a small booklet in 1919 for the dedication of the tablet.
• ’’Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Books (152 Vols.)’’: Mrs. Etta LeFevre Fulton, DAR #137455. Daughter of Samuel Jewett LeFevre and Laura Ann Carver; grand daughter of David Leonard Carver and Laura Nash; great-grand daughter of Hervey Nash and Anna Swift; 2nd great-grand daughter of Samuel Swift and Anna Hewins; 3rd great-grand daughter of Job Swift, Jr. and 1st Rebecca Cummings; 4th great-grand daughter of Job Swift and Sarah Blackwell. Job swift (1711 - 1801) was a delegate to the Provincial Congress, and served as private in Captain Tisdale's company, Massachusetts troops. He was born in Wareham; died in Sharon, Mass. National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Lineage Books of the Charter Members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Vol. I-CLII (152). Note on Publishing: Since this database represents a compilation of 151 volumes, the years and locations of copyright information varies, according to each volume, i.e. Volume 8 was published in 1899 in Washington, D.C., volume 63 was published in 1923, also in Washington, D.C., and volume 152 was published in 1938, also in Washington, D.C.
• Massachusetts, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850: Job Swift and Sarah Blackwell, 20 Jan 1734, Sandwich, Barnstable County. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850. With some noted exceptions all marriage records in this collection can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and may be available through Family History Centers throughout the United States; FHL microfilm 0904579
• Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001: Marriage,
• Find A Grave: Memorial #148490668; Job Swift, Rock Ridge Cemetery, Sharon MA

See also:

• Add sources here.

Footnotes