Family Record Hunter

If it weren’t for his wife, there would be no definitive proof. Regina Swortzel is the linchpin that ties Johannes Schwertzel, also known as John A Swortzel, to his father, Johan Henrich Schwartzel , and family in Pennsylvania. Through this post I hope to definitely link Johannes to this Schwartzel family and subsequently those families who moved to Greene, TN; Montgomery, OH; and Mifflin, PA.

I have seen hints that the Swortzel family in Augusta County, Virginia were related to the Schwartzel's of Pennsylvania, but I have not previously seen any facts connecting the two. If we are able to make those connections I believe there is definitive proof that Johann Henrich Schwartzel is the progenitor of the Swatzel's in Mifflin, PA; Montgomery, OH; Greene, TN ; and Augusta, VA.

I don't remember how I happened upon this case. Google may have magically included it in my ads because it knew I was looking for it. However I stumbled upon it, I'm glad I did because it ties together a couple of theories I had been piecing together about the origins of the Swatzel family in Greene County, Tennessee.

Philip Swatzel appears in most genealogy research as a note alongside articles on Johan Henrich Schwartzel. “There is also a Philip Swatzel in Greene Tennessee in 1833 from Lancaster and Cumberland, PA.”

Another successful record hunt is in the books. This time my focus was on Greene County, Tennessee but also included nearby Cocke, Sullivan, and Washington Counties. The primary target for this hunt was Philip Swatzel and his immediate family.  

There’s no official beginning. There’s also no official end. Only a few pieces near the middle. My goal is to find the beginning if I can, but would be content for now with patching together the middle.

After several record hunts through the local libraries and FamilySearch archives I’ve collected about as much data on the Schwartzel family as I can without a trip to Pennsylvania. While sifting through the records and indexes I have found over 24 variations and counting of spelling their surname. I don’t expect all of these records to be accurate matches to the Schwartzel family, but better to cast a wider net and narrow my focus later than miss out with the limited time I have at the library.

This is one of my favorite finds from my family record hunts. Not that it was hard to find - It was actually saved by many other members of the family - but because of the first hand account of history that it provides.

I don’t know exactly where the Schwartzel family came from. I have hunches, clues, and even theories, but I haven’t found the missing link to prove where they came from, so for now we’ll stick to the facts. 

American history is romanticized as a story of immigrants. Almost every American, including myself, can trace our lineage to multiple immigrants from Germany, but getting there is always a straight path. Anglicization of our German ancestors' names poses a large but surmountable obstacle to our genealogical research. Records and indexes are filled with our English speaking ancestors butchering the spelling of foreign names. German, French, Polish, all of them.