John Swortzel - Augusta, VA
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.
Background
From our research of Johan Henrich, we first learned of a son named John through some uncited references on a genealogy.com page. There is a reference from correspondence between Bruce L. Botkin and Garry Swartzel from May 9, 1997 that references John:
“Johann remarried and had a son John. John (son) married and lived in Virginia. Matthias was a son of Johann and was born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1739.”
I reached out to Garry to see if he could help point me in the direction of the sources for this, but with a 23 year gap in his genealogy research he could not pinpoint where it came from. I really appreciate his response a willingness to help a stranger who messaged him out of the blue.
We also have references from Philip Swatzel of Greene County, Tennessee, who we previously connected to Johan Henrich, from his pension application stating lived in Maryland and Virginia prior to 1800. From Greene County we also have a deed dated 6 Mar 1816 where John Swatzel, now of Augusta, VA sells land to Henry Swatzel of Greene, TN.
Further, we have a court case of Joanna Swatzel in Greene, TN who has a grandfather who passed away between 1814 and 1834 in Augusta, VA.
All of these ties lead me to believe there is a strong connection between the Swatzel’s of Green County, Tennessee, and the Swatzel’s of Augusta, VA and therefore Johan Henrich Schwartzel of Pennsylvania.
Record Hunt
During a record hunt of the Swatzel family in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I had to use a number of various spellings of the surname to find our records. John, and the German equivalent, Johannes, was prevalent throughout all three regions.
From these areas I collected anyone with a last name related to Swartzel, and particularly paid attention to John. From this I found a few records in Lancaster, a number of records in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland and a large collection from Augusta, Virginia.
But we know that Johan Henrich, Johann Mathias, and Johann Jost were all related and could, at any time be called by Johann, rather than their middle name, as was typical in most records. The key to tying all these various spellings and locations together proved to be John’s wife, Regina.
Regina
The first records are a definitive connection of John to Lancaster County at the same time Johan Henrich resided there. First is a birth record of Anna Christina Schwertzel whose parents are listed as John & Wife.
Then the key record is in 1773 at the Christ Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown. Johannes and Regina have a daughter, Elisabeth, born 10 September 1772 and baptized 5 January 1773. This is our first reference to Regina being John’s wife. Also to note, Elizabethtown is near Derry, where Johan Henrich owned property at the time.
In Maryland, there are records for Henry, John, and Mathias Swartzell living in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland from 1774 to 1780. In 1774 Mathaus Schwertzol and wife Catharina Barbara have a son, Abraham. In 1777, Henry serves in the Maryland Continental Service. And, in 1780 Johannes and Regina have a daughter, Susana. Here, Regina confirms this is the same Johannes as the one from Lancaster, PA.
Moving on to Augusta, VA we find decades of records from St. John’s Church register. On 20 Feb 1794 Regina is the sponsor to a baptism. This now ties all three areas together. But it’s the last time we see Regina in the records. Going forward, anytime Johannes’ wife is mentioned her name is Catharina. The first of which is on the next page of the church register, where Catharina Schwärzel is the sponsor to the baptism of David Heyberger’s daughter, Anna Maria.
We later find records of Johannes Schwärtzel at the same church starting in the year 1800. We can confirm that it is not his son Johannes, Jr because Johannes, Sr. is specifically called out in a baptism record for his grandson, Johannes Schwerzle III, in 1813. The rest of the church records can be found here.
Back to John
Now that we know the origin of John we can see if there are other records to help us learn more of his life. At the same St. John’s Church we can find his tombstone in the graveyard, which states his birth date as 1742 and death as 1815. His name on the tombstone is “John A Swortzel”.
Working backwards from this date we can find a deed dated Dec 1814 where John Swartsell Sr. and wife Catharine sell land to their son, John Swartzell, Jr. In this deed we also find that John Sr, bought of Martha Williams and Ann Downey. (My images saved while researching at a Family History Center where cut off and I need to return to retake them)
This leads us to our next deed in Augusta. On 20 September 1791, John Swartsley purchased land in Beverly Manor from Martha Downey, William Downey, and his wife Anne, which previously belonged to Samuel Downey. Beverly Manor is the district of Augusta where the city of Staunton lies and is a few miles Northeast of Middlebrook and St. John’s Church. This now places John, with various spellings of his last name, in Augusta County, VA no later than 1791, which aligns with Regina’s church record of 1794.
This particular land purchase is also interesting because it is later the dispute of a court case between William Blair and William Downey regarding the inheritance of Samuel Downey. John Swartzley is also named as a defendant. In the case John refuses to give the land back because he had already bought and paid for it. (Can’t say that I blame him.) Let the family who sold it figure out a solution that doesn’t involve you. Also in the court documents are some detailed land surveys of the lot.
These two deeds and the court case allows us to use the same piece of land to tie together a few various spellings of John’s last name. This helps us verify a few other records from the time with similar last names, particularly the 1810 US Federal Census and a 1800 Tax list.
After Death
I have not found any probate records for John yet, if they even exist, but I believe his time and place of death make him the primary candidate to be the grandfather in the court case of Joanna Swetzel v. John Dyche. By 1815, both of Joanna’s parents, Joseph and Polly, had died and Christian Dyche was her guardian. As the story goes, her grandfather then passed away intestate in Augusta County, VA and she was entitled to her father’s share of the inheritance. Christian then collected the money from Staunton, VA and embezzled it to pay his other debts.
I have been unable to find any other records of deaths in Augusta, VA for a Swatzel, or its variations, between 1814 and 1834, when the case begins. We know that John Sr. had another son named John, born 19 Feb 1775, died 8 May 1849, eliminating him from contention. All the other records of John’s children are females.
Until any probate records are found I cannot ultimately prove Joseph and Joanna are related to John, but I can see the evidence mounting up.
John Jr.
It is interesting that there is no record of John Jr. in the 1800 Augusta tax list or the 1810 census. The first reference to him in Augusta, VA is the birth of John III in 1813 and then the 1814 purchase of land. There are also three War of 1812 records for a John Swatsel from Maryland and Virginia.
These clues lead me to believe that John stayed behind in Hagersville, MD for some reason and later moved to Virginia to be with his parents. Nothing concrete here, but just a hunch that I’ll need to investigate later.
Next to John’s tombstone in nearby Mount Tabor Lutheran Church Cemetery we also find a grave for Susanna Towerman Swortzel engraved with:
“Sacred to the memory of Susanna Consort of John Swortzel Sr who was born Sep 17 A.D. 1783 and departed this life July 31 1849 Aged 65 yrs 10 mos & 15 ds “
Given John Jr. has a grave next to hers and they had a son named John it’s not a stretch to believe this was his wife and not his father’s. We also know from other records that a year before John Sr.’s death in 1815 his wife’s name was Catharine. Susanna’s name may now be something to use when searching for records of John Jr. back in Maryland.
Other information:
While searching for records on Johannes' elder brother, Jost, in Mifflin County, PA. I found a book titled "History of Mifflin County: its physical peculiarities, soil, climate, &c. including an Early Sketch of the State of Pennsylvania", published in 1879. In this book there is a biography on the Swartzel family that includes a reference to Peter Swartzel moving to Hagerstown, Maryland and married Catharine Wirt of Germany. No dates given on this activity but most of the biography is in the late 1700's.
There is a record for John Swazell near Antietam and Sharpsburg in the 1783 Tax Assessment of Washington, MD. This is about 13 miles south of Hagerstown. I'm uncertain if this is the same John.
John Swazell. Antietam Bottom, pt, 56 acres. WA Lower Antietam and Sharpsburg p. 41. MSA S1161-11-1. 1/4/5/54
I hope this information is useful to you in your family record hunts. If you have any additional information, corrections, theories, facts, anything at all on this topic I would love to hear from you. Please comment below.
Update: I have found a copy of the will for John A Swortsell dated 24 December, 1813. The Will is entered on 27 Mar, 1815. He lists the following heirs:
- Catherine, his wife
- Anna Christina, his daughter
- Anna Maria, his daughter
- Freny, his daughter
- John, his son
- Jacob, his son
- Joseph, his son
- Henry, his son
- Peter Lohr and wife Catherine
- John Harop and Polly
- Martin Baylor and wife
- Son Frederick
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