Relatively Speaking Blog

My great grand uncle George Clinton Swank is thought to have been born this month in 1854, although no definitive proof exists. Someone born before the 20th century might not have known his own birth date, let alone his age, which could be possible for George. When birth certificates do not exist for a time period being researched, the U.S. Census records can provide an estimate of when a person was born, but it is not a perfect source, as sometimes a person’s age varies drastically from one census to another. But for George, the census enumerations offer some clues as when he was possibly born.

1860 census Franklin Township, Lycoming County PA
Name	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Henry Swank	27	Laborer	PA
Matilda Swank	24		PA
George C. Swank	9		PA
Mary E. Swank	7		PA
Charles W. Swank	4		PA
Jonas Swank	1/12		PA

George was the eldest child of Henry and Matilda Swisher Swank. He grew up in Muncy Valley, Sullivan County, PA, where he was born, as well as neighboring Franklin Township, Lycoming County, where he resided his entire adult life. The first two census enumerations in which George appeared were the 1860 and 1870 census with his parents and younger siblings. In 1860 George was listed as 9 years of age, with a calculated birth year of about 1851. In 1870, he was 16 years old, which aligns with his recognized birth year of 1854. However, it is possible George was really older than he thought and born closer to 1851.

1870 census Franklin Township, Lycoming County PA
Name	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Henry Swank	41	farmer	PA
Matilda Swank	40		PA
George C. Swank	16		PA
Mary H. Swank	14		PA
Charles W. Swank	12		PA
Jonas Swank	9		PA
Christian Swank	7		PA
Thomas D. Swank	2		PA
Caroline Swank	5/12		PA

By 1880 George had married and settled in Franklin Township where he was a farmer. In the 1880 census he was listed by his middle name of Clinton with his wife Annie C., also known as Christie Ann. With them was their first child, a daughter born in October of the previous year, as noted by the census. Residing with them was George’s brother Jonas, who was a farm laborer and probably assisted George with the upkeep of his farm. Also in the household was Clara Allen, a young girl who was a servant, most likely for the Swanks, implying that George at age 26 was doing well for himself.

1880 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
Clinton Swank	Head	26	M	farmer
Annie C. Swank	wife	25	M	kept house
Bessie M. Swank	daughter	7/12	S
Clara Allen	servant	12	S	servant for private family
Jonas Swank	brother	19	S	worked on farm

George continued to live in Franklin Township and was enumerated there again in 1900. George and Christie were married 24 years—therefore their marriage occurred around 1875-1876. Christie had three children, and all of her children were alive in 1900. George continued his occupation as a farmer and owned his farm, with a mortgage. His daughter Bessie was a school teacher, and his two sons attended school. His wife Christie appeared to be a first generation American, as her parents were born in Germany.

The 1900 census was the only one that asked every person the month and year of their birth. According to this census George was born in February 1854, consistent with previous census enumerations, except 1860. Christie was born the same year as George, but in October. As for their children, Bessie was born in October 1879, William Stanton in July 1882 and Leon Leroy, listed as Linn in the 1900 census, in November 1885. The 1900 census provides a good starting point for birth dates, but additional documents should be located to confirm the dates were recorded correctly by the census taker.

In the next census, George and Christie were both listed as 56 years of age. Although their children had reached adulthood by 1910, they still resided with their parents in Franklin Township. Leon was a farm laborer, working the family farm that no longer had a mortgage. George had changed his occupation to a chopper in a lumber camp, working along with his son Stanton. Bessie, too, had switched her profession to a nurse, working for a private family. Once again they had taken into their household an additional person, their nephew Melvin, a son of Christie’s brother William Bay.

1910 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Years Married	Mother of how many children	Number of children living	Occupation
Clinton G. Swank	Head	56	M1	33			chopper in lumber camp
Christie R. Swank	wife	56	M1	33	3	3
Bessie M. Swank	daughter	30	S				nurse for private family
Stanton Swank	son	27	S				chopper in lumber camp
L. Leroy Swank	son	7	S
Melvin Bay	nephew	1	S

By 1920, George was back to farming with the help of his son Leon, who continued to live with his parents. Bessie and William no longer lived at home, as they were married during the previous decade: Bessie in July of 1910 and William in September of 1911. However, neither was listed in the 1920 census; sadly, William and Bessie both died during the preceding decade without any known children: Bessie in 1912 and William in 1918.

1920 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
G.C. Swank	Head	66	M	farmer
C.R. Swank	wife	65	M
Leon L. Swank	son	34		farm laborer

Although Leon was single and living with his parents, I was told by several family members he had proposed to a woman who accepted, but later, he broke off the engagement. She sued him for breach of contract and won, which somehow prevented him from marrying anyone else until she died. Leon had met Clarissa, who became his girlfriend. They were together many years, but were only married at an old age after the first fiancée died. Leon had no offspring, and no descendants for George and Christie survive today.

During the 1920s George suffered another loss; Christie, his wife of almost 50 years, died in 1925. The next two census enumerations find George with his widowed sister, Cora. In 1930 George was said to be 27 years old when he married, but that does not add up. If he was born in 1854, his calculated birth year for this census, he should have been about 21 years old when he married in 1876-1877; however, he could have been 27 years old at the time he married, only if he was born closer to 1850.

In the 1930 census George had no occupation listed, suggesting he was now retired. It was surprising to see that in the 1940 census George, at age 86, was a farm laborer, probably for his sister’s farm, and he worked 52 weeks during the year! George must have been in good health to tackle some of the farm chores. This final census for George revealed that he must have never attended school, as his highest grade completed was 0.

George died in May 1944 at the age of 90 years and he, along with Christie, were buried in Stoneheap Cemetery in Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA. George’s death certificate listed his birth month and year as February 1854, the same as recorded in the 1900 census, but the day was listed as unknown. Was it only his son, Leon, who did not know George’s date of birth, or did George not know his own birthday? With no other documents located that include George’s date of birth, the census is the closest to providing a reasonable estimate of when he was born. Though George could have been born a few years earlier, the census enumerations over the years and his death certificate corroborate that his accepted birth occurred 166 years ago this month.