Relatively Speaking Blog

Thomas Downing Swank was the brother of my great grandfather, and thus one of my great uncles. He lived most of his life between the three counties of Lycoming, Sullivan and Columbia. Except for his obituary and a mention of when he was called to be a juror in 1910, he did not appear in any newspaper articles. To learn a little about his life, I looked at the census and other documents I could find.

Thomas was born October 10, 1867, in Lycoming County, where he spent his first few years. Of the 8 children of Henry and Matilda Swisher Swank, Thomas was their 6th child. He had 3 older brothers:  George, Charles and Jonas; and 5 sisters: Mary, Christie, Caroline, Delia, and Cora.

In the first two census enumerations in which Thomas appears, he of course was with his parents. In the 1870 census Thomas was 2 years old in Franklin Township. Around 1872, the family moved across the county line to Davidson Township, Sullivan County where they resided during the 1880 census. Thomas’ education occurred in this county and according to the 1880 census, he and his three younger sisters attended school within the year. This might have been the last year he went to school, as a later census reported Thomas only finished the 6th grade.

1880 census Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Henery Swank	Head	50	Farmer	PA
Matilda Swank	wife	50	Kept house	PA
Charles Swank	son	22	Farmer	PA
Crista Swank	daughter	18	Housework	PA
Caroline Swank	daughter	11		PA
Thomas Swank	son	13		PA
Delia Swank	daughter	9		PA
Cora Swank	daughter	6		PA

In May of 1892 Thomas applied for a marriage license at the Sullivan County courthouse. His bride-to-be was Nellie Jane Reese, coincidentally a distant cousin to me. At the time, being only 20 years old, Nellie needed her mother’s consent to the marriage, which was given. Interestingly, Thomas’ father Henry, who was a Justice of the Peace, signed the marriage application. The license was issued on May 3, but it was not filed until June 6, and did not indicate the date of marriage. Their marriage took place sometime within that time frame.

After their marriage the Swanks remained in Sullivan County. By 1900 there were two sons, William and Lester. Thomas worked as a day laborer, but no detail of his type of work was supplied, only that he was unemployed 3 months out of the year. Thomas must have been successful, though, as he owned his house free from any mortgage.

The 1900 census also indicates that Nellie had 5 children, but only 2 that were living. Reviewing birth and death records in Sullivan County did not reveal the children who died. However, Stoneheap cemetery records noted four stones inscribed as daughters of G.D. and N.J. Swank. It is presumed that either the inscription was misread or the stone cutter added the wrong initials for Thomas. No dates were provided, but the names were: Mary M., Pearlie M., Ruth I., and Edith M. One of these daughters probably was born and died after the 1900 census.

In the Sullivan County birth reports their third son Hurley was recorded as born April 9, 1902. Although they had three sons, perhaps the loss of their daughters added some strain on their marriage. In Feb. 1907 Thomas filed for a divorce from Nellie on grounds of adultery. One of the witnesses in the proceedings testified that she confronted Nellie about information written in a family bible. Nellie informed her that what she wrote was correct, Mary Matilda, was the daughter Thomas but of F.P. Schug. The divorce was granted.

After their divorce, Thomas and Nellie went their separate ways and divided the three children. Nellie married William Bay in 1909 and Thomas moved out of the area for a short time. In the 1910 census, Nellie remained in Davidson Township and had son Hurley Swank; Thomas had their two eldest sons, William and Lester in Forkston Township, Wyoming County, PA. Here, he rented a house and took on several boarders. Thomas worked in the lumber industry as a jobber—apparently this entailed doing odd jobs of any sort. Surprisingly, rather than listed as divorced, Thomas was marked as married for 22 years, and that it was his first marriage.

Thomas appeared to have stayed in Wyoming County a brief time. Before 1913, Thomas became involved with Minnie Rhone, another distant cousin to me. Minnie was married to Elmer Rhone in 1909 and they had two sons: Marion born in 1909 and Murrel born in 1911. When she separated from Elmer is unclear.

Minnie became pregnant in 1912 and in May 1913 she had a son Thomas Edson Swank, whose birth certificate listed his father as Thomas D. Swank. At that time, Thomas worked as a lumberman and lived in Muncy Valley PA, as did Minnie. It was several years before Thomas and Minnie married on April 3, 1917. Minnie’s divorce was not finalized until August of 1916, which may have been part of the delay.

1920 Census Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA
Name	Relationship	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Thomas B. Swank	head	52	farmer	PA
Minnie M. Swank	wife	30		PA
Lester L. Swank	son	20		PA
Hurlie Swank	son	17		PA
Edison T. Swank	son	6		PA
Murel Roan	step son	8		PA

Enumerated in the 1920 census in Davidson Township, Sullivan County were Thomas, Minnie, and children: Lester, Hurley, Edson, and Murel. His son William had died the previous year from the flu. Thomas worked on a farm he owned. Edson and Murel attended school, but the older sons did not and had no occupations listed. Thomas’ work with farming lasted a few years before his next move around 1922 to Bloomsburg, likely to find work.

In the 1930 census the family resided in Bloomsburg in a rented house. In addition to Thomas and Minnie, the household included Thomas’ father-in-law, John Artley, their son Thomas, his stepson, Murel, who was listed as Swank, and Murel’s wife Margaret. Murel and Margaret were recently wed, as their ages at time of marriage were their current age. Thomas and his sons worked for the Magee Carpet Company.

In the 1940 census, Thomas continued to work in a carpet mill. His son Edson and Edson’s young wife lived with Thomas. Thomas was in the same house as in 1930, 560 Magee St. in Bloomsburg, but he remained a renter. This would be Thomas’ last census as he died from cancer on Jan 4, 1942, at the age of 74. Minnie lived until 1987.

In my search, I had hoped to learn more about my great uncle. Except for a few years, Thomas spent most of his life between Sullivan County and Bloomsburg PA, likely moving for employment. He outlived his son and several infant daughters; this, in addition to divorcing his first wife, must have weighed on Thomas. Perhaps because of this he was committed to his children. At least one of his sons lived with Thomas during his life. I am left with the impression that he was a loving father who was willing to help his sons whenever he could.