Peter B. Swank

1828 - 1894  (66 years)

• Name	Peter B. Swank
  Born	17 Jun 1828	Strassburg, , Prussia, Germany   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1861	North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Laborer
  Residence	1861	North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Lutheran
  Occupation	1864	Branchton, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	mason
  Immigration	1869	, USA
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-252291
  Died	10 Aug 1894	Paris Township, Kent, Michigan
  Buried	Oak Grove Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
  Person ID	I252291	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Phoebe Siegler,   b. 19 Aug 1835, Dudeldorf, , Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany ,   d. 2 Jun 1907, Paris Township, Kent, Michigan  (Age 71 years)
  Children	1. Fredericka Swank,   b. 1854, , USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown   2. Mary Ann Swank,   b. 1860, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 20 Oct 1927, Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana, USA  (Age 67 years)   3. Adam Schwink,   b. 14 Feb 1864, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 5 Sep 1955, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States  (Age 91 years)
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F228485	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Peter Swank image from Find A Grave added by Chris Korstange

  
  

• Notes

  My Book of Memories Written in 1888 The lives of my Parents on a Farm Purchased 1866 in Paris, Kent Co., Michigan 7 miles south east of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 40 acres was then known as the Sharps Farm. The record of their Birth The record of their Death and of their Children & Children's Children. My father was born of German Parents in Strassburgh, Germany in the year of 1828 \endash June 17th Peter Swank. My mother Phoebe Seigler-Swank of German & French parents was born in Rhine Polse Byron Germany Aug. 19, 1835. This story many times Related to us by my Parents. While they were here with us. The landing of my Parents in this Country. Father from Strassburgh to New York By sail Boat in the year of 1849 a young man then 21 a stone cutter and Brick Mason by Trade. Went to Brooklin to live and work on Building large Factories & Bridges. My Father worked in Brooklin & Williamsburgh 4 years, before he met my Mother and they were married. My Mother and her Father came to New York in 1850 landed at Ellis Ile. stayed there 3 days for inspection and health examination, then left for Brooklin, and lived in the Old Megsker House a large old Fashionable Hotel where my Mother got Employment. My mother's father came here to regain his Health he had contracted tuberculosis in Germany by inhaling stone dust and his docter thought that the change in climate might cure him. He remained here in New York 3 years and returned to Europe. During his three years stay here he sometimes worked at his trade which was stone cutting and he met my father at the same work on a large Building. They became Friends and my Father would visit him at his hotel whare my Father & Mother first meet in 1853. My Mother & Father were married May 15 \endash 1853 before my Grand father left for Germany. We never have seen any of our Grand parents on either side of the family nor did we ever see my Mothers sister or brother or my Fathers sister she died very young of inflamery Rheumtism he my Father had a brother William that came to New York but we never saw him he was younger than my Father. My dear mother told us that when ever she would get home sick she could see a great resemblance in my Bro George and her brother she left in Germany and never saw after leaving there. George he was a great comfort to her at times when she was sick and in trouble for she dearly loved her brother they were great Pals at home in Germany. My Mother was only 14 years old when she landed in N.Y. and when her father bade her farewell at the dock. She never saw any of people again. My Father & Mother kept up correspondence for a number of years with their people and at one time send her brother and his sister money enough to come and visit us but I think they must have spend it for I know they never came. They lived for a while at Williamsburgh, N.Y. whare their first child was born a girl they named her Fredericka she was a small person when she grew up and resembled my Mothers Mother my grandmother on her side of the family. I can remember her beautifull hair it was black as a raven and two big long brades that came down to her kneese. She was a very sad and unfortunate girl. From Williamsburgh they went to St. Catheriens Canada to live and did not live there more than 4 years it was so low and swampy and that the family never were well wane and thoy Poid fever be fell them and my Father could hardly work at his trade then Building Rail Road Bridges for a man by the name of Jenkins and in Jan 1860 moved to Branchton Ont. and my Father worked Building Bridges for Mr. Jenkins and the Railroad for 5 years and while living in Branchton, Ont. Built themselves a very nice stone Cottage. Mrs. Jenkins owned a large Hotel in Branchton just across the road from my Mother & Fathers cottage and lived in Branchton to the ripe old age of 94. My mother went back to Branchton Ont. to visit this old lady and her home in the year 1897. Met many old friend & neighbors. In 1866 they came to Michigan. My Father Mother and three children in the Spring of 1866 the year after the war closed they bought a 40 acre farm from Mr. Sharp and settled down in a old 2 room house whare the sheep had been living in cleaned it up and moved in the land was all covered with timber. There was plenty of work in Grand Rapids it was just a small place then. My Father worked in Grand Rapids for a number of years and helped to Build the City he would walk too and from the city morning & night carry the groceries that the Family used on his back. On Nov 9 \endash 1867 their son William was Born and my Father Built a part on the old house two Bedrooms & a sumer kitchen and wood shed. Then that same year Mr. & Mrs. John Oatis Bought the farm across the road from our house owned by Mr. Laweraux. They had been living at the Old Building and managing the county Infiremy. Mrs. Oatis a very fine neighbour a fat short little German lady. Jolly would come and call on my Mother & Father and they through Mr. & Mrs. Oatis meet some people of their owen nationality. They were from Caledonia a little Bergh about 12 miles south of whare we lived and they would call and take my Parents to church with them at Holy Corner? The German Litheren Prodesten Church. There they met the Shantzes, the Ruches, the Gibes and others as time went on people bought farms all around us and settled on them. They were Burneses the New Houses the Marsmares and the Slaters. My people worked hard cleaning their little Farm cutting and farming brush and logs cutting wood and hawling it to Grand Rapids with a ox team. My Father worked at his trade which brougt him in good money them days he told us treat every Pay day every 2 weeks he could cover a good sized table top with silver dollars. My Mother worked on the farm with her little family clearing up land supervising the cutting and marketing of wood & logs by men and in February 1869 \endash the 12th another child was born this time a sweet little girl who was small and delicate and my mother said she reminded her of a Rose and my Mother called her by that name (Rose.) That was a hard year for my mother the neighbor hood children brought home Scarlet Fever contracted at school and our children took the terrible diease when my sister was a baby 6 months old. She Rose also took the Fever and my mother worked hard and saved her life but after that came the pink eye that so often follows scarlet Fever. My Mother worked for weeks on the baby trying to save her from going Blind but she lost the sight of one of her eyes in spite of good care which almost grieved my Mother to death. There were children in the neighbor hood that lost their mind and sight. One family by the name of Cox had 2 children. Henry Cox that lost both eyes and lived to grow up a fine young man would find his way all over this neighborhood by use of his cane. His brother died in a asylum from the effects of scarlet Fever. In the spring of 1870 while clearing the yard and Burning up brush and other old wood my Mother went to the barn to milk the cow and told my sisters to watch over the two small children. Adam got out in the door yard and fell face down in to a bed of live coals whare they had burned old wood and my Mother had another little 2-year old Boy at the point of death. She and the girls one 14 and 9 Mary & Fredericka nursed him back to health but the Burns were so severe that he never was as large and strong as the rest of the children. I mean William & George as men when grown up. Them days my Father was not home all the time sometimes he would not be home only once a week and and some times once in 2 weeks. He had more work and more hours so could not stand the work and long walks so he hired a steady man to work on the farm and have movd to the city. His name was Fred Henry Fralick a strong heavy German with a terrible temper and no judgement of animals such as oxen, cows and pigs. He would go around quarling all the day with a whip then the pitch fork. One day the neighbors told my father that he carried a pitch fork and when when the oxen would not go as fast as he liked he would stick the fork in their backs. He would hide the fork under the wood in his load. One night when my father came home from work a neighbor meet him on the road and told my Father that he saw Fred the man abusing the oxen. My Father took him to task and he denied he had ever used a fork on the cattle. The children liked Fred. He was as kind and good to them and pleaded with Father not to send him away. He would take the older children to the City and Church at times and spend his wages on them. He was very fond of my (Our Book of Memories) The lives of my Dear Parents whome have past away. gone before us our dear ones but never will be forgotten. My Dear sweet Mother whome was so kind and considerate of everyone her family \endash Friend \endash and neighbor. My Father whome was a good kind father a good provider a hard working man and stern with his children his word was law. We loved him dearly as his teachings were richeous and law biding. My Parents came over the Atlantic Ocean while very young from Germany on the sail Boat. it took almost three months to cross the ocean at that time. My Father only 18 and mother 14 years of age when they landed in New York City. My Father was born June 17 \endash 1828 of German parents in Strassburgh Germany his name was Peter Swank (Schwenk). My Mother was born Aug 19 (16 inserted above) \endash 1835 of German & French parents at Rhine Polse (scratched out \endash Byron Germany. it was the year of) 1849 (1848 inserted above) when Father landed in New York City. Went to Brooklin N.Y. and got employment as a stone mason & Brick layer. My Mother and her Father came to New York City in the year of 1850 (1851 inserted above). My grand Father came here to this country in search of his health he was suffering from Tubercolus contracted by cutting stone and inhaling stone dust. Mother was the oldest child in their family a family of three children. My Mother her brother and Baby sister. My Grandfather name was John M. Seigler and mothers name was Pheoba Seiglar. They landed at Ellis Isle (crossed out with (not in existence) written above it) Jan 1850 stayed there three days for health and other Inspection. from there they went to Brooklin N.Y. to the Megsker House whare my mother got employment careing for a wine cellar (crossed out words wine cellar) and waitress in the Hotel. My Grand Father did not have much money left after landing in this country and some days he seemed able to work at his trade so went in search of work. There was plenty of work Building Blocks and Bridges of stone work. it was at his kind of work that he first meet my Father and became Friends. They worked on the same jobs many times for three years and during this time my Father & Mother meet each other through my Grand Father Friendship for my Father and in May 1853 just before my Grand Father sailed for home my Mother and Father were married May 15 \endash 1853. May 19 \endash 1853 they went to the dock and see her Father on board the ship. Bade him farewell and never see him again he got home safe and lived just two years. Father & Mother went to Williamsbergh N.Y. to live in a small apartment got plenty of work there building butments for large Bridges they stayed at Williamsbergh nearly 6 years layed up some money and their first child a girl was born there. from there they moved to Canada to live down near Toronto, St. Cahtrines. My Father started working for a man by the name of Jenkins a railroad man Building railroad Bridges all over that country. St. Cathrines is a very swampy low place and not a good place to live. My People had not lived there more than year when they were taken sick with thyphoid fever first Father he was down and could not work and they spent every cent that they had on docter Bills and was with out means when Mother came down with the same diease and their neighbors had to care for Mother and 2 children two little girls one of the ladies took the children home with her and the woman next door and my Father cared for Mother. Father was so thin and weak that he could not work for months and Mother was sick all one summer until September of that year and when the peaches began to come in market she craved for them and she had plenty for her kind neighbor brought in many a basket for her until she gained her health and strength again. The next year Mr. Jenkins moved my Father & Mother down to Branchton Ont. whare he and his wife lived and run The Village Hotel and tavern. they rented a little house in Branchton from Mrs. Fredericka Brown. The Browns were my parents neighbor lived right next door and they were great friends. My Father went to work helping farmers build homes and large Basement Barns and when he got on his feet and back to his health he went back to work for Mr. Jenkins Building Railroads. Mrs. Jenkins was a very busy woman with her Hotel business and called on my Mother quiet often to take charge of her place of Business. When she went in town to buy her supplies for her Hotel and my Mother and her were very good Friends and she gave her lots of work looking after the dining room and making the place seem like home to her many Boarders. Mrs. Jenkins would always remember my Mother on her shopping trips she would come back loaded with all kind of clothing for herself Mother and the children. it helped to save their earnings and Mr. & Mrs. Jenkins were so interested in this young couple for they both worke so hard to get along and were so savring every dollar saved ment a lot to them as they wanted to buy a place and Build a little home. Mr. Jenkins had a lot of land on both sides of the main street and my Father bought a piece of land from him and he and Mother Built themselves a little stone cottage almost across from the Hotel. They were so happy with their square roofed 5 roomed cottage. three rooms up and a very fine cellar kitchen and cellar down. they set a row of Pear trees from the back door to the street along the path. The lot was large enough to set fruit trees and have a nice large garden spot. They moved in to their new home with their three little girls and in a few months a son was born to them a fine curly headed baby and they named him William after Mr. William Jenkins wome had been a father to them insead of a friend. This was in 1860 in Sept Mr. Jenkins and a son was planning to go to Nortern Canada up in B.C. to Build a railroad up there it was a new part of that country and that winter he and his son were found frozen to death in the wild country whare they were working and had no way of traveling to and from work they would work in the snow and water all day and then would have to walk many miles to camp and when they did not come home to camp a searching party was send out from camp and came across the 2 men bodies stuck in a deep snow drift. The son was still alive but Mr. Jenkins was frozen to death. There was no way in which to send the bodies back home and so the railroad crew buried them there in that cold hard country. Mrs. Jenkins then was a widow with four children did not give up her Hotel went on and did good business. One of her boys had finished his schooling grown up to a young man his name was Andrew Jenkins he practiced rope walking in the air and carried a balancing pole he was giving exebitions all over and making good money at one time he walked a rope stretched across Niagra falls and wheeled a wheelbarrow on the rope a head of him. he also was a Photogpheoer made many nice pictures of persons and also senery of pretty Places in Canada among them were the lake and mountains of Hamilton Ont. just 18 miles from Branchton whare he lived with with his mother. Now that Mr. Jenkins was gone my father gave up working for the railroad Co. and found some work at at his trade heping build a large brewery at Berlin Ont. some stone churches at Galt Ont. he was kept busy until 1865 when one day as the men were resting on a building at noon hour the young men brought up the war that was going on in the United states and talked about it soon would close it was the civil war 1865 they were telling each other of the many opportunities for young people that wanted to go to the States and how cheap property could be bought and this land in some places was covered with heavy timber. They spoke of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indana and Illanoise as great places to buy land. There were some German boys working on the building with my Father were from Berlin and talked about going to Wisconsin. They had reletives living there that wanted them to come and settle there and where the war was over in the fall of 1865 a lot of men left for the U.S. to try and find a New Home things were not so good in Canada and wages were cheap not much of a chance for a young man to get a head. Swank journal 2.pdf Frederica, Mary and Adam and in Nov the same year their son William was born Nov 9 1866. The Farm was covered with fine large timber and there was a very small house on the Farm and as we children came my Father would add to this little old place at last there were 8 boys and 5 girls and our little house got to be to small then a living room 2 bedrooms and a kitchen. My Parents cut down and cleared the farm of its timber. Build a house and Barn set out Fruit trees. My Father worked at his trade in G. Rapids and when his boys got large enough to work Mother and the boys & girls managed the farm and Father worked at his trade and helped Build many of Grand Rapids Main St. Buildings he at that time made good money and worked early and late there was plenty of his kind of work to do cutting stone and masonery for there was no cement to be had as there is today. them days there was no convayence to and from Grand Rapids and my Father had to walk to and from the city to his home and carry the familys food on his shoulders it was hard to wind your way through rough roads and Grand Rapids was small and had no convenience. he made plenty of money at his trade and on pay day he could cover a ordinary table top with silver dollars. Pay day came every 2 weeks and them were happy days and we were Healthy too for we were kept buisy in the Fresh country air. after her dineing room she would always come back from town with clothes for mother and the children my Parents began to save a little money and bought a lot in Branchton and built their first home a stone cottage it was a very nice building all stone a square roof and three large rooms up and a large cellar kitchen with a lot of fruit treese all over the lot. The lot was large and run from one street to the other in length with a row of Pear trees from the back kitchen door to the street. The front of the house was on a level with the street in front of the house avery Pretty place. I saw it when my Mother and I visited Canada in 1897. Also met Mrs. Jenkins then 94 years old and it was a grand visit for Mother she also meet Mrs. Brown her old Friend all three enjoyed and recalled many things that were dear and some that were funny in their younger lives while my Parents lived in Branchton. Branchton is a very Old Fashoned Village just a green spot among the hills a Hotel \endash railroad station \endash 2 stores Blacksmith shop. There were three children born to my Parents while they lived in Canada Mary \endash William \endash Elizabeth. William died in Branchton. he was 2 years old and a sweet little Baby. Only sick a short time went in to convultions and passed away in his mothers arms in the year of 1866 just after the Civil war in the U.S. My Parents had heard a great deal of young People were takeing up land in the United States and made up their mind to move to Michigan in the Spring of 1866 they with their little family came to Grand Rapids looked around and Image poor Saturday Feb 16 \endash 1937 a very cold day I am 60 years young today and am hail and hearty. Helen E. Rathbun Monday Feb 18 1939 Mr. Chas. B. Rathbun is 69 years young Today a fine day gone to City to see Vina Clemens about ? My sister Rosezetty Vosburgh is 70 on Sunday Feb 12 \endash 1939 My Brother \endash Adam Swank is 74 on Monday Feb 18 \endash 1939 Monday Feb 18 1939 We are all very well thanks to the good Lord. Swank journal 3.pdf profile, V. (2014) The Swank journal and the clues (and miscues) it provides, Myobsessivehobby.blogspot.com. Available at: https://myobsessivehobby.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-swank-journal-and-clues-and-miscues.html (Accessed: 13 September 2023).

  
  

• Sources

  [S1778] Census - ON, Waterloo, North Dumfries - 1861, Div 4 Page 35. [S330] Directory - ON, Waterloo - 1864 - County of Waterloo gazetteer and general business directory for 1864.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 17 Jun 1828 - Strassburg, , Prussia, Germany Occupation - Laborer - 1861 - North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Lutheran - 1861 - North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - mason - 1864 - Branchton, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Immigration - 1869 - , USA Died - 10 Aug 1894 - Paris Township, Kent, Michigan Buried - - Oak Grove Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States  = Link to Google Earth