Elizabeth Swift
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| Charts | Ancestors of Wilford Ervie Billings |
Elizabeth Swift, whose ancestry is unknown (or not traced here), was born about 1647.1 She died at Northampton, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts, December 1691.2
Elizabeth married (1), as his 2nd wife, John Webb at Northampton, 16 October 1667;3 she married (2) Robert Danks, after 26 March 1672. The ancestry of both men is unknown (or not traced here).4,5
By most accounts, Elizabeth is shown as the daughter of a Great Migration immigrant, Thomas Swift. The original source appears to be a Boston Transcript posting that layed out a 5 point circumstantial case for the relationship. (3 Jan 1927, #4978.2). This was summarized by Warner, who noted: "Dorchester records do not show either a marriage or death record of Elizabeth Swift." However, Warner apparently did not look deep enough. Anderson points out that the second Elizabeth Swift, daughter of Thomas Swift (there were two; the first died young) died 6 November 1657, without commenting on her previous identification as wife of John Webb and Robert Danks. The deaths of both girls is also recorded in the Swift Memoirs & Genealogy.
Warner's earlier 1947 TAG article makes the same identification without providing evidence or rationale.
The marriage record to Webb does show that at that time (1667) her surname was Swift. There's no indication whether she was a widow or spinster. There seem to be no other available Swift families to have a daughter born in the 1640's.6,7,8,3,9
Elizabeth married (1), as his 2nd wife, John Webb at Northampton, 16 October 1667;3 she married (2) Robert Danks, after 26 March 1672. The ancestry of both men is unknown (or not traced here).4,5
By most accounts, Elizabeth is shown as the daughter of a Great Migration immigrant, Thomas Swift. The original source appears to be a Boston Transcript posting that layed out a 5 point circumstantial case for the relationship. (3 Jan 1927, #4978.2). This was summarized by Warner, who noted: "Dorchester records do not show either a marriage or death record of Elizabeth Swift." However, Warner apparently did not look deep enough. Anderson points out that the second Elizabeth Swift, daughter of Thomas Swift (there were two; the first died young) died 6 November 1657, without commenting on her previous identification as wife of John Webb and Robert Danks. The deaths of both girls is also recorded in the Swift Memoirs & Genealogy.
Warner's earlier 1947 TAG article makes the same identification without providing evidence or rationale.
The marriage record to Webb does show that at that time (1667) her surname was Swift. There's no indication whether she was a widow or spinster. There seem to be no other available Swift families to have a daughter born in the 1640's.6,7,8,3,9
Family 1 | John Webb b. abt. 1615, d. 19 May 1670 |
| Children |
Family 2 | Robert Danks d. 29 Feb 1692 |
| Children |
| This person was last edited on | 21 Mar 2020 |
Citations
- [S1330] Estimated from date of marriage (1667).
- [S2230] Fred C. Warner and Harrison E. Webb, "John Webb of Northampton," The American Genealogist 23 (Jan 1947): 129-141, at 133, further cited as Warner & Harrison, "John Webb."
- [S2230] Warner & Harrison, "John Webb," 129.
- [S2228] Charles H. Weygant, The Sacketts of America: Their Ancestors and Descendants, 1630-1907(Newburgh, New York, 1907), 24, further cited as Weygant, Sacketts of America.
- [S1872] Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 3 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 1:419, further cited as Torrey, New England Marriages (2011).
- [S2053] Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration: Immigrants To New England, 1634-1635, 7 volumes (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999-2011), 4:624, further cited as Anderson, et al., The Great Migration.
- [S1872] Torrey, New England Marriages (2011), 3:1613.
- [S2229] Frederick Chester Warner, The Ancestry of Samuel, Freda and John Warner, Five volumes (Boston, Massachusetts: Typescript, 1949), 4:653, further cited as Warner, Warner-Warrington.
- [S2247] Gen. Joseph Gardner Swift and Harrison Ellery, The Memoirs of Gen. Joseph Gardner Swift, LL. D., U. S. A., First Graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, Chief Engineer U. S. A. from 1812 to 1818, 1800—1865, to which is added a Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Swift of Dorchester, Mass., 1634(n.p.: s.p., 1890), 4–5, further cited as Swift & Ellery, Swift Memoirs & Genealogy.
- [S925] James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Four Volumes. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown & Company, 1860-1862, 2:10. CD-ROM reprint, Compendium of New England Pioneers: A Collection of 14 Classic Genealogical Dictionaries of Early New England Settlers (Columbia, Maryland: Archive CD Books USA, 2006), further cited as Savage's Dictionary.