When delving into the family history there are certain family lines that while not immediately related to you they keep coming in and out of your ancestry. Such is the name “Swackhamer” or variations thereof in my ancestry.
SCHWECHHEIMER
​Coat of arms
The blazon is sable with a lion or with claws and tongue gules rampant behind a base trio of hill vert and grasping a leafed-staff or. The coat of arms is based on a mistake. Altlußheim never belonged to the Palatinate of the Rhine, which is symbolized by the lion. A seal from some time after 1513 shows the rump of an ass. This indicates the fealty to Maulbronn Abbey and therewith to the duchy of Württemberg. The confusion arose from a poor quality colored stamp which the community used in the 19th century. On the recommendation of the general archive of the state, Altlußheim adopted the current coat of arms in 1900. The flag is yellow and black and was awarded by the Ministry of the Interior on 16 May 1959.
The original spelling of Swackhammer (and other variations) in Germany was Schwechheimer. There is a town in Germany called Schwecheim. Assuming that they originally came from there would make sense as “er” means from. Variations of the name are vast but for my blog I have chosen Swackhamer except when quoting documents.
Samuel Frederich Schwechheimer (1701-1782) And Eva Marie Hoffman (1702-1728) 6TH GREAT-GRANDparents
Samuel Frederich Schwechheimer was born in Altlusheim, Germany, just across the Rhine River from Speyer in 1700/1701. Samuel was the first-born son of Daniel Schwechheimer (1657-1719) and Eva Schmid (1670-1710). He came to the Americas in 1731, settling in New Jersey. According to my research, Samuel had three wives (two who died while he was still in Germany). The line I am following was Johannes, from his first wife, Eva Marie Hoffman. She died in 1728, while they were still in Germany.
Samuel came to America with his wife Elizabeth, (Johann Konrad) Conrad, Catrine and (Johann Leonhard) John with their father and his new wife Elizabeth. Conrad would have been about eleven years of age, Catrine six and Johann Leonhard “John” four. There do not appear to be any surviving children from Samuel’s second marriage.
There are several discrepancies with dates. He married Anna Maria Kuchen in January 1729 according to Germany, Select Marriages, 1558-1929. Her death only took place in May 1731, yet he appears on a passenger list bound for America in 1731, with Elizabeth noted as his wife and the three children. They must have married before the voyage, but the date of arrival in New Jersey cannot be 1731 as the trip took almost two years, according to notes from a passenger diary.
One survivor described the horrendous voyage. He wrote that only one third of the passengers survived the ordeal. Forced to subsist on the little water they received from the captain and mice and rats which they caught and ate. Eventually, the passengers revolted and seized the captain. They arrived on the shores of Rhode Island one week before Christmas, after twenty-five weeks at sea. In America,
Samuel Frederich and Elizabeth (Millar) Miller had twelve children once landed where they settled in New Jersey. According to “The Old German Church Book” by Dominie Graaf, Samuel had twenty-five children and seventy-three grandchildren. However, his will only names thirteen of the children, many of which died before he did, so this explains their absence from the will. There may also be some unaccounted for. When Samuel died in 1782, he was eighty-two years of age.
New Jersey Early Germans
Frederich Samuel Swackhammer (referred to as Samuel), settled on a parcel of land, (162 acres), which he had bought from a tract of 376 acres, belonging to Anthony White. He bought the land as early as 1762, and it may be where he originally settled in 1735.
This tract extended from the road to Califon in the Lower Valley, southwesterly on both sides of the South Branch, two-thirds of the distance to Hoffman’s crossing.
The farm north of Swackhammer’s comprised 126 acres, bought in 1762 by Philip Sheeler, another lot of 2½ acres in the possession of Conrad Swackhammer, and a fourth part of 66½ acres occupied by William Haugh (Hawk?). The two latter parts were unsold.
Samuel was the first of the Swackhammers (Schwechheimer) to come to America arriving in 1731. He died in 1782 at eighty-two years of age, leaving behind a family by his three wives. Samuel is buried in the Lebanon Reformed Cemetery according to what I could find.
Obituary Swachhammer, Feb. 3, 1782. The Lord of our life made a hopeful blessed end to the long life and 6 weeks illness of our oldest member and father Samuel Swachhammer. He came in the year 1731 to this American wilderness, and in his life has experienced the truth of the words "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground" (Genesis III:19) for the Lord had blessed him quite specially with a very numerous family. He thrice entered the state of Holy Matrimony, (and) begat 25 children. From these, before his end, 73 grandchildren were born, and from these in turn, 25 great-grandchildren, all of whom he looked after. The entire number of those produced from his blood was therefore 123 , of whom 18 preceded him into Eternity, and accordingly at his departure there were still 105 living. In the 82nd year of his useful life he surrendered his soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father, who must have made it in His mercy, for Jesus Christ's sake. The preacher preached at his house in the Valley before a large gathering, and his body, accompanied by a numerous company, was afterward borne to New Germantown (Oldwick) and was buried in our churchyard at Zions Church.
Citations (1)B.1701 Schwechheimer Samuel Friederich • Altlußheim, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (2)Bap.1701SchwechheimerSamuel Friederich • Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 (3)M.1729 SchwecheimerSamuel Friederich/Hoffman Eva Maria • Altlußheim, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany - Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985 (4)Arrival in America.U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s - New Jersey; Year: 1731; Page Number: 159 (5)Res. 1 Feb 1780 • Lebanon, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States - U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 and New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817 (6)D. 3 Feb 1782 • Washington, Morris County, New Jersey, USA (7) Bur. Washington Valley, Morris County, New Jersey, United States of America,U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
Johannes Leonard "John" Swackhamer (1726-1827) And Susanna Margaret Terryberry (1744-1825) 5TH GREAT-GRANDparents
Johannes Swackhammer and Margaret Terryberry-Swackhammer had thirteen children, John 1764 - 1850, Christopher 1767 – 1840, Elizabetha 1773 - 1840, Stephen 1778 – 1864, Catherine “Kate” 1779 - 1867, Samuel about 1772 -1862, Daniel 1783 – 1870, David 1785 – 1882, Margaret about 1787 - 1867, Isaac 1787 - , Frederick S. 1789 – 1882, Jacob about 1789 – 1851 and Mary about 1790 - Unknown.
Samuel’s son Johannes (John), born in 1727, married Susanna “Margaret” Terryberry (Dürrenberger). There is a lot of information about her in a book “The Early Germans of New Jersey” by Theodore Frelinghuysen Chambers. While some information about Margaret is possible, there is some speculation that is not possible. He mentions (p. 517), that “John (Johannes) Swackhammer, son of Samuel “b. 1827, Feb. 2, m. Susanna Margaret Terryberry (perhaps daughter of Christopher, who may have been the son of Michael)”. However, there is no such Christopher in America that would qualify. There is a Christopher, who arrived on the “Phoenix”, but he had no daughters and does not seem to have settled in this area, and Michael would have been too young to have had a granddaughter by 1744. What I have in my research is that Susanna was the daughter of Johann “Stephen” Dürrenberger (often referred to as Stoffe Terryberry) and Anna Marie Duffort. What is certain is that the farm at Middle Valley referred to is that of Stephan “Stoffe” Dürrenberger (Margaret’s father). Stoffe’s son, Frederik, had occupied it for many years before John Swackhammer took it over around 1796. Although not stipulated in his will, it would seem that Stephan’s house and farm were inherited by John Swackhammer, or his wife Margaret, rather than his own sons, and subsequently by John’s son Samuel Frederick junior (“Fritz”) Swackhammer (1788-1862).
There is evidence to prove that John Swackhammer had children born as early as 1762 and as late as 1790. Assuming they were all born to the same woman, which is possible, it is likely that his wife was born in or about 1744, such that she would have been 18 in 1862 and 46 in 1790. It is entirely possible that John’s wife, Susanna “Margaret”, was actually Stephen’s youngest daughter and born in 1744.
With all the names being similar from father to son and also all the nicknames and name changes the Swackhamer/Terryberry clan is often confused and confusing.
Citations (1)B.1726 Schwechheimer Johannes Leonhard • Altlußheim, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (2)Bap.1726 Schwechheimer Johannes Leonhard • Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 (4)Arrival in America.U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s - New Jersey; Year: 1731; Page Number: 159 (4)M.1744 Swackhamer John/Terryberry Margaret Middle Valley, New Jersey (unfound) (5) Early Germans of New Jersey (6)D.1825 Terryberry Margaret Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current
Christopher Swackhamer (1767-1840) And Catherine "Kate" Terryberry (1772-1858) 4th great-grandparents
Christopher Swackhammer and Kate Terryberry-Swackhammer had twelve children, Mary bef. 1788 , Jacob 1793 -1894 , John 1796 - 1883, William 1799 - 1883, Catherine "Treenie" 1799 - 1892, Ellen 1800 - , Elizabeth1803 - 1875 , Susan 1804 - 1875, David 1807 - 1894, Isaac 1813 - , Christopher Jr. 1815 - 1873 and Robert 1818 - 1929.
Christopher was born in 1767; John and Margaret’s second son would marry Catherine “Kate” Elizabeth Terryberry, daughter of Philip Terryberry and Dorothea Swackhammer. This causes confusion when trying to sort out the family. Philip was the son of Johann Stephen Dürrenberger and Anna Clara Dufort, and therefore a brother — and brother-in-law to Margaret Swackhammer and John Swackhammer, thus being Christopher’s cousin on his mother’s side. Kate’s mother Dorothea Swackhammer, however, was the half sister of John Christopher’s father and therefore also making her a cousin on his father’s side as well. Christopher and Kate left the U.S. at the turn of the century, when their son Jacob was still a young boy. They settled in Grimsby, Ontario as United Empire Loyalists. They brought with them their thirteen children, of which Jacob was their eldest boy. Christopher died April 28, 1840, in Grimsby. He is buried at St. Andrews Anglican Church. Kate lived until 1858 and was buried alongside her husband.
Citations
(1)B.1767 Swackhamer Christopher (2)B.1772 Terryberry Catherine (4)Arrival in America.U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s - New Jersey; Year: 1731; Page Number: 159 (4)M.1784 Swackhamer Christopher/Terryberry Catherine Elizabeth (np) (5) Christopher Swackhammer, NJ, Morris Cty., Roxbury Twp., 1793, June Tax List -- Tax Lists Index 1772-1822 (6 )Early Germans of New Jersey (7)Res.1830 Swackhammer ChristopherLiving Year: 1830 Grimsby, Lincoln Cty. Ontario Thomas B. Wilson, Marriage Bonds of Ontario 1803-1834, Hunterdon House, Lambertville, NJ, 1985. Volume/Page159 Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s-1900s Genealogical Research Library, Ontario, Canada (8)D.1840 Swackhamer ChristopherCanada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (9)D.1858 Terryberry Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current
Jacob Swackhammer 1793 - 1874 3rd GREAT-GRANDFATHER