Harold Eugene Swayngham

My first entry will be about someone very dear to me, my grandfather, the one whose name inspired the search that began my journey in genealogy. His name was Harold Eugene Swayngham. He was born in Pickens County, South Carolina on August 19, 1930 to Wade Hampton Swayngham and Beulah Reece. He was the only boy born to his parents, as he had 3 sisters, Evelyn, Syble, and Frances. Early on, this family suffered tragedy when his father passed away when he was only 4 years old on December 26, 1934. It was unknown at the time what had caused his death, but after a daughter suffered and died from a brain tumor, the family believed that is what caused his death as well. His mother had to go to work in the mills to be able to afford to care for herself and her 4 children. My grandfather also helped to work once be became old enough. His mother eventually remarried to William Earl Smith on July 1, 1944, by whom she had a 5^th child, Betty.

In 1946, he met his future wife, Barbara Mae Dorr. At the time, she was only 14 years old and he 16. They courted all through school and were married on August 5, 1952 in Pickens County, South Carolina. It wasn't the wedding my grandmother had dreamed of having. My grandfather had been sent to Korea with the military. We will go into more detail on that in the next paragraph. When my grandfather returned home from Korea, my grandmother was excited because she could finally plan her wedding. She had already picked out a wedding dress pattern to make. He went to visit her the day he got home. He told her he wasn't going to wait for her to plan a wedding, they were going to the preachers house and getting married. They got their licenses and as soon as it was approved, they were at the preachers house getting married. My grandmother wore a powder blue suit. I have seen the pictures, but do not know where they have gotten off to.

Now, I mentioned my grandfather was in Korea. If he had not shown up when he was drafted, no one would have known, the records showed he had died at birth. Anyway, he was chosen to serve in the war as a private and left on Tuesday, March 20, 1951. He and my grandmother wrote everyday. My grandmother became very worried at one point when she did not hear from him for a week. She though he had been killed. She finally received a very apologetic letter stating that he could not write because he was on the front lines. He told her not to worry if he didn't write, it was because he couldn't. When he got home from war he told my grandmother that if he was ever drafted again he would go, but he would be kicking and screaming a lot harder. He did not like war and being away from his family. He once told my grandmother that he never wanted to go farther away from home than he could drive in a day.

After my grandparents were married, they lived in a small home hear her parents in a home that my grandfather and great-grandfather built. My grandfather was in construction and built parts of Clemson University and various plants around the area. My grandfather worked for Daniels construction. With his work, he and my grandmother moved around to many different locations. The first place they moved to was Rock Hill, South Carolina. This was when my grandfather was promoted to supervisor. He told my grandmother that she was not to work anymore. She was only 25 years old and she did not work anymore. She worried about how they were going to make it, but soon she learned how wise my grandfather was with money and did not have to worry anymore.

Some time later, they moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where my mother was born on January 28, 1961. Her name is Sandra Lynn Swayngham. Shortly thereafter, the new family moved to Waynesboro, North Carolina where their second child, Carol Jean, was born on August 20, 1962. The family later moved to Kingsport, Tennessee where their last child, Barbara Susan, was born on November 14, 1964. After all the children were born, they family moved some more with my grandfather's job until they ended up in Carrollton, Georgia in the early 70s. My grandmother wanted the girls to stay in one school until they graduated and so my grandfather bought an arrow stream trailer to travel with his jobs. He would come home every weekend to see his family. Once the girls were grown and the two oldest married, they family began to move around with his job again. His new sons-in-laws were employed under my grandfather and thus the whole extended family moved together, first to Murphreesboro, Tennessee then to Pawley's Island, South Carolina. My grandparents, two youngest daughters and their families moved back to Carrollton, Georgia. He then began to have back problems. He was told to take some time off to heal. After two weeks, he went back to work and they told him to go back home because he was not better. My grandmother talked to him about retirement and he said he wasn't sure he would like retirement. He had a years worth of time he could take off. He took his time and decided he enjoyed being retired and so he did. They lived in Carrollton for the rest of their lives.

In 2001, another tragedy struck the family when the youngest daughter, Susan, died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 37. She had been sick for some time as a result of her diabetes. My grandfather took the death hard. He never spoke about her to anyone after her death. My grandmother believes that his youngest grandson saved him from becoming overcome with grief. He was just 6 years old when my aunt died and he attached himself to my grandfather. My grandfather's “little buddy” kept him going for many years.

My grandfather passed away on March 16, 2009 in his building while working on the lawn mower. He had a massive heart attack. My grandmother had gone to town and had gotten him a milk shake. When she got home, she hollered to him that she was home and had bought him something. When he hadn't come inside, she went out to check on him and that is when she found him in the building. My grandmother was very thankful that he did not die in the house. She did not know if she could have managed if he had. He was buried near his youngest daughter in Carroll Memory Gardens.

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Ancestry Page

How I Got Started

My name is Jennifer Connett. I became interested in genealogy when I was in high school, in 2002. I was bored one day and just googled myself. I found several other people with my same exact name, which is not surprising sine my maiden name is Farmer. I then thought, my grandparents have a weird name, I wonder where that comes from... so I googled my grandfather's name and lo and behold, I found a whole genealogy on his family. I was hooked. I have worked off and on since 2002, and have been really working hard the last 2 years to organize all my information and put it on ancestry.com.

My Find A Grave Site
My Ancestry Tree