Mary Ann Swan was born about 1811 in Maryland, and probably moved to Ohio with her parents. On September 2, 1830, she married John Hesford in Jefferson County, Ohio. The 1830 US Census has four Swan families in Jefferson County, but only the family in Salem Township, headed by Zephaniah Swan, has a daughter in the 15-20 age range. This would be a very good clue that her father was Zephaniah Swan. Details of her life between that time and the time of John's death in 1881 can be found in John's biography.
After John's death in Wisconsin, she made her own application for a soldier's pension because she had been dependant on her son David. It took several years of wrangling, but she finally received the pension in March of 1886, retroactive to 1884. Mary Ann's youngest daughter Martha had married Austin Nelson in 1875. That same year Martha & Austin moved to Navarro County, Texas with her brother George. In 1886, the Nelsons moved back to northeastern Ohio. Mary Ann, her son Orin and his family probably moved to Ohio from Wisconsin in about 1887 to live near Martha's family. In 1889, Mary Ann filed for an increase in her pension, giving her abode as Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. In the 1900 census, Mary Ann was living with her daughter Martha in Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. She died there and was buried in the Saybrook Cemetery in Ashtabula.
A bizarre sidelight to the pension is that after she started to receive the pension, the Commissioner of Pensions received a letter from Arnold Romack, the husband of her eldest daughter Elizabeth. The letter disputed her right to the pension and prompted an investigation. Apparently, the investigation bogged down and Mary Ann continued to receive the pension until December 4, 1904, at which date there is a note in her pension file that she had died.
The cause of the bitterness between Elizabeth and Mary Ann was undoubtedly the marriage of Elizabeth's daughter Lucy Jane and Mary Ann's youngest son Orin. Orin was Lucy Jane's uncle and Elizabeth claimed that Lucy had been abducted when Mary Ann and Orrin left Elizabeth's farm after a visit in the summer of 1886.
After John's death in Wisconsin, she made her own application for a soldier's pension because she had been dependant on her son David. It took several years of wrangling, but she finally received the pension in March of 1886, retroactive to 1884. Mary Ann's youngest daughter Martha had married Austin Nelson in 1875. That same year Martha & Austin moved to Navarro County, Texas with her brother George. In 1886, the Nelsons moved back to northeastern Ohio. Mary Ann, her son Orin and his family probably moved to Ohio from Wisconsin in about 1887 to live near Martha's family. In 1889, Mary Ann filed for an increase in her pension, giving her abode as Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. In the 1900 census, Mary Ann was living with her daughter Martha in Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. She died there and was buried in the Saybrook Cemetery in Ashtabula.
A bizarre sidelight to the pension is that after she started to receive the pension, the Commissioner of Pensions received a letter from Arnold Romack, the husband of her eldest daughter Elizabeth. The letter disputed her right to the pension and prompted an investigation. Apparently, the investigation bogged down and Mary Ann continued to receive the pension until December 4, 1904, at which date there is a note in her pension file that she had died.
The cause of the bitterness between Elizabeth and Mary Ann was undoubtedly the marriage of Elizabeth's daughter Lucy Jane and Mary Ann's youngest son Orin. Orin was Lucy Jane's uncle and Elizabeth claimed that Lucy had been abducted when Mary Ann and Orrin left Elizabeth's farm after a visit in the summer of 1886.
Mary Ann Swan was born about 1811 in Maryland, and probably moved to Ohio with her parents. On September 2, 1830, she married John Hesford in Jefferson County, Ohio. The 1830 US Census has four Swan families in Jefferson County, but only the family in Salem Township, headed by Zephaniah Swan, has a daughter in the 15-20 age range. This would be a very good clue that her father was Zephaniah Swan. Details of her life between that time and the time of John's death in 1881 can be found in John's biography.
After John's death in Wisconsin, she made her own application for a soldier's pension because she had been dependant on her son David. It took several years of wrangling, but she finally received the pension in March of 1886, retroactive to 1884. Mary Ann's youngest daughter Martha had married Austin Nelson in 1875. That same year Martha & Austin moved to Navarro County, Texas with her brother George. In 1886, the Nelsons moved back to northeastern Ohio. Mary Ann, her son Orin and his family probably moved to Ohio from Wisconsin in about 1887 to live near Martha's family. In 1889, Mary Ann filed for an increase in her pension, giving her abode as Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. In the 1900 census, Mary Ann was living with her daughter Martha in Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. She died there and was buried in the Saybrook Cemetery in Ashtabula.
A bizarre sidelight to the pension is that after she started to receive the pension, the Commissioner of Pensions received a letter from Arnold Romack, the husband of her eldest daughter Elizabeth. The letter disputed her right to the pension and prompted an investigation. Apparently, the investigation bogged down and Mary Ann continued to receive the pension until December 4, 1904, at which date there is a note in her pension file that she had died.
The cause of the bitterness between Elizabeth and Mary Ann was undoubtedly the marriage of Elizabeth's daughter Lucy Jane and Mary Ann's youngest son Orin. Orin was Lucy Jane's uncle and Elizabeth claimed that Lucy had been abducted when Mary Ann and Orrin left Elizabeth's farm after a visit in the summer of 1886.
After John's death in Wisconsin, she made her own application for a soldier's pension because she had been dependant on her son David. It took several years of wrangling, but she finally received the pension in March of 1886, retroactive to 1884. Mary Ann's youngest daughter Martha had married Austin Nelson in 1875. That same year Martha & Austin moved to Navarro County, Texas with her brother George. In 1886, the Nelsons moved back to northeastern Ohio. Mary Ann, her son Orin and his family probably moved to Ohio from Wisconsin in about 1887 to live near Martha's family. In 1889, Mary Ann filed for an increase in her pension, giving her abode as Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. In the 1900 census, Mary Ann was living with her daughter Martha in Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. She died there and was buried in the Saybrook Cemetery in Ashtabula.
A bizarre sidelight to the pension is that after she started to receive the pension, the Commissioner of Pensions received a letter from Arnold Romack, the husband of her eldest daughter Elizabeth. The letter disputed her right to the pension and prompted an investigation. Apparently, the investigation bogged down and Mary Ann continued to receive the pension until December 4, 1904, at which date there is a note in her pension file that she had died.
The cause of the bitterness between Elizabeth and Mary Ann was undoubtedly the marriage of Elizabeth's daughter Lucy Jane and Mary Ann's youngest son Orin. Orin was Lucy Jane's uncle and Elizabeth claimed that Lucy had been abducted when Mary Ann and Orrin left Elizabeth's farm after a visit in the summer of 1886.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
