Frederick SWAN

Frederick SWAN, 2012, photo by Brian Zoldak, used with permission

The restoration effort of the Stewart Hill Cemetery in North Stonington has dramatically changed this gravestone of Frederick SWAN, husband of Betsey R. STEWART. 

The cemetery transcription is incorrect for his birth date. It makes it look like this is Betsey's son not her husband. Some trees at Ancestry.com have it recorded that way and it made me go back and look at both stones and look for a vital record to verify that fact. Gravestones that are fallen over or sunken into the ground are very hard to read. This is the birth date that is incorrect.

Swan, Frederick, born June 23, 1832, died Mar. 8, 1856

Frederick SWAN, photo by Midge Frazel

 When I was last there, this is what the gravestone looked like. I actually stepped on it and hubs and I scraped away grass and dirt to see what it said. My hands were quite dirty so I didn't want to touch the camera strap which you see in the photo. As I was carrying the printout of the cemetery transcription under my arm, I couldn't touch that either. That's when I realized that I was going to need a "cemetery kit" for any further exploration. We had a bottle of water and paper towels but it was not enough. We needed gloves and grass clippers at the least.

In Memory of/Frederick Swan/born/June 23, 1782/died March 8, 1856. The SWAN chapter in Wheeler's History of Stonington, tells me the names of his SWAN ancestors, but like many genealogies, it doesn't include his wife and children. He was 43 when he married Betsey. The 1830, 1840 and 1850 census list two daughters but whether he had another wife is not known to me.