Elizabeth Swift
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1625 - Bocking, Essex, England
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: William Swift (1597-1644) 1
Mother: Joan Sisson (1599-1663) 1
Elizabeth Luce Swift
Sex: F
AKA: Lizzie L Swift
Individual Information
Birth: 31 Jan 1844 - Holmes Hole (Tisbury), Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 20 Jun 1899 - Tisbury, Massachusetts
Burial: in Oak Grove Cemetery, Tisbury
Cause of Death:
Events
• Occupation, keeping house, Rockland, Maine in Rockland, Maine
• Occupation, keeping house, Tisbury, Massachusetts in Tisbury, Massachusetts
• Occupation, dress making, Tisbury, Massachusetts in Tisbury, Massachusetts
Parents
Father: Charles H. Swift (1817-1884) 3
Mother: Hannah V. Smith (1823-1901)
Spouses and Children
1. *Captain Alonzo C. Ames (3 Dec 1837 - 29 Dec 1885) 4
Marriage: 4 Oct 1862 - Holmes Hole (Tisbury), Massachusetts
Status: Death of one spouse
Children:
1. Frederick Forbush Ames (1863- )
2. Sarah Lizzie Ames (1864- )
3. Ella Frances Ames (1867-1922)
4. George Edwin Ames (1876-1963) 5
Notes
General:
Tisbury census 1870: no Ames (family was at Rockland ME)Marriage Notes (Captain Alonzo C. Ames)
Tisbury census 1880: Ames, Lizzie L., age 36, keeping house
Tisbury 1897 directory: Ames, Lizzie (Alonzo), dressmaker, house Main St
Ames, Geo. Edwin, clerk, house Main St
marriage notice Vineyard Gazette
http://k2.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/gazmar63.htm
Marriages Ames, Alonzo, Capt. (Rockland, ME) & Swift, Elizabeth (Holmes Hole) on 4 Oct 1862 in Holmes Hole (10 Oct 1862)
Holmes Hole -> Vineyard Haven 1871 says Chris Baer web site
marriage record:
Alonzo C. Ames and Elizabeth L. Swift
on October 4, 1862
at Tisbury, Massachusetts
Alonzo C. Ames: age 25; occupation mariner; residence Rockland, ME; first marriage; birthplace Rockland, ME; mother's maiden name Salovea ------; father's name Alonzo Ames
Elizabeth L. Swift: age 19; occupation -----; residence Tisbury, MA; first marriage; birthplace Tisbury, MA; mother's maiden name Hannah -----; father's name Charles C. Swift
officiant, residence and official station of person by whom married: M. P. Alderman, Pastor, M E Church - HH (Methodist Episcopal Church, Holmes Hole)
1880 Tisbury census - #s are house and family
Ames, Alonzo 390 / 405 42 sailor MA
Ames, Eddie 390 / 405 4 MA
Ames, Ella F. 390 / 405 12 attending school MA
Ames, Fred F. 390 / 405 16 at home MA
Ames, Lizzie 390 / 405 15 attending school MA
Ames, Lizzie L. 390 / 405 36 keeping house MA
======================================
Tisbury 1870 census: no Ames
Rockland ME 1870 census, 25 June 1870: Ames, Alonzo C, age 32, master mariner, no $ listed; Lizzie L, 26, keeping house; Fred J, 6, attending school; Sarah L, 5, attending school; Ella F, #, at home. birth states consistent with other records. M593, roll 548, p 170, family # 237
Tisbury 1880 census: Ames, Alonzo, age 42, sailor
Vineyard Gazette: marriage Ames, Alonzo, Capt. (Rockland, ME) & Swift, Elizabeth (Holmes Hole) on 4 Oct 1862 in Holmes Hole (10 Oct 1862)
from Lilly Gen: Alonzo brought the first load of granite from Maine to NYC for the Brooklyn Bridge
family is mostly from Brooksville ME, but marriage record reports him born in Rockland
6
Emily B Swift
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 20 Sep 1828 - Plymouth, Massachusetts 7
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Thomas Swift (1785- )
Mother: Lois Briggs (Est 1788- )
Ephraim Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1751 - Falmouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 1 Sep 1842 - Falmouth, Massachusetts 8
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Manassah Swift (1715-1807) 9
Mother: Ruth Robinson (1721-1761) 9
Ephraim Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 17 Jun 1706 - Sandwich, Massachusetts 10
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Samuel Swift (1662-1733)
Mother: Mary (Est 1670- )
Ephraim Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 9 Dec 1688 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony 11
Baptism:
Death: Est 1689 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Ephraim Swift (1656-1741) 10
Mother: Sarah Perry (Abt 1659-1734)
Ephraim Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 11 Oct 1713 - Falmouth, Massachusetts 10
Baptism:
Death: 22 Dec 1800 - Falmouth, Massachusetts 8
Burial: in Old Burying Ground, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Samuel Swift (1686-1758)
Mother: Ruth Hatch (1693-1750)
Spouses and Children
1. *Anna Robinson (23 Nov 1718 - 18 Jan 1804)
Marriage: 17 Feb 1737 - Falmouth, Massachusetts 12
Status:
Notes
General:
stone:
In Memory of
Mr Ephraim Swift
Who Died
December 22 1800
in the 89th Year
of his Age 9
Ephraim Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 7 Jun 1656 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
Baptism:
Death: 10 Apr 1741 - Sandwich, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: William Swift (1619-1705) 13
Mother: Ruth (Cir 1628-Cir 1705)
Spouses and Children
1. *Sarah Perry (Abt 1659 - 20 Oct 1734)
Marriage: Cir 1678 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
Status:
Children:
1. Elizabeth Swift (1679- )
2. Joanna Swift (1683- )
3. Samuel Swift (1686-1758)
4. Ephraim Swift (1688-Est 1689) 10
5. Sarah Swift (1692- )
6. Hannah Swift (1695- )
7. Moses Swift (1699-1791)
Notes
Marriage Notes (Sarah Perry)
Children
Elizabeth Swift b: 29 Dec 1679 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Joanna Swift b: 7 Jul 1683 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Samuel Swift b: 9 Apr 1686 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Ephraim Swift b: 9 Dec 1688 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Sarah Swift b: 12 Apr 1692 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Hannah Swift b: 19 May 1695 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
Moses Swift b: 15 Sep 1699 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA
(mouser)
Esther Swift
Sex: F
AKA: Hester Swift
Individual Information
Birth: Cir 1668 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony 10
Baptism:
Death: Oct 1736 - Plymouth, Massachusetts 10
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: William Swift (1619-1705) 13
Mother: Ruth (Cir 1628-Cir 1705)
Spouses and Children
1. *John Gibbs (28 Jul 1670 - Cir 1734) 10
Marriage: Cir 1690
Status:
Children:
1. Joanna Gibbs (1697-After 1762)
2. Mercy Gibbs (1696-After 1745)
3. Hannah Gibbs (1701-After 1770)
Esther Swift
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1622 - Bocking, Essex, England
Baptism:
Death: 1691 - Sandwich, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: William Swift (1597-1644) 1
Mother: Joan Sisson (1599-1663) 1
Spouses and Children
1. *Ralph Allen (1615 - 1698)
Marriage: 1645 - Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
Status:
Children:
1. Esther Allen (1648-1676) 10
2. Jedediah Allen (Est 1650-1712)
3. Experience Allen (1652- )
4. Mary Allen ( -1675)
Notes
General:
aka Susanna Swift?
Frank M Swift
Sex: M
AKA: Francis M Swift 14
Individual Information
Birth: 1854 - (Yarmouth, Massachusetts)
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Hon. Charles Francis Swift (1825-After 1890)
Mother: Sarah A Munroe (1827-After 1890)
Notes
General:
1880 US census:
Frank was an unmarried printer, living with his parents in Yarmouth.
1890, Deyo: Theodore W. Swift and Francis M. Swift were "in the railway mail service."
Franklin Holmes Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 25 Jan 1891 - Tisbury, Massachusetts 15
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Holmes Athearn Swift (1852-1910)
Mother: Rhoda C Luce (Cir 1867- )
Spouses and Children
1. *Sophie F Heyermann (Est 1893 - )
Marriage: 7 Oct 1913 - Tisbury, Massachusetts 15
Status:
Fred C Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1875
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Lottie Irene Wixon (Est 1875 - ) 16
Marriage: 1903 - Harwich, Massachusetts
Status:
Children:
1. Donald Emerson Swift (1904- ) 16
Frederick C Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1856 - (Yarmouth, Massachusetts)
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Hon. Charles Francis Swift (1825-After 1890)
Mother: Sarah A Munroe (1827-After 1890)
Notes
General:
1880 US census:
Frederick was unmarried, with no occupation listed, living with his parents in Yarmouth.
1890, Deyo: Fred C Swift was counsellor-at-law. 14
George Amasa Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1830 - Sandwich, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: After 1910 - Bourne, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Charles Swift (1799-1896)
Mother: Zebiah K Hewins (1806-1893)
Spouses and Children
1. *Tamsen Chapelle Handy (10 Aug 1832 - 19 Oct 1906)
Marriage: 22 Dec 1853 - New Bedford, Massachusetts
Status:
Notes
General:
living in 1906, death not seen in Mass VR through 1910Marriage Notes (Tamsen Chapelle Handy)
"George A. Swift5, born in 1830, is descended from Charles4, Ware3, Ward2, Moses1, who was born in 1699 and died 1791. His mother was Zebiah K. Hewins. He has been a carpenter by trade for forty years. He was married in 1854 to Tamsen C, daughter of John Handy. They have five children: Clara L., Albert H., George E., Alice L. and John H. Mr. Swift is a republican and a member of Cataumet Methodist Episcopal church." 17
George Hastings Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1 Mar 1878 - Chicago, Illinois
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Gustavus Franklin Swift (1839-1903)
Mother: Ann Mariah Higgins (1843-1922) 18
Spouses and Children
George W Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1875 - Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Reuben W Swift (1844-1889) 19
Mother: Mary E Churchill (1844-1919) 20
Gustavus Franklin Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 24 Jun 1839 - Sandwich, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 29 Mar 1903 - Lake Forest, Illinois
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Captain William Swift (1795-1868) 21
Mother: Sally Sears Crowell (1804-1885) 22
Spouses and Children
1. *Ann Mariah Higgins (13 Aug 1843 - 19 May 1922) 23
Marriage: 3 Jan 1861 - Eastham, Massachusetts 13
Status:
Children:
1. Louis Franklin Swift (1861-1937)
2. Edward Foster Swift (1863-1932)
3. Lincoln Foster Swift (1865-1867)
4. Annie May Swift (1867-1889)
5. Helen Louise Swift (1869-1945)
6. Charles Henry Swift (1872- )
7. Herbert Lincoln Swift (1875-1911)
8. George Hastings Swift (1878- )
9. Gustavus Franklin Swift (1881- )
10. Ruth May Swift (1883- )
11. Harold Higgins Swift (1885-1962)
Notes
General:
Swift, Gustavus Franklin (24 June 1839-29 Mar. 1903), meat packer, was born on a farm near Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the son of William Swift and Sally Crowell, farmers. An indifferent student, young Gustavus worked at a variety of odd jobs during the eight years he attended the nearby country school. By the age of fourteen, he had become a full-time employee in the butcher shop owned by his older brother, Noble. Borrowing money from his father and his maternal grandfather in 1855, he opened his own business, purchasing livestock at the Brighton Market and driving them to Eastham for sale, a journey that consumed ten days. In 1861 Swift married Annie Maria Higgins of North Eastham; they had eleven children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.Marriage Notes (Ann Mariah Higgins)
The following year, 1862, the young couple moved to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where Swift opened a small livestock slaughtering house and retail butcher shop. After seven years in Barnstable, they moved to Brighton, where in 1872 Swift formed a partnership with James A. Hathaway. The new firm of Hathaway and Swift moved first to Albany, New York, then to Buffalo, New York, and finally the burgeoning meat packing center of Chicago, Illinois, in 1875. Over the next three years Swift became one of the leading figures in the Union Stockyards, blanketed the streets of Chicago with his distinctive delivery wagons, and played the lead role in revolutionizing the meat packing industry. Up to that point, western cattle had been shipped "on the hoof" to the East Coast, where they were slaughtered by local wholesalers and delivered fresh to nearby retailers. Since 60 percent of the animal's weight consisted of inedible matter and a great many cattle died in transit, Swift overcame those problems with a two-fold strategy. On the one hand, he hired Andrew Chase, a prominent engineer, to design a refrigerated railroad car that would keep the dressed meat fresh for long periods of time. On the other, he built a vast network of branch houses, beginning in his native New England, that featured refrigerated storage space, a wholesale office force, and a cadré of sales personnel to sell and deliver the dressed meat to local butchers, grocers, and restaurants. Swift elaborated this network by establishing "peddler car routes," which conveyed dressed meat in smaller amounts to out-of-the-way towns and villages. By the 1890s he had constructed a nationwide system that included stockyards and packing plants in Omaha, Nebraska; St. Joseph, Missouri; Sioux City, Iowa; and other cities bordering the cattle-producing regions. Swift also pioneered the techniques of mass production within his packing plants, breaking the process down into several distinct operations and utilizing moving "disassembly lines" to convey the meat from station to station.
In implementing his plans, Swift had to overcome the powerful opposition of the railroads, who so feared the loss of revenue from substituting dressed beef for live cattle that they opposed the construction of refrigerated cars and balked at carrying them when Swift constructed his own. In addition, he had to overcome the antagonism of local meat wholesalers, who formed the National Butchers' Protective Association in 1886 and sought to enforce boycotts against Swift's products. Finally, Swift had to combat the prejudice of local butchers and consumers, who retained a bias in favor of freshly killed and dressed meat. Although Swift relied partly on advertising to overcome such obstacles, his success was due mainly to his ability to supply high-quality meat at relatively low prices because of high-volume operations and the speed and scheduling of his distribution system.
Dissolving his partnership with Hathaway in 1878, Swift and his brother Edwin established the firm of Swift Brothers and Company. The new enterprise expanded rapidly, even tapping some European markets, and was incorporated in 1885 under the name of Swift and Company, with capital stock of $300,000. Gustavus Swift served as the company's president until his death; he was largely responsible for raising the value of its capital stock to $50,000,000 by 1906 and its workforce to 26,000 by 1908. Swift and Company pioneered the establishment of nationwide distribution systems, often establishing partnerships with local firms in several major cities. The corporation established slaughterhouses in Omaha; Kansas City, St. Joseph, and St. Louis, Missouri; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Fort Worth, Texas. By the early twentieth century, Swift and Company was slaughtering two million cattle, four million hogs, and two million sheep annually. It also produced a variety of animal by-products, including oleomargarine, glue, soap, fertilizer, and pharmaceutical preparations, becoming an industry leader in those areas as well. The company also established distribution centers in Great Britain and in Tokyo and Osaka, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, and Honolulu. In 1902 Swift joined with packers J. Ogden Armour and Edward Morris and the investment banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb, and Company to create the National Packing Company, a venture widely denounced as "the Meat Trust." It was dissolved by court order in 1904.
Especially during the last decade of his life, Swift was involved in various philanthropic enterprises, donating significant sums of money to the Methodist Episcopal church, the University of Chicago, and the Young Men's Christian Association. He died in his Lake Forest, Illinois, home. The innovations that he championed not only revolutionized the meat packing industry, but they also played a vital role in establishing the modern American business system, with its emphasis on mass production of consumer goods, managerial expertise, specialization of function, and nationwide distribution networks, and adaptation to technological innovation.
Bibliography
Like most nineteenth-century entrepreneurs, Swift left no collection of personal or business papers. Insights into his personality and character may be gained from the interesting though highly uncritical The Yankee of the Yards: The Biography of Gustavus Franklin Swift (1927), written by his son Louis F. Swift and Arthur Van Vlissingen, Jr. Slightly more focused on Swift's contributions to the development of the meat packing industry, Louise Albright Neyhart, Giant of the Yards (1952), is still largely uncritical and overly folksy in style. Swift's pivotal role in the evolution of the meat packing industry is discussed in several publications: Rudolph A. Clemen, The American Livestock and Meat Industry (1923); Alfred D. Chandler, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (1977); H. C. Hill, "The Development of Chicago as a Center of the Meat-Packing Industry," Mississippi Valley Historical Review (Dec. 1923); and Charles Winans, "The Evolution of a Vast Industry," Harper's Weekly, 11 Nov. 1905-13 Jan. 1906. Swift's innovative role in the processing and marketing of meat by-products is recorded in Clemen, By-Products in the Packing Industry (1927). A good deal of factual information can be obtained from his obituary in the Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 1903.
John D. Buenker
Citation:
John D. Buenker. "Swift, Gustavus Franklin";
http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-01613.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Copyright © 2000 American Council of Learned Societies. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
1880 census, Lake, Cook, Illinois:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age
Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Gustavus SWIFT Self M Male W 40 MA Deals In Cattle MA MA
Annie SWIFT Wife M Female W 36 MA Keeping House MA MA
Louie SWIFT Son S Male W 18 MA Deals In Cattle MA MA
Edward SWIFT Son S Male W 16 MA MA MA
Annie SWIFT Dau S Female W 13 MA MA MA
Hellen SWIFT Dau S Female W 11 MA MA MA
Charles SWIFT Son S Male W 7 MA MA MA
Herbert SWIFT Son S Male W 5 IL MA MA
George SWIFT Son S Male W 2 IL MA MA
Henry HIGGINS Nephew S Male W 18 MA Bookkeeper MA MA
Walter CORWELL Cousin S Male W 22 MA Bookkeeper MA MA
Michael GALLAGER Other S Male W 23 IRE Servant IRE IRE
Jane O'MERA Other S Female W 30 IRE Servant IRE IRE 24
Gustavus Franklin Swift
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1 Mar 1881 - Chicago, Illinois
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Gustavus Franklin Swift (1839-1903)
Mother: Ann Mariah Higgins (1843-1922) 23
Spouses and Children
Hannah Swift
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 17 Sep 1727 - Plymouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Seth Swift (1693- )
Mother: Meribah Morey (1692- )
Sources
1. Rootsweb.com, :2287343 (Arthur Ware).
2. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (1910. Boston: NEHGS [online]), marriage record, 4 Oct 1862.
3. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (1910. Boston: NEHGS [online]), marriage record and death record for dafter Lizzie.
4. 1870 US census, Rockland Maine, p 170, family # 237.
5. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (1910. Boston: NEHGS [online]). .... Edward J. Poulin, Ames, Eames genealogy (e-mails, 2002).
6. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (1910. Boston: NEHGS [online]), marriage record 4 Oct, 1862. p 26.
7. Lee D. van Antwerp, compiler; Ruth Wilder, editor, Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (1993. Camden ME: Picton Press. facsimile of 1932 edition.), 435.
8. Oliver B. Brown, Vital Records of Falmouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island), 258.
9. Robert Paine Carlson, Cape Cod Gravestones, 2003 ff. Eastham MA. CapeCodGravestones.com.
10. George H. Swift, modified by Kathryn Newkirk Graham, William Swift of Sandwich and some of his Descendants. Modified and corrected (1993).
11. Leonard H. Smith, Jr, Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts (1982. Vital Records of Southeastern Massachusetts, Vol. 3
compiled from The Mayflower Descendant, with an index of persons), 205 (MD29:32).
12. Oliver B. Brown, Vital Records of Falmouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island), 202.
13. Helen Swift, My Father and My Mother (1937. Chicago: privately printed).
14. Simeon L. Deyo, editor, History of Barnstable County Massachusetts, 1620-1890. Chapter 17. Yarmouth (1890. New York: H. W. Blake & Co.)
15. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (1910. Boston: NEHGS [online]).
16. Wellfleet Town Officers, Wellfleet, Massachusetts Annual Reports (Wellfleet MA), 1904, p 52.
17. Simeon L. Deyo, editor, History of Barnstable County Massachusetts, 1620-1890. Chapter 15. Bourne. (1890. New York: H. W. Blake & Co.), 363.
18. Katharine Elizabeth Chapin Higgins, Richard Higgins, a resident and pioneer settler at Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, and at Piscataway, New Jersey, and his descendants. (1918. Worcester, Mass.: Higgins, 811 pgs.), p 160. This is a major source, which seems accurate.
19. Provincetown cemeteries (http://www.provincetowngov.org/historic/cem.htm). badly organized
20. Provincetown cemeteries (http://www.provincetowngov.org/historic/cem.htm).
21. FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org [asserted, usually unreferenced, often wrong]). .... Helen Swift, My Father and My Mother (1937. Chicago: privately printed).
22. FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org [asserted, usually unreferenced, often wrong]).
23. Katharine Elizabeth Chapin Higgins, Richard Higgins, a resident and pioneer settler at Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, and at Piscataway, New Jersey, and his descendants. (1918. Worcester, Mass.: Higgins, 811 pgs.), p 160.
24. Michael J. Higgins, Higgins Genealogy (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mjhiggins/index.htm).