James J. A. SWAN

James J. A. SWAN was born on the ocean on Dec. 1, 1800. Nothing is known about his parents or where he spent his early childhood. He returned to Scotland when he was about 16 years old to visit an uncle Isaac. However, he apparently did not like it there. In the mid 1830's, he appears in Essex County, NY where he marries Chloe Wrisley (dau of Jonathan Wrisley and Chloe Crowningshield). They had 9 children.

If James and Chloe followed Scottish naming traditions then the first born son would have been named after his father, the second son after his wife's father and the third son after James himself. The first son was named Horace, the second son was named Henry (not the name of the mother's father who was Jonathan) and the third son was named James Albert.James died August 31, 1885 and is buried in Brookfield Cemetery near Elizabethtown, NY. His wife, Chloe Wrisley (dau of Jonathan Wrisley and Chloe Crowningshield) was born Dec. 20, 1807 in Gill, MA. She died 14 May 1890 and is also buried in Brookfield. The names of their children were Horace b. Jan. 3, 1835, Chloe b. Apr. 1838, Henry b. Aug. 16, 1839, Polly b. 1840, James Albert b. Sep. 14 1844, Edward b. 1847, Ellen b. Dec. 1848, Mary b. ?, and Chloe b. Jul. 8, 1849.

Henry Swan, born August 16, 1839, was one of the sons of James J.A. Swan. He became a cabinet maker in Wadhams, NY. According to a March 17, 1891 article in The Essex County Republican newspaper, "Mr. Henry Swan is still shipping furniture of all kinds to New York, Boston, and other points. He makes a speciality of heavy oak chairs and spring settess." My family has an old photgraph with several kinds of furniture, outside of the shop, with catalog numbers next to each item.

Photo of desk made by Henry Swan


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