Our Swindell Family History
The Swindell family has not been an easy one to follow as very little was known of them prior to the birth of my grandfather, James Leon Swindell in 1902.
When I first began my research in 1978, the children of James were not able to tell me much of their father's childhood or his father. At that time James was already deceased and his wife, Ruth Carolynn, stated that James did not talk much about his childhood, nor of his father and his family.
Ruth told us that James' father left the family in 1912 and their mother, Olive Idessa (Odessa?), never had anything good to say about the man. His name was Leander Jehu Swindell.
James did have one sister Mary Elizabeth (known by us as Aunt Lib) who was still living, however I did not know much of her and she lived several towns away. She and Ruth, along with some of Ruth's children, did stay in touch throughout the years and it was through letters they had written that we were able to learn enough details that enabled me to trace our Swindell family to Licking County in mid-southern Ohio.
We learned that Leander was born in Newark, Ohio on 12 Nov 1859, and that he married Olive in the Pittsburgh or the Brownsville, PA area.
Olive had lost her first husband in the mid 1890's, and had five children. The boy joined the Calvary during the Spanish-American war, but Olive put all five of her daughters up for adoption in this area. It was always said that Leander met Olive through a love column in the newspaper but we have never found any proof of this.
In 1912 Leander took his son, James, and left Olive and Mary. Leander went to the Detroit, Michigan area at this time.
Olive and Mary went to stay with Olive's son from her first marriage (Frank Twigg) in Pennsylvania. They were only there a short time, then returned to Akron, Ohio where they had been living.
In 1917 James showed back up at his mother's house...without Leander. The family had never heard from or seen Leander after this time.
All the above information was found in a letter written by Mary Elizabeth Swindell in approximately 1980. We have found records showing us that Leander was living back in the Pittsburgh, PA area with his sister and his father.
In 1917 Leander's father died, was brought back to Newark, Licking County, Ohio for burial and this is the last record of Leander. It is believed that James Leon was living in Pennsylvania with his father until the death of Leander's father in 1917. We believe at this time Leander returned to Ohio for his father's funeral in Newark, and James returned to his mother in Akron. We have not yet been able to determine this as factual.
No one knows when or where Leander died, is buried, or where he went after this time.
My cousin, Edward Michael (Swindell) Hawkins, and I took a trip to Newark, Ohio in the mid 1990's and found a cemetery called Cedar Hill. Here we found several Swindell's buried, including William Swindell - the one born in Ireland in 1810.
From the information gathered, we found some of his children, his wife, and even grandchildren. With this we were able to learn so much more of our Swindell Family.
Ed's interest and curiosity of his birth family encouraged him and I to continue searching for more relatives. Through the cemetery records and death notices in old newspapers, we have been able to piece together quite a few of our ancestors.
We have done extensive research that allowed us to connect all the families and names of the relatives and ancestors you will find on the following pages. I would like to thank everyone that has helped with giving their family information, pictures, stories, etc. which contributed in completing this family history.
I am indebted to so many people for their help, interest, and knowledge of this family. It was my grandmother, Ruth Carolynn (Kimpflin) Swindell who carried memories of her late husband, James Leon, and put me in touch with others that could provide information.
Most of all, I want to thank my aunt, Mrs. Virginia Irene Swindell Robison, for all the hours and help she has dedicated to phone calls, writing letters, researching records, and more. She has been a great inspiration when I thought I hit a dead end, and without her, this would have not been possible.
I would also like to thank my cousin Eddie for all his time and skills in designing this Swindell Family Web Site, and his creativity in making it interesting. Hopefully we will find more distant relatives of our Swindell Family Members and we all can learn about our heritage.
I have kept some information off this web site of families born after 1935. There are many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their families still living and I do not want to risk information being readily available to just anyone. The world just isn't what it used to be.
If you are related and would like more information on the recent generations, or if you have information to add, please Contact Us. We would love to hear from you.
I hope everyone enjoys learning about our family, the names, where we came from, and how we ended up where we are now. I apologize if any of the dates or names are spelled wrong. I have made every effort to be as accurate as possible.
Much of this information has come from family records, documents, and the memory of our relatives. Other information has come from historical documents such as the Federal Census Records, marriage records, and death records in the counties and states. Please keep in mind, the information is only as accurate as the person who entered it. You will notice that there are various spellings of the surname such as Swindel, Swindle, and Swindell. We can verify that all the people found within are our relatives, but census takers would guess at the spellings.