susan swackhammer nee purvis

[jellico83]

Hello, I am looking for Susan Swackhammer who was born in Wemyss, Scotland in 1905, the daughter of Elizabeth and John Purvis.  At the age of 17, she emigrated to Canada, arriving at St John, New Brunswick on 23 Jan 1923.
In 1925, Susan Purvis married Frederick William Swackhammer in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario. They had two children, Freda who died in 1928 aged 1 year and Frederick who died in 1931 aged 5 months. I don't know of any later children.
The next information I have about Susan is that in June, 1948 she visits Scotland on the "Ascania" and returns to Canada in September, 1948 on the same ship. The shipping information does not give her address in Canada.
I would like to know what happened to Susan Swackhammer after 1948.
Can anyone help?

[Jacquie in Canada]

It would appear they did not have any other children as there is a death registration for Frederick Swackhammer who died 22 Jul 1930 in Wentworth County. Sadly he committed suicide.

The Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid database indicates that Susan Swackhammer (Purvis) is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Burlington, Ontario. There are instructions at the OCFA website on how to obtain information from the gravemarkers. Here's a link to their website: http://ocfa.islandnet.com/homepage.html. Here is the information needed to get the transcription: SWACKHAMMER, Susan (Purvis)- Woodland- Wentworth - Flamborough East - HM-337-3. There are other Swackhammers listed including Frederick and his parents.

Or you could try the Ontario Cemeteries Resources website as they do have a volunteer listed who will obtain transcriptions and/or digital photos from Woodland Cemetery: http://http.wightman.ca/~dkaufman/index.htm

Jacquie

[jellico83]

Thank you Jacquie, I have requested a transcript.

[JDC]

Good day Jellico,

I have several ancestors buried in the Woodland and other Hamilton cemeteries in Hamilton. Woodland cemetery is managed by the City of Hamilton cemetery administration. I suggest that you contact them for information. They have provided me with info on my ancestors within some of the 60 some odd cemeteries in their system. Here is their website address: http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/Parks/Cemeteries/.

You may also may want to contact the Hamilton Public Library at http://www.hpl.ca/ to see if they will do a look up in the Hamilton Spectator within their newspaper archive. There is also a genealogy group in Hamilton that may help - don't recall their name at the moment.

Hope this helps,

JDC

[Susan Adair]

Hi! I am the grand daughter of Susan purvis swackhammer! I am thrilled to meet you, and can tell you TONs of info. First of all, my grandfather William Frederick swackhammer died suddenly of a massive heart attack while camping down at the Hamilton beach with my Nana and their three girls Norma Elizabeth who was five at the time, which makes 1930 the correct year.(not suicide) Freida and Eileen were the other two girls. Nana was pregnant at the time and later gave birth to a son, William. Freida was very sickly and Wee William caught pneumonia and both children died the same year as their dad. This left Susan alone with the two girls. Wm. Frederick is  buried in Woodlawn cemetery in Burlington Ontario, (not hamilton, but just around the bay).with his swackhammer family. Baby William is buried at his feet but there is no plaque. I think little Freida is buried in simcoe, where Nana went to live briefly after Fred died.  She moved back to hamilton, and at about six months after he was born, baby william caught pneumonia and died. My mom, Norma Elizabeth married my father James Alexander Mummery in 1947. I was born July 5, 1948, while Nana was visiting family in Scotland.  The trip you mentioned. I have three younger brothers. My dad died in 1964 of emphysema at the age of 41. Nana died in July 1990. Both are buried in Woodland Cemetery in Hamilton Ontario.  My mom died September 28, 2002 and is buried with my dad.   I just came across a pile of old old photos... Of my great aunt Alice, and her husband John Bain...and lots of others..Alice's children, I think. Alice raised Nana I think, as her mom died shortly after she was born.I think one of the photos could be her father...in full regalia, possibly WW1 uniform... I know Jimmy Bain went to NZ. Sandy Bain, Pheame Bain Coote (widowed young) and her wee boy Harry, and Daniel(Don) Bain all came to hamilton with the help of Nana. Aunt Alice and uncle John came out a couple of times but couldn't get used to being so far from home.
So much more!! What else would you like to know? I would like to know and even meet my Scottish family. There was a big Bain reunion here in 1979... I met a Susan and David...at least bit younger than me..I'm 67 and a retired teacher. I have four grown kids and four grandkids so far. I still live in Hamilton after living in Mexico and Peru for several years. My husband (separated) is Peruvian. We met and married in Mexico in 1980...then returned to hamilton just in time to deliver our first child!  I am thrilled to be connected to my Scottish family!! Now it's your turn..tell me your story.   Just a note, if we go through the website, we should be OK. My email is down because I'm just about to move into an apartment on Feb 13, so my provider shut down my email!! Go figure! Hope to hear from you soon!! Susan Adair

[Jacquie in Canada]

Hi! I am the grand daughter of Susan purvis swackhammer! I am thrilled to meet you, and can tell you TONs of info. First of all, my grandfather William Frederick swackhammer died suddenly of a massive heart attack while camping down at the Hamilton beach with my Nana and their three girls Norma Elizabeth who was five at the time, which makes 1930 the correct year.(not suicide)

Unfortunately Jellico83 hasn't been back to the site since Apr 2015. I have sent a message through the site's personal message system to Jellico. If he/she hasn't changed their email address then he/she should receive a notification and hopefully will return to the site.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this but it appears the real cause of death was not told to some family members - it's certainly understandable that a parent would want to keep that information from the children. The death registration for Fredrick Swackhammer, son of William Swackhammer and Elizabeth Meake, who died 22 Jul 1930 at Burlington Beach has a cause of death listed as suicide by poisoning (strychnine). Here is a link to his death registration at Family Search: http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gz7/

There are also death registrations for Freda Swackhammer who was born 9 May 1927 in Simcoe, Ontario and died 20 Jul 1928 in Norfolk County: http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gz8/
and for Frederick William Swackhammer who was born 15 Oct 1930 in Hamilton and died 4 Apr 1931 also in Hamilton: http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gz9/

Jacquie