by Donna Swagerty Shreve
As I dig even deeper into my family history, old beliefs can fall to the way side. Back in 1972, my paternal grandfather shared many family photos with me. One picture in particular stood out to me. When first shown this picture, my inside my head voice begged that I not be related. I did not find them very attractive; in fact I found them scary. I did notice the woman seemed to be rather large and I realized there was a possibility she was the reason I had my height and large bones. My grandfather Elmer introduced the picture as his grandparents. Most of the pictures he shared had no labels to identify them.
How many times are we told not to assume? I did. I assumed they were his father’s parents Isaac Swagerty and Mary Stephens. Based on that assumption I followed Mary’s line and found possible Cherokee connections. The Cherokee were considered tall in comparison to other tribes. Any new information seemed to reinforce my original assumption. My great grandfather, Sampson, son of Isaac and Mary, was considered tall for his era at 6’2”. None of his sons made it above 6 feet. My grandfather Elmer made 5’ 10” yet he produced my father who was 6’5”. Of the 16 grandchildren of Elmer, many of us soar over Elmer’s original height. All this time I am giving credit back to Mary Stephens for the height gene.
Thanks to many postings on-line, another picture was posted of Isaac Swagerty and Mary Stephens posing with their granddaughter who they helped raise. The people in the picture with the granddaughter did not look like the other picture. Whoops! Another picture was found of Isaac’s brother Axley Swagerty. Axley had a strong family resemblance to the man, Isaac Swagerty, sitting in the picture with his granddaughter.
I then searched for pictures of any Underwoods so I could try to connect Elmer’s grandparents to his mother’s side. I had a picture of Emma Underwood as a bride and a picture of her brother George Underwood. I now compared those pictures to the first of the couple taken around 1880 based on dress and hair style.
How many other times have I assumed something to be true and then built upon that falsehood to come to different conclusions. Genealogy is never ending. The more I dig, the more I discover about my ancestors and myself.
The photo on the left, I now believe to be labeled wrong. The photo on the right is verified to be Isaac and Mary Swagerty. The photo on the left could now be John Underwood and Nancy Chadwick.
- John Underwood and Nancy Chadwick in Kansas 1880s
- Isaac Swagerty and Mary Stevens with their grand daughter Tabitha in 1880s
449 words
6/20/2025
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