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In the beginning (as we now know it!).....
Generation 1/ AnthonySWICAFER came from the borders of Switzerland with his parents, settling in Baltimore Co., Md. His son -
Generation 2/ John SWYKIFFER was born in 1793. He died in Ohio in 1855, after a lifetime of farming. In early manhood, he married Magdalene Orr (b 1798, d 1857), daughter of Michael Orr, who had also come early to America from the borders of Switzerland. Their children were:
John "Ashley", Joseph (see photo right), Caroline, Barbara, Louisa, Isabella, Christian, and Catherine Sophia. The second-eldest of these was -
Generation 3/ Joseph SWYCAFFER (b 4/6/1820 in Anne Arundel Co. MD, d 9/18/1908 in San Diego, Ca, buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery there). The family moved to Frederick, Md. in 1830. On Jan.2, 1850, Joseph left Ft. McHenry with Ringgold's Battery, taking passage on a transport which sailed around the Horn, reaching San Francisco Aug 19; then by boat to San Diego, arriving Aug.26. Eighty-four men began this voyage; only forty survived the trip! He married Martha Ward (b 1840, d 6/15/1924 in San Diego), a native of Texas, who had settled in San Diego as a young girl. Joseph served for five years at Ft. Yuma, being discharged on 9/4/1854. From 1855-57,he drove the mule mail from San Diego to Yuma. In 1856 he built on and moved to his property in Ballena, which remains in the family today.
( read some family letters written to Joseph during this period)
Joseph was a Fourth Sargeant in the San Diego Guards, discharged thence in 1861. From 1869, he was a Public Administrator and Prairie Judge. He served on the County Board of Supervisors and, under 3 Sheriffs, held the office of Chief Deputy. He was a member of the first Board of School Trustees. In 1882, along with sons Robert & Jeff, daughter Isabella, and Melvin (John) Sargeant, he established the Young America Mine in the Chirichua or Dragoon Mountains of Arizona. Robert & Mr. Sargeant subsequently returned to work this claim, and were never heard from again. Joseph & Martha had 12 children: John, Robert E'Lee (both engaged in mining in Globe, AZ), Jefferson Davis (see below), Pauline (b 9/3/58, d 10/6/94, married Nicholson), Isabel (b 1860, d 1930, married E.C.Doyle of La Jolla), Martha W (b 1860, d 1935, married Joseph Foster of Foster, Ca), Frances "Fanny" (b 11/16/62, d 3/24/1937, married Angel M. Corona, lived in Douglas, Cochise Co, Az), Annettie (b 10/12/67, d 8/5/1906), Louis A. (b 1874, d 1930, a stockman near Foster), Beatrice (married Alonzo Price from San Francisco), James (a butcher in San Fransisco), and Angela. Of these -
Generation 4/ Jefferson Davis Swycaffer (see photo left, with a scale model of the stagecoach he drove) was born in Old Town, San Diego CA in 1861. He was the third recorded birth (the first "white" birth) in San Diego County. He married Mary McIntier Trask. Her father, John McIntier, came from Buffalo NY to San Diego in 1849, as a government surveyor. He did most early surveys of San Diego, as far north as L.A., and served as one of the first postmasters in Ballena. In 1886, Jeff began drivivg the stagecoach from San Diego to Julian; first for Tweed & Stokes, later for Foster & Frary. Jeff and Mary's children included sons Claud, Alonzo, and Loyd; and daughters Jesse and Mamie.
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