The Town Crier: It’s all in the name (part one)

Published 9:07 am Saturday, March 29, 2025

The last few years I’ve gotten genealogy lists from both sides of my family and had the chance to check out some of my family history. Most of the info, which is like all the family “begats” in the Bible where it just tells you who was who’s dad and mom, comes from the census that takes place in the USA every 10 years.

The occasional anecdote about ancestors makes for great reading and lets you know how your roots fit into the big historical picture. But one thing I’ve discovered, that I hadn’t thought about much before I saw the records, is just how oddball some of the names were back then. Looking at my maternal side (my mom’s mom), I’m going to take a little stroll through history and see what those crazy names were like back in the day.

My mom’s mom’s maiden name was Swafford, an English name. The first Swaffords were probably from Norfolk in the east of England. The branch of the family that I’m connected to came from a group of brothers who moved to East Tennessee in the early 1800s.

There was a treaty with the Cherokee where whites were allowed to buy land from them. The “Hiawasee Purchase” occurred in 1817, and in 1819 McMinn County, Tennessee, was formed. This is where my Swaffords were centered.

It seems the brothers that came from South Carolina may have actually moved to the area and bought land directly from the Cherokee a few years before the official treaty. I went to a family reunion once up there and was talking with some distant cousin and told him “There must be 400 people here!” To my surprise he said, “Yeah, we didn’t have a big turnout this year. Shoulda been here last year when there was about 600!”

My grandmother was the only one of her siblings to move away and down here to Dalton, so most of my cousins and aunts and uncles I’ve never gotten to know. But now with this family history genealogy I can at least see some of the connections. Especially through the unique names. Please assume there are no spelling errors in the following.

One of the first names that caught my attention was a distant uncle named Toy Swafford born about 1910. There’s nothing in there about how he got the name. His parents (my great-uncle and aunt) were Richard Swafford and Lucinda Swafford, cousins. Toy’s siblings included brothers Hembard, Arlie, Hubey and Daily. Daily married a girl named Narcy. Toy’s sisters had names like Dovie, Parkie and Glenie. I’m thinking with so many Swaffords up there that they were having to marry cousins, maybe they were running out of names, too, and so had to just start making them up?

One of my relatives was named Jett, which is cool considering he was born before the Wright Brothers ever flew their first plane. There was a Virginia Swafford, a Georgia Swafford and a Tennessee Annie Swafford. There were a couple of classical names like Minerva and Narcissa for the ladies and a Ulyses for one of the men.

Hulon Augustus had a daughter named Cloah. How’d you like to be the neighbor and have to ask “Hey, Hulon, how’s Cloah?” Hack Swafford had a daughter named Vina whose first cousin was Zola. Diara (listed as Diorah on the wedding license) had an Aunt Kizzie who moved to Ducktown. And don’t forget “Blue Bill” Swafford, born 1852. Nobody that saw him back then did … he weighed 480 pounds! He rode a horse a lot but he was so big the saddle chafed him. (I’m more worried for the horse.) And in the summer he had to sit in the springhouse to keep cool.

So, you’re from the South and you’re a fan of classic Hollywood movies? Then you might have seen “Gone With the Wind.” What’s that got to do with a family from East Tennessee that actually had some members join the Union forces during the Civil War? When it comes to names, an oddity of a connection.

Hattie Swafford was born in 1890. When of age in the early 1900s, she married George McDaniel, which made her Hattie McDaniel. Any fan of Scarlett O’Hara knows that Hattie McDaniel was the name of the terrific African American actress who played her “Mammy.” Hattie won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the part, the first African American to win the Oscar

To continue the connection with the movie, Hattie Swafford’s sister was named Bonnie Swafford, which ties in with the daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett in the story; Bonnie Blue. I have yet to find a Rhett or Scarlett in the family line, but, keeping in line with the awards “Gone With the Wind received,” I did have an Uncle Oscar.

Next is a series of names that have to do with “mint.”

Arminta Swafford, born 1885, was called Minnie. She had a son named Birtle, which sounds like a character from a Dr. Seuss book. Then, a Minty Falls (sometimes spelled Fauls) married Daniel Swafford and those two are my great-grandparents. Her name was passed down to my first cousin, and her middle name is Mint. They had a daughter named Bertha Virgie Swafford, and her husband was named Cicero.

Another daughter they had was Lou Ethel Swafford, who was my grandmother. At least I thought that was her name. Only when I saw the genealogy book did I discover her name was actually Lula … her nickname was Lou. I double checked the book to make sure my name was actually what I thought it was!

Meanwhile, Lula’s brothers Homer, Roy and Willard each married one of the Womac sisters, Ollie, Suda and Ida respectively. I guess it was either that or back to cousins. More family next time.

Mark Hannah is a Dalton native who works in the film and video industry.