General Notes

I am not sure where I originally received information on John III and the rest of his family. I need further verification, though so far I have not found any discrepancies on this branch. The line seems to end at John IV's son Joshua. I have no further information. The Salmon Records of Southold lists a death of a 'John Swesey' on 18 or 24 Aug 1705/06. I do not know which 'John Sweezey' they are talking about but this 'John' fits the time period. I do not know where I got the death date of 1717, but it could be a mistake. I have another death date of Oct 1706. According to the 1686 census of Southold, John's family consisted of 2 males and 1 female. It would appear that John and Mary only had one son. (at least through the first 10 years of marriage). According to the 1675 Southold list of taxpayers, both John and his brother Joseph are in their own home, and presumable married, while Samuel appears to still be living with his father, though the list claims "2 heads", so I guess we can assume that Samuel is also married by this time, or the "original" John Sweezey is still alive (I show his date of death as (1675).

notes from BOB SWEEZeY
Notes from Bob Sweezy
I found the following entry at:

1698 Southold LI Census
A Study of Identities, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York
By Norris M. Taylor, Jr.

John, Mary, Jno Swayzy junjr, Susana, Mary junjr, Joshua & Phebe (271-267)
This is John-3 (John,2,1) and wife Mary (__) and their family.

This census appears to match the information I have received from various other sources, and is probably the original source of information for this family.


"Swezey History" by Richard M. Bayles is very confusing regarding this person. Here is what Richard Bayles has to say about John:

"As far as we know John Swezey 2nd had two sons, Stephen and Joseph (3rd). The latter is said to have been by trade a millwright, and (sic) occupation then common now extinct, by the decandence of the old time gristmills which formerly had a place in almost every country village. This Joseph Swezey resided at Fire Place, now Brookhaven, a short distance east of Snow's Corner on the south road. I do not know what children Joseph Swezey had other then William his son, who in the year 1746 and 1747 was in the army at or near Saratoga, as is shown by letters written by him to his parents, dated Oct. 8, 1746 and Mar. 17, 1747."

I cannot even tell which John Swezey he is talking about?? My other sources do not show any son Stephen or Joseph for this John Sweezey. And, the son of Joseph named William also does not make any sense. For William to be a son in the army in 1747, the Joseph Swezey that Richard M. Bayles is talking about would have been born around 1690 - 1700. Now it is possible for this John Swezey to have had a son named Joseph born in 1700, which is why I do not see him in the 1698 census, but the other son Stephen that Richard M. Bayles is talking about, is the Stephen Swezey (1694 - ?) who started the Brookhaven and Swezeytown branch, and we know that Stephen was the son of Joseph and Mary Betts Sweezey.

I just have no idea who Richard M. Bayles is talking about regarding this John Swezey and his two sons Joseph and Stephen. Now, Frederick Phillips Swezey's Genealogy of the Swezey Family also mentions this mysterious William Sweezey who wrote letters to his parents in 1746 and 1747, but he claims that Williams' parents are Joseph and Mary Betts Sweezey. Both Joseph and Mary were long dead by 1746, so this makes no sense.

The only Joseph Sweezey from Long Island that could have a son William in the Army in 1746 would be Jospeh, son of Joseph and Mary Betts Sweezey. I have very little information about that Joseph Sweezey.