African American Family Legacy
his claims of fortune. In 1730, he settled in South Carolina were he owned five large plantations that were spread out in different counties and several hundred African and Indian slaves. We are the direct African American descendants to the Royal Surveyor. Although William Swinton was of Scottish heri-tage, his zest for fame and fortune took him on an odyssey of trials and tribulations. Did you ever envision what it must have been like to travel across the sea to a brand new world, not yet fully explored? How about wondering what you would find once you arrived from a long unpleasant sea journey to your new homeland. Currently, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom are where most of the European Swinton ancestry resides, with some family branches in the United States of America. As the US African American descendants of William Swinton, we invite you to come with us, as our fascinating family legacy unfolds. How we found our European family ancestors might amaze you. Actually, we found each other on the internet's Ancestry.com website. Thanks to the diligent research of numerous African American and European family members. Upon seeing the inquiries and other posted information on the Ancestry.com website, Sonya Swinton decided to contact the European Swinton Family Society run by Gary R. R. Swinton in (DINGLEY VILLAGE) Victoria, Australia. The Swinton Family Society's Newsletter presented a wealth of researched information dating back to when King David in 1100 A.D. granted lands to Edulf de Swinton (1st Swinton) in Berwickshire, Scotland. Curious to find the link from Edinburgh, Scotland to Charleston, South Carolina/USA, Sonya investigated several genealogical sources at the National Archives, in Washington, DC and the Scotland International Library over the worldwide web. Surprised to find that one of the plantations located in the town of Williamsburg, South Carolina was not only the birthplace of the Royal Surveyor's children but also the birthplace of her great-great grand father Samuel Swinton. At first, the European Swinton Society was reluctant to accept Sonya as a descendant to the Royal Surveyor. However, several years ago Sonya had been diagnosed with the European inherited celiac disorder, a disease that also runs in the European Swinton's family line. In one conversation with the Australia Swinton Family Administrator, Sonya asked, "Have you seen any slender Swintons lately?" This drew not only an affirmative chuckle, but also a warm invitation to link her African American ancestry family tree with their European ancestry family tree. What a happy ending! And you thought that only Kunta Kinte had ROOTS. |