In my research I have been able to trace my roots back to Jacob River Swisher. From multiple sources, tradition tells me that as a young man he was employed as a guide for those traveling west over the Allegheny mountains. All the research that I have indicates that he was orphaned at the age of three and raised by a friend, David Province (spelling uncertain. I’ve seen various spellings). He was supposedly born May 1785 near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, however I do not have any documentation confirming that fact. Further complicating matters is that his friend, David Province raised him in or near Geneva, PA which may be in Fayette County, PA. If anyone has information that would help confirm this information, or provide another scenario, I would love to hear from you.
Curt, did you know that there are some receipts from the 1800s showing some of Jacob R Swisher’s fur sales and trade deals? Do you know if your mother had copies of these in her treasure boxes? I am not sure if they are a reliable resource as I had gotten them from somebody on ancestry.com.
No I was not aware of them. I would love to have a copy. I have very little concrete information about Jacob River Swisher. Most of the information I have is written in a couple of books that I have copies of, but it is traditional stories about who he was and most everyone who had done any research seems to have the same information. Hopefully what you have is a new set of nuggets. I look forward to seeing it if you can send it to me. By the way I just created a Facebook group called “Swisher Genealogy” to be a companion to this website. I invited you automatically. Check it out and pass the information along to others. The more the merrier.
Just talked with Nanette and she informed me that she did a typo. The fur trade records and receipts belonged to John Swisher, not Jacob. However the dates are consistent with the time just before Jacob was born and when he would have been a toddler, as well as the location places John in the correct vicinity that would be plausible for this John to be the father of Jacob. She says the records are in a file in the LDS library. I still think it would be worth checking out as the other names on the records and receipts may be of help in our research. I have asked her to send me the LDS link information.
Please share that info with all of us. I have never heard about the fur sales before.
Hi Jean!
Like you, I have never heard of the fur sales receipts before but would LOVE to see pics of them! Please share them with us, Nanette 🙂
Curt, you list Davidson as a name to research. I believe Emza’s maiden name was Davisson which many later changed to Davidson.
Your right about the various spellings of Davidson or Davisson. I kept the Davidson spelling because that is the most current, but I have not verified exactly when the change occurred. That’s one of my tasks that have so far been on the back burner.
Curt, we need all the info on John Swisher we can get. Especially, if he is Jacob Rivers Swisher’s father. His last name may not be Swisher, but could be Switzer or Swisser or some other derivative. Some think his wife was Sarah Morgan, but we don’t have that documented that I know of. Also remember that LDS does not require documentation, so the whole thing can be a myth – but still worth trying to find out more about the info.
Nanette is going to the LDS center in Oregon sometime next week and is planning on getting the information we need to access those fur trade records/receipts.