Last updated on December 20, 2006
In my previous post in this current series on my immigrant ancestors, I mentioned the Swier family, who adopted my grandfather, David Swier. My grandfather’s adopted parents, Walter Swier and Laura Helen Schmidt Swier, were both the children of immigrants.
Dirk Swier (left) was born in Bovenkarspel in the province of Noord-Holland in the Netherlands on December 6, 1855. He married Aaltje Zwier on May 1, 1879. Dirk was diagnosed with a lung condition and was advised to move to a warmer, drier climate, so he decided to 
move his family to America. The Swiers traveled to America on the Maasdam (Wikipedia article), arriving March 9, 1893. The family first moved to Red Lion, Colorado. Red Lion is located in Logan County, in the northern part of the state, near the Nebraska border. Dirk worked for the Holland Dutch Seed Company and became a U.S. citizen while living in Colorado. According to an account written by Dirk’s son Walter, the Swiers were taken in by a fradulent land deal and were forced to move to Iowa in the winter of 1893. The Swiers remained in Iowa for seven or eight years and then decided to move west to Washington State with a group of Dutch immigrants. They settled in the Moxee Valley in Yakima County in 1901. They cleared the land, built a house and barn, and grew vegetables and raised dairy cattle. Dirk traveled six miles in a horse-drawn buggy several times a week in order to sell vegetables in Yakima stores. He also raised hogs and chickens. His health improved while living in Moxee. Dirk and the other Dutch settlers decided to build a Dutch church, and they established the First Reformed Church. The Swiers prayed and read the Bible before meals. On Sundays, they attended English services in the morning and Dutch services in the evening. They opened their home to visitors on Sunday afternoons. They were particularly helpful to new settlers, allowing the newcomers to stay in their home until they could construct their own homes. They also opened their home to visiting preachers.
Aaljte Zwier (left) was born in Enkhuizen, Noord-Holland on May 10, 1858. Both Dirk and Aaltje descend from Hendrik Swier; they were second cousins once removed. However, Aaltje’s grandfather, Klaas Zwier, adopted an alternate spelling of the name, whereas Dirk’s great-grandfather Wouter (Klaas’s brother) kept the spelling Hendrik used. By the time she came to America with her husband Dirk, Aaltje had seven daughters: Diewertje, Trijntje, Antje, Cornelia, Gerritje, Aafje and Aaltje. One of their daugthers, Aaltje, died before the family emigrated to America. Once the family moved to America, they Anglicized their names. Dirk was sometimes referred to as “Dick.” Aaltje herself became “Alice.” Their six daughters became Dora (Diewertje), Kate (Trijntje), Anna (Antje), Cora (Cornelia), Gertrude (Gerritje), and Effie (Aafje). Aaltje, or Alice, as she was then known, gave birth to six more children in America: Walter, Alice, Rena, Cobie (or Bertha), Richard, and Gerrit Benjamin. Once the family relocated to Yakima, Aaltje wrote a devotional column called De Volksvriend (The Peoples’ Friend) for the National Dutch weekly paper. She always kept peppermints and sugar cookies in her pantry, which she served at daily coffees she scheduled at 9:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. It is said that she was constantly in prayer, even as she darned socks while rocking in her rocking chair. As her children or grandchildren departed from her home, she always left them with this advice: “Never forget to pray.”
Dirk and Aaltje instilled in their children the sort of love and compassion that would later move one of their sons, Walter, to take in a poor child, living in desperate circumstances, and give him the chance at a better life — perhaps even at survival — along with their name. My grandfather David, whom they adopted upon the death of his natural father, would be Walter and Laura Swier’s only son. Though they are not my ancestors by blood, they were a loving influence in my father’s early life, and I truly believe that had they not taken in my grandfather as their own son, I would not be here, so I honor them as my ancestors and see them, in some ways, as my grandfather’s and my father’s (therefore my own) salvation. My dad vividly recalls large family gatherings at his grandfather Walter’s home in Cowiche, Washington. He also recalls that his grandfather used to sing the nursery rhyme, “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son” to him when he was a child. His grandparents, though born in America, still retained enough of their family’s immigrant identity that they spoke fluent Dutch.
The Swier family is probably my closest, however tenuous, connection to the Mayflower pilgrims, as it is believed that the first Swiers were of the Wier family, a group of Separatists who emigrated to Holland. When the others sailed to America on the Mayflower, the Swiers remained behind and essentially became Dutch, most likely marrying with Dutch families. It is unknown when the Wiers added the “S” to the beginning of their surname, but it took place at some point between 1616 and about 1720 (the approximate birth year of my earliest known ancestor, Hendrik Swier). You can read a tribute my grandfather Walter wrote for Dirk and Aaltje on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary in 1929. You can also visit my cousin Rick Zeutenhorst’s (who descends from Cornelia/Cora) website for more information on the Swiers. He has been invaluable to me in learning about the Swier family.
This post is the second in a series on my known immigrant ancestors.
Hi Dana,
I found your blog via a Google Alert for “family history.” Although we’re not related, I’ve bookmarked it simply because it’s so well-written and lovely to look at. You’re doing a great job with it, and I aspire to do as well with mine.
Not to take away from the high praise I hope you feel heaped with, I noticed in the middle of your third paragraph, you mentioned that one daughter died. You typed Aaltje, but I think you meant either Antje or Aafje–I don’t know which. Hope it will be a simple matter for you to edit that.
Please feel free to delete this comment. Just wanted to give you a heads-up on the typo, as I hope someone would do for me in the same circumstance.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks, T.K. I fixed the phrasing so that the writing is more clear, but it was indeed a daughter named Aaltje who died as an infant in Holland.
Dana, I’m one of the decedent’s of the Wouter Swier clan from the same town in Holland. My name is Troy Thomas Swier…9/6/1967. I am Troy of Thomas of Peter of Walter of Pieter of Wouter. From what I’m told via family Lore…Wouter was the father of the 4 and 20. He outlived two wives that had 8 children each and the last wife that had 8 children lived. My great, great, grandfather Pieter was from this 4 and 20.
My wife Sharlene and I have 8 children as well. I’m very interested in family genealogy and would enjoy uploading some photos and info as well. My cousin Peter Prince in Chicago has a lot of Swier info from the other branches.
Respectfully,
Troy T. Swier
4809 S. Kyle Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57103
605-553-1519
Hello Troy,
When selecting the family tree it appears that I probably have very distant relatives in America. During the investigation I came across the family of Walter Swier, who is a son of Dirk Swier, who comes from Bovenkarspel, the Netherlands. There is then approximately 350 years in between to find common ancestors. But they are!
Sincerely,
Jeroen Zwier,
Hengelo, the Netherlands
Dirk and Aaltje Swier are my great great grandparents Robert Charles Riewald was my grandfather.
Wow. This is so amazing to find! I stumbled across this while doing an assignment for school, and this is my family!
Dirk and Aaltje are my great grandparents. My grandparents were Henry and Anna Schut (Swier). Sad news; my mother Dorothy Ann Duggan (Schut) passed away December 18, 2007 in Seattle. Out of the six children, Norm Schut (Ocean Shores, WA) remains.
We are distant relations in New Zealand and Australia via Wouter Swier b 1767.
My connection is
+ Wouter b1767
+ Bouke b 1802
+ Wouter b 1830
+ Johannes b 1863 (Fisherman)
+ Johannes b 1908 (Hairdresser)
+ Johannes Hans)b 1931 (Emigrated
Hello Geoff
The investigation into the family tree of the Zwier family (also referred to as Swier) shows that the traces also lead further across the world. Far away family, which originated in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands. Our common traces lead back some 350 years.
Jeroen Zwier
Hengelo
The Netherlands
Dirk and Aaltje Swier are my great-grandparents, their daughter Rena (Thompson-Swier) is my grandmother. Although I never new them or my grandmother, both great-aunt Alice and great-uncle Richard (Dick) were an important part of my childhood. Just before I was born, my parents moved to the family farm when Uncle Dick become too ill to manage the place.
Dirk and Aaltje raised my father (William Thompson) and his brothers after my grandmother Rena passed away. My dad was born on the place and my parents live there today (right down Swier Lane). The farmhouse was taken down in the 1970’s as it was too expensive to remodel. Sadly, the big red barn burned down about ten years ago. The warehouse, woodshed, pump house, and chicken coop still stand from the early 1900’s though.
I grew up playing in the barn while Uncle Dick milked cows and walked the fields with him as he changed the irrigation. I sat on his lap many evenings listening to Dutch nursery rhymes/songs. He was a tall gentle man who loved the land and all animals. When I was given my first horse at age five, he taught me to ride and care for her. As a small child, I was never out of his watchful eye on the farm! It is said that my birth gave Uncle Dick a renewed interest in life and helped him to regain his health.
Aunt Alice was a tall, (six feet) proper woman and a wonderful Christian. She lived well into her nineties! A nurse, who served in WWI she was always looking out for others. She was a woman of great faith and I am sure she must have been much like her mother Aaltje.
Both great- uncle Dick and great-aunt Alice told me many stories of their parents and of Holland. Their Dutch heritage was very important to them and even though they both were born in America, they spoke fluent Dutch. My favorite story is how my father flunked first grade because he didn’t understand English well enough when he started school. Great-grandma and grandpa only spoke Dutch in the home!
I could go on and on. The Swier farm will always be my home no matter how far I roam! =)
Judy, thanks so much for stopping by. I love to hear from cousins, and it was so nice to learn more about my great-great-grandparents! My father says that his grandfathers, Walter and Helen Swier, were also very good Christians, and it’s clear it came from their family.
Hi Dana,
I came across your blog after googling the name Swier. My grandmother’s maiden name is Swier and her parents, Pieter and Trintje (Mantel) Swier came to America in roughly 1909 also from the Bovenkarspel area. I am wondering if you know if there is any relation between my great-grandparents and your family?
Zach, is this couple you are looking for? http://www.lazeut.com/genweb/swier/fam00552.htm. It’s our cousin Rick Zeutenhorst’s site, for if these are the right folks, then yes, we are connected.
Dana, I am Troy of Tom of Pete of Walt of Pieter of Wouter
My ancestors were victims of the land swindle in Colorado too. I hope to write my family’s story soon in my genealogy blog.
Hi Dana,
My husband, Doug Swier, is the grandson of of Walter and Alice’s youngest son, Garrit Benjamin. I have read quite a bit about the Swier family from histories that other family members have already written. It was nice to read about the family again and to gain some new insights. My husband’s father’s name is also David Swier. He was born in 1938. I will have to ask him about your father, David Swier. Maybe they saw each other at family gatherings.
Perhaps so. It was generous for the Swiers to adopt my grandfather. I had always wondered why they changed his name to David. Perhaps there is a story there.
Hello Kerry
I am probably a very distant family of your husband. Any common traces lead back to Dirk & Aaltje Zwier (also known as Swier) in a town in the west of the Netherlands, Enkhuizen. For our (of your husband) real common traces are from 350 years ago. Research shows that a large part of the family lived and worked in the west of the Netherlands. And so also traces to America.
Heartily
Jeroen Zwier
Hengelo
The Netherlands
Hello Dana,
While surfing the Internet I came across your website with the Swier family (Zwier) who emigrated to the United States. It is a distant family, which also occurs in my family tree. For three years now I have been working out the Zwier family, which also comes from West Friesland (Enkhuizen, Bovenkarspel) in the Netherlands. It could therefore just be that there are distant descendants living in the United States. Very interesting!
Very interesting!
Jeroen Zwier
Hengelo
The Netherlands
Jeroen, we may be distant relatives. My great-great-grandmother Aaltje Zwier was from Enkhuisen and the Swiers were in Bovenkarspel. They are the same family. Aaltje and her husband Dirk Swier were something like second cousins, and one of their ancestors changed the spelling of the name.
Hello Dana, probably Aaltje is a 3rd niece in the 5th grade of me, daughter of Jacob Zwier, granddaughter of Klaas Zwier and great-granddaughter of Hendrik (Geerts) Zwier. Hendrik is a brother of my great-great-grandfather, Lucas (Geerts) Zwier (both are born in Oldemarkt, a little tiny town in Overijssel, The Netherlands).
Hi there. I, too, have an ancestor, my grandfather Walter (Wouter) Swier who was born here shortly after his parents immigrated from Bovenkarspel. They started out in the Minnesota and Iowa area and then moved to the Central Valley of California. My grandfather and grandmother spoke Dutch and English when I was growing up. They had 5 children and 21 grandchildren. We were brought up in the Reformed Church also. We are now quite the clan. We visited Bovenkarspel about 3 years ago and loved it.
Hi there. I decided to go into our family tree, and I believe you and I have the same great great grandfather, Wouter, born in 1821. In his first marriage, he had 3 children, including Dirk. When his wife passed away, he married again, had 2 more children, one of which was Cornelius, my great grandfather who migrated here. Our great great grandfather then lost his second wife, married for a third time, and had 6 more kids. Such a family line.