Ludwig "Louis" Frederick Swartz was born on the 28th of July, 1882 in Winnebago Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. His father was Joachim "Joseph" Christian Swartz and his mother was Caroline Dettwiller. Louis married Alice Klinger on the 26th of October 1906 in Winnebago County, Illinois. Alice Geerds Klinger was born on February 21, 1887, in Ridott, Illinois, to Gepke Jacobs Peters, age 33, and Geerd "George" Eelkes Klinger, age 39.
Alice and Uncle Louis
Alice (Klinger) Swartz 
When the 1930 Census was taken, they were living on a farm in Matthew's Township, Kingsbury County, South Dakota. Louis died in 1949 at the age of 66. The gravestone has the birth date as 1881 but all other sources have the date as 1882. He was buried in De Smet Cemetery.
Alice is listed in the 1950 Federal Census as a widow living in De Smet.
She survived until 1970 and is also buried in De Smet Cemetery.
We can only speculate what prompted their decision to leave Illinois but by 1910 they moved to Baker Township, Kingsbury County, South Dakota where they were farming. My Grandmother Ella Emelia (Swartz) Glaeve was a sister to Louis and she and my Grandfather Frederick Glaeve made the trip with them.
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| Marguerite Carolyn Swartz |
Louie and Alice's first born daughter, Marguerite "Marge" Carolyn Swartz, was born there in 1906. She married Theodore Lauritz Hansen a farmer from Emmetsburg, Iowa on February 4th 1926. They continued to farm in rural Kingsbury County until Marguerite's death in 1956 at the age of 49. They had two daughters Frances Myrtle and Madeline. Both Marge and Theodore were buried in DeSmet.
Gladys Ellen Dorthea Swartz
Louis and Alice's daughter, Gladys Ellen Dorthea Swartz, was born on April 10, 1910 also in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. She never married, lived with her parents, and died at the age of 23.
Another daughter, Eleanor Jessie Swartz, was born on March 6th of 1917. She married Edward Fredrich Wittrock in 1936 when she was 19. They lived in rural Kingsbury County where Edward was employed as a laborer. They had one son, Leroy Edward Wittrock born in 1938. By 1945 they had moved and were living in Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota. Edward died in 1990 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Sioux Falls. Eleanore died in 1999 and was buried next to him.
Eleanore Jessie Swartz
Roy Louis Swartz grave stone
Roy Louis Swartz
Their last child was Roy Louis Swartz, born on June 12, 1920 in Manchester Township, Kingsbury County, South Dakota. He enlisted in the US Army on the 20th of May 1942 and was discharged on the 4th of November 1945 and was married to Hannah Isabella Hay in Santa Barbara, California. Hannah Isabella Hay was born on July 5, 1920, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Isabella Bain, age 41, and William Hay, age 48.
Hannah enlisted in the Army in 1942 which is probably how she and Roy met. They married in 1945.
According to the 1950 Federal Census they moved to Cedar Falls Township, Black Hawk County, Iowa, where their daughter Barbara Helen Swartz was born. About 1958 Roy Louis and Hannah moved to Hot Springs Township, Fall River County, South Dakota. Roy died there in 1986 and was buried as a veteran in Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis South Dakota. Hannah died in 1994 and was buried next to him.
In 1969 Barbara Helen Swartz was attending South Dakota State University in Brookings South Dakota. She married Morris Anderson a fellow university student in 1971 and up until 2005, they were residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In city records, Morris is listed as a laborer.
Barbara Helen Swartz
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