Great Uncle Ludwig "Louis" Swartz and the move to South Dakota

 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. Their first born daughter Marguerite Carolyn Swartz was born there in 1906.

We can only speculate what prompted their decision to leave Illinois but by 1910 they had 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. 

Louis and Alice's daughter, Gladys Ellen Swartz, was born in 1910. Another daughter, Eleanor Jessie Swartz, was born in 1917. 

At the time of the WW1 draft, they were living and farming in Lake Preston Township, Kingsbury County, South Dakota. Their son, Roy Louis Swartz, was born in 1920.

 Ludwig "Louis" Frederick Swartz 

                                                       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 and Uncle Louis

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. 

Their first daughter Marguerite "Marge" Caroline married Theodore Lauritz Hansen a farmer from Emmetsburg, Iowa on February 4th 1926. They had two daughters Frances Myrtle and Madeline. They continued to farm in rural Kingsbury County and are buried in De Smet Cemetery.  

The next daughter was Gladys Ellen Dorathea Swartz. She was born on April 8th of 1910 in Mathews Township, Kingsbury County, South Dakota.  She continued to live with her parents and never married. She died at the age of 23 in 1933 and was buried in De Smet Cemetery.  

                                                                                                                         Gladys Ellen  Swartz

Elinor Jessie Swartz was born on March 6th of 1917. She was married to Edward Fredrich Wittrock in 1936 and they resided in De Smet. 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. Elinore died in 1999 and is buried next to him. 

                   Elinor Jessie Swartz

                                                                                              Roy Louis Swartz grave stone

                                                                                                                                                                     

Roy Louis Swartz was 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. According to the 1950 Federal Census they have moved to Cedar Falls Township, Black Hawk County, Iowa, where their daughter Barbara Helen Swartz is born. About 1958 they moved to Hot Springs Township, Fall River County, South Dakota. Roy died there in 1986 and is buried as a veteran in Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis South Dakota. Hannah died in 1994 and is buried next to him. 

         Roy Louis Swartz