The fifth child of Jeremiah and Nancy Griffin Sweaney was
born ca 1827 in TN. He was still living with the family in 1850
and is listed as a blacksmith. He married Jane (b. 1833 in MO)
and their first child was James, b. 1858 (1860c).
The 1870 census shows John J. b. 1827 and married to
Matilda (b. 1841 in Ill). They show two children: Jeremiah L. b.
1863 and John J. b. 1867. It appears that the first wife died and he
married a younger woman. Where is the oldest son, James in 1870?
In the 1880 Dallas Co. Census John and Matilda are listed
with Levi (Jeremiah), John, William age 10, Mary, and Matthew,
age 2. They were living in Jasper Twp between William Adams and
Wilson Adams. None of this family appears in the 1900 census of
Jasper Twp. though the children were young.
Perhaps this is the John Sweaney who lived in Jefferson City
and visited his sister's daughter, Barbara. Barbara called him
"brother" but he was actually her mother's brother. Howver, he
would have been 73 by 1900. It is possible he died and his wife
remarried by then but we have no records. Since these people are
not found in Dallas Co. cemeteries, it is logical to assume they
moved elsewhere.
