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Below is a family biography included in The History of Williamson County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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JOSEPHUS L. SWEENY, blacksmith, was born on the 21st of February, 1842, in Williamson County, Tenn. He is one of seventeen children — eleven sons and six daughters — born to the marriage of Charles P. Sweeny and Sallie Huggins, who are of Irish descent, born in Virginia and Tennessee in 1816 and 1818, respectively. Both are yet living. Our subject was educated in the common schools and was reared on a farm, after which he learned the blacksmith’s and wagon-maker’s trade. He was a soldier in the late war and served in Baxter’s artillery for over two years. Since the close of the war he has worked at his trades and has been quite successful. April 19, 1866, he was married to Miss Minerva Jane Gathire, born in Edgefield, Tenn., December 25, 1849. To them were born six children: Lemuel F., born June 10, 1867; Edward L., born August 29, 1869; John L., born July 17, 1875; Bonie L., born August 26, 1878; Charles D., born February 15, 1885, and Annie L., born September 18, 1872. Mr. Sweeny is a Democrat and he and wife belong to the Christian Church.
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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in The History of Williamson County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed. The History of Williamson County was included within The History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Beford and Marshall Counties of Tennessee
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