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18. Annie Porter

Annie Porter, daughter of Robert and Ann (Andrews) Porter. Is this Annie Porter who married Josiah Swank? She was a daughter of Robert & Ann (Andrews) Porter. I know little of this branch of the Swank family beyond the fact they had left Mauch Chunk in the 1860s. In 1880 they were in Delano, Schuylkill Co. (about 20 miles from Chunk) and at that time they had four children, including a daughter, Annie, age 4. So, another possibility here is that Annie Parker was this daughter, and she married a Porter. There was also the wife of James W. Swank (brother of Charles W.), whose name I don't know but I do know she died before James did. They lived in Washington, DC where James worked for the US Treasury for 48 years. Maybe he was the "Lawyer Swank" mentioned. (Jack Sterling).

No doubt that this is Annie Porter. On the reverse is written: "Annie Porter Barkin (at least it looks like Barkin, but I am not sure). "Barkin" is on a line below Annie Porter, so may or may not be part of her name. One could read it as "Beckie"perhaps indicating that the photo was Beckie's copy (Rebecca Hyndman).

James Andrews came to Carbon Co. in 1847 where his daughter Ann had settled with her husband Robert Porter. The Porters were married in Ireland. James Andrews brought other children with him: Nancy, who married John Wisley; Jane married James Kennedy (son of Samuel Kennedy and Jenny Blair) in 1848 in MC and Margaret who married Charles Swank. I would suppose that this Annie Porter is the daughter of Ann Andrews and Robert Porter and that Jim Swank (#19) is the son of Charles and Margaret Swank. James Andrews with his 3 sons left Mauch Chunk ending up in Australia. Nancy Wisley followed him there after her husband disappeared and was assumed dead. (Elaine McCutcheon). The Kennedys and the Hyndmans were cousins.

She and Josiah Swank married in 1868 in Mauch Chunk. He was at the time in the employ of the Lehigh Valley RR at Delano, Pa. They had four living children as of 1880: Robert Porter, Ransford, Leroy and Annie. Robert went on the attend State College and became a known attorney in Schuykill County; Ransford, who lived with his parents until 1920 and then seems to have disappeared; Annie married Lewis Whetstone Bailey, a graduate of Lehigh University and resided of Milwaukee. She moved there with her new husband and two years later returned to her father's residence and remained with him until he died. Her daughter, Margaret Bailey married Harry M. Tinkcom. She was known Margaret Bailey Tinkcom. Both became noted authors and historians in Pennsylvania. Leroy Swank, I believe is later known as Philip L. Swank.
Josiah Swank died in 1928 and Annie, his wife, in 1922. Both are buried in Downington, Pa. (Mathew Thompson)