Web Site Overview
These are the Swagerty/Aldrich family stories that have been told at Thanksgiving and other family gatherings throughout the years. These are meant as a beginning point from which many other family stories can be shared. We used the union of the Swagerty and Aldrich families as a point of reference. This union occured when Swagerty brothers (Elmer and Wilbur) married Aldrich sisters (Pearl and Lulu). Many of these stories are a result of the Thanksgiving family gatherings at Elmer and Pearl’s dairy farm in Escalon, California during the 1950’s and ’60’s. This was a time when family would get together and reminisce about the past. Some of these stories originated at these family gatherings.
As you view this site, if you are a member of this family (including those families that trace back to this original Swagerty-Aldrich union), it is hoped that you will also contribute your family stories and connections for this web site. Areas of this site can be turned over to a “family web master,” so that post-Swagerty-Aldrich families can share their stories and family memorabilia, by contacting Brian Swagerty.
Credit must be given to Donna Swagerty Shreve who has become a family historian. It started during these Thanksgiving gatherings. She was a girl, and one of the oldest cousins. Her mother felt it was not proper for her to go out and play on the vast play land of the dairy farm. She was to stay inside and sit with the adults. She missed out on playing all of those great games with her cousins, but she was able to listen to all of these wonderful stories. Through the years, she has collected photographs and stories. At her brother Brian’s prodding, she resorted to taking her tape recorder with her when she was gathering stories. Her Uncle Harry (Burton) made the comment to his daughter, Nancy, just before Donna arrived to tape-record his stories, “Oh, no! Here comes Donna with her tape recorder! She is going to point that thing at me, like she has to everyone else who is about to die.” If it wasn’t for Donna’s diligence, many of these stories would be lost.
Please forgive our editorial license. We have tried to be as true to the stories as much as possible, but all stories change over time and with the coloring of the teller. Please remember that this is the first edition. If you recognize errors, please inform us, so that we can correct them. We also have tried to not publish stories that would embarrass those of us that are still living. If we have told stories that offend you, we are deeply sorry. It was not our intention to harm or embarrass anyone. It was our intention to write down the many stories that we heard many times throughout our lives. What happened in the collecting of these stories is that we heard many more that we hadn’t heard. These stories helped us to understand much of our heritage and even to understand some of our own actions and those of our children.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 