John was born in Lemcon, Schull Parish, Cork County, Ireland. He was a farmer.
Grace came from Crookhaven, Schull Parish, Cork County, Ireland. Her mother was named Sarah.
John and Grace were married in Crook Haven, Ireland by Rev. Moses More. They immigrated in 1846. The captain of the ship they crossed over on was also named Swanton. He had a Gaelic Bible that John and Grace's oldest son, Thomas, read from each day and which he gave to Thomas when the family left the ship.
They first lived in Dunnville, Ontario, where Thomas was drowned by a Catholic. Perhaps because of the religious tension, the Protestant Swantons moved to the Town of Richfield in Washington County, WI in 1853. Grace's mother, who also immigrated, died in Wisconsin between 1853 and 1860. She is buried in the southeast corner of Union Cemetary outside of Menomonee Falls, WI by some field stones. There is no other marker.
John and Grace moved to Sun Prairie, WI in 1870, taking two days to drive their cattle the ninety miles to the new farm. John died after he slipped on the ice fetching water from the well and broke his hip. Grace went to live in Ashippun, WI with her son Henry in a house occupied a century later by her great-grandson Clayton Swanton, where she died.
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John & Grace Swanton
House, Sun Prairie, WI
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