I had been asked a couple of years ago to write a forward to the book of Swindol research being written by Hannah E. Swindoll. Mrs. Swindoll died this past February and her husband, Fred, plans to complete the book, which looks as though it may be essentially done. He asked me to do the foreword which I had been waiting to do. My thoughts are expressed in the following and, if any of you can think of additions or improvements, please give me your opinions.
----------
Foreword
(The Swindol Tale as 'Twas Said to Me)
Wherever the Swindol family originated, one branch found its way to the Robinson River Valley in Virginia. There, the five children of Timothy Swindol and Rebecca Crees found mates from among the Germans who lived there. The parents of Rebecca Crees (Grays) were from Wuerttemberg, a principality in the southwest of Germany, so that the grandchildren of Timothy Swindol were three-quarters German. It may have been necessary for Timothy to learn some German so he could talk to the grandchildren. Since Lawrence (Lorentz) Crees, the father of Rebecca, had only one surviving child, namely Rebecca, his descendants are identical to the descendants of Timothy Swindol. As such, the present book is a strong contribution to the history of these Germans.The Swindol family had lagged behind in studies and the husbands and wives of three of the children of Timothy Swindol had not been well known. I am happy that I have been able to help a bit with finding these people and in clarifying their history. The records at the German Lutheran Church, then in Culpeper County, Virginia, but now in Madison County, have several entries that were helpful in clarifying the relationships.
I hope this book will be helpful to Swindol researchers in tracing their ancestry. They are welcome to visit present day Madison County and see the lands including the specific land of Lawrence Crees which is known. The church, Hebron, still stands where people in this Swindol family worshiped and it can be visited also.
The whole process of writing and using books of genealogy is a trip of discovery. May it be a rewarding experience for you also.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.