Rachel Winter Swift

Rachel Winter Swift (also spelled Rachael) was born at New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 18 March 1896, the daughter of Leroy W. Swift and Fannie H. Winter, who was born at Fall River. ^[1] In 1900 the family lived in New Bedford, and by 1910 in Fairhaven, with her younger brother, Leroy W. Swift Jr. ^{[2] [3]} She graduated from Fairhaven High School in 1914, in the same class as Charles F. Perry Jr. ^[11] Her mother died at Fairhaven on 22 January 1914, and her father on 5 February 1919. ^{[8] [9]}

On 14 February 1920, at Fairhaven, she married Charles Franklin Perry Jr.; the record names her parents as Leroy W. Swift and Fannie H. Winter. ^[4] Their daughter Mary Elizabeth was born at New Bedford on 22 November 1920, ^[5] and their son Francis Swift Perry on 6 October 1923. ^[10] The family lived in Fairhaven in 1930 and in Newton by 1935, where the 1940 census found her brother Leroy living with them. ^{[6] [7]} In 1956 and 1963 the Boston directories list her and Charles at 19 Joy Street, on Beacon Hill. ^{[13] [14]}

Family memory

In the family's memory she was a fine seamstress who made her own clothes. After her mother died in 1914 she helped raise her younger brother, Leroy Jr. She spent her last years in a nursing home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. ^[12]

The labels on the family photographs speak in Rachel Winter Swift's voice. Carol remembers a family member writing on the backs of the photos years ago, probably as Rachel told her. "Grandpa Wall ?" was written for a later generation. ^[15] The labels are read in The Annotator's Album.

Death and burial

She died on 16 November 1984 and is buried in Newton Cemetery, Newton, Massachusetts, in Section Y, Family Lot 62, beside her husband, who died in 1967. ^[16] Her brother, Leroy W. Swift, who died on 2 May 1981, lies in the same lot. He is almost certainly the brother born in 1899: the 1940 census found him, aged 41 and single, living with Rachel and Charles in Newton. ^{[16] [7]}

Open questions

• Her death record has not been read; the cemetery's record gives the date. ^[16] A Social Security record that names her is attached on FamilySearch and could not be read on the beta site.
• Her name: Rachel, the form used here, is how her 1920 marriage record and the censuses spell it; her birth record spells it Rachael. ^{[1] [4] [6]}