Morgan Goodgame Swain was Innkeeper, Blacksmith, Sheriff & Jailor

On May 2, 1814, my 3rd great-grandmother, Sarah "Sally" Tapley (1775-bet. 1850-60) gave birth to twins out of wedlock.  It has always been family folklore that the twins' father was a man named Canneth Swain (1770-1831), who just happened to be a neighbor of Sally's in Emanuel County, Georgia. Canneth was a married man, but all stories passed down indicate that the twins always knew he was their father.  Also, I have found several descendants of the twins who were named Canneth.  

About 10-12 years ago, my cousin, Keith Tapley, provided the DNA that finally proved the link between the Tapleys and the Swains.  So the family folklore was actually truth!

(Just think... if things had been different, I would have been a Swain and not a Tapley!  Mindboggling!)

Canneth married Rebecca Johnson in 1801 in Montgomery County, Georgia and together they had somewhere between 10-13 children.  They were married until Canneth's death in 1831.  In December of 1825, Canneth bought land in Thomas County, Georgia and moved his family there the following year.  Thomas County is located about 170 miles southwest of Emanuel County... 3 hours and 15 minutes by car; many more hours by horse and wagon.  The twins would have been about 12 years old.  I do not know if they ever saw their father again after that.  

No one knows the reason for the move.  All we have is conjecture.  Were the boys getting old enough to announce to anyone who listened that Canneth was their father?  Or perhaps they were wanting to spend time with their father?  I would think their existence would have been an embarrassment to Rebecca Swain.  Could she have pressured Canneth to move away?  Or was it something as simple as finding better or more land?  Canneth also owned nearly 2,000 acres of land in Early and Lee Counties, along with herds of hogs and cattle.  So perhaps the reason was simply to be closer to his farmland and stock.  We will probably never know.  

Anyway, the DNA proof led me to research Canneth and Rebecca's children and their descendants since they are my relatives also.  This is when I found Morgan Goodgame Swain.

Morgan, known as Morz, was the 3rd child of Canneth and Rebecca.  (This makes him my 3rd great uncle.)  He was born in Montgomery County in 1805. Morz was about 21 years old when his family moved south, and he went with them.  Within two years, he had married Elizabeth Wooten and settled near her father in Thomas County.  However, when the town of Troupville was established in 1838 as the county seat of Lowndes County, the Swains moved there to be one of the town's first residents.  In Troupville, Morz set up a blacksmith shop and also took work as a Deputy Sheriff, both trades that suited him as one of the biggest, strongest men in Wiregrass Georgia.  

Here is how his grandson, Montgomery Morgan Folsom (1857-1899) who was a Wiregrass poet and historian, described him:

    "Among those who settled in Troupville and left behind many momentous memories, was Morgan Goodgame Swain, a burly blacksmith from Emanuel, who was ever ready for a fight, frolic or a footrace. He stood six feet three and weighed over two hundred without pound of surplus flesh. As handsome as a Greek god he was gifted with herculean strength and a heart that was generous and true."

    "Many a time and oft has he stepped out in the road and throwing off his hunting-shirt, flop his arms and crow like a game-cock."

For five years, the Swains prospered in Troupville.  While Elizabeth raised their children, Morz became owner and operator of Swain's Hotel (a tavern).  But tragically, Elizabeth Wooten Swain died in 1843 at the age of 32, leaving Morgan with two children to raise.  

About six months after Elizabeth's death, in 1844, Morz remarried a Rebecca "Becky" Griffin.  They had 5 children together.  

    "He [Morz] erected his forge [blacksmith shop] on the bank of the Ockolockocee [River], and his wife took possession of the tavern.  Becky, she was lord above, and Morz was lord below."

Morz operated one of the three hotels in Troupville.  When he remarried, he apparently felt it necessary to advertise his intention to continue as innkeeper.  "Swain's Hotel," the tavern operated by Morz Swain, was properly called The Jackson Hotel, and for several months in 1844, he ran this ad in the papers of the state capitol.

However, the very next year, in late 1845, Morgan Swain sought to dispose of his hotel and Troupville city lots.

During this time period, Morgan Swain had continued to hold public office, serving as Justice of the Peace of the 658th District of Lowndes County from 1844 to 1849, and also as the county jailor.  Morz was also involved in the activities of the Democratic party in Lowndes County.

Morgan Goodgame Swain lived a short but prominent and colorful life in old Troupville, Georgia.  He died there on August 9, 1851 at the young age of 46.  

Obituary of Morgan G. Swain appeared Aug 19, 1851 in the Milledgeville Federal Union newspaper.

A slightly longer obituary appeared a few days later on Aug 22, 1851 in The Albany Patriot.

Becky Swain, Monz's widow, applied in July 1852 for guardianship of the "minors and orphans" of the deceased.  The Ordinary of the Lowndes Court advertised the application in The Milledgeville Southern Recorder.

Meanwhile, Becky's father, who served as administrator of Morgan Swain's estate, made notice of the disposal of Morgan's property and the conclusion of his affairs.

Map of Troupville with the location of Morgan Swain's hotel marked:

Valdosta became the county seat of Lowndes County and there is nothing left of Troupville except some white rocks where Morgan Swain's blacksmith forge used to be.  

Oh and no, I do not know where his middle name "Goodgame" came from.  I wish I did!

Sources:  Ray City History Blog, April 7, 2012, Ray City History Blog, February 9, 2014, Ray City History Blog, July 20, 2019, WWLAS.net, March 16, 2018