Obituary: Anna Laurie (Pierce) Swinden: Grant's Pass, Josephine Co., Oregon *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Elizabeth ************************************************************************ SWINDEN, Anna Laurie (Pierce), Grant's Pass (Oregon) Daily Courier, Thursday, 6 January 1949, p. 2 Ann Laura Swinden, known to her friends as "Ma" Swinden, passed away at Vale Nursing home at 5 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 6. She was 91 years of age and had lived in this community for the past 46 years. Mrs. Swinden is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Earle Young, 414 Second street. Funeral arrangements are being handled by L. B. Hall Funeral home. SWINDEN, Anna Laurie (Pierce), Grant's Pass (Oregon) Daily Courier, Friday, 7 January 1949, p. 8 Anna N. Swinden, who died Thursday, January 6, at the Vale Nursing home in Vale, first came to Grant's Pass in 1885. She was born August 14, 1857, in Western College, Iowa, and was 91 years of age at the time of her death. She was born August 14, 1857, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. R. Pearce, at Western College, Iowa. The family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, when Anna was very young, and the girl came west when she was 13 years old. Her mother was teaching school in California at that time. In 1872 she came through Kansas to Nebraska by wagon train, at which point the group broke up when they discovered the emigrant train traveling before them had been massacred by Indians. A year or two later she married Neulun Young and had two sons, Earle N. Young, Grant's Pass, and George D. Young, who made his home here until his death three years ago. While her children were yet small, Mrs. Young found it necessary to support her family and worked as a cook in mining and lumber camps in Southern Oregon and Northern California. She taught school in Gold Hill for a number of terms. In 1924 she married William Swinden. She leaves four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mrs. Swinden has been a member of Etna Rebekah Lodge No. 49 since 1904. She wrote and contributed numerous stories and poems for different publications during her lifetime.