Swezey-Tomsic Ancestors

St. John /Sension Family Lineage
from Matthias b. 1604 to John Ward Swezey:
Matthias 1 Sension b. 1604
Matthias 2 St. John b. 1628
Matthias 3 b. 1668
Samuel 4 b. 1680
Samual 5 b. 1703
John 6 b. 1753
Samuel 7 b. 1789
Robert T 8 b. 1827
Jessie 9 (John Ward Swezey's mother) b. 1878

His surname at the time was also spelled: Sension, Sention and Senchon

Excerpt from Betty Rhodes' St John Site

Prior to 1604
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No one really knows how long the ancestors of the Sension family lived in England before coming to America. Matthias Sension and his wife, Mary Tinker Sension, left London from the vicinity of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, and came to New England sometime between June 10, 1633 and September 3, 1634. Records show that this family was still living in London on June 10, 1633, this from baptismal entries for their son, Marke, at St. Nicholas Cole Abbey. Matthias Sension was made a Freeman on September 3, 1634 at Dorchester, Massachusetts, and we would like to imagine that Mary Sension did not set sail until she and the baby was making healthy progress after his birth. There are stories that say the Sension family, before residing in England, came from France. Perhaps they were Huguenots, but no records have been found to support that theory as I know of currently. A great many French protestants [Huguenots, starting about 1550] fled to England as they were being persecuted in France. J.P. Brooke-Little remarked that, "St. John is a very common parish name in France, and would probably sound like Sension." It is quite possible that the Sension name originated in France, as there is at least one record of a similar name being linked to France

Generation 1: Matthias I Sension, Born 1604 - of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, England. Lived in Dorchester, MA, then Windsor, CT, then Norwalk, CT. Died after 19 Oct 1669 at Norwalk, Fairfield Co. CT. Married Mary Tinker, born 06 Aug 1606, New Windsor, Berkshire, England. She died after 1670 in Norwalk, CT, the daughter of Robert & Mary [Merwin] Tinker of Windsor, England.

Generation 2: Matthias II Sension, born 30 Nov 1628 at New Windsor, Berkshire, England. He died Dec 1728 in Norwalk, Fairfield Co. CT. He married Elizabeth - no further information on Elizabeth.

Surname changed from Sension to St. John in official records about 1720.

TINKER Genealogy TXT Website
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MARY2 TINKER (ROBERT1) was born Abt. 1606. She married MATTHIAS SENSION/STJOHN 01 Nov 1627 in New Windsor, Berkshire. He was born 1603 in London, England, and died 1669 in Norwalk, Connecticut.

The Will of 1623 of Robert Tinker, father of Mary Tinker Sension, and her sister Ellen, states that they were to share the legacy of a house in Winkfield, Berkshire, England, following their mother's death or remarriage. Matthias and Mary (Tinker) Sension resided in the parish of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, where he was a chandler. They immigrated to New England, and were living at Dorchester by 3 Sept. 1634 when he was made a freeman of the Massachuetts Bay Colony.

Notes for MATTHIAS SENSION/STJOHN:
--of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Windsor, Wethersfield and Norwalk, Connecticut;----the name was usually spelled Sension or Sention before 1700.
--came from St Potolph, Bishopsgate, London to Dorchester, Mass., in 1631/2; in Windsor in 1640; in Hartford in 1650; at Dorchester 1634; in Norwalk about 1654;
--the family name is a very old one. A Robert StJohn came to England in 1066 with William, the Conqueror;
--this Matthias has been traced back through Sir Oliver StJohn and wife, Sarah Bulkley, for many generations, but this has been proven fictitious;
--I suspect there are two Matthias St Johns who were either contemporaries or the family has been confused. Another Matthias, who married Elizabeth, was also of Dorchester, then Windsor then Norwalk; this Matthias had eight children: Ebenezer, James, Samuel, Nathan, Matthias, John, Rachel and the Mary who married Thomas Hyatt;--an article in "The American Genealogist" 53[1977]:241-243 deals with this;--
--Matthias and Mary resided in the parish of St Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, where he was a chandler;-

Children of MARY TINKER and MATTHIAS SENSION/STJOHN are:
12. i. MATTHIAS3 STJOHN, b. Abt. 1628, England; d. Dec 1728, Norwalk, Connecticut.
ii. THOMAS STJOHN, b. Abt. 1631; d. Died young.
13. iii. MARK STJOHN, b. 1634; d. 12 Aug 1693, Norwalk, Connecticut.
14. iv. SAMUEL STJOHN, b. Abt. 1640; d. 14 Jan 1685, Norwalk, Connecticut.
15. v. MERCY STJOHN, b. 08 Jun 1645; d. 1694.
16. vi. JAMES STJOHN, b. Abt. 1649; d. 09 May 1684, Norwalk, Connecticut.