James Everett Sweaney was born 13 Nov 1879 in Dallas County,
Missouri. He had a sister, Annie, born a year before him. Their
mother, Delila, stayed close to her sister, Barbara M. Sweaney who
helped her rear the two children. Rachel Sweaney who had married
Anderson Gann, also took care of them a lot. The 1880 census of
Dallas County shows them living with Jane Periman and her family.
Delila was the daughter of Michael Randleman. Bud Randleman of
Windyville has an old letter written by Michael from Oregon where
he had moved. He wrote home to ask about his daughter, Delila.
Delila died in 1892 at the age of 36. She died of tuberculosis,
sometimes called "consumption" in earlier days.
Everett was only 13 at the time his mother died. Abijah
Bennett and his aunt "Babe" (Barbara Sweaney Bennett) took him in
and raised him until he was old enough to get married and begin his
own home. He felt very close to Babe's family and was best of friends
with Bill Sweaney.
A lady preacher by the name of Louie Bennett was holding
revival meetings when Everett was converted. Before that time it is
said that he smoked and drank a little and when there were music
parties he played the guitar and fiddle. A distant cousin, Noah Adams
said that he and Everett used to make moonshine in a cave on the
banks of the Niangua. This is such a foreign notion to his children
and grandchildren because he led such a devout Christian life all the
time they knew him and he loved to discuss scriptures.
Opportunities for courting were limited to community functions
for the most part. Everett attended camp meetings when he courted
Laly. They would go water the horses to get a chance to get off by
themselves. They were married 29 Oct 1900 at Buffalo, Dallas County,
MO. See Laly's account of this.
When they got married, they set out by wagon to a mining town
with a group of relatives. Their first child, Nola, was born in a
mining village. When Laly became ill, the doctor said it was because
the water was bad there. They decided to move back to Dallas County
where they rented land for a while to farm.
After living at Windyville, Everett bought unsettled "new"
land from the government. It was not paid off until after the children
were nearly raised. He farmed and in the winters he would go back to
work in the mines. At one time, he contracted T.B. probably from the
work in the mines. He lived with his sister, Annie, and Ulysses
Jennings while working in Pitcher, Oklahoma. Ulysses was a constable
at Pitcher. Ulysses patrolled the Indian "meetings" to keep the fire-
water under control and Everett helped. These experiences stayed with
Everett and when times came in the community at home when help was
needed, he took it upon himself. He kept the young men from causing
trouble at church meetings and this caused some animosity. The ruffians
would "get it in" for Everett and tried to cause him trouble. After
one revival, they split his whole field of watermelon. Another time
they did mischief with the sorgum mill and one of them fell into the
skimmings vat and strung sorgum all the way where he dragged himself
out and away.
When he and Laly bought their land, it was covered with oak and
hickory. He had to clear the land to make a place to farm. Belzora's
husband, Benny Austin, came and helped him build his house. They did
it all. He cut oak trees and Lou remembers him making shingles later
for one of the out-buildings. He made each one by hand.
As the railroad came through, many ties were needed. Farmers
were encouraged to cut their trees and haul them into the tie yard
where they were paid about 50 cents apiece.
The farmers cut, then shaped the trees into ties. It took a
rather large tree to get a tie large enough after it had been shaped.
It had to be sawed into 7" x 9" x 8' lengths. At first they only paid
40 cents, then the price went up to 55 cents. During the depression
years it was hard to find anything that could bring money. Everett cut
some of his trees and hauled them in by wagon to Conway.
Gladys used to help in this project. She wanted some striped
overalls and Everett promised her a pair when they had hauled enough.
She remembered being glad when she could get them. They rode into town
in the wagon and they met a neighbor, Julius Meyers. She said "he
blessed Pa out good for even letting me have a pair on."
Sawmills were relocated from place to place to save farmers
having to haul their logs too far. Everett worked from time to time
producing steam for the saw mill. He had his own workshop where he did
smithing. Louie remembers working the bellows for him. He made his
own coals by going out in the north field where there was a ravine. He
chopped down a particular kind of oak and cut it up in small pieces and
put it in the ravine. He sat it on fire and after it had burned a
while, he pulled earth over it and it smoldered and then had to cure
for several weeks. He would have a charcoal that would make hot enough
fires then, for this blacksmith work.
He also worked for a time at a tomato canning factory in Conway
producing the steam for their equipment. He kept the boiler fired for
scalding, cooking, and canning the tomatoes.
Another way Everett supported his family was by making sorgum.
He raised the cane and sold the sorgum. He also made it for others
who had raised their own because his was so much better. They sometimes
paid for it by giving their sorgum in return.
The family brought the cane in from the fields to the mill. The
mill was rollers turned by a series of cogs and pulled by a horse. The
rollers crushed the cane and the juice went by pipe to the vat. The
vat was about 25 feet from the mill. It was a long tin trough situated
on a long oven. The oven was built with mortar with openings at both
ends, one for feeding the fire and the other for the smoke stack. The
vat had many dividers. In each division, the juice was cooked and
skimmed until in the last vat the skimmings were just foam.
It took at least three people to run the operation. The kids
would keep the cane coming to the mill. It would take a couple of
people to skim. Nothing was added. The types of sorgum came from
different varieties of cane. Good molasses had to have the skimmings
removed all the way along. The black stuff they sell now, looks like
the skimmings thrown off by the Sweaney's process. With good cane, the
molasses came out with a clear, golden color like honey.
Everett stored the sorgum in large lard-tins and stacked it in
the smokehouse. When he would have to go to town for something, he'd
take a couple of cans along and sell it out of the can. Pails were
10 cents and people would keep their pails and come have them filled.
Everett also kept bees. He made his own hives and would keep
one made ahead for a time when the hive would swarm and need a place
to go. When this would happen, the kids would be rounded up and
spread out beating on tins to force the bees in the right direction.
They made a garden for family eating on the east side of the
house but they also had fields where they planted corn and cane.
Everett would shock the corn before leaving for the mines after
harvest, then the children would bring it in and shuck it and store
it for feed. They had a small orchard of 15 to 20 trees of mostly
apples and peaches. He built a cellar to the north of the house
to store their produce and eggs.
They had milk cows, hogs, chickens, ducks, geense, guinea
hens to produce food for their family.
Everett had many tools in his little shop. He made shoes
for the horses and did many kinds of work. He fixed clocks for
people but wouldn't take money from them if they were having trouble
feeding their children. He had many sizes of shoe lasts and kept
soles on the shoes for his kids. He did chair caning for his own
home and for others.
The children remember him as very industrious. There wasn't
anything their Pa wouldn't tackle. When he got his first car, he
took care of it and kept it overhauled himself.
Everett enjoyed playing the guitar. No one had taught him so
he learned it by himself. He enjoyed singing to his grandchildren.
The author remembers sitting on his knee while he played the guitar
and sang "Little Brown Jug". Being too young to know what the "jug"
referred to, it was thought that grandmother had something against
playing of the guitar because she would yell from the kitchen, "Now
Everett, you stop that!"
When the children married and left, he and Laly continued to
farm on the same place in the southern part of Dallas County, Missouri.
He suffered from hay fever and asthma which strained his heart. He
died 12 May 1957 at his home. He was buried the 15th of May at the
Graham Cemetery.
His wife, Laly, lived to be 96. Her story is recorded in
The History of the Phillips Family, after her father, John Washington
Phillips.
The first child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 22 Apr 1902 at Johnston,
Jasper Co., MO. She married 27 Sep 1922 to Lon A. Holiday. They reared their family in Dallas County,
Missouri. Nola died 24 April 1931.
The second child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 5 Apr 1904 at Windyville,
Dallas County, Missouri. She married 12 Jan 1932 to James Newton Howarton. They reared three daughters
in Dallas County, MO. She died 2 June 1978.
The third child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 1 July 1906 at Windyville,
Dallas Co., MO. He did not marry. He was coming home from Kansas City in a buggy when it started raining.
He took pneumonia and died 11 Nov 1929.
The fourth child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 15 Sep 1913 in Dallas County,
Missouri. She married 31 March 1934 to Frank Cunningham. They reared two children in Dallas County, Missouri:
Dwight and Patsy. Gladys and Frank moved into the home on the old home place of Everett and Laly. She died
there ___. Frank died ___ 2003.
The fifth child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 21 Jan 1917 at Dallas County, Missouri.
She married 31 March 1939 to Wallace Joe Ervin Day. They made their home in Springfield, Missouri, for the most part.
They reared three children: Joan Yvonne b. 24 July 193_; Sandra and Dale. Myrtle lives in north Springfield.
The sixth child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 28 Aug 1918 in Dallas County, Missouri.
She married 2 July 1939 to Herbert Donald McClung from Warsaw, MO. They made their home there at first but after the
war settled in Springfield, MO where they reared three daughters: Judith Ann b.23 July 1940; Karen Lou b. 12 Apr 1942;
Deborah Lynn b. 15 Oct 1952.
The seventh child of James Everett and Laly Silvia Phillips Sweaney was born 6 Aug 1920 at Dallas County, Missouri.
He married 1) Dorma Lee Wilkerson 3 Nov 1941; 2) Betty Tisch and 3)Eleanor. Sheridan had three children:
Mary, Ronnie and Shirley. Sheridan died 31 Jan 2004. He was buried at Graham Cemetery.