Lula Swindler (1879-1952) — Tulie Wheeler Taylor

March 2, 2023

Martha Tallulah “Lula” Swindler McGuinn Brennan and Thomas Joseph Brennan with their children, Harry McGuinn and Talu Brennan, about 1902. Lula and Tom Brennan were my father’s maternal grandparents and my great-grandparents.

My father’s maternal grandmother, Lula Swindler, was born on October 29th, 1879 in the part of Edgefield County, South Carolina that became Saluda County in 1895. (Interestingly for our family history, Saluda County is located on the south side of the Saluda River while the Dutch Fork is located on the north side, in the fork between the Saluda and Broad Rivers.)

In the 1880 federal census, taken in Huits Township in Edgefield County on June 17, 1880, nine-month-old Lula is listed in a household with her parents Monroe Swindler, age 26, and her mother Bennie Swindler, age 18. Monroe’s occupation was recorded as blacksmith, and he and his parents had been born in South Carolina. Bennie’s occupation was recorded as housekeeping and both she and her parents had been born in South Carolina. It was noted that she was sick with a fever the day the census worker visited.