The Swafford/Swaffer Family in America by Justin L. Smith (son of Barbara Ann Swafford Smith) There is much fable and misinformation being spewed and re-spewed about the origins of the Swafford/Swaffer family in America. This causes many problems for serious researchers, and wastes a great deal of time. The myth of James Swafford (erroneously listed as Peter James Swafford) having come from Dublin or Belfast in Ireland seems to never die, despite all evidence to the contrary. Y-DNA offers the best and only way to accurately sort out the mess, and to this end I founded the Swafford DNA Project. In the authoritative Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (Oxford, 2017), p. 2600, the listing for the surname Swaffer reads thus: Swaffer Variants: Swoffer Current frequencies: GB 221, Ireland 0 GB frequency 1881: 176 Main GB location 1881: Kent English: locative name from Swatfield Bridge in Willesborough (Kent), recorded as Swatford in 1254. Early bearers: Robert Swoffer, 1518 in Canterbury Wills (Probate); Robert Swoffa, 1518 in Kent Wills; John Swaffer, 1523, Robert Swafford, 1549 in Canterbury Wills (Probate); Joane Swafer, 1559 in IGI (Goodnestone near Sandwich, Kent); Mary Swaffer, 1616 in IGI (Sevington, Kent); Anna Swoffer, 1620 in IGI (Faversham, Kent). References: Kent Place-Names p. 421. For the variant Swoffer, p. 2609 in the same volume, it reads thus: Swoffer Current frequencies: GB 73, Ireland 0 GB frequency 1881: 38 Main GB location 1881: Kent English: see Swaffer. The surname Swafford is not given its own separate entry. So, from this data one can see that not only was Swaffer the main form of the surname, but also that the name simply has no presence in Ireland, and in fact originates in Kent in Southern England. Furthermore, it has now become clear that the progenitor of the family in America was a Kentishman by the name of Josiah (Josias) Swaffer, who died in Dec 1689 in Folkestone, Kent and was buried in the Friends Burial Ground there on 18 Dec 1689. Imagine that! The Swaffords hail from Kent, and not Dublin as so many people continue to falsely claim. I will go into more detail on this later, after further Y-DNA testing.