© Kathy Duncan, 2022
Izannah Walker and her sister Jane H. Walker inherited a house with property in Somerset, Massachusetts, from their Uncle Anthony and Aunt Jane H. (Swasey) Hintz. Jane Hintz was their mother's sister, and Jane H. Walker was her namesake. The Hintz's had purchased the property from Jane Hintz's father Jerathmael Swasey on 1 October 1819. The deed stipulated that Swasey was to have use of the buildings on the property for the remainder of his life. This suggests two things: Anthony Hintz and Jane H. Swasey had married by 1 October 1819 and they were living with her parents.
One version of the oral tradition about Izannah Walker is that when her mother died in 1824, her father sent her and her siblings to live with the Swaseys. Another version is that when her father Gilbert died in 1825, they were sent to live with the Swaseys.
It seems likely that the elder Swaseys were the initial caregivers of the Walker orphans. Jane's husband Capt. Anthony Hintz was frequently at sea and like other captain's wives, Jane accompanied him. How often she traveled with him is unknown, but being childless, she may have frequently gone with him. This includes the time period immediately following the death of Gilbert Walker, who died in May 1825. On 12 December 1825, 40-year-old Anthony Hintz and 29-year-old Jane Hintz were listed on the manifest of the Brig Monroe. This newspaper notice provides the information that Capt. Anthony Hintz had recently been the master of the William & Jane.
The William & Jane had been wrecked at Turks Island on October 28, 1825, when it was several times driven back out to sea until finally its keel was knocked off. The passengers and crew were rescued by boats from the shore. Jane H. (Swazey) Hintz would have been among those rescued.
It's impossible to know if Jane continued her adventures with her husband or if the responsibility of her elderly parents and young nieces would have discouraged her from continuing her travels.
Captain Antony Hintz was still putting out to sea in 1836 when yet another of his ships was lost at sea. His ship Atlantic was wrecked on the rocks on Borman's Key, one of the Perry Islands, filling with water in just three hours.
Capt. Hintz died in 1839. His will noted that he was of bad health, so he was not lost at sea. He left the Swasey property to his wife Jane with the stipulation that after her death it was to pass to her nieces Izannah and Jane H. Walker.
An 1858 map of Somerset, Massachusetts provides the location of the Swazey/Hintz house on Main Street:
A close-up of the property that Jane Hintz inherited from her husband:
This map also shows the distance between the Main Street house and the house that Izannah and Jane purchased later on
South Street:
An 1871 map of Somerset provides a much better view of the property's location and reveals that Jane also owned the property directly across the road in front of her house. There is also the indication that while narrow, that additional property offered an unobstructed view of the Taunton River.
Then there is this 1877 Bird's Eye View of the house, which is very much like the house as it looks today.
The Swazey/Hintz/ house on Main Street:
When Jane H. (Swasey) Hintz died in 1872, the property was passed to Izannah F. Walker and Jane H. Walker. The census indicates that like her Aunt Jane Hintz, Jane H. Walker continued to have tenants in the Main Street house. This would have given Jane and Izannah Walker incomes from both the Main Street house and the South Street house. When Izannah died in 1888, she left a portion of her inheritance from Anthony Hintz to her sister Ann R. Smith and her remaining property in Somerset, Massachusetts to her sister Jane H. Walker. This map from 1895, shows the house, currently located at 373 Main Street, in Jane H. Walker's name:
In 1887, the I.O.O.F held their festival on the lawn of Miss Jane Walker. This article, which appeared in the Fall River Daily Evening News on 2 September 1887, bemoans the fact that Somerset did not have a park for such gatherings. That left people gathering on Jane's "lawn," sidewalks, the steps of houses, and the doorways of stores. Jane's "lawn" was probably the lot across the street from her house.
The situation did not change and groups continued to gather on Jane's property for several more years.
Jane Hintz Walker died in the Main St house on 6 October 1899:
After Jane Walker's death, her heirs continued to own the house for several years. It was still owned by the family when this notice about putting a new fence around the property appeared in the Fall River Daily Evening News on 1 April 1902.
On 29 September 1905, the Fall River Daily Evening News noted the improvements being made in Somerset, especially along Main Street. Jane Walker's property had undergone the most striking transformation:
In 1912, Jane Walker's house was still being rented out by her heirs:
