Barton Swinnock

Swinnock

Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to find the west coast. Forty-five years later gold was discovered there. By 1852, inventors, artists and entrepreneurs were rewarded for their successes with fine timepieces and jewelry from the showcases of the world-renowned Shreve and Company.  By the 1860s Shreve & Company had established its reputation as the finest silver and goldsmiths in America. Many of Shreve's spectacular pieces were used by presidents, business tycoons, establishment families, and those same pieces now belong in museums and private collections around the world. Teddy Roosevelt especially treasured a 10-inch tall solid gold Teddy Bear, crafted by Shreve and commissioned as a gift by the citizens of San Francisco.

By 1906 Shreve had moved from Market Street to a brand new, eleven story building at the corner of Post & Grant. A month later, the great earthquake hit the city and the Shreve building was one of the only still standing.  It would remain until 2015.

In 1899, 17-year-old Barton Swinnock was an apprentice at Shreve & Co.  His father James was a rangefitter.  The internet doesn’t seem to know what a rangefitter is either, but since Shreve was a jeweler, the consensus is that it’s something like a ring sizer.  He lived at home with his parents, brother and sister, at 115 Chattanooga St in San Francisco.

His parents, James Swinnock and Sophie Tucker met in Dover England, when Sophie moved in with his family at Buckland Rd, to help with housework.  They married, moved to New Brunswick, had 4 children, then moved to S.F.

Barton Kennedy Swinnock met and married Annie Petersen in 1904.  Initially they lived in Reno.  By 1915, they were living at 2628 Grant St, Berkeley.  Barton became an engraver for the A. A. Handle Co, but eventually started his own jewelry & watch repair business, “Brooker & Swinnock”.  They had 5 children beginning in 1905.  First came Gladys, then Florence, Barton Jr, Constance and finally came Eldine.

He lived the last 25 years of his life in San Leandro, at 97 E. 14th St.  He died October 8, 1959, just 5 months after Annie.  They are together in the columbarium at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland