Sarah Swain 3rd great grandmother on RootsMagic tree.

Sarah was born March 19, 1838 in Waukegan, Illinois to Benjamin and Polly Howard Swain, some of the first settlers in the area. Polly was from Kentucky, Benjamin from New England. Benjamin died when Sarah was about 10 and her mom Polly remarried Jacob Montgomery, also a widow then the family moved to Chickasaw, Iowa, where Sarah married William N. Gaines in 1854 at age 16. Sarah and William had children, 5 lived to adulthood. Sarah kept house and helped her husband with farming, running a hotel and being a postmaster. She was active in her church and was known for her generosity and ‘ministering to the sick and the afflicted’. Sarah Ann Swain Gaines is buried at Oakland Cemetery near Janesville. The headstone from 1889 is fading fast. Inscribed: Sarah A. (wife of) Wm N Gaines born Mar 19 1839 died Sep 21 1889. There were probably carvings along the top edge, flowers or swirls and maybe something at the bottom.

“Janesville
Mrs Gaines whose serious illness I have mentioned several times died last Saturday night. Was buried from the house on Tuesday Rev. Hoekyn officiating. In the death of Mrs. Gaines the community has lost one of its most valuable members. Naturally generous and kind her greatest pleasure was in doing good. In ministering to the sick and the afflicted she had but few equals. She leaves a husband and four children to mourn her loss, all of whom were with her at her time of death. Her brother Mr. Montgomery of Wadena Minnesota and her uncles, John and James Howard, from Charles City and Nashua were down to attend the funeral services.”

Sources 

• Swain, Sarah obituary. 1889 Sep 26 page 4 of 8 column 3 top Waverly Republican Newspaper at Digital Archives of the Waverly Public Library.
• Page 36. Lucas, W. V. Pioneer Days of Bremer County, Iowa. Waverly, Ia.: Waverly Democrat, 1918.
• Page 1075. History of Butler And Bremer Counties, Iowa, Springfield, Ill.: Union publishing company, 1883.