When Helen de Swarte was born on 16 January 1843, in Nieuwvliet, Zeeland, Netherlands, her father, Pieter Bartholomeus DeSwarte, was 55 and her mother, Suzanna Thomas, was 39. She married Albert Jan Vruwink on 27 March 1863, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. She died on 6 March 1922, in Cedar Grove, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 79.