Life History

Notes

• Benjamin Franklin McSwain is from a line of McSwains from Isle of Skyewho migrated directly from Skye to Baltimore.  Though all come fromthe Isle of Skye, B F is in a different line of McSwains from thedominant clan in Tryon-Rutherford County, North Carolina, which thisgenealogy documents.
  
  These original McSwain settlers in North Carolina came throughPennsylvania and Virginia to the Tryon-Rutherford area before a son ofthe Baltimore family came to that area.  The two lines merged there asthe newcomer McSwains began marrying into the same other prominentfamilies as the old McSwain line:  Hamricks, Greens (also spelledGreene) and Moores.  Other families that married with these familiesand the McSwains are the Bridges and Bosticks.  Padgetts also figureinto this, as shown in my genealogy, especially in the western branchin Tennessee and Arkansas.
  
  Children and grand-children of William David McSwain and Judith Mooremarried members of this broad Green-Moore family and members of bothMcSwain families.
  
  In the 1860 census, Ben is reported with his second wife Judith Green,Nancy's cousin.  Judith is reported as Juda, and I have found somegenealogies follow this entry for her name.  She is reported as 21years old, but family sources give us her birthday as 18 July 1837, soshe is actually 23.  The household includes Nancy's three children,George, Berry and Nancy.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 21 August, page276, Hse/ Family #325
  Benjamin McSwain 32 M Farmer $110 North Carolina
  Nancy McSwain 30 F North Carolina
  George McSwain 4 M North Carolina
  Bury McSwain 1 M North Carolina
  
  After the death of his first wife Nancy Green, Benjamin FranklinMcSwain married Judith Green.  The Hamrick Data pages provide us witha list of their children:
  McSwain, Benjamin Franklin (1818 - 1900)
  b. 10 Aug 1818
  d. 8 May 1900
  spouse: Green, Judith (1837 - 1915)
  - m. Est 1857 in Rutherford County, NC
  ----------child: McSwain, Louisa Jane (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Ellen (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Lenard (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Galveston (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Candas (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Margaret (*1862 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Joseph Embolden (*1865 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Benjamin Bussie (~1884 - ~1951)
  
  Note that birth dates are mostly unknown, with several having the samedate, about 1862.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 21 August, page160, Hse/ Family #1154
  Benjamin McSwain 41 M Farmer $250 real estate $275 personal NorthCarolina
  Juda [Judith] McSwain 21 F North Carolina
  George McSwain 14 M North Carolina
  Berry E McSwain 11 M North Carolina
  Nancy McSwain 8 F North Carolina
  
  1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 14 June,Township 2, District 66, page 22B, Hse #207, Fam #215
  McSwain Benj F  W M 61 Farmer NC NC NC
  McSwain, Judia  W F 42 Wife Keeping House NC NC NC
  McSwain, Nancy G  W F 28 Dau Farm Laborer NC NC NC
  McSwain, Isaac L  W M 19 Son Farm Laborer NC NC NC
  McSwain, Mary E  W F 15 Dau Farm Laborer NC NC NC
  McSwain, Joseph E   W M 13 Son NC NC NC
  McSwain, Lourilla  W F 9 Dau NC NC NC
  McSwain, Margret A  W F 6 Dau Farm Laborer NC NC NC
  McSwain, Galveston  W F 2 Dau NC NC NC
  
  It appears that the child called Louisa Jane in the Hamrick Data isthe daughter enumerated in 1880 as Lourilla.  The handwriting of thename Lourilla is very distinct and could not be mistaken for Louisa,but there is no middle name or initial to provide a further clue.Isaac L here matches the child Lenard in the Hamrick list.  Mary E isprobably Mary Ellen, matching Ellen in the Hamrick list.  Joseph E islisted with his full name in the Hamrick Data as Joseph Embolden.  Ihave not found a child in the censuses to match Candas.  BenjaminBussie is an additional child born after the 1880 census.
  
  There is no Hamrick child to match the Nancy G, age 28, in the 1880census.  She would have been born about 1852, but that was while Benwas married to his first wife Nancy.  But no child named Nancy appearsin the 1850 census with Ben and Nancy or the 1860 census with Ben andJuda (Judith).  Yet she is reported as a daughter of Ben in the 1880census.  (I have not found the family in the 1870 census.)

Sources

• 1. 1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 21 August, page 276, Hse/ Family #325
• 2. RootsWeb Genealogy IrishEyes
  • Name: Name:http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=irisheyes;;
• 3. Ancestry Trees
  • John Ellis Family Genealogy,
• 4. Green-Hamrick-McSwain-Moore Genealogy, "DESCENDANTS of JOSEPH GREEN"
  • Name: Name: http://home.att.net/~hdbridges/greene.htm;;
• 5. North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004
• 6. 1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 21 August, page 160, Hse/ Family #1154
• 7. 1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 June, Township 2, District 66, page 22B, Hse #207, Fam #215
• 8. Hamrick Data Pages -- McSwain-Padgett-Moore-Green
  • http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hamrick/wga74.html
• 9. Ancestry Trees
  • Ed Ellis,
• 10. Marriages of Rutherford County, North Carolina 1779-1868
  • Name: Name: Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc.; Location: Baltimore;Date: 1986;;
• 11. 1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 June, Township 2, District 66, page 22B, Hse #206, Fam #213
• 12. 1910 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 19 April, Township 2, District 34, page 3A, Boiling Springs Rd, Hse
• 13. 1900 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 13 June, Township 2, District 49, page 9B, Hse #162, Fam #163
• 14. Boiling Springs (Cleveland, NC) Cemetery Transcription, by W D Floyd
  • Location:http://files.usgwarchives.org/nc/cleveland/cemeteries/boilsprg.txt;