Life History

Notes

• Benjamin Franklin McSwain is from a line of McSwains from Isle of Skye who migrated directly from Skye to Baltimore.  Though all McSwains come from the Isle of Skye, B F is in a different line of McSwains from the dominant clan in Tryon-Rutherford County, North Carolina, which this genealogy documents.
  
  These original McSwain settlers in North Carolina came through Pennsylvania and Virginia to the Tryon-Rutherford area before a son of the Baltimore family came to that area.  The two lines merged there as the newcomer McSwains began marrying into the same other prominent families as the old McSwain line:  Hamricks, Greens (also spelled Greene) and Moores.  Other families that married with these families and the McSwains are the Bridges and Bosticks.  Padgetts also figure into this, as shown in my genealogy, especially in the western branch in Tennessee and Arkansas.
  
  Children and grand-children of William David McSwain and Judith Moore married members of this broad Green-Moore family and members of both McSwain families.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 21 August, page 276, 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 Franklin McSwain married Judith Green.  The Hamrick Data pages provide us with a 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 same date, about 1862.  Some genealigies have Benjanin Bussie's name as Benjamin Buster.
  
  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 some genealogies follow this entry for her name.  She is reported as 21 years old, but family sources give us her birthday as 18 July 1837, so she is actually 23.  The household includes Nancy's three children, George, Berry and Nancy.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 21 August, page 160, Hse/ Family #1154
  Benjamin McSwain 41 M Farmer $250 real estate $275 personal North Carolina
  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
  
  U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
  North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster
  Benjamin F McSwain
  Residence Cleveland County, North Carolina
  Age at enlistment 43, Birth Date abt 1818
  Enlistment Date 22 Aug 1861 Cleveland County, NC
  Rank at enlistment Private
  Enlisted in Company H, North Carolina 28th Infantry Regiment on 22 Aug 1861
  Mustered out on 23 Sep 1864
  
  1870 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 26 June, PO White Planes, p 9, Hse #63, Fam #64
  McSwain, B F 53 M W  Farmer $0 Real Estate Value $280 Personal b NC [born abt 1817]
  McSwain, Judith 32 F W Keeping House b NC [born abt 1838]
  McSwain, Berry E 21 M W  Farm Laborer b NC [born abt 1849]
  McSwain, Nancy G 18 F W Domestic Servant b NC [born abt 1852]
  McSwain, Isaac L 9 F W At Home  b NC [born abt 1861]
  McSwain, Mary E 6 F W At Home b NC [born Dec 1864]
  McSwain, Joseph 3 M W  Farm Laborer b NC [born abt 1867]
  
  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 is the daughter enumerated in 1880 as Lourilla.  The handwriting of the name 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.  And he matches Isaac L in the 1870 census.  We may take this to mean the full name is Isaac Lenard/Leonard McSwain
  
  Mary E is probably Mary Ellen, matching Ellen in the Hamrick list.  Joseph E is listed with his full name in the Hamrick Data as Joseph Embolden.  I have not found a child in the censuses to match Candas.  Benjamin Bussie is an additional child born after the 1880 census.
  
  There is no child in the Hamrick list to match Nancy G, age 18in 1870 and age 28 in the 1880 census.  She would have been born about 1852, but that was while Ben was married to his first wife Nancy.  But no child named Nancy appears in the 1860 census with Ben and Juda (Judith).  Yet she is reported as a daughter of Ben in the 1880 census.

Sources

• 1. 1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 21 August, page 276, Hse/ Family #325
• 2. 1870 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 26 June, PO White Planes, p 9, Hse #63, Fam #64
• 3. RootsWeb Trees
• 4. Ancestry Trees
  • John Ellis Family Genealogy, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=edhellis&id=I09688
• 5. 1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 21 August, page 160, Hse/ Family #1154
• 6. Green-Hamrick-McSwain-Moore Genealogy, "DESCENDANTS of JOSEPH GREEN"
• 7. 1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 June, Township 2, District 66, page 22B, Hse #207, Fam #215
• 8. North Carolina, Marriage Collection, 1741-2004
• 9. North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1975
• 10. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • Memorial #32557466, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32557466
• 11. Hamrick Data Pages
  • http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hamrick/wga74.html
• 12. Ancestry Trees
  • Ed Ellis, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=edhellis&id=I09688
• 13. Marriages of Rutherford County, North Carolina 1779-1868
  • Name: Name: Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc.; Location: Baltimore; Date: 1986;;
• 14. 1910 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 19 April, Township 2, District 34, page 3A, Boiling Springs Rd, Hse #48, Fam #50
• 15. 1900 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 13 June, Township 2, District 49, page 9B, Hse #162, Fam #163
• 16. Boiling Springs (Cleveland, NC) Cemetery Transcription, by W D Floyd
  • Location: http://files.usgwarchives.org/nc/cleveland/cemeteries/boilsprg.txt;
• 17. 1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 June, Township 2, District 66, page 22B, Hse #206, Fam #213
• 18. Gravestones of Buried in Boiling Spngs Baprist Cemetery