George MCSWAIN Mary G MCSWAIN Maggie Ella MCSWAIN Ada Loora MCSWAIN Joseph Edward MCSWAIN Tissie MCSWAIN Robert Perry MCSWAIN Bennie Dean MCSWAIN Lillie May MCSWAIN Leona E MCSWAIN Martha Elizabeth PADGETT Sarah H MCSWAIN Francis M MCSWAIN Julius Logan MCSWAIN George B MCSWAIN Nancy C MCSWAIN William W MCSWAIN James L MCSWAIN Catherine WEATHERS Mini tree diagram
Phillip K MCSWAIN

Phillip K MCSWAIN2,5,8,9,1,3,4,6,10,11,7

30th Jan 18471,2,3,4,5,6,7 - 25th Feb 19172,12,7

Life History

30th Jan 1847

Born in Cleveland County, North Carolina.1,2,3,4,5,6,7

between 1850 and 1860

Resident: In 1850 and 1860 censuses with his parents in Cleveland County, North Carolina.3,6

1864

Military: Elisted at age 17 as Private in Company D, North Carolina 2nd Infantry Battalion, Junior Reserves in North Carolina.10,11

1870

Resident in Pulaski, Giles, Tennessee.5

about 1875

Married Martha Elizabeth PADGETT in Arkansas County, Arkansas.8,49

30th Aug 1876

Birth of daughter Maggie Ella MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.13,9,14,15,16,17,17,18

22nd Jun 1878

Birth of daughter Ada Loora MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.17,19,20,9,21,22,23,24,7,25

17th Nov 1879

Birth of son Joseph Edward MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.26,27,1,9,28,29,30,31,17

between 1880 and 1910

Residence2 in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.1,8,9,6

after Jun 1880

Birth of daughter Tissie MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.9

9th Sep 1882

Birth of son Robert Perry MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.35,36,37,1,7

23rd Jun 1886

Birth of son Bennie Dean MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.38,39,40,26,41,42,43,44,28

Feb 1888

Birth of daughter Lillie May MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.1,8,45,46,17

1st Mar 1891

Birth of daughter Leona E MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.47,17,1,8,44,48

16th Mar 1899

Death of daughter Tissie MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.32,33,34

25th Feb 1917

Died in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.2,12,7

after 25th Feb 1917

Buried in Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas.2,7

Notes

  • The starting point for understanding this family was the bare information of the 1880 census.  There it appeared that Katy, living in a household with only her single son James, was the widowed mother of Phillip and George.  They all lived in adjacent houses in Prairie Township of Arkansas County, Arkansas.   Other likely brothers were William, who also appears in a house next door to Katy, and J L, next door to William, in the 1880 census.

    "My great great grandfather was P.K. McSwain he came to Arkansas from South Carolina [North Carolina] in the 1860's after the civil war. He settled in a small white river town known as Ethel. I would like more information about him and the rest of his family. I do know he fought in the civil war on confederate side."
    --  Kevin McSwain, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, March 11, 2001

    1880 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 10 June, Prairie Township, page 16D, Hse #105, Fam #108
    P K McSwain  W M  31   Farmer  NC NC NC
    Elizabeth McSwain W  F 32 Wife Housekeeping  NC SC NC
    Maggie E McSwain W  F 4 Daughter AR NC NC
    A L McSwain W  F 2 Daughter AR NC NC
    J E McSwain W  F 7mos b Nov 1879 Son AR NC NC

    They were confirmed as one family when I finally found the censuses reporting the family in 1850 and 1860 in Cleveland County, North Carolina.  Their father George was in those censuses, but Katy appears alone in 1870 and 1880.

    One of Phillip's sons was JE (Joseph Edward).  Edith McSwain Jenkins reports that she remembers being told by her family that Joseph's father was a brother of George B, the grandfather of Edith's father Oliver.  George B appears with the first McSwains in Arkansas County in the 1880 census, who all came from North Carolina.

    Appearing only as P K McSwain in 1880 census, he is listed as Phillip in the 1900 census.  The grave next to Martha in Mt Pleasant Cemetery identifies him as P. K. McSwain.  The one discrepancy is that the name of the wife of P K in 1880 is reported as Elizabeth.  The wife of Phillip in 1900 is reported as Martha.

    This is easily reconciled if we understand her name as Martha Elizabeth.  The gravestone reads Martha E.  She is also listed this way in the 1900 census (actually Marth E).

    Ages are a close match, with the ages for Elizabeth and Martha giving the same year of birth: 1880 - age 32; 1900 - age 52.  For Phillip, there is a discrepancy: 1880 - 21; 1900 - 53.  We can commonly expect up to two years difference from census to census, depending on when a birthday is and at what date in the year the census is taken.

    1900 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 19 June, Prairie Township, District 7, Page 13B, Hse #218, Fam #293
    McSwain, Phillip K Head W M  Jan 1847  53 Married 25 years  NC NC NC Farmer
    McSwain, Marth [sic] E   Wife W F Oct 1847 52  Married 25 years Housekeeping  NC NC NC
    McSwain, Joseph  Son W M  Nov 1879 20 AR NC NC Farm Laborer
    McSwain, Robert F  Son W M  Sept 1882 17 AR NC NC Farm Laborer
    McSwain, Benjamin  Son  W M  June 1886 13  AR NC NC Farm Laborer
    McSwain, Lillie  Dau  W F Feb 1888  12 Single AR NC NC
    McSwain, Lee O  Dau  W F Mar 1891  9 Single AR NC NC
    Padgett, Lavina  Mother [actually mother-in-law and kin to him a couple of other ways] W F Mar 1819 81 Widowed NC NC NC
    Padgett, Jane Sister [actually sis-in-law & 2nd cousin] W F Jan 1849 51 Single NC NC NC
    McSwain, Lester Grandson  W M  Mar 1899 1 AR NC NC
    Criswell, Harvey  Boarder W M  Jan 1876 24 Single MS VA AL
    Jenkins, Andrew  Servant W M  Apr 1878 22 Single TN GA GA

    A Lavina [Lavinia] Padgett is reported living in this household, and she is described as his mother.

    This Lavina Padgett is actually the mother of Edwin Padgett, who married Phillip's distant cousin Judith McSwain in North Carolina before moving to Ethel, Arkansas in late 1870.  Their third child, Mary, was born in Ethel in 1871.  How the enumerator confused Lavinia with Phillip's mother is a puzzle.  This is one of the numerous errors in these censuses.

    In 1900, there is also a Jane Padgett, reported as Phillip's sister.  But there was no Jane in this McSwain family.  An earlier transcription has been misleading because it had listed this Jane as Jane McSwain.

    Multiple facts indicate that this Jane was Lavinia's daughter Jane Padgett.  In the 1880 census, Jane Padgett was unmarried at age 26, and still in the household of her parents Wiley and Lavinia, who live next door to Phillip McSwain, and two doors from Phillip's mother Katy, with William McSwain next door to her.

    Note that Harvey Criswell is living with them.  Harvey later marries Phillip's niece, Callie McSwain, daughter of George and Harriet.  Living next door to Phillip's family is Harvey's oldest brother, James Criswell, and his family.

    Through persistent probing for several years, clues came together to clarify that the main problem in identifying this family was that George's age is wildly reported differently in various censuses and other records.  The Arkansas families were basically invisible to the genealogies reporting on the Cleveland, North Carolina, families.  George was considerably older than Catherine, the mother who moved her family to Tennessee, then Arkansas, after the Civil War.  I gradually found breakthrough connections, leading to he proper census records in the home area of Cleveland County, North Carolina.

    1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 September, p 31, Hse/Fam #587
    George McSwain    57  [b abt 1793, note differences in ages from census to census] Farmer  $600 Real Estate b NC
    Catharine McSwain 34 b NC
    Polly G McSwain      7 b NC
    Sally H McSwain      5 b NC
    Phillip K McSwain     3 b NC
    Francis M McSwain  1 b NC
    Andrew Ruske        21  [Not known who this is] Farmer b NC
    Mary Weathers       75 [b abt 1775] b NC

    It appears that several McSwain and Padgett families moved from the same area of North Carolina, through Tennessee and finally to Arkansas.  This occurred over the period of about 1865-75.  Edith McSwain Jenkins reports that she recalls it being said that the men came first, then sent for their families.  The period of the move was fairly short, however.  I have found that none of the McSwain men were married in 1870 in Tennessee.

    We don't know exactly how long they were in Tennessee before moving on to Arkansas, but it was 10 years or less.  We now know that Katy's husband George died in North Carolina between the 1860 and 1870 census.  He is last seen in 1860.

    1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 August 1860, p 54, Hse/Fam #385
    George McSwain Sr   61 M Farmer $100 Personal Estate b NC
    Catherine McSwain 40  F b NC
    Mary G McSwain 17  F b NC
    Sallie H McSwain  15   F b NC
    Phillip R McSwain  12  M b NC
    Francis M McSwain 10  M b NC
    Julius L McSwain  8  M b NC
    George McSwain  7  M b NC
    Nancy McSwain 6  F b NC
    William W McSwain   5  M b NC
    James L McSwain  1 M b NC
    Mary Weathers 84   F b NC

    Phillip enlisted in the civil War effort on behalf of the Confederacy.

    U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865
    P K McSwain
    Enlisted as Private in Company D, North Carolina 2nd Infantry Battalion
    Sources Index to Compiled Confederate Military Service Records (no image available)

    Another index record tells us he enlisted in 1864 at age 17 and was in a youth reserve unit.

    U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
    P K McSwain
    Age 17, Birth Date abt 1847
    Enlistment 1864
    Military Unit Second Junior Reserves

    In the 1870 census, Katy and her children are in a household headed by Phillip at age 21.  Phillip (spelled Phelp) is a farmer.  Catherine is listed second as Keeping House.  We cannot tell how long the family have been in Tennessee before the 1870 census.

    Phillip and all his siblings are single in the 1870 census.  We find him and his mother and all the brothers except Francis in Giles County, Tennessee.  Francis moved on to Arkansas earlier with a cousin, and settled in St Charles on the White River, in the northern section of Prairie Township in Arkansas County.

    1870 Federal Census, Giles County, Tennessee, 15 August, Pulaski, Civil District 4, Enumeration District page 41, Hse/Fam #306
    McSwain, Phelp 21 M W Farmer NC
    McSwain, Catheron 52 F W Keep House  NC
    McSwain, Login 18 M W Farm Labor NC
    McSwain, George 17 M W Farm Labor NC
    McSwain, Nancy 15 F W NC
    McSwain, William 12 M W Farm Labor NC
    McSwain, James 10 M W Farm Labor NC

    I learned the maiden name of Phillip's wife in November 2008.  A McSwain researcher working on the family from the North Carolina side knew the name of Wiley Padgett's wife, Lavinia Nancy McSwain, a cousin of Phillip's father George.  In reviewing the Padgett-McSwain connections with this new information, I realized I already had the names of the McSwain boys' wives but had not made the connection.

    It turned out that three daughters of Wiley Padgett and Nancy McSwain Padgett were the wives of Phillip and two of his brothers.  A son of Wiley and Lavinia Nancy's son Edwin also married a McSwain cousin, Judith, and they moved to the same area.  Padgetts and McSwains were intermarried for several generations in North Carolina, and their relationships continued in Arkansas.

    The McSwains and Padgetts lived in Cleveland County, North Carolina.  Martha Padgett's family were in Buncombe County, North Carolina, for the 1860 census.  In 1870 we see the Arkansas pioneers of both families on their way west.  Then we find them in Cocke County, Tennessee for the 1870 census.

    For the 1870 census, the McSwains were in Giles County, Tennessee.  These counties are quite far apart, so there is no indication that they were in touch during the time in Tennessee.  They moved either together or about the same time to Arkansas County, Arkansas, settling in Ethel, a community south of St Charles, on the White River in southern Prairie Township.

    Philip's brother Julius Logan (J L) married Martha Padgett's sister Levina in about 1875.  Their brother George B married another sister, Harriet Padgett, in 1876.  That same year William McSwain married Sarah Lowe, a daughter of an Arkansas family, born in Arkansas.  It seems likely that they all married in Arkansas.  I would expect they moved in the early 1870s, since some or all of them were married by 1875 in Arkansas.

    The Padgett family, including the three who later marry Katy McSwain's sons, are in Cocke County, Tennessee, for the 1870 census.  Their post office is given as Newport, which is the county seat, though near the border with Jefferson County, Tennessee.

    I find this interesting, since the McSwains and Padgett's are my wife Edith's family, and Cocke County is where all the children of my great-grandparents Dock Patrick Gregory and Julia Ann Clementine Strange Gregory were born before the family moved to Indian Territory about 1895.

    A descendant of George B McSwain comments on P K McSwain and his role in the Ethel, Arkansas, community.

    "There's something special about Ethel, and I have lots of forebears buried at Mount Pleasant, just down the road from the intersection. I learned yesterday that PK McSwain, buried at Mt. Pleasant, was probably the wealthiest one down there and was the first one to own an automobile, and established a church. I borrowed my sis's copy of the Centennial Album of Belleview Missionary Baptist Church 1884-1984, with lots of photos and the members listed for each year, including PK's."
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 27 May 2016

    In the 1880 census Wiley and Lavinia and their children are in Ethel, Arkansas, living next door to Phillip.  Edwin and Judith are living in the same area a little farther away.  A couple of years later P K received 120 acres of public land as a land grant.

    U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907
    Philip K McSwain
    Issued 30 Jun 1882
    120 Acres
    Arkansas County,:Arkansas
    Township 5-S, Range 1-W, Section 6
    Little Rock Land Office
    Statute May 20, 1862 Homestead Entry Original (12 Stat. 392)
    Document #1850

    In 1900 Edwin's mother Lavinia (Lavina) and her daughter Jane are living with Phillip.  In 1910 Jane is still single and living with Phillip's daughter Maggie Nolen and her family.

    The 1870 census reports Phillip's age as 21, but the family has an exact birth date for him as 30 January 1847.  This means he should have been 22 at his last birthday 6 months before the 1870 census.  The next thing we know, they are all married with children in the 1880 census in Prairie Township (Ethel), Arkansas County, Arkansas.

    In 1900, a Lester McSwain, 1 year old, is reported in Phillip's household as a grandson.  This is Cyrus Lester, a child of a daughter who was born after the 1880 census, and died in childbirth.  We have no record of her name.  A grandson of Cyrus Lester, Kevin McSwain, tells me Cyrus Lester's mother's name was Tissie (also spelled Tissey in some families of that era).  I have other details about the family of Cyrus Lester in his Notes.

    Cyrus Lester, who went by Lester, had a son named Cyrus Lester, Jr, who goes by C L.  Kevin, who gave me information about the descendants of Lester, is the son of Cyrus Lester, Jr.  In 1910 Lester is still reported in Phillip's household, as a grandson.  Lester appears with his wife Mattie as a separate household in 1920.

    1910 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 22 April, Prairie Township, District 13, page 4A, Hse/Fam #58
    McSwain, Philip  Head  M W 69 Married 36 years NC  NC  NC Farmer
    McSwain, Martha  Wife  F W 67 Married 36 years NC  SC  NC
    McSwain, Lillie M  Dau  F W 22 Single AR NC NC
    McSwain, Ben  Son  M W  4 Single AR NC NC Dry Goods Salesman
    McSwain, Leona E  Dau  F W 18 Single AR NC NC
    McSwain, Lester  Grandson  M W 11 Single AR NC NC

    I note that Lillie is listed before Ben, although the age of Lillie appears to be 22.  This matches the birth year we have for her in 1888.  Normally the oldest child is listed first.  Maggie Ella's granddaughter gives us a list of all P K and Martha's children and their spouses.  This list included one not yet found in other sources, the husband of Lillie, Robert Bostic.  Bostics were another big family in Cleveland County, North Carolina, with the Padgetts and McSwains.

    "Greetings! I'm not sure how we are related.  Saw your comments to Ken [McSwain] so decided to contact you.  My grandmother was Maggie McSwain Rowland.  Her parents were Phillip McSwain and Martha Padgett."
    --  Linda Hall, FB message to George McSwain, forwarded to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 February 2018

    "I grew up in Ethel, Arkansas.  I am not sure that I knew your grandmother Maggie McSwain Rowland, but I do remember a Maggie Porter who lived near Ethel and that a man named Walton Rowland used to visit my dad from time to time."
    --  George McSwain, FB message to Linda Hall, forwarded to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 February 2018

    -----------------
    The children I show of Phillip McSwain:
    Maggie Ella, married Bedford Forrest Rowland, and Will Porter
    Ada, married Morgan Butler
    Robert P married Annie Padgett
    Joseph E (Uncle Joe) married Allie Cook
    Ben D married Winona Rownd
    Lillie M married Robert Bostic
    Leona E married Ralph Price
    Lester [grandson], married Eunice Davis
    --  Shirley Rowland Mitchell, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 8 April 2015
    -----------------

    Kevin McSwain, Lester's grandson, tells us Lester's father was named John McSwain.  It is said John was a cousin of some sort.  He appears to have been John Allison McSwain, son of John Franklin McSwain and Mary G McSwain (maiden name).  After Lester's mother died in childbirth in 1899, John moved on to Texas and established a family there, while Lester stayed with his grandfather.

    "Phillip also left him an equal share of his property when he died."
    --  Shirley Rowland Mitchell, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 8 April 2015

    There is a listing for P K McSwain of Arkansas County in the 1911 registry of Confederate Veterans in Arkansas.  No personal information is available from this.
    McSwain, P.K. - (no personal info) Arkansas
    --  http://www.arkansasresearch.com/1911-2.txt

    On 27 May 2016, McSwain cousin Kenneth McSwain said, after a visit back to Ethel and DeWitt,
    "I learned yesterday that PK McSwain, buried at Mt. Pleasant, was probably the wealthiest one down there and was the first one to own an automobile, and established a church. I borrowed my sis's copy of the Centennial Album of Belleview Missionary Baptist Church 1884-1984, with lots of photos and the members listed for each year, including PK's."
    --  Kenneth McSwain, Facebook comment to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 27 May 2016

    There is a grave for both Phillip and his wife Martha E in Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, where most of the McSwains are buried.  We also found graves for his children Robert and Bennie.

    Date of marriage estimated based on birth date of first child, Joseph, born Nov 18 1879.

    On 15 January 1913, P K wrote his will.  It was an extensive will, with the probate notes and attestations making a 7-page entry in the book of records.

    Arkansas, Wills and Probate Records, 1783-1998
    Phillip McSwain
    Will dated 15 January 1913 Arkansas County, Arkansas
    Filed 7 Apr 1917 with County Clerk, Arkansas County, Arkansas, USA
    Probate (proven) 16 Apr 1917 Probate Court, Arkansas County, Arkansas
    Recorded 23 April 1917
    Death Abt 1917 Arkansas, USA
    Source Wills and miscellaneous probate records, vol C-D, 1888-1924

    -----------------
    Phillip K “PK” McSwain
    Birth 30 Jan 1847 Cleveland County, North Carolina, USA
    Death 25 Feb 1917 (aged 70) Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas, USA
    Burial Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Arkansas County, Arkansas

    Phillip K McSwain, who went by P K, was one of the sons of Catherine (Katy) Weathers McSwain who moved with her sons from Cleveland County, North Carolina after the civil war.  P K's father George McSwain (no middle name known) was about 20 years older than Catherine and died in about 1865.  They followed some other McSwains who had moved to St Charles, Arkansas, on the White River, before 1870.

    Katy and her sons were enumerated in the 1870 census in Giles County, central Tennessee.  They had moved to Arkansas with the Padgett family, Wiley Padgett and his wife Lavinia Nancy McSwain, a cousin of P K's father George.  They were in Cocke County, eastern Tennessee, for the 1870 census.  Phillip married their daughter Martha Elizabeth Padgett.  No record has been found for the exact date and place.

    The Padgetts and McSwains moved on to Arkansas after the 1870 census.  No discrete record has documented exactly when they arrived in Arkansas County.  The earliest Arkansas record for them is Julius' marriage in November 1873 to Levina.  P K's brother George B married Wiley and Lavinia Padgett's daughter Harriet in 1876.

    Their older cousin Judith McSwain, daughter of Lavinia McSwain Padgett's brother, also married Edwin Padgett, one of Wiley and Lavinia's sons.  Another son, John H Padgett, married another McSwain cousin from a third McSwain family.  The Padgetts and McSwains have been intertwined for several generations.

    P K was one of the founders of the Belleview Baptist Church of Christ in Ethel in 1884.  This church came to be called Belleview Missionary Baptist Church, and is still operating under that name.  There is some indication P K was a preacher, but he was not the pastor of the church.

    Spouse Martha Elizabeth Padgett 1844-1875

    Children:
    Maggie Ella McSwain Porter 1876-1951
    Joseph Edward McSwain 1879-1964
    Bennie Dean McSwain 1886-1969

    Inscription "None Knew thee but to Love Thee"
    Woodmen of the World Memorial.  Site is in good condition.  Volunteers tend this cemetery.

    Created by Orville Jenkins 18 Jan 2020
    --  Find A Grave Memorial 206347291, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/206347291
    -----------------

Sources

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