William B MCSWAIN Richard E MCSWAIN Susanna MCSWAIN William B MCSWAIN Mary M MCSWAIN Wiley PADGETT John H PADGETT W Edwin PADGETT Mary K PADGETT Barbara Ellen PADGETT Martha Elizabeth PADGETT William A PADGETT Nancy Jane PADGETT Susan Caroline PADGETT Sarah W PADGETT Burrell Wiley PADGETT Levina PADGETT Harriet L PADGETT Julia N PADGETT George Washington MCSWAIN Burwell Blanton MCSWAIN Mary Nancy BRIDGES Mini tree diagram

Lavinia Nancy MCSWAIN1,6,7,2,3,4,5

Mar 18191,2,3,4,5 - after 19002

Life History

Mar 1819

Born in Rutherford County, North Carolina.1,2,3,4,5

about 1837

Married Wiley PADGETT in Rutherford County, North Carolina.4

1838

Birth of son John H PADGETT in North Carolina.10,9,4

22nd Dec 1838

Birth of son W Edwin PADGETT in Rutherford County, North Carolina.11,5,12,13,14,15,15

about 1843

Birth of daughter Mary K PADGETT in North Carolina.4,5,10

about 1844

Birth of daughter Barbara Ellen PADGETT in North Carolina.10,5,4

27th Oct 1844

Birth of daughter Martha Elizabeth PADGETT in Cleveland County, North Carolina.4,5,16,17

18th Nov 1845

Birth of son William A PADGETT in Davidson County, North Carolina.5,4,18,19,20

Jan 1849

Birth of daughter Nancy Jane PADGETT in North Carolina.21,2,1,5,4

1850

Birth of daughter Susan Caroline PADGETT in North Carolina.22,4,5,23,24,25

between 1850 and 1860

Resident in Cleveland County, North Carolina.4

about Apr 1852

Birth of daughter Sarah W PADGETT in Cleveland County, North Carolina

23rd Sep 1853

Birth of son Burrell Wiley PADGETT in North Carolina.27,28,5,29,9,22

1855

Birth of daughter Levina PADGETT in North Carolina.1,30,5

27th Dec 1855

Birth of daughter Harriet L PADGETT in North Carolina.32,33,34,31,9

15th Jul 1859

Death of daughter Sarah W PADGETT in Cleveland County, North Carolina.26

about 1862

Birth of daughter Julia N PADGETT in North Carolina.1

20th Jul 1862

Death of son John H PADGETT in Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia.8,9

1870

Residence2 in Cocke County, Tennessee.1

between 1880 and 1900

Residence3 in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.2,3

before Jul 1885

Death of daughter Levina PADGETT in Arkansas County, Arkansas.15

17th Apr 1891

Death of Wiley PADGETT in Ward, Lonoke, Arkansas.21,35

5th Dec 1897

Death of daughter Harriet L PADGETT in Arkansas County, Arkansas.31,9

after 1900

Died in Arkansas County, Arkansas.2

Notes

  • Researcher David Holden comments on Lavinia McSwain, "From the North Carolina side, Lavinia is usually referred to as Nancy"
    --  David Holden, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, October 2007.

    But his comment is the only reference I have found to Lavinia McSwain Padgett having the name Nancy.  In a new focus on this family, reviewing records that have come to light in the meantime, in July 2017 it is now clear that a burial is found matching Nancy McSwain Padgett in McSwain Cemetery near Shelby, North Carolina.  The stone for this grave reports the death of 17-year-old Nancy Padget, "consort of Wilie padgett [sic]."  This young wife died at age 17 in 1938.  This fits other details and records to indicate that this would be a first wife of this same Wiley Padgett.

    Thus Wiley had a wife named Nancy and a wife named Lavinia, daughters of different couples in the McSwain clan of Cleveland County, North Carolina.  Holden's comment may reflect a conflation of identity of these two different wives.  No information has been found of any children of Wiley and Nancy.  The birth of Lavinia McSwain Padgett's first child is close to a match for a marriage in about 1838, the year Nancy Padgett died.

    Census ages vary, and in the 1850 census, John was reported as age 15, which would be before the death of Nancy Padgett in 1838.  Nancy was only about age 13 in that year, so it is not likely she was John's mother.  So later indications may be closer, yielding birth in 1838 or 1839.

    In the 1850 census, Lavinia and her husband Wylie Padgett are enumerated in their families' long-time home area of Cleveland County, North Carolina.

    1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 September, p 316, Hse/Fam #597
    Wyly Padgett 45 M Farmer NC
    Lavinia Padgett 31 F  NC
    John H Padgett 15 M NC
    Edwin Padgett 12 M NC
    Mary K Padgett 7 F NC
    Barbara E Padgett 6 F NC
    William Padgett 4 M NC
    Elizabeth Padgett 3 F NC
    Nancy J Padgett 2 F NC
    Caroline Padgett 1month  F NC

    If John is Lavinia's son, it means she got married when she was about 15 or 16 years old.  I have no information on a previous marriage for Wylie.

    In 1860, they have moved to Buncombe County in the Smoky Mountains on the border with Tennessee.  They have begun a trek westward that will end in Ethel, a rural community on the White River in Arkansas County, in southeastern Arkansas.

    1860 Federal Census, Buncombe County, North Carolina, 10 August, P O Fairview, page 10, Hse/Fam #110
    Wiley Padgett 50 M Shoemaker $0 Real Estate $75 Personal Estate b North Carolina
    Vina Padgett 42 F Domestic b North Carolina
    Edmon Padgett 21 M Farm Laborer b NC
    Mary Padgett 17 F Domestic b NC
    Ellen Padgett 15 F Domestic b NC
    William Padgett 13 M b NC
    Elizabeth Padgett 13 F b NC
    Nancy Padgett 10 F b NC
    Caroline Padgett 8 F b NC
    Wiley Padgett 6 M b NC
    Vina Padgett 4 F b NC
    Harriet Padgett 2 F b NC

    This residence was apparently a stage on their journey to Arkansas.  By 1970, they are a couple of counties into Tennessee, and by 1880 they are all the way to the White River in Arkansas County, Arkansas.

    1870 Federal Census, Cocke County, Tennessee, 23 August, District 9, page 18, Hse #122, Fam #123
    Padget, Wily 60 M W Farmer NC  (b abt 1810)
    Padget, Levina 52 F W Keeping House (b abt 1818)
    Padget, Martha E 20 F W (b abt 1850)
    Padget, Nancy J 18 F W (b abt 1852)
    Padget, Susan C 17 F W (b abt 1852)
    Padget, Burl W  16 F W (b abt 1854)
    Padget, Levina 14 F W (b abt 1856)
    Padget, Harriet L  12 F W (b abt 1858)
    Padget, Juliah N  8 F W (b abt 1862)

    Their cousins Catherine McSwain and her children, were in Giles County, Tennessee, farther West for the 1870 census, and by 1880, they are all together in Arkansas County, Arkansas, along the White River a little north of Arkansas Post, the old capital of French Arkansas, and the first capital of US Arkansas Territory.

    Martha E Padgett married Catherine's son Phillip K McSwain about 5 years after the census, when both families had moved or were moving to Arkansas, where they were all enumerated in 1880 in Prairie Township of Arkansas County.  Nancy J is the Jane of later censuses, who apparently never married.  In the 1900 census, we find her living with Phillip and Martha, and she is later with Maggie, Philip's oldest daughter and her family.  Her sister Harriet married Phillip's brother George.  Wiley and Lavinia's daughter Levina Padgett married George and Phillip's brother Julius McSwain.

    In 1880, the family are in the Ethel area of Prairie Township of Arkansas County.  It looks like the Padgetts and McSwains arrived there about 1875 or 1876.  See notes on other McSwain and Padgett individuals for various details.  Descendants of this extended family, under several different surnames, are still found in the various areas around there today.

    1880 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, Prairie Township, page 16, Hse #106, Fam #109
    Wiley Padgett W M 72  Self Farmer SC SC SC
    Lovinia [Lavinia] Padgett W F 62 Wife Housekeeping NC NC NC
    Jane Padgett W F 26 Dau Single NC SC NC
    Jas. Sanders W M 17 Other Single Farm Laborer AR AR Unknown

    Her name is spelled Levina in the 1870 Cocke County, Tennessee, census.  It is spelled Lovinia (transcribed by FamilySearch and Ancestry.com as Lorinia) in the 1880 Arkansas County, Arkansas, census.  This popular name of the 1800s is found spelled in various families of that era as Louvenia, Louvinia, Lavinia, Lovinia, etc.

    Wiley and Lavinia live next door to P K McSwain in the 1880 census.  In 1900 she is living in PK's household.

    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
    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

    Several genealogies report Lavinia's date of death as simply the year of 1919, but none of them has any documentation or details.  I have found no information on her death or burial place.  The last record where I have found her is the 1900 census.

Sources

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