Life History

Notes

• The date of birth on the Hamrick Data Pages for Thomas McSwain Jr is not consistent with the date based on age in the 1850 and 1860 censuses.  The Hamrick pages gives the following information:
  
  "McSwain, Thomas (1796 - 1872)
  b. 8 Sep 1796, d. 22 Dec 1872
  spouse Bridges, Salena W "Frankie" (1793 - 1862)
  child McSwain, Thomas (*1824 - )"
  --  Hamrick Data Pages, http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hamrick/wga75.html
  
  In the 1850 census, Thomas Jr is 12 years old; in the 1860 census he is 22.  These two ages are coherent.  These yield a birth year of 1838, not 1824!  I wonder if the Hamrick data has confused the birth date with another Thomas McSwain (Jr).  There was a George Thomas McSwain who was born in December 1823.  I have not been able to determine who his father was.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 September, p 315 (scan 158), Hse/Fam #595
  Thomas McSwain 54 F b NC (b abt 1796)
  Francis [Frances] McSwain 57 F NC (b abt 1793)
  Elizabeth McSwain 21 F b NC (b abt 1829)
  George McSwain 23 M Farmer b NC (b abt 1827)
  Rebecca McSwain 18 F b NC (b abt 1832)
  Permelia McSwain 14 F b NC (b abt 1836)
  Thomas McSwain 12 M b NC (b abt 1838)
  
  Further information is provided about Thomas (b 1824/1838).
  
  McSwain, Thomas (*1824 - )
  father McSwain, Thomas(1796 - 1872)
  mother Bridges, Salena W "Frankie"(1793 - 1862)
  spouse Bridges, Mary (*1829 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Jane (*1859 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Allis (*1860 - )
  spouse: Byers, Nancy (*1822 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, James Monroe (1850 - 1924)
  ----------child: McSwain, Sarah (*1855 - )
  ----------child: McSwain, Susanna (*1856 - )
  --  Hamrick Data Pages, http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hamrick/wga75.html
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 14 August, page 72, Hse/Fam #516
  Thomas McSwain 64 M Farmer $700 Real Estate $1368 Personal Estate NC
  Francis McSwain 66 F NC
  Thomas McSwain Jr  22 M Common School Teacher NC
  
  It appears to be this Thomas McSwain who is enumerated in Stices Shoals in the 1870 census as George McSwain with his wife Malissa.  His age of 32 years and location in Stices Shoals where his family lived in previous censuses support this.  There are no clear secondary facts to make this identification definitive.  Thomas McSwain Sr and his wife Frankie Bridges are enumerated on two census pages earlier than this George.  But no comparable entry has been found in the 1870 census for a Thomas McSwain to fit his description.
  
  Note that the name George Thomas in the Hamrick files may indicate his full name, and provide a link to this George on 1870.  But the uncertainty of his birth date in the Hamrick files weakens that source.
  
  A serious factor that makes the identification of our Thomas with this George doubtful is that the oldest child here is reported as 15 years old, so should be about 5 in the 1860 census.  But in the 1860 census, Thomas was reported with no wife, still in the home of his father.  This George McSwain seems to be George Washington McSwain, son of another William McSwain and his wife Judith Hamrick.  His birth was likely as reported by the Hamrick Pages in 1836, which matches the 1860 census for that George.  Two other census ages, including 1870, make it 1838, which is not unusual for census ages in that era.  just for reference, here is the 1870 census for George McSwain, who appears to be that son George of William and Judith Hamrick McSwain.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 24 July, Township #3, PO Stices Shoals, page 7, Hse/Fam #57
  McSwain, George 32 M W Farm Laborer Real Estate or Personal Not Rptd born NC [b abt 1838]
  McSwain, Malissa 32 F W Keeps House b NC [b abt 1838]
  McSwain, Martha 15 F W Domestic born NC [b abt 1845]
  McSwain, William 10 M W Farm Laborer born NC [b 1860]
  

Sources

• 1. 1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 4 September, p 315 (scan 158), Hse/Fam #595
• 2. 1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 August, page 72, Hse/Fam #516