Wiley PADGETT John H PADGETT W Edwin PADGETT Mary K PADGETT Barbara Ellen PADGETT Phillip K MCSWAIN Maggie Ella MCSWAIN Ada Loora MCSWAIN Joseph Edward MCSWAIN Tissie MCSWAIN Robert Perry MCSWAIN Bennie Dean MCSWAIN Lillie May MCSWAIN Leona E MCSWAIN William A PADGETT Nancy Jane PADGETT Susan Caroline PADGETT Sarah W PADGETT Burrell Wiley PADGETT Levina PADGETT Harriet L PADGETT Julia N PADGETT Lavinia Nancy MCSWAIN Mini tree diagram
Martha Elizabeth PADGETT

Martha Elizabeth PADGETT1,2,6,3,7,8,5,9,10,11

27th Oct 18445 - 15th Dec 19183

Life History

27th Oct 1844

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

(most likely)

Oct 1847

Born.5

(less likely)

about 1875

Married Phillip K MCSWAIN in Arkansas County, Arkansas.6,50

30th Aug 1876

Birth of daughter Maggie Ella MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.12,9,13,14,15,16,16,7

22nd Jun 1878

Birth of daughter Ada Loora MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.16,17,18,9,19,20,21,22,11,23

17th Nov 1879

Birth of son Joseph Edward MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.24,25,26,9,27,28,29,30,16

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.34,35,36,26,11

23rd Jun 1886

Birth of son Bennie Dean MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.37,38,39,24,40,41,42,43,27

Feb 1888

Birth of daughter Lillie May MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.26,6,44,45,16

1st Mar 1891

Birth of daughter Leona E MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.46,16,26,6,43,47

16th Mar 1899

Death of daughter Tissie MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.31,32,33

25th Feb 1917

Death of Phillip K MCSWAIN in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.48,49,11

15th Dec 1918

Died in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.3

after 15th Dec 1918

Buried in Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas.3

Notes

  • For a long time we did not know Martha Elizabeth's last name.  I have searched many records of McSwains in North Carolina.  This family appeared to be related to other McSwains in Rutherford (Cleveland) County, but I could not make a clear match to the many McSwain historical records and genealogies available.

    It at first appeared from the birth states of members of this family and their spouses that Martha Elizabeth and Phillip were married just before moving to Arkansas.  After finding Phillip and his siblings with their mother in Tennessee, this did not seem likely, because none of them had spouses in the household.  Gradually details unfolded with clues from other genealogies and records.  It turned out that Padgetts and McSwains had all moved to Arkansas and McSwain brothers married Padgett sisters.

    In 1850, Elizabeth is enumerated with her parents and other children in the Padgett home area of Cleveland County, North Carolina, in the south central part of the state.

    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
    Elizabeth Padgett 3 F NC

    In 1860, on their way west, The Padgett household had made it to western North Carolina, and were enumerated int Buncombe County,in the Smoky Mountains bordering Tennessee.

    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
    Elizabeth Padgett 12 F b NC

    Lavinia and Wiley Padgett, Martha Elizabeth's parents, were also in Tennessee in 1870, though in a different county.  After finding members of the family in Prairie Township of Arkansas in 1870, it appeared that the Padgetts and McSwains got together in Arkansas.  Phillip's cousin Judith had already married Martha Elizabeth's brother Edwin in North Carolina, and then they all wound up in Ethel, Arkansas.

    Phillip and Elizabeth must have married right after the McSwains arrived in the Ethel area, or they married and moved together from Tennessee to Arkansas.  Their first child was born about 1876, being reported as age 4 in the 1880 Arkansas County census.  So there it seems to be about 1875-6 when the family moved from Tennessee to 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)

    Martha Elizabeth's age in the census is off from the date reported by her gravestone, which has a date of birth of 27 October 1844.  In the August 1870 census Martha E Padget [sic] was reported as 20 years old.  This would mean on her birthday in October that year she would have been 21, making a birth year of 1849.  This is a 4-year difference, but not unheard of.

    Phillip's brother William married an Arkansas-born woman, so it makes sense that P K also married after the family arrived in Arkansas, probably about 1877, according to the age of their first child, age 2 in the 1880 census.  This is consistent with the idea that the family all moved together.

    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

    The date of Phillip and Martha's marriage is estimated as about 1875, based on the birth date of first child, Joseph, born Nov 18 1879.  No marriage record has been found.

    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

    In October 2007, I got an email from another McSwain researcher in Germany who provided the rest of the details to finish tying this family together.  David Holden informed me that Lavinia Padgett's last name was also McSwain, and that Martha Elizabeth was her daughter.  In the process I learned why I had been unable to make the connection before.

    The parents of Lavinia Nancy McSwain are William McSwain and Mary Nancy Bridges.  Other genealogies I had found up to this point had William's wife as Judith Hamrick.  The dates of children and marriage to Judith make a full picture now to indicate that Judith was the second wife.  The other genealogies also thus lacked the children of William with Mary Nancy.  Lavinia was one of those.

    This also better explains why Lavinia and her daughter Jane are living with Phillip and Martha Elizabeth after the death of Wiley.  Martha is her daughter and thus Phillip's mother-in-law.  This partly explains the puzzling entry in the 1900 census that Lavinia is Phillip's mother and Jane his sister, which led to lots of run-arounds and dead-ends!

    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

    "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."
    --  Hall, FB message to George McSwain, forwarded to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 February 2018

    ----------------
    Martha Elizabeth Padgett
    Birth 27 Oct 1844 Cleveland County, North Carolina, USA
    Death 15 Dec 1875 (aged 31) Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas, USA
    Burial Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Arkansas County, Arkansas

    Martha Elizabeth Padgett was the daughter of Wiley Padgett and his wife Lavinia Nancy McSwain of Buncombe County, North Carolina. The Padgett and McSwain famlies moved together to Arkansas through Tennessee after the Civil War. In 1870 Wiley and Lavinia were in Cocke County, eastern Tennessee, while widow Katy Weathers McSwain, from Cleveland County, North Carolina, was in Giles County, central Tennessee, with her five sons and one daughter Levina, or Lavinia. Wiley Padgett's wife Lavinia was a sister of Katy's husband George McSwain.

    Some of their McSwain relatives had already moved before 1870 to St Charles, Arkansas, on the White River. Katy and Wiley setled their families in the same area, to the south of St Charles in the Ethel community. We don't have the exact year they moved on from Tennessee to Arkansas, but there is a marriage record in November 1873 for Katy's son Julius and Wiley and Lavinia's daughter Levina (or Lavinia) Padgett.

    Others of the Padgett and McSwain chidren married each other, carrying on the long association of McSwains and Padgetts in Cleveland County and neighboring counties of North Carolina. P K McSwain married Martha Elizabeth Padgett, George B McSwain married Harriet Padgett, Edwin Padgett married Judith McSwain, the niece of both Katy McSwain and Lavinia McSwain Padgett and John H Padgett married Rachel McSwain, The McSwain brothers' cousin from a third McSwain family.

    Mother Nancy Bridges Hughes 1789-1875

    Spouse Phillip K McSwain 1847-1917

    Siblings:
    Sallie Hughes Jolley 1810-1870
    Sanford Hughes 1811-1893
    Malinda Hughes Durham 1814-1875
    Mary Ann Hughes Hamrick 1831-1894

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

    Created by Orville Jenkins 18 Jan 2020
    --  Find A Grave Memorial 206348094, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/206348094/martha-elizabeth-padgett
    ----------------

Sources

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