Life History

Notes

• Louis Hobson McSwain was a pastor.  He is listed in most sources asRev Louis or Rev Louis H.  The Hamrick genealogy uses his full name.His name is spelled Lewis in several censuses.  The name Louis appearsin later generations of the McSwains.  Louis/Lewis was buried in thecemetery of the Antioch Baptist Church near Clover in York County,South Carolina.  I surmise it was Louis' pastoral work that took himto South Carolina in later years.  Louis' son Elijah Bonaparte(Bonner) was also a pastor.
  
  Louis was pastor of Mt Sinai Baptist Church, in Cleveland, NorthCarolina, a little north of the border with South Carolina.  At thesame time his uncle Thomas McSwain was a deacon.  They are honoured ona monument listing officers in the year 1848.
  
  Some genealogies give the marriage date for Louis and Mary as "abt1840."  From census ages and some actual birth dates given ingenealogies, we can tell that three of their children were born before1840.  They apparently married about 1833, since their first child,Judith N (Judy) was born in 1834.
  
  In the 1850 census, his name is spelled Lewis.  Lewis and Mary are inCleveland County, North Carolina, the home of the McSwain clan.  Hisoccupation is listed as Baptist Preacher.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 September, p315 (scan 158), Hse/Fam #596
  McSwain Lewis 35 M Baptist Preacher b NC (b abt 1815)
  McSwain Mary 38 F b NC (b abt 1812)
  McSwain Judy N 16 F NC (b abt 1834)
  McSwain Martha 13 F b NC (b abt 1837)
  McSwain Rebecca 11 F b NC (b abt 1839)
  McSwain Hannah 10 F b NC (b abt 1840)
  McSwain Nancy 8 F b NC (b abt 1842)
  McSwain Oliver 7 M b NC (b abt 1843)
  McSwain Ruben 5 b NC (b abt 1845)
  McSwain Lucy 3 F b NC (b abt 1847)
  McSwain John 10mos b NC (b abt Oct 1849)
  
  Notice that here Mary (Hamrick) is said to have been born in NorthCarolina, but in the 1870 census, when they are living a little acrossthe border in York District, South Carolina, she is reported as bornin South Carolina!  The 1870 census reports that the whole family isborn in South Carolina, except for Louis, though family sources reportMary and all children through Mary Caledonia as born in NorthCarolina.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 14 August, page72, Hse/Fam #511
  Lewis McSwain 46 M Farmer
  Mary McSwain 44 F
  Judy N McSwain 26 F NC [b abt 1834]
  Martha McSwain 24 F NC [b abt 1836]
  Hannah McSwain 21 F NC [b abt 1839]
  Nancy McSwain 19 F NC [b abt 1841]
  Oliver McSwain 16 M Farm Laborer [b abt 1844]
  Ruben McSwain 14 M [b abt 1846]
  Lucey McSwain 12 F b NC (b abt 1848)
  John McSwain 10 b NC (b abt 1850)
  Lewis M McSwain M 9 b NC (b abt 1851)
  Elijah McSwain 7 b NC (b abt 1853)
  Sarah A McSwain 5 F NC [b abt 1855]
  Ambrose McSwain 3 b NC (b abt 1857) idiotic
  Margaret C McSwain 4mos F NC [b April 1860]
  
  The birth dates vary somewhat.  Some genealogies have followed certaincensuses, others other censuses.  Some sources seems to have estimatedbirth years based on different factors from the censuses.  A couple ofsources have exact birth dates for a couple of the daughters.
  
  The ages and resulting estimated birth years vary for the first fivegirls between the 1850 and 1860 censuses:
  
  1850
  Judy N McSwain 16 F NC [b abt 1834]
  Martha McSwain 13 F NC [b abt 1837]
  Rebecca McSwain 11 F NC [b abt 1839]
  Hannah McSwain 10 F b NC [b abt 1840]
  Nancy McSwain 8 F b NC [b abt 1842]
  
  1860
  Judy N McSwain 26 F NC [b abt 1834]
  Martha McSwain 24 F NC [b abt 1836]
  [Rebecca not in 1860 census]
  Hannah McSwain 21 F NC [b abt 1839]
  Nancy McSwain 19 F NC [b abt 1841]
  
  I suspect that Rebecca is found in the 1860 census next door to Lewisand Mary's family.  Their next door neighbors, in House number 512,are Elijah and Rebecca E Hamrick.  I suggest that this RebeccaHamrick, age 23, born in NC, is Rebecca McSwain.  This is confirmed bythe Hamrick Data Pages, page 75, where the ages and names match.  Thisalso tells us that Rebecca's full name is Rebecca Elizabeth.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 14 August, page72, Hse/Fam #512
  Elijah Hamrick 26 M Farmer NC  [b abt 1834]
  Rebecca E Hamrick 23 F NC [b abt 1837]
  
  I have found that the Hamrick family information gives the birth yearof Hannah, daughter of Louis Hobson and Mary McSwain, as 1855.  Thiscannot be right, since we have her recorded in the 1850 census as 10and the 1860 census as 21.  Hannah McSwain was born, according tofamily informaiton anjd her grave, on 5 August 1839.
  
  Hannah McSwain Green, b 5 Aug 1839, d 21 Feb 1931
  buried Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery, Blacksburg, Cherokee County,South Carolina.
  --  Find a Grave Memorial Registry,http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Green&GSfn=Hannah&GSby=1839&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1931&GSdyrel=in&GSst=43&GScnty=2323&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16136379&
  
  In both 1850 and 1860 Lewis' parents are living a few doors down fromthem.  Five houses away in 1850, two houses away in 1860.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 4 September,page 158, Hse/Fam #591
  John McSwain 55 M Farmer $640 Real Estate  [b 1795]
  Susannah McSwain 64 F [b 1786]
  
  1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina, 14 August, page72, Hse/Fam #514
  John McSwain 66 M Farmer $1000 Real Estate  $7900 Personal Estate [b1794]
  Susannah McSwain 75 F [b 1785]
  
  Note that at 66 John is still listed as a Farmer.
  
  Here is the 1870 census for Louis and his family, in York County,South Carolina.  This is after his daughter Judith and her husbandEdwin Padgett had left for the west.  Judith and Edwin ultimatelymoved to Arkansas.  In 1870 they are in Tennessee, along with some ofthe McSwains who are later their neighbors in Ethel, Arkansas County,Arkansas.
  
  1870 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina, 19 August,Subdivision 103, PO Yorkville, p 79, Hse #561, Fam #552
  McSwain Louis 55 M W Farming b NC (b abt 1815)
  McSwain Mary 50 F W Kpg Hse b SC (b abt 1820)
  McSwain John 20 M W Farm Labor b SC (b abt 1850)
  McSwain Moore 18 M W Farm Labor b SC (b abt 1852)
  McSwain Bonaparte 16 M W Farm Labor b SC (b abt 1854)
  McSwain Ambers 12 M W Farm Labor b SC (b abt 1858)
  McSwain Sarah 14 F W At Home b SC (b abt 1856)
  McSwain Caledonia 10 F W At Home b SC (b abt 1860)
  
  Note that this census reports all the children, as well as theirmother, born in South Carolina.  Other sources indicate the childrenwere born in North Carolina, and the McSwains moved to South Carolinafor Louis to take a pastorate there.  Family sources also indicateMary Hamrick McSwain was born in North Carolina.  We know all thesechildren were born in North Carolina, because they were all in theNorth Carolina census in 1860 when the family was living in ClevelandCounty.  The 1850 census also reports all children born up to thattime were born in North Carolina.  They lived just near the SouthCarolina border, and Louis and Mary are buried in the Antioch Cemteryin Blacksburg, Cherokee County, SC.
  
  Bonaparte matches the child reported in other genealogies as Bonner.It is reasonable that Bonner was a nickname for the more formalBonaparte.  Further, in 1860, this person was listed as Elijah.  Thuswe may now say this child was named Elijah Bonaparte, and had thenickname of Bonner.
  
  Ambrose is reported here as Ambers, an interesting phonetic insightinto the pronunciation of the region.  Caledonia does not show up onthe family genealogies I have seen.  Caledonia matches Margaret C inthe 1860 census.  This gives us the information that her full name isMargaret Caledonia.
  
  In the home are also two children named Hambright, Mary 12 and Samuel10.  I wonder if these are a niece and a nephew of Mary.  This is avariation on the Mary's maiden name, written in standard form asHamrick.  It also appears in various sources as Hambrick.  PerhapsHambright was another variations.  There is another Hambright family afew houses down from Louis.
  
  The dates in this 1870 census differ considerably from dates reportedin some genealogies on the McSwain family for some of the children.Sources differ on the birth years of the children of Louis and Mary.It appears that even various family genealogies have derived birthdates from the age in various censuses, thus there we could expect atwo-year discrepancy.  And we commonly find differences betweencensuses on reported ages.
  
  Initially I have reference the dates on three primary sources, theHamrick Genealogy pages, and Jerry Gallagher's and Paul Sarrett Jr'sgenealogies on the McSwains.  Paul has extensively compared andevaluated the early censuses and comments from many printed andelectronic sources.  Jerry has information on some Arkansas McSwains.It is not easy to reconcile the differences between the three sources. I have consulted many other sources.  Dates and other details aregradually being evaluated with more critical attention.
  
  In 1880, Louis and Mary are living in Cherokee Township of YourkCounty, South Carolina.  Next door to htem is their widowed daughterHannah Green and her children.
  
  1880 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina, 15 June, CherokeeTownship, p 25, Hse/Fam #238
  McSwain, Louis  W M 65  Baptist Clergyman NC NC NC (b abt 1815)
  McSwain, Mary W F 63  Wife Keeping House NC NC NC (b abt 1817)
  McSwain, Margaret C  W F 22 Daughter  Domestic Work NC NC NC (b abt1858)
  Hamrick, Sarah A  W F 21 Granddaughter  Domestic Work NC NC NC (b abt1859)
  Hamrick, Samuel W M 19 Grandson  Works on Farm NC NC NC (b abt 1861)
  
  I was primarily concerned to clarify the connection with the McSwainsand Padgetts of Arkansas.  I had thoroughly studied the Hamrick andSarrett material, along with other sources on the McSwains and relatedfamilies in Rutherford County, North Carolina, without success inmaking a specific connection to the Arkansas settlers.  For monthsafter working out the family identity and local connections of theMcSwains in Prairie Township, Arkansas County, Arkansas, I had beenunable to connect them to any North Carolina McSwains.
  
  Louis and Mary's family were a critical link, because daughter Judithand her husband Edwin/Edmund Padgett had moved to Arkansas (about1870) a little before the McSwain family moved (about 1875) toArkansas County.  In the 1850 census, we find that these two familiesare living next door to each other in Cleveland County, NorthCarolina.  Edwin's parents are later also found in Ethel, ArkansasCounty, Arkansas, where the McSwains moved.
  
  But I could not find a link in the generation before Katy McSwain.Edwin's mother Lavinia was shown living in the household of PhillipMcSwain in Ethel in the 1900 census.  But the linear genetic link hadnot been established.
  
  Nothing in the neighboring areas of South Carolina, and Georgia, wherea substantial number of McSwains had also settled, was productive. Idid, however, in that process, discover that there were severalseparate streams of migration of McSwain families directly from Skyeto the same areas of North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia,and early settlers in California in the early 1800s, possibly evenbefore that territory became part of the US.
  
  Edwin and Judith had moved to the same location, Ethel, near the WhiteRiver, in southern Prairie Township, Arkansas County.  There had beena bit of misdirection in the Sarrett information, which reported thatEdwin and Judith had moved from NC to Lonoke County, Arkansas.  Thisis the place where they died.  However, I discovered them in the 1880census just a short distance away from the McSwains in PrairieTownship (Ethel area).
  
  Edwin and Judith (McSwain) Padgett are the progenitors of the Padgettswe know today in the Ethel area.  Padgetts continued to marry McSwainsin Arkansas.  The Hamricks bypassed Arkansas on their way west, goingon to north Texas, where we knew some in the Dallas area from the samefamily I later discovered had been in Rutherford County, NorthCarolina, in the 1800s.
  
  It was clear from various clues that they were related to the largeclan in the Carolinas, but the specific connection was elusive.  TheArkansas McSwain family was not even sure all the first McSwains thatappeared first in the 1880 census in Arkansas County were of the samefamily.  Initial analysis revealed several clues that indicated theywere one family, but without the father.  There was an uncertainmemory that the father of the men, the husband of "Katy" was namedGeorge like one of the sons.
  
  It was February 2007 before I was able to actually get a look at thecensuses from North Carolina.  I finally discovered the problem wasthat the husband of Katy (Catherine), while named George as thought bythe family in Arkansas, was much older than expected.  George was 21years older than Katy.  This was why I had been unable to make anyidentification with the many Georges in the Carolina clan.

Sources

• 1. RootsWeb ID: I4728 -- John McSwain
  • Name: Name:http:/worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=prsjr&id=I4728;;
• 2. Rutherford/Cleveland County, NC, Burial Information
  • Name: Name: http://www.rfci.net/wdfloyd/cemm5.html;;
• 3. 1850 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 4 September, p 315 (scan 158), Hse/Fam #596
• 4. 1880 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 15 June, Cherokee Township, p 25, Hse/Fam #238
• 5. 1860 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 14 August, page 72, Hse/Fam #511
• 6. South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955
  • Certificate #010690
• 7. RootsWeb Genealogy IrishEyes
  • Name: Name:http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=irisheyes;;
• 8. 1870 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 19 August, Subdivision 103, PO Yorkville, p 79, Hse #561, Fam #552
• 9. Hamrick Data Pages -- McSwain-Padgett-Moore-Green
  • http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hamrick/wga74.html
• 10. RootsWeb ID: I6287 -- Louis McSwain
  • Name: Name:http:/worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=prsjr&id=I6287;;
• 11. Hamrick Data Pages -- McSwain-Padgett-Moore-Green
  • http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hamrick/wga75.html
• 12. FamilySearch IGI Individual Record
  • http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid
• 13. 1870 Federal Census, Cocke County, Tennessee
  • 23 August, District 9, page 18, Hse #123, Fam #124
• 14. Hamrick Data Pages -- McSwain-Padgett-Moore-Green
  • http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~Hamrick/wga81.html
• 15. RootsWeb -- McSwain-Padgett-Moore-Green
  • http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dwh1951&id=I648
• 16. 1910 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 27 April, District 43, page 17B, Shelby, La Fayette St, Hse #222, Fam
• 17. 1920 Federal Census, Rutherford County, North Carolina
  • 17 January, District 156, page 10B, Colfax Township, Hse #172, Fam
• 18. 1880 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 15 June, Cherokee Township, p 25, Hse/Fam #239
• 19. 1870 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 20 August, Division 103, PO Yorkville, page 80 (scan 496), Hse #562,
• 20. 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee County, South Carolina
  • 14 June, Cherokee Township, District 2, p 18A, Hse #267, Fam #277
• 21. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Green&GSfn=Hanna
• 22. 1870 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 23 August, Township 7, PO Mooresboro, page 7, Hse #46Fam #50
• 23. 1880 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 3 June, Township 7, Sandy Run, District 71, page 5 (Scan 571A), Hse
• 24. 1880 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 15 June, Cherokee Township, District 167, page 24, Hse/Fam #226
• 25. 1920 Federal Census, Cherokee County, South Carolina
  • 17 January, Cherokee Township, District 3, page 11A, Hse #188, Fam
• 26. 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee County, South Carolina
  • 29 June, Cherokee Township, District 2, page 30A, Hse #488, Fam #500
• 27. 1910 Federal Census, Cherokee County, South Carolina
  • 22 April, Cherokee Township, District 3, page 6A, Hse/Fam #94
• 28. 1930 Federal Census, Cherokee County, South Carolina
  • 11 April, Cherokee Township, District 3, page 7B, Hse #132, Fam #139
• 29. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1955
  • Volume 7, Certificate #004741
• 30. South Carolina Death Certificate
  • Volume 7, Certificate #004741
• 31. 1900 Federal Census, Cleveland County, North Carolina
  • 12 June, Sandy Run, Township 7, District 57, page 8B, Hse #139, Fam
• 32. 1870 Federal Census, York County, South Carolina
  • 19 August, Subdivision 103, PO Yorkville, p 80, Hse #561, Fam #552