William SWAFFORD

William SWAFFORD the seventh son of Peter James SWAFFORD and Rennie HOWARD, according to biographical profile of W. L. SWAFFORD, William was W. L.'s grandfather. And, his g-grandparents imigrated to America in 1770 from Dublin [?],Ireland.

William SWAFFORD, born 1785 in North Carolina and died Oct 27, 1857 in TN. He married Nancy CRAIG, also of North Carolina in 1805. She died in 1878.

Children of William Swafford and Nancy Criag

John Swafford

NOTES on the Biographical profile of W.L. SWAFFORD: Extracted from: GOODSPEED DECATUR COUNTY BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; It lists; W.L. SWAFFORD as the subject, John SWAFFORD, as his father, born 1795 in NC.[came to TN in 1805 and established himself as a farmer. In 1818 he married Mary FIELDS, born 1799 in NC.. They had fourteen children and W.L. SWAFFORD is the third], and William SWAFFORD as his grandfather, born 1785 in NC., and Peter James SWAFFORD as his g-grandfather, born in 1725 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. [this biography has numerous errors]

W.L. was born in 1827, his g-grandparents imigrated in 1770 [37 years difference]. This would make his grandfather 10 years old when his father was born. I also question the date of imigration: my ggg-grandfather, Jacob SWAFFORD was born in 1762 in Greenville Cty., SC., his brother John SWAFFORD was born in 1770 in Greenville Cty., SC. Therefore they would have had to imigrated much earlier, which is what I suspect. Of the eight son's born to Peter James SWAFFORD and Rennie HOWARD, Paul, Jacob, and John were born before 1770.

This conjecture is supported by the South Carolina census records:


These census records recorded heads of households and their families. Just based on the 1790 census alone, for William and John to have been born and have reached an age to have a family with children; Peter and Rennie would have had to imagrate much earlier than 1770. I would suggest a timeframe of about 1720-50.

Listed on census records for SC

1790 SC Census: William and John SWAFFORD

1800 Greenville Cty., SC Census: Abraham, Jacob, James, and John SWAFFORD

1800 SC Census: James SWAFFORD

NOTE:All of the SWAFFORD brothers and their families left Greenville Cty., SC in about 1810 and relocated to Bledsoe Cty, TN. and they then again spread out to the four winds.

W. L. SWAFFORD, born Dec 27, 1827 in Grainger Cty., TN., died [?]. He married Margurite ROARK on Jan 22, 1853. Margurite was born in Hamilton Cty, TN.

Additional information on W. L. SWAFFORD: W. L. recieved a liberal education at Georgetown, Meigs Cty, TN., soon after finishing he began farming in Hamilton Cty., TN. for three years. On Nov 10, 1857, he relocated to Decatur Cty, TN. on the farm where still owned at the time of the Biographical profile. In 1863 he enlisted in the 3rd Reg., W. TN. Cav, Union Army where he served from June until October, when the regiment was captured; on his way to prison he escaped and returned home, where he remained until Feb. then went to IL. a year later he return home and with his family went to Indiana, returning to TN. in six months. He was a leading Republican of Decatur Cty. and served as Magistrate from 1878 to 1882.

W. L. SWAFFORD and Margurite ROARK had fourteen children:

Mary Ann SWAFFORD, married [?] MOORE

John L. SWAFFORD

Joseph A. SWAFFORD

Judy C. SWAFFORD

James W. SWAFFORD

Isaac D. SWAFFORD

Henry J. SWAFFORD

Thomas A. SWAFFORD

Maggie J. SWAFFORD

America A. SWAFFORD

Louisa A. SWAFFORD

Sarah C. SWAFFORD

Horace M. SWAFFORD

and an infant who was deceased