An American Family History

The Swearingen Family

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia borders Maryland and Virginia. The first European settlers started arriving about 1730.

also spelled Swearengen

George Washington ( 1731/32 – 1799) was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and first president of the United States (1789–1797).

Thomas Swearingen was born on April 8, 1708 in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's County, Maryland. His parents were Thomas Swearingen and Lydia Riley.

He married Sarah Dossett.

The Swearingens were early settlers in, what is now, the eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. In 1734, they settled in Shepardstown which is now in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

Their children may have included:

Thomas Swearingen (1735, married Mary Morgan),
Andrew Swearingen (married Elizabeth Chaplin),
Van Swearingen (1743),
Zachariah Swearingen,
Joseph Swearingen (1754),
Benoni Swearingen
Sarah Swearingen (married Thomas Turner), and
Eleanor Swearingen (married Isaac Israel).

By 1755, Thomas operated a ferry across the Potomac.

In 1757, Thomas was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses representing Frederick County. He received 270 votes and George Washington received 40 votes

His will was signed on April 4, 1760 and proved on June 3, 1760.

In 1771 Van and Thomas were among the regulators.

Van Meter Family

Slavery is an immoral system of forced labor where people are treated as property to be bought and sold. It was legal in the American Colonies and the United States until the Civil War.

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