Priscilla (Swearingen) Prather (1734 - 1756)

Born 1734 in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's County, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Wife of William Basil Prather — married 18 Feb 1749 (to Sep 1756) in Frederick County, Province of Maryland

Descendants

Died Sep 1756 at about age 22 in Conecocheague Manor, Frederick County, Province of Maryland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chet Snow [send private message]

GENEALOGICAL NOTE

Unfortunately this profile, as originally formulated, conflated 2 women, who were not related but each was married to a "Basil Prather," who were 1st cousins and who lived amazingly-parallel contemporary lives. These changes re-establish this woman's identity and life story. She died at 22 years old in an Indian attack during the French & Indian War. She had 2 sons, both of whom lived to maturity. Her husband did not remarry for over 30 years after her death. Chet Snow 29 Nov 2019

Biography

Priscilla Swearingen was born in 1734 on her parents' plantation in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's County, Province of Maryland. Her parents were Van Swearingen, Sr., b: 1692 in Maryland, and his wife, Elizabeth (Walker) Swearingen. Their plantation, in Prince George's County, Maryland, was located next to Thomas Sprigg Prather's plantation. The families knew each other.

When Thomas Sprigg Prather's oldest son Basil Prather was only 17 and Priscilla Swearingen was just 14 years old, they fell in love and their parents permitted them to marry, despite their young age. They were married in Frederick County, Maryland, on 18 February 1749. Basil brought his bride to his "Richard’s Choice" plantation in newly-formed Frederick County. Before Basil was 19, he was a father. Their first-born son, Henry Prather, was born 18 November 1749 at Richard’s Choice, near Williamsport, Frederick (now Washington) County, Maryland.

The couple had a second son, Richard Prather, born in 1754 on their Maryland plantation next to Conococheague Manor. Basil's brother, also named Richard Prather, married Lucy Jacques on 25 June 1755; they set up housekeeping at Richard's Choice. Their first-born son, whom they named Basil Prather after his paternal uncle, was born there 23 March 1756.

The French & Indian War had begun about a year earlier and the upper Potomac River region, crossed by the Great Wagon Road, a main route across the Appalachians, near Williamsport, just a few miles from Conococheague Manor, was a prime target for marauding French troops and their Native American allies, as both sought to keep British settlers out of the Ohio valley. The Prathers & other settlers built wooden stockades where women & children could retreat with whatever they could carry when the Indians raided.

Family lore states that when little Basil Prather was about 7 months old (b: March 1756), a particularly vicious attack took place. Lucy (Jacques) Prather apparently heard the commotion first; she took her baby and the milk cow across the meadow to the stockade, having warned Priscilla to follow. Priscilla gave baby Richard to his 7-year-old brother and they too ran for safety. For reasons unknown, perhaps to try and save another animal or a valued household item, Priscilla was the last of the group to flee for safety. Alas, she did not make it.

Priscilla (Swearingen) Prather was murdered in September 1756. She died during the French & Indian War in a brutal Indian Raid near today's village of Downsville (Washington County), Maryland. It was near the Potomac River crossing of the Great Wagon Road, in what was then Frederick County, Maryland. Priscilla & Basil Prather's plantation, "Richard's Choice," was near the Potomac River. Her family, the Swearingens, whose plantation is now the site of St. James' School, in Hagerstown, Maryland, ran the Thomas Swearingen Ferry across the Potomac River a few miles away.^[1]

Priscilla (Swearingen) Prather was buried in the Prather Cemetery, Clear Spring, Washington County, Maryland, USA.^[2]

NOTE: Both of Priscilla Prather's sons survived. Henry Prather (18 Nov. 1749, Maryland - 3 Nov. 1821, Kentucky) married Elizabeth Glass Wilson, b: 3 Dec. 1765. Richard Prather, b: 1754, Maryland - d: 11 May 1801 in Nelson Co., Kentucky; he married Mary "Polly" Churchill.

Sources

1. ↑ Great Wagon Road article on Wikipedia Scroll down to "Sharpsburg" in the section: "York, Pennsylvania to Winchester, Virginia via Old Monocacy Road" to find "Thomas Swearingen Ferry" reference. The family later owned the Ringgold estate, mentioned further down the page.
2. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 November 2019), memorial page for Priscilla Swearingen Prather (1734–Sep 1756), Find A Grave: Memorial #152615872, citing Prather Cemetery, Clear Spring, Washington County, Maryland, USA ; Maintained by jamin (contributor 47703369) . Includes lengthy biography and tells story of her untimely death.

• Prather family genealogist: Gary Benton Prather

• Material about Priscilla comes from Jacques Ephraim Stout Lillard (1894-1965), author of several genealogy books on colonial Virginia. His papers are now held at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, KY. Among those papers is a letter written by him to Brice Clagett that includes this information, cited on Priscilla's Find A Grave Memorial #152615872.
• Email 30 Nov 2019 to Chet Snow from "Jamin" (contributor 47703369 to Find A Grave) a Prather descendant.

Acknowledgements

• This person was identified and profile re-written by Prather descendant, Chet Snow, 30 Nov 2019.