Revolutionary War Veteran
Benoni was the son of Thomas Swearingen and Sarah Morgan, of "Swearingen's Ferry", Virginia. He is mentioned in CHAPTER XVIII, The Expedition To Kentucky in the book, "Historic Shepherdstown" (1910), by Danske Dandridge and transcribed by K. Torpwas, as, "a younger son of [Thomas Swearingen of the Ferry], a venturesome young fellow described as six feet five inches tall, very handsome, and active...". Benoni was employed as a surveyor on the expedition following "Boone's Trace" into the new territory of Kentucky.[1]
"Benoni volunteered with George M. Bedinger, and was in the battle of Germantown. Afterwards he was one of the party who went to Boonsborough, Kentucky, in 1779. After the war, he returned to Swearingen's Ferry, where he lived. He was married three times. His second wife was Sarah Bedinger, who died in 1792, at the ferry on the Virginia side. Their son, Henry Swearingen, commanded a very fine company of Shepherdstown men in the War of 1812. They were all taken prisoners, and died in prison, except a very few who lived to be exchanged. Among those so fortunate was Captain H. Swearingen. He married a Miss Breeden of near Harper's Ferry, and died in 1817 from the effects of his imprisonmnt. Miss Breedin married again, Mr. Henry Berry, a lawyer of Shepherdstown. Benoni married a third time, but his wife soon died. He then moved to Lebanon in order to educate his two daughters at the Moravian school there. These were the children of his first wife. Only one of them lived to maturity. She married Colonel Joseph Blackford. Benoni died in 1798. He at one time represented his district in the Maryland Legislature."[2]
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S > Swearingen > Benoni Swearingen
Categories: Low Dutch Settlements in Kentucky | 11th Virginia Regiment (1777), Continental Army, American Revolution