The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
No entry found at Find-a-Grave as of September 2020
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Author: John Dwight Clark
James Jacob Swart was born August 19, 1761 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to John Swart and Elizabeth Nagel. About 1770, he moved his family to Loudoun County Virginia. James enlisted in the Virginia Continental Line at the beginning of the war as a youth and served for the duration of the war and beyond. Much of the information relating to James’ patriotic service comes from his pension application, which was submitted years after this death by his widow Margaret (Nudigate) Thomas (James’ third wife). According to the pension record, James volunteered in Loudoun County, Virginia where he was living at the home of his father John Swart. His son William R. Swart testified that James told him that he served in Lees Legion of Cavalry during the Southern Campaign of the war. Documentation from Major Joseph Eggleston certifies that James Swart served as a private in Lee's Legion of dragoons from the 15th of March 1780 to the 20th of August 1783. Also according to William, James was present at Yorktown for the Surrender of Cornwallis. Following the war, James was awarded monetary compensation as well as a warranty land grant in present-day Kentucky from the State of Virginia. It is believed that James settled his land at Johnson Fork of the Licking River in 1786. After the surrender at Yorktown, numerous battles continued to be fought between the Americans, British, and Native Americans throughout the western territories. James Swart was one of the 180 ill-fated soldiers who fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, Kentucky on August 19, 1782, 10 months after the Battle of Yorktown. The August 24, 1882 issue of “The Weekly Tribune" in Robertson County, Kentucky reports that “James Swart led the disastrous retreat on that bloody occasion, and it was owing to his coolness and self-possession that many escaped.” In 1928 a monument inscribed with the names of those who participated in the battle was erected at Blue Licks State Park. The name of James Swart appears among the Privates who escaped. James Swart is believed to have been in an accident at Clark’s Mill in Fleming County Kentucky in 1813. His widow, Margaret, states that James died at his home May 10, 1813, presumable from injuries sustained in this accident. James was buried in an unmarked grave on Old Governor DeSha’s Farm in Mason County, Kentucky. A chancery suit filed in 1829 by James’ son William R. Swart in Loudoun County Virginia names James’ children, including the youngest, Henry Swart, born in 1812.
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