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.
State of Service: PA/MD
Qualifying Service: Lieutenant / Patriotic Service
Photos displayed courtesy of Scott and Andrew Giltner, KYSSAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
From Louisville, KY: Get on I-64 E from W Liberty St.Follow I-64 E to KY-53 N/Mt Eden Rd in Shelbyville. Take exit 35 from I-64 E.Follow KY-53 N/Mt Eden Rd to your destination
Photo: 1 of 4
Photo: 2 of 4
Photo: 3 of 4
Photo: 4 of 4
Author: Alan Wenzel
Van Swearingen (referred to in the Swearingen Family as “Kentucky Van”) was born on 3 November 1754, near Hagerstown, Frederick County, Maryland, the fourth child of John Swearingen and Catherine Stull. He moved with his parents to what was known as Monongahela (now Fayette County), Pennsylvania in 1770.
On 15 February 1777 Van was appointed a Lieutenant of militia. In the spring he joined the Company of Captain Daniel Stull, his uncle, and a regular officer in the Maryland Line. He assisted in recruiting 30-40 men over a two-month period of time. With an insurrection of Tories in the neighborhood of his father's residence in Pennsylvania, he quit the service and returned home in the fall, to assist in quelling these Tories. This required two months of service. In 1777 he volunteered in Captain James Neill's Pennsylvania Company, serving three months on station at Yellow Creek on the Ohio River.
In the spring of 1778, Van enlisted in Captain William Harrod’s (Monongahela County) Company, Colonel William Lynn’s Pennsylvania Regiment. He was at Fort Saint Pierre and Fort Kaskaskia when they were forced to surrender to Clark. He stopped at the Falls of the Ohio River on his journey home (now Louisville, Kentucky) for two months and assisted in the building of a fort, and as a spy. This term of service comprised a total of ten months.
In the spring of 1779, Van again enlisted in Captain Harrod’s Company, commanded by Colonel Bowman. They marched to Louisville and then on to the Little Miami River, in what is now Ohio, where they fought Shawnee troops at Shawneetown, in what became known as the Battle of the Little Miami. This period of service comprised three months.
Van returned home and was married on 24 February 1780, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, to Susanna Greathouse. He received a discharge dated 16 March 1780. After returning home he joined a company of volunteers and rendered service as a scout in the frontier settlements until the fall of 1783 when the war ended. Two months of this time, in 1782, was spent at Forts Pricketts and Evans.
Van received a grant of 100 acres of land lying near Louisville, Kentucky as compensation for his service in the Illinois expedition, and was granted a military pension on 17 September 1832.
Van returned to Pennsylvania residing in Fayette County until moving his growing family to Shelby County Kentucky in 1790. His daughter Rachael married David Van Cleave, the son of John Van Cleave, and his second wife Rachel (Demaree) Ryker. Van remained in Shelby County until his death, which occurred on 18 July 1839. He was buried in the Swearingen Family plot in the Grove Hill Cemetery, at Shelbyville, Kentucky. His headstone mentions his Revolution service.
Author: Anonymous
The following biography of Van Swearingen was published anonymously at findagrave.com. I am not the author.
On February 15, 1777 Van was appointed a First Lieutenant for service during the Revolutionary War. Between 1777 and 1778 he served in two different Companies, as well as taking part in quelling Tories in western Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1778 he began serving in Colonel William Lynn's Regiment. In April they rendezvoused at a place called Muddy Creek, in western Pennsylvania. From there they marched, under the command of General George Rogers Clark, on expedition against the Illinois Indians. He was at Forts Saint Pierre and Kaskaskia when they surrendered. On the return trip Van remained at the falls of the Ohio River (Louisville, Kentucky) for two months assisting the war effort as a spy for the American Army. He then entered Colonel Bowman's Regiment. They rendezvoused at Louisville and marched to the Little Miami River, in what is now Ohio. Here they fought the Shawnee Indians at Shanenys Town, in what became known as the Battle of the Little Miami. Afterwhich Van joined a company of volunteers rendering his services as a scout upon the frontier settlements, remaining in this capacity until the fall of 1783, when the war ended. Van received a lot of 100 acres of land lying near the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) as compensation for his service in the Illinois Indians expedition, as well as a military pension.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 May 2020), memorial page for Van Swearingen (3 Nov 1754–18 Jul 1839), Find a Grave Memorial no. 78532681, citing Grove Hill Cemetery, Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky, USA ; Maintained by Allan Wenzel (contributor 47403362) .
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.
