Davis Uriah I | Born 1707
SWANK, John
1749 - 1794 (~ 51 years)-
Name SWANK, John Born Between 1743 and 1749 Pennsylvania Or Maryland 
Gender Male Died 12 Aug 1794 Cofer Farm, Hardin County, Kentucky Person ID I5636 Uriah Davis I - Genealogy Last Modified 21 Jun 2018
Father SCHWENK, Balthasar, b. Germany , d. 1763, Maxatawny Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania Mother MARGARET, Anna, b. Abt 1726, Of, Berks County, Pennsylvania Married Bef 1749 Family ID F2196 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family SUMMIT, Rosannah, b. Abt 1752, Probably Germany , d. Aft 1843, Hardin County, Kentucky (Age ~ 92 years) Married 28 Nov 1769 Exeter Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania Children 1. SWANK, William 2. SWANK, Hannah, b. 25 Mar 1770, Pennsylvania , d. 11 Dec 1836, Hardin County, Kentucky (Age 66 years)3. SWANK, John, b. Abt 1772, Probably Pennsylvania , d. Yes, date unknown4. SWANK, Jacob, b. 28 Jan 1776, Pennsylvania , d. 1853, Mississippi County, Missouri (Age 76 years)5. SWANK, Elizabeth, b. Abt 1778, Monongalia County, Virginia (Now Pennsylvania) , d. Bef 1850 (Age ~ 71 years)6. SWANK, David, b. Bef 1780, d. 20 Feb 1842, Putnam County, Indiana (Age > 62 years)7. SWANK, Susannah, b. Abt 1781, Hardin County, Kentucky , d. Yes, date unknown8. SWANK, Rosannah, b. Abt 1786, Hardin County, Kentucky , d. Yes, date unknown9. SWANK, Joseph, b. 8 Jul 1788, Hardin County, Kentucky , d. 10 Aug 1833, Montgomery County, Indiana (Age 45 years)Last Modified 24 Jun 2018 Family ID F2184 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Notes - John Swank (original name Johannes Schwenk) born about 1750 in Pennsylvania, or more likely, he came over from Germany as a child with his parents Balthasar and Anna Margaret Schwenk.
According to Trinity Church records, on Nov. 28, 1769, John and Rosannah Summit (RosinaSammet) were married in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father was Jacob Sammet.
John and Rosannah moved to Washington Co., Maryland in the early 1770's, and he took the oath of allegiance there during the Revolutionary War.
Later he moved his family to Hardin Co., Kentucky around 1780 where they became prosperous pioneers. John Swank owned slaves and had more than 2,500 acres of land.
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August 12, 1794:
John and Rosannah were riding on horseback from Elizabethtown, KY to Bardstown, KY, when they were attacked by Indians. John put his wife on his wounded horse and then fled on foot to a cave on the old Cofer farm two miles from the fort. While trying to conceal himself his dog betrayed him by barking at the pursuing Indians, and he was murdered, suffering nineteen bullet wounds. Tradition says John remained sitting upright with his back against the projecting rocks, and after many bullets were fired into his body the Indians became frightened and fled thinking he was a spirit.
Rosannah fled on her husband's horse until the horse collapsed. She then got away on foot and made it to a friends home on Rolling Fork. She was a big woman and her new linsey dress was slowing her down, so she took it off and carried it over her arm, but took care to save all the precious pins which she stuck in a neat row across her frock.
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John Swank lived in a fort of his own two miles northeast of Elizabethtown. It occupied the ground where their son-in-law, William Edlin, afterwards lived and died. John and Rosannah left a considerable family, most of whom became rich or comfortable and subsequently moved to Missouri.
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The 1795 KY census listed in Hardin Co. are: John Swank; John Swank Jr.; Rosana Swank; and Rosanna Swank.
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John Swank's father, Jacob Swank was probably born in Germany.
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In 1835 all of the Swank children except Elizabeth who married William Edlin, and Susannah who m. William B. Roll moved to Missouri and did well. His son Jacob, who married Elizabeth Van Meter, built a large brick home near Charleston, MO, which became a landmark. Daughter Susannah and husband William B. Roll moved to Harrison Co., IN. They had 3-4 small children.
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SOURCE:
1. Hardin Co. Historical Society, Elizabethtown Library, KY.
2. Hardin Co., KY Will Book A-3-57
- John Swank (original name Johannes Schwenk) born about 1750 in Pennsylvania, or more likely, he came over from Germany as a child with his parents Balthasar and Anna Margaret Schwenk.