Much of this I posted in parts on other threads. Since reading Mr. Prather's book on Swift and digesting much of the research I have decided to drop this post into this thread since much of it is pulled from the information he provided. It is a timeline of sorts with many of the critical bits of information we have related to Swift other than the land entry dates in KY given in Prather's book. Please add and discuss anything I missed or got wrong as far as dates and facts. Ponder this...
Has anyone ever given any thought to the times mentioned surrounding the legend. This never seems to add up to me...
First, most journals say his last trip to the mines was 1769.
Secondly, Swift is said to return (blind and/or from imprisonment or having to serve on a British ship) 15 years later to relocated the mine(s).
15+1769=1784 ... BUT I always read the date of 1791 as when he returns to look for the mines or when he is helped when lost in the Red River Gorge.
Typically he is said to have died around 1800 in various places. So my question is, where was Swift from 1784 thru 1791, THAT is 7-8 years of nothing....
I find it odd to say the least, was he (as an old man) searching that whole time. I find that unlikely...
What is interesting to me is that 7-8 year window would be the EXACT time the Swift of Prather's research would have been in his 20s and could have 'worked' the mines!
He was also buying and selling property in KY during this period.
Legendary Jonathan Swift mined silver in KY 1760-1769
Jonathan Swift was born March 27or22 1764 to Samuel and Ann Foster Swift of Milton, Massachusetts and was the 7th of 9 children.
His father, Samuel Swift (1715-1775) participated in the Boston Tea Party by dressing as a Mohawk Indian and may have been a practicing law partner with John Adams. He went to Harvard College, studied law and graduated 1735. He died while being imprisoned in his own house by the British.
The War of Independence 1775 - 1783
Gen. Daniel Roberdeau (Swift's father in law) born 1727 in the British West Indies. He lived in Philidelphia as a merchant and had a 1/8 share in a company and was acting treasurer in two privateering vessels in 1776 called Chance and Congress. In 1777 he served in the Continental Congress and served two terms. In 1778 he was granted a leave of absence from congress to allow him to manage the workings of a lead mine for the army. He erected a fort, Ft. Roberdeau near Altoona, Pennsylvania an area called Sinking Spring Valley in Bedford County, to protect the mine operation with about 10 continental soldiers and 40 militia. Letters he had written about the lead mine are quoted starting on page 74 of the book. Odd, but there is a reference to 'Standing Stone', a 'Morrison's Cave' and accounts of fighting Indians in these letters. Looks like he financed the building of the fort himself and was never repaid by congress for it. After the war he did not return to his previous business of merchant/privateer. It is unknown how he continued to earn an income after leaving for Alexandria.
Jonathan Swift, a merchant married Nancy (or Ann) Roberdeau the elder daughter of Gen. Roberdeau of Alexandria Sept, 24 1785. Swift was an importer and merchant by trade.
J. Filson and R. Breckenridge land entry May 17, 1788 '...worked by one Swift...'
John Filson 1747 — Oct 1, 1788
Legendary Jonathan Swift is said to be looking for his lost mines in 1791. One report states he and his partners were found in the Red River Gorge lost, and he was very ill at the time and blind.
Did Swifts party camp along Swift Camp Creek at this time? Is this why and when Campton later got its name?
James Harrod 1746 — 1792 (His body was never found after going to the forks of the KY river to look at Swift's silver mine with another man who invited him)
So, Filson made a land entry in May of 1788 and by October he is dead in Ohio. (Some say he just disappeared because his body was never found)
Col. James Harrod dies the year after Legendary Swift has returned to KY to find his mine(s) in 1791.
Could it be that stories of Swift's father in law and the lead mine were the original source or basis of the legend. Roberdeau was in company as a privateer, later member of the continental congress, and was in charge of a lead mine during the revolution. After the war, he moved his family to Alexandria. He did not continue in his previous business as merchant but his new son-in-law is in that business. Was he a silent partner with Swift?
What if the dates were changed to protect the mining rights, as Eastern KY was beginning to be more populated? Changed in that, they arrived at the mine and worked it in, lets say, 1788. But they make a carving at the mine making a claim and date it 1762.
What did Roberdeau know about mining lead?
Prather's Swift was the son in law of a Rev. war general who secured a lead mining operation on the Penn. frontier (west of the mountains) for the continental army, he also was involved in a privateer company prior to that for the colonies. This same Swift married this man's daughter in 1785. He also was involved in a importing and merchant business. Both were active in their lodges as masons as was Gen. Washington. This Jonathon Swift was also a friend of Washington.
Six years later the Swift of the Legend shows up looking for his mine with his journal in hand.
I do not believe in coincidences. Two different Jonathan Swifts in KY 20-25 years apart is more than not probable! It isn't impossible... but extremely unlikely especially considering the sparse population of the frontier at that time.
How was the taxes collected for the Crown 
