John Swift

John Swift (June 17, 1761 – July 12, 1814) was an American military officer during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He founded the town of Palmyra, New York.

Early life Swift was born on June 17, 1761, in Kent, in what was then the Connecticut Colony. His parents were Elisha Swift and the former Mary Ransom; one of his brothers, born two years later, was Philetus Swift, who eventually became a prominent legislator in New York State.

Revolution Swift enlisted in the Continental Army and served as a private in Elmore's Regiment (an unnumbered regiment in the Connecticut Line) under Captain Lathrop Allen.

Pennamite Wars Swift was among the Connecticuters who attempted to settle in the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania, sparking the Second Pennamite War.

Life in Palmyra Swift had married Rhoda Sawyer on March 6, 1784; her brother was the one who proposed the name "Palmyra" in 1796. After Rhoda's death, Swift later married Hepsibah Treat Davidson. He had four children by his first wife and three more by his second.

War of 1812

Swift re-entered military service when the War of 1812 broke out, as a member of the New York Volunteers, and was assigned the rank of brigadier general. In July 1814 (between the Battle of Chippawa and the Battle of Lundy's Lane), Swift's unit was on the Canadian side of the Niagara River as the American forces attempted to invade Upper Canada. On July 12, Swift led a charge to take Fort George, near modern-day Niagara-on-the-Lake. After capturing a picket post, Swift was killed by one of the defenders, whose weapons he had not confiscated. He was initially buried there, but a group of Palmyrans repatriated his remains to the cemetery that today bears his name, the General John Swift Memorial Cemetery.