JOHN BLACKBURN SWIGER was born in Clay District, Harrison County, VA/WV on 3 January 1846, the first child of Henry Swiger and his second wife Nancy Richardson Swiger. On December 16, 1864 his Father, Henry Swiger, was awakened at his residence and called downstairs late at night by an alarm at his door. He was met at the foot of the stairs by a band of robbers and assassins who murdered him. Henry was shot to death, supposedly by a group of Confederate guerillas posing as robbers, for Henry was a strong abolitionist opposed to slavery and to the Confederacy. When John was 19 years old, he enlisted as a Union soldier in the Civil War as a Private in Company L, 1st. Regiment West Virginia on January 3, 1865 for a period of 1 year.
     On May 25, 1869, John married Mary A. Rhodes from Highland County, Ohio. They settled in Grant District, Marion County, VA. /WV. John was a farmer, a man of strict integrity, and uprightness of character, sound common sense and he possessed in an eminent degree the confidence and the respect of all who knew him. John died in Shinnston, WV on January 27, 1907 at the age of 61, and is buried in the Shinnston Masonic Cemetery in Shinnston.