Considering the level of education at that time a man named Swift could have been Smith with a W inverted to an M and such. If passed on verbally accents alone could have caused mispronunciation. Another thought, 1761 could be 1791 by an inverted 6 to 9. With a generous estimated population of under 20,000 by 1790 in the KY region I find it almost impossible to have two men with same first and last name unless they were father and son. The fact that the Swift of Alexandria who owned lands in KY was the son-in-law of a revolutionary general who was in charge of a lead mining operation is revealing as to the root of the legend (think possible war stories being told). I still lean toward the possibility of a covert operation during the war for revolutionary material resources. Remember at this time salt, powder and lead were the only means for survival (food and clothing) on the frontier. Indian attacks continued into the 1790s at some stations (forts). The populated areas of the state were where ground could be tilled for crops usually along the rivers in the bluegrass region, necessary to make land claims...the Eastern mountain section of the would be state was very sparsely populated until after the war of 1812. Could be that the dates were altered to 1760s to predate the British claims of these lands after French claims? I don't know how mineral rights to lands worked in colonial and in early America...might be worth looking into?
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On Swift's relation to Roberdeau
