Hans Ulrich Schwab ^{1 2}

   Another name for Hans was Joseph Swope.

  General Notes:

He is said to have been among the first settlers in Monroe County and his son Michael was the first white child born in Monroe County.

Among other sources, "Pennsylvania German Ancestors" by Anne Shifflet, Ph.D. Pages 113 thru 119 address 'Swope Ancestors' starting with Jost (Yost) and Anna Catharina Wolfhardt. Their 10th child listed being Hans Ulrich Schwab born 21 Oct 1707 in Germany who later Americanized his name to Joseph Swope as shown on the Historical Highway marker in West Virginia along with birth year 1707 near his family home there. There are other Swope writings which concur with her findings of 1656 to 1727 [date of inventory of goods at time of his death] for Yost Schwab based on immigration to America, marriage, children birth dates, etc.

He settled in Monroe County, VA about 1752.

Joseph served in the Colonial Wars

He died from complications of an old bullet wound that was infected after being thrown from a horse while traveling from Augusta Co, VA to Lancaster Co, PA.

Swope's life and family are accounted in The History of Monroe County West Virginia, by Oren F. Morton, B. Lit., Originally Published: Staunton, Virginia, 1916, Reprinted, Regional Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1988, pgs. 494-506

"The Swope family is a German family (Schwab or Swab being the original German name for what is now known as Swope). The Swopes were the first settlers in Monroe County, Joseph Ulrich or John Ulrich Swope being the ancient and original settler and ancestor of the family in this region of the country. He was the second son of Yost (Joseph) and was born in the town of Leiman, in the Duchy of Baden, in 1707.His grandfather was the mayor or burgomaster of that town. His father, Yost Swope, was born in the same town, on the 22d day of February,1678, and owing to the persecutions of the Lutheran Church, of which he was an active member, he emigrated across the seas and settled in Upper Leacock Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Here he raised a family of five children, all of whom located there except John Ulrich, or Joseph, as he will hereafter be called. We are not positive as to his first name, whether it is John or Joseph. The family records show that frequently these Dutch people gave two of their children the same name, and tradition is that he dropped the name of John, the name of his older brother, and assumed and adopted his father's name of Joseph. The original ancestor wrote his name Swab, and it was Americanized into Swope. This Joseph Ulrich left Pennsylvania and immigrated with the German colony into the Valley of Virginia, locating in Augusta, near the site of the present Swope Depot on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. It was here that his son Joseph was born, on the 7th day of August, 1751. He was of a venturesome disposition, and began explorations in the country to the west. In 1750, 1751 or1752, with his trusty flintlock gun, he followed the Indian trail up Jackson's River to the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, thence up that creek, crossing the tablelands into the country where Union is built. There, instead of following the trail down the waters of Indian Creek, he took a due west course and landed on top of those knobs which bear his name to this day Swope's Knobs and from there he viewed the country. He descended from this mountain into the Wolf Creek Valley, and was detected by a party of marauding Indians, who followed him, but whom he discovered in time to make preparations for his escape. He headed for a large hollow poplar tree which stood about a third of a mile west of the present site of the Wolf Creek post-office, near the Broad Run church. He managed to crawl into the hollow of this tree and climbed up the hollow, bracing himself against the sides, and there remained until the Indians gave up the search. He could hear them talking and walking around the tree, but they evidently decided it was impossible for a man to be inside of it. The tree remained standing until 1860, when it became dangerous from decay and was cut down. After the departure of the Indians he came out of his hiding place, and there located a claim to the land round about, and cut his name in a beech tree near the spring on the farm now owned by Mrs. Cornelius Leach, entered his tomahawk or corn title and cut a brush heap at the same place. He then left, and returned in a year or two, and brought his wife and son Joseph, and built his house a few yards north at what is known as the Conner Spring. In this house he lived and his son, Michael, was born there on the 29th of September, 1753. This child was the first white male child born in the Territory of Monroe County, if not within the present territorial limits of Southern West Virginia. There is a tradition that there had been a girl born before this date within that territory, but if so, all history thereof is lost. This house, built by this pioneer, still remains in splendid condition, and it was from this house that his son, Joseph, was stolen by the Shawnee Indians in 1756, at the age of five years, and kept a prisoner with them near Chillicothe, Ohio, for nine years. After formally settling his family in this new home, Joseph, the settler, decided to visit his people in Pennsylvania and look after his interest in his father's estate. On this trip his horse threw him, fractured his leg where it had once been fractured by an Indian bullet, and from this wound he died, and where his place of burial is no one knows.

"He was a traveler and hunter, and it was Swope, Pack, and Pitman, who were hunting down New River near the mouth of Bluestone, and discovered the Indians, who were making for the Jackson River and the Catawba settlements for the purpose of attacking and destroying them. These hunters separated, one going to one settlement and one to another to warn them of the danger, and it was this band of Indians that Captain Paul followed. An account of his fight with them at the mouth of Indian is given elsewhere in this book. The theft of Swope's boy by the Indians embittered him towards that people to such an extent that he never let any opportunity pass to harass them or to secure a scalp".

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Trapper.

Hans married Unknown.