My Genealogy Hound

Philip B. Swearingen, M. D., is a native of this county, born in November, 1861, and is a son of Samuel and Sallie N. (Cox) Swearingen. [See sketch of latter for ancestors.] He passed his boyhood and youth in his native county, attending the common schools and receiving instruction at home from an elder brother, Edwin, now deceased. He began life for himself by farming one year in 1880, and the following year he taught school. He then traded in cattle until 1883, after which he became the agent of a nursery until some time in 1884, when he began to study medicine. In the fall of 1885 he entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, from which institution he graduated March 3, 1887, his college expenses having been paid by the money he earned by teaching school during vacations. After graduating he continued teaching for eight months, and then permanently established himself in Cove City, where he has practiced his profession successfully since 1887. June 6, 1888, he married Miss Letta Beale, who was born at Evansville, Ind., in September, 1864, and is a daughter of William and Julia (Prosky) Beale. Mr. Beale was born in Pennsylvania, was a ship carpenter by trade, and died in September, 1869. Mrs. Beale was born in 1832, and still resides at Evansville, Ind. Dr. Swearingen is a Democrat in politics, and cast his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland in 1884.