[2] Swift was among the Connecticuters who attempted to settle in the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania, sparking the Second Pennamite War.
In the winter of 1788–89, with the Wyoming Valley situation not going in the Connecticuters' favor, John Swift and John Jenkins purchased a large tract within the Phelps and Gorham Purchase in what is now Wayne County, New York, with the intent of helping their fellow Connecticuters settle there instead.
[3] Swift had married Rhoda Sawyer on March 6, 1784; her brother was the one who proposed the name "Palmyra" in 1796.
Colonel Caleb Hopkins and General John Swift who are both militia commanders led a hit-and-run surprise attack on a British contingent that was out collecting wood.
[5][6] On May 14, 1814, a British raiding fleet under Commodore James Lucas Yeo arrived to take away 400 barrels of flour.
John knowing that his militia would be easily routed in the open against superior British troops placed his militiamen in the tree line.
One group of militia positioned themselves below the bank while General Swift's other men were in a nearby ravine.
The American force withdrew back to their camp with John Swift's body as he died.