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The proprietor of The Gem Saloon was six months ahead of everyone else in Deadwood, and he runs the town like a corrupt riverboat captain.
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 28, 2009 10:49 PM
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"In life you have to do a lot of things you don't fucking want to do. Many times, that's what the fuck life is... one vile fucking task after another."
..AL
--
"The insane are running the asylum"
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 28, 2009 8:09 PM
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"Sometimes I wish we could just hit 'em over the head, rob 'em, and throw their bodies in the creek." - Al
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 28, 2009 7:59 PM
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> "Kings" is on Life Support...NBC is planning to burn
> the remaining episodes this summer...
I was wondering how the show was going. I started watching it because of Ian but somehow keep forgetting to watch it after a few episodes.
--
"The insane are running the asylum"
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 28, 2009 7:01 PM
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How's that pussy-lotion? Should I try some on my ass? - Al
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 22, 2009 8:01 AM
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"Kings" is on Life Support...NBC is planning to burn the remaining episodes this summer...
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Apr 21, 2009 2:12 PM
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I have been watching a new series on NBC Kings. I only started watching because of Ian McShane and my love for him as Al, but I see the same qualities coming through in the storyline of Kings: his sarcasm, the ability to both cruel and caring, the threat of violence ready to explode at any moment. It is not Deadwood, and it has many religious storylines. But it is cinematically equivalent, and with time the religion will tone down, the network has no stomach for overt Christianity in this PC environment, leaving a really good show for prime-time. if it survives, that is. NBC has been moving it around in the line up and it is on Saturday nights right now  you can check it out at nbc.com or on hulu and watch full episodes.
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Feb 22, 2009 2:51 PM
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Hello ASwearingen,
In the past we've talked about our ancestors at Jamestown. Have you had a chance to visit their living exhibit yet? Boy did I get lucky; I found my Jamestown relative! I also found out that relatives on the other side of the family financed the trip to America! Wild. . . just simply wild.
--
Speak your mind but ride a fast horse.
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Jan 16, 2009 9:46 PM
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Thanks, Eccles. Glad you liked the post. When I found the Basil Hayden connection I thought of you (and just had to post it).
The Swearingens had large families and lived near each other for generations and many of the Maryland group came to Kentucky very early, some to claim bounty land for military service. At one time the Swearingen family held 30,000 acres north of Lexington and were the largest landholders in the region (those were Al's great uncles, not ancestors, but they all knew each other and helped each other). So when Al showed up in Bourbon County in 1871 I'm sure the family helped him buy furnishings for his first saloon.
I'm still researching Al's life and have found quite a few twists and turns, especially near the end of his stay in Deadwood. The Gem was completely destroyed by fire in December 1899 by all accounts, and Al reportedly left town and died penniless in Denver soon after (widely reported by locals in later histories). But there are records of him coming back to Deadwood in 1903 and floating plans to rebuild the Gem (a fact left out of most historical accounts). And there's this article from the New York Times published in April 1902 I just found:
Click
Strange, isn't it? That the sheriff who raided the Gem Variety Theater in Deadwood on April 24, 1902 found a crowd of 300 on a Thursday night...in a building that was supposedly burned to the ground a little over a year earlier.
It is more likely Al's partners burned down the old Gem to drive Al out of town, then rebuilt it and operated it themselves for a few years. Once Al returned to Deadwood it wasn't long before his twin brother was attacked in Oskaloosa in October of 1904 and Al himself was killed in Denver in November of 1904.
Doesn't sound like he was powerless or penniless, does it? Someone considered him either a real threat, a potential source of cash, or both.
--
One vile task after another...
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Jan 3, 2009 1:20 PM
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> Basil Hayden also negotiated Spanish contracts for
> Bourbon, creating new markets served by hauling
> barrels of whiskey from Paris up to Maysville,
> Kentucky (the closest town on the Ohio River, about
> 45 miles away) to be loaded on flatboats and floated
> down to New Orleans. And as it turns out, Al's family
> (and mine) traveled down the Ohio River and settled
> near Maysville in the early 1800's where they were
> part of the Bourbon trade at that port (Daniel, Al's
> father, was born in Maysville in 1817).
>
> One of the first records of Al after leaving Iowa is
> related to a $12,000 purchase of whiskey and
> furnishings for a saloon made in Paris, Kentucky in
> 1871 -- undoubtedly, Al spent time in the area with
> relatives who probably vouched for him, as that was a
> very large amount of money for a 26 year-old to be
> purchasing on credit at the time.
>
> Anyway, I thought this was a pretty good story to
> share on New Year's Eve, particularly since there are
> some Basil Hayden fans out there.
>
> Happy New Year and Huzzah!
>
> --
> One vile task after another...
Your posts about the Swearingen clan are always interesting and much appreciated. Of course, I had no idea of the Basil Hayden connection, and that is cool.
Thanks.
--
O-< Primum non nocere. O-<
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Dec 31, 2008 9:46 PM
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Since it is New Year's Eve, I thought you all might appreciate a little Swearingen history I?ve put together over the past few weeks.
Gerrett Van Sweringen was our original immigrant ancestor, arriving in New Amsterdam in 1657 and eventually settling in St. Marys City, Maryland where he established an Inn and Coffeehouse (his hard cider was reportedly excellent). Several generations of Swearingens lived in St. Marys County for decades, and over time many gradually migrated west ? either through the Cumberland Gap or down the Ohio River.
One early migration involved 25 "prominent Catholic families from St. Marys County" who traveled together to the Bardstown, Kentucky area around 1785, then moved north and east to settle near what is now Paris, Kentucky (the county seat of Bourbon County). Realizing that corn, barley and rye were too expensive to ship profitably across the mountains as raw grain, they quickly found that distilling whiskey was a far better way to raise hard cash, and several distilleries were established near the natural limestone springs throughout the county where Bourbon whiskey was eventually perfected. And the name of the leader of that original "St. Marys County" migration? None other than Basil Hayden (b. 2 Jan 1744 in St. Marys County). Here?s a link to a site with St. Marys County births (showing several generations of Haydens and Swearingens, both prominent Catholic families of the time).
click
There are other early records showing a "Van Swearingen" and "Thomas Swearingen" as being in the original group of pioneers at Fort Boonesborough and later family records of distilling tubs/vats ownership in Bourbon County, but their distilling operations were probably fairly small scale.
Basil Hayden also negotiated Spanish contracts for Bourbon, creating new markets served by hauling barrels of whiskey from Paris up to Maysville, Kentucky (the closest town on the Ohio River, about 45 miles away) to be loaded on flatboats and floated down to New Orleans. And as it turns out, Al's family (and mine) traveled down the Ohio River and settled near Maysville in the early 1800's where they were part of the Bourbon trade at that port (Daniel, Al's father, was born in Maysville in 1817).
One of the first records of Al after leaving Iowa is related to a $12,000 purchase of whiskey and furnishings for a saloon made in Paris, Kentucky in 1871 -- undoubtedly, Al spent time in the area with relatives who probably vouched for him, as that was a very large amount of money for a 26 year-old to be purchasing on credit at the time.
Anyway, I thought this was a pretty good story to share on New Year's Eve, particularly since there are some Basil Hayden fans out there.
Happy New Year ? and Huzzah!
--
One vile task after another...
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Dec 16, 2008 8:59 PM
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I haven't been here in a long time...
I miss Al too.
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Sep 29, 2008 9:51 AM
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iii
Happy Birthday, Ian! We love ya! 
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Sep 14, 2008 9:23 PM
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> Here's a snippet of an interview with Ian McShane
> from the TCA conferences. He was there to talk about
> his new show, "Kings", but the inevitable Deadwood
> questions came up...
>
> Click
Thank you--I really enjoyed that--Will there ever be anything as good as Deadwood again?
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Aug 10, 2008 2:26 AM
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> Here's a snippet of an interview with Ian McShane
> from the TCA conferences. He was there to talk about
> his new show, "Kings", but the inevitable Deadwood
> questions came up...
>
> Click
Hm. Interesting. Though, I think he's being a little loose with the facts here. Not that I have any special knowledge of "the facts" beyond anything everyone on here's probably read, but it seems he's being a little flippant with Milch's "how bout we do fucking none."
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Re: Al Swearengen played by Ian McShane
Aug 2, 2008 8:35 AM
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Ian is back.
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