When Elizabeth Knapp Minnerly was born on 8 April 1822, in New York, United States, her father, James Minnerly, was 31 and her mother, Hannah Knapp, was 25. She married Samuel Miller Swisher on 30 December 1840, in Richland, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. She lived in Tod Township, Crawford, Ohio, United States in 1850 and Mendota Township, LaSalle, Illinois, United States in 1870. She died on 26 December 1906, in Mendota, LaSalle, Illinois, United States, at the age of 84, and was buried in Restland Cemetery, Mendota Township, LaSalle, Illinois, United States.