When Uriah Swank was born on 1 October 1841, in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, William Swank, was 25 and his mother, Lavina Berger, was 24. He married Marilla Moore about 1867, in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. He died in 1875, in his hometown, at the age of 34, and was buried in Reed, Shamokin Township, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, United States.