My Genealogy Hound

JAMES SWAN.
James Swan, one of the prosperous farmers and well-known men of Mission township, Shawnee County, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, owns 240 acres of land in section 27, township 12, range 15. He was born in 1828 in Fifeshire, Scotland, and is a son of George and Anna (Oliphant) Swan.

George Swan, the paternal grandfather, died in Scotland in 1846, aged 83 years. Our subject’s father followed the trade of baker in his native land. The mother died in Scotland, and in the fall of 1853 the father and his oldest daughter came to America and settled in Guernsey County, Ohio, where he died in 1863, aged 81 years.

James Swan, our immediate subject, came to the United States in November, 1850, and settled in Guernsey County, Ohio, with Rev. Mr. Bloom and wife, the former of whom was a farmer and a local preacher. About 1853 he went to Indiana, prior to the coming of his father and sister to Ohio, and the former he never saw in this country. Mr. Swan remained in Indiana until the spring of 1857 and then came to Kansas on a prospecting trip, after which he returned to Indiana and settled up his affairs. In 1858 he filed a claim for 80 acres of his present farm and by 1860 his family was established here, for a time on a rented farm.

In 1862 Mr. Swan enlisted in the government service, entering the Sixth Regiment, Kansas Vol. Cav., and faithfully performed a soldier’s duties until he was mustered out in June, 1865, at Duvall’s Bluff, Arkansas. During this time he participated in these battles: Prairie Grove and Cane Hill, Missouri, and Honey Springs, Indian Territory. This did not include all the activity of the regiment for, being stationed on the frontier, it bore the brunt of the constant skirmishing going on and served as a protection to outlying farms and isolated homes. When the regiment took part in the battle of Saline River, Mr. Swan was engaged in a much more dangerous task, having been detailed in February, 1864, as officer in charge of the mail service. The hardship and danger attendant upon this work brought on illness and he was relieved from this duty on May 15, 1864. He has never fully recovered from the nervous strain of those months during which he so faithfully performed his duty that in November, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of 1st sergeant and was finally discharged as such. During his mail service he had 10 men under his charge and the duties of the position required that the mail should be carried through a great stretch of hostile country. Two of his men were killed and two others were wounded but the mails reached their destination in safety.

After the close of his army service, Mr. Swan returned to his farm in Mission township, Shawnee County, and entered upon its development and improvement. He added to the original tract until now he owns a large and valuable body of land. The home property has many desirable features that add to its value and attractiveness, not the least of which is a living spring that furnishes an excellent supply of water. A bearing orchard of five acres, where all kinds of fruit suited to this section are grown, furnishes its owner with an abundance of fruit for home use and for sale. The landscape as viewed from the house presents quite a pleasing sight, as the vista includes the fruit trees of the orchard and many forest trees and evergreens.

In 1854, in Steuben County, Indiana, Mr. Swan married Wilhemina Pothoff, who is a daughter of Albert and Elizabeth (Homer) Pothoff, both now deceased. Mr. Pothoff was a farmer in Indiana, in which State he died, aged 66 years. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have reared five children, namely: John F., who married Millie Eaton and has six children, Robert B., Mary, William, Ida Belle, Jessie and Clarissa; Lillian, who married C. F. Slaton and has three children, Maude, Grace and Roy; James W., of Colorado; Jessie E., wife of A. J. Sinel; and A. R., who married Ida Belle Kallmeyer and has one child, Albert Frederick.

Politically Mr. Swan has been a life-long Republican. For 13 years he has been a member of the School Board and from 1879 until 1884 he served as township trustee. He has been a justice of the peace for 13 years and in 1880 he was the township census taker. His official duties have been performed with uniform accuracy and with the same consideration for the public’s interest that made him such a faithful soldier during the direful days of the Civil War. Mr. Swan is a member of the Masonic fraternity.