Samual H. Swaim ^223,224

   Cause of his death was Intense Sickness.

  General Notes:

From "The Warren Republican" Newspaper Thursday, April 25, 1895

Obituary of Rev. Samuel Hines Swaim:

Rev. Samuel Hines, son of Simeon W. and Nancy Swaim, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, October 25th 1820.

Simeon W. Swaim was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, March 18th, 1799. Nancy (Irwin) Swaim was born in Guilford county, North Carolina February 27th, 1799. Christopher Columbus Swaim, father of Simeon W., was born in Randolph county, North Carolina December 24th, 1774, under colonial government.

Simeon W. Swaim and Nancy Irwin were united in marriage December 21, 1819. To this union were born six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom Samuel H. was the eldest. They emigrated from North Carolina in the fall of 1888 to Preble county, Ohio, where they remained until the spring of 1836), during which time the father and son earned the money that entered one hundred and twenty acres of land (two miles east of where Warren is now located) in sections 27 and 28, in Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana, upon which they commenced to make a home in April 1836.

The hardships of pioneer life were many, and the privations hard to bear, but they were preferred in a free state, rather than enjoy the comforts and blessings of an older settled but slave state.

Under these adverse circumstances Samuel H. Swaim passed his minority, being classed with the poor whites under a slave state government, and enduring the privations of a pioneer life during his youth, but with all these to contend with, his desire for knowledge, coupled with the determined efforts of his parents, (especially that of his mother) and the light of a pine know in his southern home, and the tallow candle in Indiana, he acquired an education sufficient to enter the school-room as teacher in the winter of 1844, and for more than twenty years (with two exceptions) he was employed as teacher every winter, never so far from his humble home but what he boarded under his own roof most of the time.
He was the friend of the orphan, having served as guardian for seven different ones.

At the age of thirteen he transacted much of his father's business, doing all his writing from that time on.

Writing and posting the first public sale bill ever put up in Salamonie township, those of his uncle, James Irwin's estate, of which is father was the administrator, taking it through court in his father's name. He was reared in the Baptist faith, but was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at a camp meeting in the year 1840 at the age of twenty. He was licensed as an exhorter in 1848. and on May 13, 1847, he was licensed to preach. On the 16th day of September, 1855, he was ordained Deacon at a conference held at Goshen, Indiana, by Bishop Edward R. Ames, and ordained Elder at Logansport, Indiana, April 10th, 1850, by Bishop Thomas A Morris. He has preached as many funerals and solemnizod as many marriages as any other one man in this part of the country. He never entered the regular traveling ministry, but three different times he has supplied the place of pastor on Warren circuit, under the call of the presiding Elder. He has been faithful to his Church under any and all circumstances in which he has held official position other than preacher for more than fifty years. He took great interest in educational matters, helping to locate the first school houses of his township, yet he was glad to see the day when the old log school house gave place to the more modern and commodious frame, and rejoiced when the frames gave place to the more substantial brick school buildings which now dot our township at every two miles station, with a large six-room graded school building in Warren, and his grandson one of the township teachers. He has lived to see the school term advanced from 60 to 135 days per year, the requirements necessary to fit one to teach are a generation in advance of him. He has seen this, his adopted county, in every stage from the wilderness until there is a farm house on nearly every 80 acres, and when you could count the votes of Salamonie township on your fingers until there were more than 650 votes cast at the election of 1894.

He is the father of seven children, three sons and four daughters. William F., Mahala M., Harriett A.B., Simeon A., Mary A., Elisabeth A., and David S. Two of these (Mahala M. and Simeon A.) are deceased. David S. lives in San Diego, Calafornia, Mary A. at Demorest, Georgia. The other three live in or near Warren. His children owe more to his personal efforts and instruction at home for the education they have attained than to any other cause, the public school not excepted. He was elected surveyor of Huntington county in 1852, and for two years spent his time running lines and locating corners. His work in this line was a success, future surveyors paying him this tribute: "We never have any trouble with Swaim's surveys; his lines are easily followed, because his corners were permanently located."

He has been a sufferer from hernia since April, 1850, otherwise a stout, hearty, robust man standing 5 feet 10 inches, and weighing about 180 pounds.

He came to Indiana when the red man was yet an inhabitant. He helped to dig the fourth grave for a white person ever dug in Salamonie township. but now the fourth cemetery is a necessity.

In politics he affiliated with the Democratic party from his majority up to 1854; from that time until 1882, he was a zealous Republican. Since 1882 he has been an uncompromising Probitlonist, swerving for no man nor for any reason.

True to his convictions, always ready to give a reason for the faith that was in him, he was never hard to locate by his fellowmen.

His grandfather, Christopher C., died two miles east of Warren Ind., in 1851. His father passed away in his prime, near Warren, Ind. In May, 1847.

His mother died in Warren in September 1865. The companion of his youth was Miss Elizabeth P. Back, the youngest daughter of Aaron and Margaret Back, who were Virginians by birth, Aaron having done service for his country in the struggle of 1812.

Samuel H. Swaim and Elizabeth P. Back were united in marriage November 15th, 1841, by Leander Morrison, the first Justice of the Peace in Salamonie township, and have traveled life's journey together for more than 53 (?) years. Many have been the conflicts and hard the labors of their lives together, but God has been their support in all these years.

He took to his bed November 26, 1894, and was never out of the house again. His sufferings were intense. He realized his condition was serious from the beginning of his sickness, and was conscious until within a few hours of his death, which occurred at his residence in Warren at 4:55 o'clock Tuesday evening, April 16th, 1895. The funeral occurred at the Methodist church by Rev. Henry Bridge his pastor, assisted by Rev. W. D. Samuel. Pastor of the Christian church on Thursday, April 18th, at 10:30 A.M. Interment in Woodlawn cemetery.

He helped dig the fourth grave in Salamonie township, and now he is the fourth person buried in the fourth cemetery at Warren. He never cast a ballot any where ???? in Salamonie township, and has never missed an election since the spring of 1842. The pioneers are dropping one by one. His age was 74 years, 5 months and 21 days.

See - History of Huntington County, Indiana - 1887
Brant and Fuller Co., Chicago IL - Swaim, Rev. Samuel H.




William Franklin Swaim

All too rapidly the ranks of those who took part in the great struggle between the North and the South are thinning. The gray-haired veterans, one after another, are going to join their comrades in that land where bloodshed and warfare are unknown. But few of the defenders of the Union flag during the sixties now remain who are able to hold their own in the keen struggle of everyday competition. Yet here and there are found exceptions, Now and then a sturdy old warrior is found whose eye is as bright and whose step is as firm as in the days of youth, and who, with intellect still unclouded finds enjoyment in a struggle in which he is pitted against the sons and grandsons of his former comrades. Although more than seventy years of age, William Franklin Swaim, of Huntington, veteran of the Civil War, and ex-official of Huntington county, continues to remain active in the management of his large affairs. He was born March 16, 1843, on the old home farm in Salamonie township, two miles east of the thriving town of Warren, Huntington county, Indiana, and is a son of the Rev. Samuel H. Swaim.

The ancestry of Mr. Swaim is traced back through many generations to the early settlement of Delaware and New Jersey by the Swedes and Finns, and later the family is found represented among the early pioneers of the historic old North State. From the most reliable information obtainable, the Swaims appear to have been descended from both the above nationalities, and the name is first found in the local annals of Delaware and New Jersey as far back as the year 1638. Samuel Hines Swaim, the father of William Franklin Swaim, was born October 25, 1820, in Randolph county, North Carolina. He was a youth of sixteen years of age when he accompanied the family to the wilds of what is now known as Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana. He became a man of education, a great reader and lover of books written by eminent authors and known as standard works, and part of his career was spent as a teacher, beginning in 1834 and continuing for the succeeding twenty years, during which lie gained a wide reputation in his calling. Reared a Baptist, he later joined the Methodist religion, became a widely-known minister, and was a great Bible student.

William Franklin Swaim passed his boyhood and youth in assisting his father on the home farm, his education being secured partly in the district schools, which he attended for about sixty days each winter, but principally under his father. The older man's preceptorship advanced the youth so rapidly that while still in his minority he secured a license to teach, although his work in the schoolroom w as interrupted by the war. In December, 1863, he laid aside the cap and gown to take up the musket, enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and remained at Kokomo until the ensuing March, when it was ordered to join Sherman's army in Georgia. This regiment was assigned to the, Second Brigade, First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, under General Schofield, being the flanking corps during the celebrated Atlanta campaign, and as such participated in many of the stirring scenes which marked that eventful service during the great War of the Rebellion. On July 22, 1864, while engaged before Atlanta, Mr. Swaim was taken sick, which necessitated his removal from the front to the field hospital, and later the character of his indisposition made it imperative to remove him to Knoxville, where better treatment could be obtained. On September 20, 1864, he left the hospital upon furlough and until the December following recuperated his strength under the care of relatives and friends at home. Rejoining his regiment at Nashville, he took part in the bloody battle at that place, after which he accompanied his command in pursuit of General Hood to the Tennessee river. Later, his regiment embarked on the Tennessee and made its way down that river and up the Ohio to Cincinnati, where it took train for the, national capital. After spending a month in Washington the command proceeded by water from Alexandria to North Carolina, landing at the mouth of Cape Fear river, from whence it was ordered to Forts Anderson and Beaufort. After a short stay at the latter place, an order came to proceed to Newbern, North Carolina, from which place the regiment, with others, made a long and tiresome march across cypress swamps and badly broken country to Goldsboro, taking part in the battle of Kingston on the way. Joining Sherman, they went to Raleigh, thence to Greensboro, and there Mr. Swaim witnessed the surrender of General Johnson, an event which broke the backbone of the Confederacy in that part of the South. For some time thereafter the regiment did guard duty at Charlotte, North Carolina and in August, 1865, a part of the regiment was ordered to Lincolnton, where it remained until November following. In September, 1865, Mr. Swaim was detailed to serve as clerk to the captain of his company, who was inspector general of the District of West-North Carolina, in which capacity he continued until mustered out of the service at Charlotte, North Carolina, December 2, 1865. Eleven days later he was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Indiana, after which he returned to his home and once more took up the peaceful pursuits of civil life.

Mr. Swaim operated his father's farm during the two years that followed his leaving the army, and then embarked upon a career of his own by the purchase of eighty acres of good land. He continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits from 1868 to 1881, and at intervals also worked at the carpenter's trade. Upon disposing of his farming interests, he moved to Warren, and there, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Franklin Shaffer, he operated a planing mill for a period of four years. Subsequently he left this business to take up teaming and also interested himself in various other lines of endeavor. In 1889 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Warren, and three years later had the honor of being chosen town treasurer, the duties of which position he discharged conscientiously and faithfully for two terms. In May, 1894, Mr. Swaim became the Republican nominee for county auditor, to which office he was elected after a strenuous campaign, with the handsome majority of 403 votes. As in his army life, in his official career Mr. Swaim showed himself true to every duty reposed in him, and through his courtesy won friends throughout the county. Although he retired from the activities of life upon the expiration of his official career, he has continued to look after his business interests, in the management of which he has shown keen discernment, foresight and acumen.

Mr. Swaim was married February 21, 1867, to Miss Mary Thompson, who was born in Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana, November 20, 1841. She is the daughter of John H., who was born November 12, 1802, and Mary (Thompson) Thompson, who was born February 14, 1807, both parents natives of Kentucky, from whence they came to Huntington county, Indiana, in the autumn of 1840. John Howard Thompson was one of the prosperous farmers and representative citizens of Huntington county, a man of unimpeachable honor and integrity and a leader in all moral and material movements for the well-being of the community. He followed farming until the year 1870, when he disposed of his property and made removal to the town of Warren, there continuing his residence until his death, October 26, 1889. Mrs. Thompson preceded him to the grave, passing away February 3, 1880. They were devout members of the Christian church and were known as kindly, charitable people. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Swaim: Alfred Edward, September 16, 1868. He was married September 1, 1889, to Miss Amelia M. Irwin, and they had one daughter, Edith Marie, who was born November 8, 1890. Alfred Edward Swaim was his father's deputy while he occupied the county auditor's office, and later became assistant cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Huntington.

Mr. Swaim has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since March, 1857. He exemplifies his faith in his daily life and conversation, takes an active interest in the affairs of the local congregation with which he is identified, and is foremost in all movements having for their object the advancement of education, morality, good citizenship and the public welfare. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he also likes to foregather with his old comrades in James R. Slack Post No. 137, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been Adjutant for the last six years,

  Medical Notes:

Hernia since 1850 Otherwise stout, hearty, and robust.

  Events

• He emigrated in 1828. ⁴¹⁴

• He had a residence in Apr 1836 in Huntington Co., Indiana. ⁴¹⁴

• He was employed between 1844 and 1864 in Teacher. ⁴¹⁴

• He was ordained on 16 Sep 1855 in Ordained Deacon At Goshen, Indiana. ⁴¹⁴

• He was ordained on 10 Apr 1850 in Ordained Elder At Logansport, Indiana. ⁴¹⁴

• He had a religion between 1799 and 1819 in Baptist. ⁴¹⁴

• He had a religion between 1819 and 1895 in Methodist Episcopal. ⁴¹⁴

Samual married Elizabeth P. Back, daughter of Aaron Back and Margaret, on 15 Nov 1851.⁴⁰⁴

  Marriage Notes:

Reference Number:1895