Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....Swan, James 1828 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 20, 2006, 12:29 am

Author: James L. King (1905)

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 sin 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 i860 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.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.

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