BIO: Roland Davis SWOOPE, Clearfield County, PA
 
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From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 365-367.
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  ROLAND DAVIS SWOOPE was born at Curwensville, Clearfield county, Pa., 
August 26, 1856, and is the eldest son of the late Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope 
and Susanna Patton (Irvin) Swoope.  On the paternal side he is a lineal 
descendant of Colonel Jacob Mytinger, who served in the War of the 
Revolution, as second in command if "VonHeer's Battalion of Light Dragoons" 
which regiment was the personal escort of General George Washington, between 
whom and Colonel Mytinger a warm personal friendship existed.  Colonel 
Mytinger was also one of the charter members of the "Society of the 
Cincinnati."  On his maternal side, the subject of this sketch is a lineal 
descendant of Colonel John Patton, who was also actively engaged in the 
struggle for National Independence, as colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment of 
Pennsylvania Troops, and for a time had charge of the defenses of 
Philadelphia.  Colonel Patton was one of that noble band of patriots in 
Philadelphia, who raised, on their own personal responsibility, two hundred 
and sixty thousand pounds to aid the Revolutionary army in the greatest 
crisis of that memorable struggle.  He was also a member of the "Society of 
the Cincinnati."
  Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope, the father of the subject of our sketch, was one 
of the most brilliant and distinguished lawyers of Pennsylvania, also famous 
as a political speaker and as one of the leaders of the Republican party of 
his State.  His mother Susanna Patton (Irvin) Swoope was a daughter of 
William Irvin, one of the pioneer lumbermen and business men of Clearfield 
county.  Roland Davis Swoope spent his boyhood days in Clearfield, where he 
attended the public schools and the old Clearfield Academy.  In 1869 his father, 
having been appointed by President Grant, United States Attorney for the Western 
District of Pennsylvania, the family removed to Pittsburg, Pa., where they 
continued to reside until the death of Hon. H. B. Swoope, in February, 1874, 
when they returned to Curwensville.
  In addition to the Clearfield schools, Mr. Swoope also attended the High 
School, Pottstown, Pa., Ayers Latin School at Pittsburg, Pa., Phillips 
Academy at Andover, Mass., and the Western University of Pennsylvania.  While 
a student at Andover he founded and was the first member of the "K. O. A." 
Society, a famous school fraternity, membership in which is the highest 
ambition of every Phillips Andover student.  This society numbers among its 
alumni, many of the most distinguished men in the country.
  In 1876 he entered the law office of Murray & Gordon, a firm, at the time, 
composed of Hon. Thomas H. Murray, who had pursued his legal studies in the 
office of Hon. H. Bucher Swoope, and Hon. Cyrus Gordon, afterwards president 
judge of the courts of Clearfield county.  In order to support himself, while 
reading law, Mr. Swoope engaged in the insurance business, building up a 
successful business which he disposed of after his admission to the bar, and 
devoted himself to his profession.  After passing a successful examination, 
he was admitted to the bar of Clearfield county in 1878.  He is also a member 
of the bar of the United States courts, and of the Supreme and Superior 
Courts of Pennsylvania.
  He has always taken an interest in public affairs and served as chairman of 
the Republican County Committee for several years, being first elected 
chairman in 1888, which was the year of the presidential campaign when 
Benjamin Harrison was elected president over Grover Cleveland.  So efficient 
was the organization and work of the Republican party under Mr. Swoope's 
chairmanship, that he reduced an adverse plurality of 1,501, which the 
Democratic candidate had received in the previous gubernatorial election, to 
869 and in recognition of his efforts he received a medal of honor and a 
resolution of thanks from the Republican State Committee.  Mr. Swoope has 
also taken an active part in many political campaigns as a stump speaker for 
his party, not only in his own county but throughout the state.
  As a lawyer, Mr. Swoope has a large and successful practice and has been 
engaged in many important and interesting cases.  He argued the case of 
Jackson vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad Company before the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania and though opposed by John G. Johnson, Esq., the leader of the 
Philadelphia bar, and other eminent counsel, Mr. Swoope succeeded in having 
affirmed a verdict against the railroad company for treble damages for 
discrimination in failing to furnish coal cars to his client, thus sustaining 
the constitutionality of the Act of Assembly of 1883, gving the right to 
recover treble damages in such cases.
  Among other important cases in which he has been concerned, was that of the 
Central Trust Company of New York vs. the Clearfield Creek Coal Company, an 
action to foreclose a mortgage by a minority in number and amount of the 
holders of the bonds secured by said mortgage, although the mortgage contained a 
provision that it could only be enforced upon the written request of a majority 
in number and amount, of the holders of the bonds.  This case raised a novel 
legal question in Pennsylvania, but after a vigorous contest, the plaintiffs 
were successful in obtaining a decree of foreclosure of the mortgage and a 
judgment for $540,000.00 against the coal company, thus establishing, for the 
first time in the courts of this state, the right of a minority of the bond-
holders secured by a corporation mortgage, to compel a foreclosure.  As a 
lawyer, Mr. Swoope has always refused to represent liquor license applications, 
and has been active in the cause of temperance, having been one of the officers 
of the Constitutional Prohibition Amendment Association of Clearfield county, 
when that question was submitted to the voters of Pennsylvania, and, although 
the amendment was defeated in the state, it carried Clearfield county by a large 
majority.
  Mr. Swoope is also largely interested in the development of the coal 
business of Clearfield county.  In connection with other owners of coal 
property near Madera he was active in securing the construction of railroad 
extensions and he and his associates built part of the necessary railroad 
branches to reach their lands at their own expense and thus opened up the 
largest coal territory now being operated in Clearfield county.  In the 
conduct of the numerous coal operations in which he is interested Mr. Swoope 
has always insisted on recognizing organized labor.  Mr. Swoope is a 
stockholder and one of the directors of the Curwensville National Bank and is 
also interested in other financial institutions.
  Mr. Swoope was one of the founders of the Curwensville "Mountaineer," which 
is recognized as among the leading Republican country newspapers of the 
state.  He is fond of literary pursuits.  He is the owner of a fine library 
and has prepared and delivered many lectures and patriotic addresses.
  Mr. Swoope is an official member of the Methodist Episcopal church of 
Curwensville, Pa., he is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, 
the Union League of Philadelphia; the American Academy of Political and 
Social Science; the Historical Society of Clearfield county; the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, the Clearfield-Curwensville Country Club and other 
organizations.
  In May, 1880, Mr. Swoope was married to Miss Cora Arnold, daughter of the 
late Samuel Arnold, of Curwensville, Pa.  To this union five children were 
born, of whom three survive, namely:  Henry Bucher Swoope, coal operator, 
Madera, Pa., Roland Davis Swoope, Jr., editor of the Curwensville 
"Mountaineer," and also editor of the Clearfield County History, and Miss 
Mary Swoope of Curwensville, Pa.