Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/95

 SWAYNE

SWAYNE

Alleghanj-, N.Y., from the Society of Friends) and Mary (King) Swayne, his wife; and a descendant of Francis SwajMie, a member of the Society of Friends, who settled under William Penn in Chester county in 1708. His father was a mem- ber of the Delaware legislature, 1846-47 and 1880-81, at former sessions urging the emancipa- tion bill that passed the house but was lost by the vote in the senate. Charles Swayne's boy- hood was spent on a farm, and he was educated at public schools and an academy in Wilmington, Del. Subsequently for four years he was prin- cipal of a Friends' scientific and mathematical school in West Chester, Pa. In 1869 he re- moved to Philadelphia and studied law under Joseph B. Townsend, and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated LL.B., 1871. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar, and he practised there until 1884, when he re- moved to Florida, where he continued to practise. In May, 1889, he was appointed by President Harrison, judge of Q.S. court for the northern district of Florida. The large number of prosecu- tions for political offences at the election of 1888 came before him, and in dealing with these cases his course aroused a feeling of political resent- ment and led to a combined effort to prevent the confirmation of his appointment by the U.S. senate, but after a prolonged contest, in which the charges were fully investigated, it was con- firmed. In 1903 Judge Swayne still held his position in the U.S. court of Florida.

SWAYNE, Noah Haynes, jurist, was born in Frederick county, Va., Dec. 7, 1804; son of Joshua Swayne; and a descendant of Francis Swayne, who emigrated from England in 1710, and settled near Philadelphia, Pa. His fatlier died in 1808, having previously removed to Jefferson county, and Noah attended the common schools and the academy of Jacob Mendenhall at Water- ford, Loudoun county, Va., 1817-18, when he began the study of medicine under Dr. G. A. Thornton of Alexandria; but upon the latter's death, in 1819, abandoned his medical preparation and fitted for college in Alexandria, subsequently entering the law ofiice of John Scott and Francis P. Brooks at Warrenton. He was admitted to the bar in 1823; removed to Ohio on accoimt of his anti-slavery principles; passed the preliminary year required by law in Zanesville, and began prac- tice in Coshocton in 1825. He was prosecuting attorney of Cosliocton county, 1826-29; a Jeffer- son Democratic member of the Ohio legislature, 1829-30; and U.S. attorney for the district of Ohio, 1831-41; removing to Columbus, the court seat. He was married, November, 1832, to Sarah Ann, daughter of John and Catharine (Bate) Wager of Harper's Ferry, Va., and immediately freed the slaves who became his property by the

marriage. His son. Wager Swayne (q.v.), be- came a lawyer and in 1880 removed to New York city. In 1833 he refused the judgesliip of the court of common pleas; was one of the three Fund commissioners to assume charge of the state debt, 1837-40; served on the commission to Washington to settle the conti'oversy over the Ohio-Michigan boundary line, and in 1840 was a member of the committee appointed to investi- gate the condition of the blind, the Asylum of Ohio for the Blind resulting from their labors. He also served for several years as trustee of the asylums for the deaf and dumb and for lunatics. At the outbreak of the civil war nearly his whole time was given to the service of Governor Denison in assisting the Ohio levies to the field. He was appointed by President Lincoln justice of the supreme court to succeed his friend, Judge McLean, and served, 1862-81, resigning on ac- count of age. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Dartmouth and Marietta colleges in 1863, and from Yale college in 1805. He died in New York city, June 8, 1884.

SWAYNE, Wager, soldier and lawyer, was born in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 10, 1834; son of Judge Noah Haynes (q.v.) and Sarah Ann (Wager) Swayne. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1856, and from the Chicinnati Law school, LL.B., 1859; was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practised in partnership with his father in Columbus, 1859-61. He was commis- sioned major of the 43d Ohio volunteers, Aug. 31, 1861, serving under Gen. John Pope in northern Missouri, 1861-62; was promoted lieutenant-col- onel, Dec. 14, 1861, his regiment being attached to Smith's 2d brigade, Stanley's 1st division under Major-General Pope at New Madrid and Island Number Ten; took part in the battle of luka, Miss., Sept. 19, 1862, Col. John W. Fuller commanding the brigade, and at the battle of Cornith, i\Iiss., Oct. 3-4, 1862, Colonel Smith be- ing mortally wounded, he succeeded to the com- mand of the 43d Ohio regiment, being awai'ded a medal of honor " for conspicuous gallantry in leading his regiment in a charge on the enemy." He was promoted colonel, Oct. 18, 1862; served through Major-General Sherman's Athmta cam- paign. May 3-Sept. 8, 1864, in Brigadier-General Sprague's 2d brigade, 4tli division, 16th army corps, and in the campaign of the Carolinas in the 1st division Blair's 17th army corps, participat- ing in the action of Salkahatchie swamps, S.C., Feb. 3, 1865, where his right leg was shattered by the explosion of a shell. For his gallantry on the latter occasion he was brevetted brigadier-gen- eral, U.S. v., Feb. 5, 1865; promoted brigadier- general, June 20, being invalided until June, lb65. He was assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's bureau in Alabama, 1865-68, originating the first