The Swartz Family of Wayne County, Ohio

SAMUEL SWARTZ was born in Union County, Penn., June 3, 1816, and in 1819 came to Ohio with his parents, his father, John Swartz, settling in Canaan Township, Wayne County. At the age of eighteen (in 1831) Samuel first came on his future homestead, hiring out to John Miller, who had recently bought the tract of the Government, same being then regarded as mostly waste and swamp lands. Mr. Swartz continued to work as a hired hand at clearing the then unbroken wilderness, in company with his brother John, until 1839, in which year he was married to Mary Miller, daughter of his employer, a young lady of scarce sixteen summers. Mr. Swartz departed this life, at his residence in Milton Township, October 15, 1885, in the seventieth year of his age. His widow survives him, having lived on the same farm since the age of six years, and in the companionship of the departed for more than fifty years, their friendship antedating their marriage by several years. Mr. Swartz was always strong, robust and hearty, and an indefatigable worker. Under the ringing blows of his ax, which he could field with marvelous skill, the dense forest on his land was swept away, and by the careful culture of later years his farm became noted as one of the finest in the country. He was a model farmer, taking the lead in hus-

OItK C / fft '/'4Jt£ baudry of every kind; was enterprising and thrifty, and prosperity constantly waited upon him to crown his honest toil. He was a man of strong will and decided conTictious of right and duty; and while these traits sometimes produced friction in his dealings with others, his honesty and integrity no one could question; as a neighbor he was generous and helpful and a true friend; from every vice he was remarkably free, and he had but little sympathy for any form of it in others. Of pure thought, he never uttered a profane word, or indulged in slang or vulgar speech of any kind; in dress and living he was plain, and in all his habits strictly temperate. Under the daily inspiration of such an example, it is not to be wondered that every member of his large family grew to maturity free from every form of vice. Mr. Swartz was public-spirited, and at different times he was elected to offices of public trust, which he filled creditably. Industrious and economical, at the age of forty he found himself free from debt, and most of his subsequent earnings he expended in the education and culture of his children.

He was the father of twelve children, ten of whom, six sous and four daughters, survive him, and with their children, numbering in all nearly forty, were present at his funeral. To his six sons he gave a complete collegiate education, some of them taking a post-graduate course; the advantages of a higher education he also afforded his daughters, according to their choice. His eldest son, John M., graduated at Granville, Ohio, in 1809, and is now a prominent lawyer of Newark, and prosecuting attorney of Licking County, Ohio; Hiram B. graduated from the literary and law department of Michigan University in 1872, and was elected probate judge of Wayne County in 1887, which position he is now occupy)ying; he was also mayor of the city of Wooster, Ohio, from 1877 to 1881; Franklin P. graduated at Granville in 1(370, and from Rochester Theological Seminary in 1878 (was pastor of the Baptist Church at Loudonville, Ohio, for nine years, and is now pastor of the Baptist Church of Portsmouth, Ohio); Samiiel E. graduated at Granville in 1879, and has ever since been principal of the Newark public schools; Douglas A. graduated from Adelbert College, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1884, after which he was appointed by Gov. Hoadly to a position in the Cleveland Asylum for the In.sane, which he resigned to enter upon the study of medicine in the Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, whence he graduated in 1888, (he is now engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in Canton, Ohio): Ulysses G. graduated from Adelbert College in 1886, and located in Wooster, this county, where he is engaged in the manufacture and sale of paints and varnishes, being at the head of the Wooster Paint Works in that city. Of the daughters, Adeline lives with her children near Sterling, Ohio, her husband, H. G. Zeigler, having died in 1879; Isabella is the widow of M. H. Murdock, of Kittman, Ohio; Sarah E. is the wife of L. B. Harris, of Newark, Ohio, and Ellen A. is the wife of Christopher Blankenhoru, a thrifty farmer of Milton Township, having bought the old home farm.

Mr. Swartz lived to see all his children converted and united with the Baptist Church, and took great comfort in their activity in Sunday-school and church work. In politics he was a life-long Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and his political faith he inculcated on his sons. He eschewed all public amusements, and successfully impressed his convictions upon every one of his children. He was converted at an early age, and united with the Dunkard Church, the cardinal doctrines of which faith he ever stoutly defended. With his brethren on some matters of dress and education he differed, and so drifted from them, but not from the hope of the gospel. As his children grew up nnd united with the Baptist Church, he, with his wife, joined that church at Sterling, Ohio, and he was chosen deacon. A man of prayer it was his custom to close every day with family devotions, and here it was he gave best expression to his inner life and the desires of his soul. He prayed ever for his children, the church and the triumph of the gospel in the world, his love for all which was never-failing. Indeed, his ardent zeal for purity in life and doctrine in the membership and ministry of the church somewhat married the peace of his latter years.

He was impatient that sin in any form should enter the household of faith. To his strong nature what seemed to some to be faults appeared to him as vices not to be endured; yet he forgave and forgot all personal wrongs, and died at peace with the whole world.

On May 4, 1881, he was stricken with partial paralysis, from which he never fully recovered. On Christmas day, 1883, he fell and broke his hip-bone, which hastened his end. His eyesight failed so he could not read, and thus he quietly suffered and waited, longing for the end to come, his mind continuing national until the last. Surrounded by his large family of loving sous and daughters, and his ever faithful wife, who ministered to him as an angel of mercy throughout all his years of suffering, he folded his arms and closed his eyes in the calm embrace of death. Thus ended a long and useful life; thus lived and died another of that noble baud of pioneers whose strong arms and brave hearts made the wilderness here to "blossom as the rose. "

A man of pure thoughts and words, and of upright life, the memory of Samuel Swartz will live in his children whom he blessed. His fellow-citizens will cherish his good example, mentioning his name in after years as one whom the community delighted to honor. His neighbors and friends will remember him as one who loved integrity and hated iniquity, a good-natured, cordial, honest man; and his brethren in the church will not forget the words of counsel, faith and hope which in the day of his strength he ever gave the cause he loved. He was interred in the family burying-ground, in the old church-yard on the hill, on the Saturday following his demise, the funeral services, which were unusually impressive, being held at the Sterling Baptist Church, Rev. P. J. Ward, pastor, conducting, assisted by Rev. William F. Slocum, pastor of the Baptist Church at Wooster. The texas and sacred songs for the occasion were selected as those best loved and oftenest repeated by the departed. At his special request, his six sons acted as pall-bearers. Truly, of him it may be said; "His end is peace, and the memory of the just is blessed."

The above tribute is not an imaginary sketch, but was largely copied from the local papers printed soon after his death.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HIRAM B. SWARTZ.

Wayne county. Ohio, has been especially honored in the character and career of her public and professional men. In every township there are to be found, rising above their fellows, individuals born to leadership, men who dominate not alone by superior intelligence and natural endowment, but also by force of character which minimizes discouragements and dares great undertakings. Such men are by no means rare in this section of the great Buckeye state, and it is always profitable to study their lives, weigh their motives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activity and higher excellence on the part of others just entering upon their struggles with the world. Such thoughts are prompted by a study of the life record of Hiram B. Swartz, attorney at law and ex-probate judge, living at Wooster. He has long been one of the prominent figures of Wayne county whose interests he has ever had at heart and sought to promulgate. His career has been characterized by untiring energy, uncompromising fidelity, and devotion to a “simple life/* He is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and executed them with alacrity, at the same time winning and retaining the high esteem of all with whom he comes into contact by the honorable course which he has pursued.

Judge Hiram B. Swartz is a Wayne county product, having been born in Milton township. May 27. 1846. the son of Samuel and Mary M. (Miller) Swartz, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. A complete record of the subject’s parents and immediate relatives will be found on another page of this work under the caption. “The Swartz Family.

To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Swartz twelve children were born, an equal number of boys and girls, of whom Hiram B. was the fourth in order of birth. He was reared on the home place and when he reached the proper age he began work in the fields, alternating farming with schooling in the district schools. His parents were sturdy pioneer stock, plain, honest and kindly disposed, and art of til - -a,

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Thus well fortified for the duties of his profession, Mr. Swartz, in the fall of 1872, began the practice of law at Newark, Ohio, in partnership with his brother, John M., then also a beginner at the bar, but who afterwards was elected prosecuting attorney of Licking county, and later, circuit judge of the fifth judicial circuit. In the fall of 1875 he removed from Newark to Wooster, opening his office with Hon. H. K. McBride, and subsequently with Hon. T. Y. McCray.

Taking an active interest in politics, Mr. Swartz, in the spring of 1877, was elected mayor of Wooster, and was re-elected in 1879, serving four years with great popularity and acceptance. During this period he modified the criminal ordinances of the city, from the original record, was successful in establishing the fifth ward, so as to secure better school facilities in that part of the city, secured the regulation of hacks for passengers at the depot and began the work of cleaning up the public square, which had long been used as a place for unhitching and feeding, thereby enhancing the beauty of the city. During his first term the water works of the city were completed and the systematic sewerage of the city was commenced. He also succeeded in breaking up the tramp nuisance by applying the “Ball and Chain’’ under the supervision of Marshal Dice, and established the city prison system on a better basis than formerly, and successfully enforced the first saloon-closing ordinance.

His administration of the mayoralty was noted for its dignified trials of misdemeanors, its efficient public service and high moral tone, and marks the beginning of the public improvements for which the city is now distinguished.

When his last term as mayor closed in 1881, he resumed the exclusive practice of law, which he followed very successfully until 1888, when he was elected probate judge of Wayne county, and was re-elected in the fall of 1891, serving two terms with the utmost satisfaction to all concerned and having thoroughly exemplified the doctrine that “Public office is a public trust/' At the close of his second term in this office he once more resumed the practice of law and has continued with unabated success to the present time.

An interesting chapter in the life history of Judge Swartz is that bearing on his domestic life, which dates from October 8, 1872, when he was united in marriage with Martha J. Davies, of Granville, Ohio, in which community her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Davies, were long influential and highly respected citizens. Mrs. Swartz is a woman of pleasing personality, wherein good housekeeping, culture and refinement are harmoniously blended. She and her husband are the parents of five children, of whom four, two boys and two girls, are living, all noted for their high attainments and integrity. They are graduates of the various educational institutions of Wooster. The oldest daughter, Mary D., taught several years in the Wooster high school. She then took a graduate course at Granville, Ohio, and another at Mechanics' Institute at Rochester, New York, in domestic science, and then spent three years in teaching the same at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She then took a post-graduate course and graduated at Yale with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1909, and is now in the faculty of Teachers College, Columbus LTniversity, New York City, having charge of the department of nutrition. Wayne graduated in the regular classical course of Wooster University, and during the past nine years has been engaged as teacher of English and history in the high schools of Coshocton and Chillicothe, Ohio, and later of Bridgport, Connecticut, where he now resides. Paul and Esther L. are also graduates of Wooster University. The former was distinguished for his rapid advancement in the natural sciences, and the latter for her genius in mathematics and her love of the modern languages. Paul, who was assistant at the chemical laboratory for two years under Doctor Bennitt, took a post-graduate course at Boston Technical Institute, from which he was taken into the active service by the Boston city commission and spent two years in the construction of the sub-ways of that city. He then had charge of the construction of an electric line from Annapolis to Washington, and afterwards served as one of

Google the constructing engineers of the new tunnel under the Detroit river at Detroit. From there he was called into the United States government service as engineer of construction at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and is now assistant engineer in the department of maintenance of way of the Missouri Pacific railroad, with headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri. Esther has been a teacher of mathematics and the modern languages at Plano, Illinois, and is now located and engaged in that work in the high school at Wakefield, near Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island. All these children, though still young, are occupying positions of responsibility, and are doing credit to their parental home and training and to the beautiful city of Wooster, Ohio, and her educational and religious institutions. Mrs. Swartz has also contributed much for the advancement of religious and missionary interests and towards uplifting the general social tone of the city, being greatly interested in public improvements, cleanliness and thrift, and a woman who numbers her friends only by the large circle of her acquaintances.

Mr. Swartz is a man of intense energy and application. He goes into court with his case completely in hand. The labor of preparation is not considered. Everything depends on work and study — the study of men, as well as books. In counsel he is inquisitive, exacting and exhaustive, wanting to know the truth and the facts. As an advocate he is earnest, honest, resolute and persuasive, seldom drawing upon his powers of forensic flights when the plain facts are of greater value in presenting his argument. He is a peacemaker by instinct, and settles many controversies. He is industrious and untiring in his profession, and it is a rare thing to find him when not busy and in action. He is regarded by all classes as one of the county’s enterprising, progressive, public-spirited citizens, quick to see, to seize, to act and aid in any project that means prosperity and growth to Wooster, and cherishing a deep interest in the work of the churches and Sunday schools and in educational advancement. Pleasant and impressive in address, he is kind, generous, congenial and companionable. He is also the author of a valuable law’ book entitled “How to Settle an Estate in Ohio," published by Waring Company at Xorwalk. Ohio, and has in preparation another work on “Magistrate’s Practice," and has invented and patented a number of useful articles, among the most important of which is an Australian ballot voting machine, which promises to do away with election frauds and the long and wearisome counting of ballots at elections. He has achieved an honorable record in his profession, and, in fret, all other circles, and he is esteemed for the many qualities that go to make up the inherent and fine qualities of a refined gentleman.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.