Hiram B. Swartz

As printed in 1910

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 History of Wayne County Ohio (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.