Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Charles G. Swain

Charles G. Swain, clerk of the circuit court of Wayne county and an esteemed resident of Richmond, is numbered among the native sons of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in the city of Dayton, September 29, 1849. The family is of English descent, and was founded at an early day, on Nantucket island, off the coast of Massachusetts, representatives of the name being among the original purchasers of land there in colonial days. The grandfather of our subject, Charles G. Swain, Sr., was a native of Nantucket island, whence he removed to Hamilton county, Ohio, and thence to Dayton, where he settled in the early '20s. There he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1867, when he had attained the age of seventy-five years. For a number of years he served as judge of the probate court of Montgomery county, Ohio, and was a prominent and influential citizen, taking an active part in molding the public policy. He served for two terms as a member of the state legislature, from Montgomery county, and in his political associations was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. While in the east he had served as captain of a whaling vessel. Very active in church work, he served as a local Methodist minister in Dayton, Ohio, and at Wesley chapel, and built the Davison chapel in Miami City. His wife bore the maiden name of Alice Paddock, and of their marriage were born seven children, four sons and three daughters.

One of the number, Thomas H. Swain, was the father of our subject. He was born in Dayton, and there spent his entire life. In his youth he learned the cabinetmaker's trade, and afterward carried on business along that line in Dayton and in Chicago and Cincinnati. He married Miss Lydia B. Broderick, of Dayton, and to them were born two daughters and a son. The father died in 1892, at the age of sixty-five years.

Charles G. Swain spent the first nineteen years of his life in Dayton, Ohio, and during that period acquired a good education in the public schools of the city. He then came to Richmond, in 1869, and has since made his home in Wayne county, with the exception of about three years. In the city of his nativity he devoted two years to mastering the molder's trade, with the firm of Brownell & Company, and completed his apprenticeship with Robinson & Company, of Richmond. He obtained employment with the Hoosier Drill Company in 1880 and continued with that company until 1887, being one of their most trusted and efficient employes. In the year mentioned he was chosen for public service, being elected to the office of city clerk, on the Republican ticket. He filled that position for three terms, or seven years, and in 1894 was elected clerk of the circuit court, assuming the duties of the office October 30, 1896, his term to cover a period of four years. He is very prompt and faithful in the discharge of his duties, and his service has received high commendation from the bench and bar of the Wayne circuit.

Mr. Swain is quite an active factor in political circles and was secretary of the Republican county central committee, which position he filled for a number of years. In January, 1898, he was elected chairman of the committee for a two-years term, and his able management and sound judgment have already proven important factors in the political interests of the county. He studies closely the questions of the day and gives to Republican principles an intelligent support. He belongs to the United Presbyterian church, and is a very prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite in Indianapolis Consistory, S. P. R. S. He also belongs to lola Lodge, No. 53, Knights of Pythias; to Whitewater Lodge, No. 41, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was secretary for eight years; and Osceola Tribe, No. 15, Improved Order of Red Men.

Mr. Swain has been twice married. On the 14th of September, 1871, he wedded Miss Clara E. Samuels, of Richmond, and they had four children, of whom three are living: William G., Louie E. and George C. The mother died February 17, 1891, and on the 11th of April, 1892, Mr. Swain married Mrs. Mary E. Prescott, of Richmond. Both are widely and favorably known in this city, and enjoy the friendship of many of Richmond's best people. Mr. Swain is an intelligent and popular official, systematic and careful in the discharge of his duties, courteous to all, and no man connected with the courts of Wayne county has a greater number of warm friends than has he.

Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899