William L. Swaney

SWANEY, LATTA, BALDWIN, LUCAS, MILLS, RUTLEDGE, WILSON, BACON

Posted By: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs (email)
Date: 5/16/2009 at 08:05:09

1889 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
SHELBY AND AUDUBON COUNTIES, IOWA
W. S. DUNBAR & CO., PUBLISHERS
113 ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO

pages 816-817

WILLIAM L. SWANEY has been
identified with the interests of Au-
dubon County since 1873. Unlike
many of the residents of the Hawkeye State,
he has the honor to have been born within
her borders, and February 21, 1847, is the
date of his birth, and Jackson County, near
Preston, is the place. He is the son of Da-
vid and Sidney (Latta) Swaney, natives of
Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. They
were married in Ohio, and soon after removed
to Michigan and settled in Ann Arbor;
thence they went to Jackson County, Iowa,
in May, 1839, being among the pioneers of
the county. David Swaney was a son of
James Swaney, a native of Ireland, who was
a soldier in the British army. David died
in Jackson County, Iowa, in 1883, in his
seventy-fifth year. The mother of our sub-
ject was born in 1818, and reared eight
children, four sons and four daughters --
Nancy J., wife of D. Baldwin; James, An-
geline, wife of George Lucas; Mary A., wife
of William Mills; William L., the subject of
this sketch; Medora, wife of William Rut-
ledge; Milton L. and Alonzo. William L.
passed his boyhood in his native county, re-
ceiving a common-school education; he re-
mained with his parents until his twenty-first
year, when he took up the responsibilities of
life and began to carve out his own fortune.
in the summer of 1873 he came to Audubon
County and purchased eighty acres of wild
prairie land. The following spring he moved
his family to the new home, where they
bravely faced many of the privations incident
to pioneer life. Mr. Swaney has put all the
improvements upon the place, and has added
from time to time to his first purchase, until
he now owns 400 acres in one body. A part
of the farm is seeded down to pasture and
the balance is under cultivation. Mr. Swa-
ney pays special attention to feeding live-
stock, shipping large numbers annually; he
has been quite successful in this department
of agriculture. In 1873, February 12, oc-
curred the marriage of William L. Swaney
and Arminda Wilson, a native of the State
of New York, and a daughter of A. Wilson,
Esq., who died in this county. Her mother's
maiden name was Bacon; she is still living.
Mr. and Mrs. Swaney have had born to
them six children -- David L., Ada M., Wil-
son Bacon, Milton, Minerva G. and Albert J.
Mr. Swaney has served as justice of the
peace since coming to the county, except one
year; he has also represented his township
as trustee and as a member of the school
board and as assessor, to the entire satis-
faction of the public. He is a member of
Veritas Lodge, No. 392, A. F. & A. M.,
having been made a Mason in Jackson
County, Iowa. In State and National affairs
he supports the issues of the Democratic
party, but in local matters he votes for the
man best fitted for the office in his estima-
tion. He commenced life with no capital
excepting that with which nature endowed
him, pluck, energy and a determination to
succeed; that he has succeeded is demon-
strated when one takes a look at his broad
acres in a high state of cultivation, and all
the modern improvements upon his farm.
Everything is arranged for comfort and con-
venience, and the air of thrift and prosperity
about Mr. Swaney's farm places him in the
front ranks of Audubon County's agricult-
urists.